In the event you personal a service-oriented enterprise and need to promote companies on-line, you’ll discover an array of various options that may assist. It might probably take some time to sift by way of all of them and discover the precise one for you. You might even surprise if the advantages are well worth the studying curve, problem, and expense. However when you’re trying to save time, develop what you are promoting, and enhance your prospects’ expertise, there’s actually no higher manner to take action than with WooCommerce.
Providing shoppers the flexibility to browse your companies, e book appointments, join subscriptions and memberships, and make funds by way of your web site can streamline your administrative course of, aid you receives a commission extra shortly, and enhance consumer satisfaction. Nonetheless, if the platform and instruments you’re utilizing are too restricted or not fairly the precise match for what you are promoting mannequin, you might find yourself with extra ache than progress. Â
WooCommerce, then again, supplies a extremely customizable answer for nearly any service-based enterprise. Learn on to discover ways to promote companies with WooCommerce and increase the performance of your retailer to finest serve your shoppers.
The advantages of utilizing WooCommerce to promote companies
It gives customizable design and performance
There are various nice causes that you must use WooCommerce to promote companies on-line, however chief amongst them is its flexibility and extensibility. You possibly can create just about any design and add countless performance to your web site because of WooCommerce’s extension library and database of consultants. You possibly can construct a surprising, custom-made answer tailor-made to your particular viewers.
You possibly can hold the whole lot in a single placeÂ
Somewhat than utilizing a number of totally different platforms to handle what you are promoting, you may management all of it out of your WordPress dashboard. Edit your web site content material, add posts to your weblog, and handle your shoppers’ funds with out switching home windows. And, when you additionally promote bodily or digital merchandise, you may see your whole orders on the identical display. This implies much less confusion, fewer errors, and a better workflow.
For extra detailed consumer relationship administration, you may set up Jetpack CRM. Designed particularly to work with WooCommerce by the individuals behind WordPress.com, the Jetpack CRM extension helps you handle your leads, prospects, quotes, invoices, and transactions all from inside the WordPress dashboard.
In contrast to different CRMs, Jetpack CRM doesn’t restrict the variety of contacts or customers and the most costly license is simply $17/month (billed yearly).
You may make funds straightforward to your shoppers
The better the cost course of is to your shoppers, the quicker you receives a commission. With WooCommerce, shoppers can add a service to their cart and take a look at on their laptop or cellphone, irrespective of the place they’re situated.
WooCommerce additionally integrates with all the key cost processing companies you might already use, like Authorize.web, PayPal (together with Venmo), Sq., and Stripe. In the event you haven’t arrange a cost processor but for what you are promoting, WooCommerce Funds gives fast checkout and recurring cost processing for quite a lot of currencies and cost strategies.
You possibly can show companies extra successfully
With WooCommerce you may show and checklist your companies in a visually-appealing manner. You can too make it straightforward to your shoppers to filter your companies and search your retailer to allow them to discover precisely what they’re on the lookout for.
You possibly can upsell and cross promote
With out downloading or putting in a single extension, WooCommerce provides you the flexibility to make recommendations for associated companies and supply shoppers upgraded service plans after they’re trying out. Study extra about how upselling and cross-selling can increase your income.Â
It allows you to cost recurring funds
Do you cost month-to-month for companies or put shoppers on a cost plan? Use the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension to mechanically cost your consumer’s account. No extra handbook invoices or reminder emails!
You possibly can combine with current instruments
WooCommerce gives its personal extensions for most of the belongings you may must run what you are promoting. Have already got instruments you’re keen on? WooCommerce doubtless has a fast integration.Â
Most main e mail advertising platforms, cost processors, accounting software program, and consumer administration instruments have extensions that hook up with your WooCommerce retailer.Â
Unsure in case your platforms will combine with WooCommerce? Begin by looking the extension library. In the event you don’t see it there, attain out to your software program’s customer support group to see if they provide an integration of their very own.Â
You can too sometimes use a device like Zapier to make the connection or examine the WordPress.org plugin repository to see if one other developer has created one thing.
That’s the great thing about working with WooCommerce – there’s all the time an answer!
The best way to arrange companies with WooCommerce
Begin by putting in WooCommerce in your WordPress web site and navigating by way of the Setup Wizard. It will stroll you thru the method of choosing a cost gateway, organising taxes, and different vital first steps. On this case, you solely must arrange transport when you’re additionally promoting bodily merchandise.Â
After setup is full, it’s time to create your companies. In your WordPress Dashboard, navigate to Merchandise → Add New. Within the Product Identify area, set the identify of your service. Then, add an outline and quick description of their respective fields. Study extra about writing efficient descriptions.
If it is sensible to your companies, add a picture to the Product Picture area on the right-hand aspect of the web page. You can too add extra pictures and a product video to the product picture gallery when you’d prefer to additional showcase your companies.Â
Add classes and tags to assist set up your companies to make them extra simply discoverable by your prospects. For instance, when you supply pictures companies, you may categorize them as New child Periods, Weddings, and Headshots.
Then, navigate to the Product Knowledge part and examine the field beside Digital. In case your service has a number of choices that prospects can choose from, select Variable Product within the dropdown field. If not, depart the auto-filled Easy Product. You need to use product variations to permit shoppers to pick out a time period size, sort of service, size of time, sort of rental, or different choices.
Within the field titled Common Worth, go forward and add the worth to your service. Or, when you chosen Variable Product, comply with the steps on this information.
Whereas there are different service choices you may arrange, for a primary service providing, you’re good to go! Click on the blue Publish button within the prime proper nook.
One different choice you may have is to promote blocks of hours utilizing the WooCommerce amount area. Let’s say you cost $50 per hour and need to permit your prospects to purchase no matter variety of hours they’d like. Create a easy product titled, “Hours,” or no matter you’d like, and set the worth to $50. When your prospects take a look at, they’ll use the amount selector to decide on one hour, 5 hours, or fifty hours.
Select the structure of your companies
WooCommerce permits for just about countless design prospects on the subject of displaying the companies that you just’ve created. Â
Phi Phi Pirate Boat excursions, for instance, selected to put out their reservations in a calendar.Â
Car2Go went with a grid format as an alternative, which highlights the pictures of their accessible rental vehicles.
WordPress themes that had been constructed for WooCommerce usually present layouts and settings to showcase your listings. One nice choice is the Storefront theme, developed by WooCommerce, which even gives a baby theme constructed particularly for accommodations and lodging.
You can too use WooCommerce shortcodes so as to add your product listings to any web page and customise their design with no need to edit difficult code.
In the event you’re on the lookout for another structure and pictures aren’t essential to your choices, strive the WooCommerce Product Desk plugin. You possibly can arrange easy-to-consume tables of your companies and add one-page ordering.
Accepting funds from shoppers
Whether or not you’re a graphic designer, advertising knowledgeable, tour information, or non-public chef, accepting funds is a vital a part of what you are promoting. WooCommerce integrates with accounting companies like Xero and Quickbooks, which is able to mechanically sync cost knowledge and hold your accountants joyful – even when that accountant is you!Â
WooCommerce core supplies built-in performance for simple, one-time companies, however there are a number of extra methods you can increase your invoicing and cost performance to suit your actual wants.
1. Enable shoppers to call their worth
The Identify Your Worth extension permits your shoppers to pay an quantity of their selecting to your companies. So, for instance, you may e mail them a digital bill with a hyperlink to a “identify your worth” product web page. The consumer can then fill within the quantity of the bill and pay proper in your web site. There’s no must create particular person merchandise for each bill!
For instance, Poppy Floral costs a set deposit for his or her floral companies, then makes use of Identify Your Worth to gather the remaining stability. This makes the invoicing and assortment course of a lot simpler.
2. Ship PDF invoices
With PDF Invoices’ customizable, branded e mail invoices, you may automate the billing course of. Your shoppers can log into their account, obtain, and print earlier invoices.
3. Settle for deposits
Enable your shoppers to make a deposit or use a cost plan with WooCommerce Deposits. It is a nice choice in case your shoppers pay over time or when you require an up-front cost earlier than delivering your companies.
4. Provide subscriptions
Do you supply upkeep plans or service subscriptions? Automate recurring funds and keep away from the trouble of billing each week, month, or 12 months with WooCommerce Subscriptions. Your shoppers can even improve or downgrade their plan with none effort in your finish.
Enable prospects to e book appointments or lodging
In the event you promote experiences, e book lodging, or make appointments together with your shoppers, WooCommerce gives a number of extensions that had been constructed only for you.
1. WooCommerce Bookings
WooCommerce Bookings provides a reserving calendar that permits your shoppers and prospects to pay immediately in your website. You possibly can block off dates that aren’t accessible, set a minimal and most variety of contributors, and even supply reductions for sure days or for big teams. Ship out reminders that assist cut back no-shows and permit prospects to cancel their appointment on-line.Â
Plus, WooCommerce Bookings syncs with Google Calendar, so you may hold the whole lot in the identical place.
In the event you’re a house inspector, for instance, you need to use this extension to permit your prospects to e book appointments primarily based in your schedule. Use WooCommerce Deposits to gather a price upfront, after which ship a reminder to your buyer 24 hours earlier than their appointment. You possibly can even make useful data like warranties accessible to your prospects by way of their dashboard.
In the event you’re a advisor, your shoppers can simply e book periods with you primarily based in your schedule, and reschedule if one thing comes up on their finish. The chances are countless!
2. WooCommerce Lodging Bookings
A free add-on for WooCommerce Bookings, WooCommerce Lodging Bookings is designed particularly for accommodations, mattress and breakfasts, and different varieties of lodging. It permits your friends to e book in a single day stays in just some clicks, with full management over check-in/check-out instances and particular charges for holidays or weekends.
Journey Parc Snowdonia permits prospects to e book actions, reserve glamping pods, and even buy present playing cards all in the identical place. When somebody selects an exercise, they’ll select between varied expertise ranges and lengths of time. For each actions and lodging, a calendar is on the market for guests to decide on their desired dates. It’s a seamless, well-designed course of that retains prospects coming again.
Market to service-based shoppers
Once you promote companies on-line with WooCommerce, you may have full management over advertising to your prospects and shoppers. Attain out to them earlier than, throughout, and after the shopping for course of with these useful extensions:
1. Comply with-up Emails
Ship emails to segments of your buyer base with a coupon, sale, or thanks notice with Comply with-Ups. Set reminders to the touch base at a later time and ship personalised coupons primarily based in your shoppers’ actions.
2. Social media extensions
Rapidly combine with Fb, Pinterest, and Instagram utilizing a social media extension. Arrange social media adverts, checklist your companies on Fb and Pinterest, and even create a seamless assist system with Fb Messenger immediately in your website.
3. E-mail advertising integrations
WooCommerce integrates with many in style e mail advertising platforms, together with trusted options like MailPoet.Â
Enable your shoppers to subscribe to your e mail checklist, ship focused emails primarily based in your shoppers’ actions, and encourage them to improve their plans or buy extra companies. Phase your viewers primarily based on age, gender, quantity spent, and extra. Analyze your e mail campaigns by monitoring conversions and gross sales to find out their lifetime worth.Â
Accumulate useful data previous to finishing companies
In the event you promote companies on-line, you may acquire extra data out of your prospects earlier than they make a purchase order. You may want particulars about their wants with the intention to decide the precise answer for them. Or, you may want them to ship information, like signed waivers, logos, or web site content material.
WooCommerce integrates with Gravity Kinds, one of the crucial highly effective kind plugins accessible for WordPress. You possibly can create customized kinds to your companies with radio buttons, checkboxes, file uploads, and extra.
These kinds might be as complicated or so simple as you’d like. So when you want your consumer to signal a doc or add a picture, simply insert an add area. Or, you may create kinds with dozens of choices and even add conditional fields, which change primarily based in your consumer’s earlier solutions. This stage of customization permits you to construct a customized onboarding course of that meets the precise wants of what you are promoting.
One other nice choice is the WooCommerce Product Add-Ons extension. You possibly can add additional fields and choices to your prospects with checkboxes, dropdowns, and picture alternatives. Plus, it integrates with WooCommerce Bookings and WooCommerce Subscriptions.Â
Motorbike Excursions Puerto Rico makes use of Product Add-Ons to supply extras for his or her prospects, like helmets, pads, and gloves. The worth adjustments primarily based on every choice and website guests can select a couple of choice primarily based on their preferences.Â
Use the client account web page as a consumer hub
The WooCommerce buyer account web page is on the market to any logged-in person after they’ve made a purchase order. Usually, it’s used to permit prospects to evaluation and edit their orders, view transport data, and so on. however, with somewhat creativity, it might turn into a hub to your shoppers.
With out making any modifications, your shoppers can handle recurring funds and subscriptions, edit their bookings and reservations, entry downloads that they’ve bought, and alter their account particulars. This is a superb start line and, in lots of instances, all you’ll want.
In the event you do need to flip your dashboard right into a consumer portal, you can also make PHP modifications to the myaccount.php template or use Jetpack CRM with the Shopper Portal add-on. Including vital data and insurance policies, documentation downloads, duties, and hyperlinks to your consumer portal can present a superb technique to join together with your shoppers and provides them a seamless expertise.
Don’t wait to promote your companies on-line
It doesn’t matter what sort of companies you supply – from medical {and professional} companies, to auto restore, guided excursions, and the whole lot in between – WooCommerce supplies an answer. Take a look at our showcase to see extra websites promoting companies with WooCommerce and go to our extension library to study extra concerning the limitless performance that WooCommerce gives.
Once you promote companies on-line with WooCommerce, you’ll develop what you are promoting and supply a greater expertise to your shoppers and prospects. Managing your web site, weblog, buyer relationships, and funds below one roof will even prevent time and drastically enhance your workflow.
In the event you’re able to get began promoting on-line, take a look at our documentation or construct your retailer right this moment.