WordPress as a CMS and Its Limitations for E-commerce

BMW is a distinctive car, but can it fly?!

WordPress is one of the most distinguished content management systems in the world. According to statistics, 55% of the websites in the world operate on the WordPress platform due to its many and advanced features, which we explained in a previous article. To read the article, click here. At Yasham Internet Design and Programming Company, we use it to create news websites, blogs, company websites, and subscription sites.

But?! Can we add wings to WordPress and turn it into an e-commerce site?

Technically yes, we can, but is it the right choice for your project? The answer is no, for the following reasons:

For example, e-commerce sites built on WordPress need 10 times the resources required to run popular e-commerce systems like OpenCart and Magento.

Languages need a special add-on, currencies need an add-on, invoice printing and shipping labels need an add-on, and many features that come by default in any e-commerce system are missing in WordPress when it functions as an e-commerce site.

To get an e-commerce site based on WordPress, you need many plugins, which will lead to slow performance and sometimes conflicts that cause the site to fail and stop working.

Some of the plugins you may want to use to complete the “wings” for WordPress to match other professional stores may be paid and sometimes expensive, such as the WPML add-on for multi-language support at $29 and the WooCommerce Multi-Currency add-on at $99 for multi-currency support. Note that these add-ons are free and available by default in specialized e-commerce platforms like OpenCart and Magento, ensuring compatibility and fast response.

Choosing WordPress and turning it into an e-commerce site may be the easiest and fastest solution to build your store if you have a very limited number of products and no future plans to expand the business. However, if you have plans to expand your business globally and compete in terms of performance, customer features, ease of use, development capabilities, security, and low development cost, you should think again before deciding to use WordPress as an e-commerce platform.