Can WooCommerce Scale?

Whether you’re an enterprise-level company looking for a new eCommerce solution or a small business with big dreams, you might be wondering whether WooCommerce is the right fit. Can it scale to meet your current business or future growth?

The answer is “Yes, WooCommerce has your back!” List all the products and variations you need, handle thousands of transactions per day, and give every customer — anywhere in the world — a great experience. Let’s take a closer look.

Scalability is being able to expand as needed to handle your business as it grows. A scalable eCommerce platform should:

• Offer a high quality of service. Customers should continue to see your shop load quickly and find what they want right away no matter how large it grows. It won’t go down during times of peak demand or sudden traffic spikes.
• Respond quickly to growth. Your eCommerce platform should be able to earn more traffic without you having to worry about storage, product, or service limits.
• Keep costs balanced. Extra sales shouldn’t mean that your platform continues to get more and more expensive. True growth in profits happens when your shop costs are relatively static, while sales go through the roof.

Simply put, WooCommerce is built to scale. Whether your shop is just starting out, or already dealing with thousands of international transactions per day, it’s up to the challenge. With Woo, high-volume stores qualify for unique benefits like dedicated support and discounted extensions. Learn more about how our team can help your business grow.

It includes unlimited products and variations

While other online eCommerce platforms restrict the number of products or variations you can have, WooCommerce has no built-in limits. Your platform is your own, and you have full control over all aspects. There are no rules when it comes to how many products you can have in your shop. Do you have hundreds of thousands of products? No problem — WooCommerce can handle a million products if you need.

In addition, you can import as many products as required instead of being held to limits like with other platforms.

It’s built for large volumes of orders

WooCommerce regularly powers shops with thousands of transactions per minute. While you require the support of a good host, the software itself is ready and able to handle a huge volume of simultaneous sales.

In addition, WooCommerce is built to handle spikes in traffic. If you have a promotional sale, launch a hot new product, or land a feature on a major website or magazine, then a properly optimized shop can handle the resulting rush.

It has flat rate pricing

Unlike other eCommerce stores that take a percentage of each sale or charge per transaction, WooCommerce setup costs are the same whether you’re selling just one item or thousands. As your shop scales, your per-transaction costs actually go down. The additional profit is yours to keep. 

The code is optimized for scalability

At WooCommerce, scalability is always a focus. The core development team, a global group of the world’s top-most experts, constantly works to update and optimize code to meet the latest needs in performance, security, and design. Updates are issued on a regular basis — and free of charge — so stores always have access to the most recent innovations.

WooCommerce also features a library of extensions created by reliable teams and vetted by both WooCommerce pros and the community of store owners. Extensions add specific functions to your store without having to pay a developer to create a solution from scratch. The result is an efficient, reliable, and ready-to-go solution for almost any required functionality.

You can choose any host you’d like

Unlike other proprietary platforms like Shopify or Wix, you can run your WooCommerce store on any host you’d like. You have the flexibility to find the perfect provider for your current needs.

When it comes to scalability, this means that you have the power to find a host that can match your traffic and sales at any given moment. Choose a hosting company that understands big business, server optimization, and WooCommerce, so that you know they can provide the speed you need. Look for a hosting package that includes:

• Dedicated or VPS servers that provide the bandwidth you require.
• No caps on resources, and the ability to handle spikes in traffic.
• A good reputation for uptime and service.
• A range of hosting plans, so it’s easy to move up as you grow.
• Expert server configuration, including the latest PHP and MYSQL versions and WordPress-specific server speed optimization settings.
• CDN and caching tools.

Remember, your hosting company is your biggest ally and partner in building your business. Choose carefully, and make sure you have a plan that can provide the services you need with reliability.

You can incorporate powerful upgrades

WordPress provides an expandable base for advanced features and custom development with the REST API. Need special functionality to support your growing business? You can find a developer that can create a solution just for you.

But the best part is that there’s probably already an extension that does what you need. For example, you might want:

• Automated marketing tools (like AutomateWoo) that can increase sales with follow-up emails, coupons, and customer rewards.
• Shipping add-ons (like ShipStation) that streamline the fulfillment process for large order volumes.
• Merchandizing tools (like Product Table for WooCommerce) that can help shoppers find and buy multiple items at once. 
• Warehouse tools (like Scanventory) to track large-scale inventory and keep orders and deliveries flowing. 
• Support for international shoppers with extensions like WooCommerce MultiCurrency and payment gateways that work for customers around the world.
• Wholesale tools (like Wholesale For WooCommerce) that empower B2B transactions.

Don’t take our word for it! There are lots of enterprise-level stores powered by WooCommerce. Here are a few examples:

• Dr. Scholl’s, a well-known brand with dozens of products sold through different localized websites worldwide.
• Nalgene, another famous company that uses WooCommerce to showcase dozens of products with many variations.
• ISC Sales, an industrial company that uses WooCommerce for online sales of more than 17,000 products.
• ClickBank, a top 100 online retailer with 200 million customers.

Here are some more ecommerce website examples for inspiration.

WooCommerce is the go-to platform for many eCommerce stores because it provides full creative control. Growing brands don’t fit a particular mold; they create their own. And unlike closed platforms like Shopify, you can customize WooCommerce as much as you want. 

The most profitable stores have streamlined processes and minimal waste.  And with powerful, reliable extensions and no limits on growth, you can build the perfect solution for your unique store, no matter how much you grow.

But, as scalable as WooCommerce is, there is some work that needs to be done on your end to ensure optimal results. Refer to our How to Scale WooCommerce checklist for a more detailed guide.

Ready to get started? Build your store with our easy-to-use setup wizard.

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Lynn Jatania