WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin.

It’s designed to be used with WordPress and works with small, medium, and large businesses.  

This software was first launched in 2011 and gained almost immediate popularity as it was so easy to install.

In fact, most users commented on how easily it could be customized. 

It should be clear, when looking at how many websites use WooCommerce, that you can’t use WooCommerce without WordPress.

However, you can use WordPress without WooCommerce. 

Don’t be fooled, just because WooCommerce can’t be used off WordPress, doesn’t mean to say it’s not an extremely popular tool. 

The simple truth is that WooCommerce is one of the easiest ways to monetize your WordPress suite and showcase all your products with very little effort. 

Key Statistics

• Over 6.3 million websites use WooCommerce
• Nearly 50% of sites are in the US
• WooCommerce has a 39% market share
• In 2020 WooCommerce made over $20 billion in revenue
• There are over 4,600 free WooCommerce plugins
• Facebook is the most popular WooCommerce social media channel
• Merchants prefer using email
• WooCommerce is downloaded over 400,000 times a week
• Approximately 12,600 WooCommerce sites earn more than $100,000 annually
• In respect of open source platforms, WooCommerce is the second most popular on the planet

How WooCommerce Works

To use WooCommerce you’ll first need to create a WordPress account.

This will allow you to create a website on the WordPress platform.

Using WooCommerce to do this gives you all the WordPress themes and hundreds more. 

Creating a WordPress site is simple, you wan visit their site and create one with a few details in a few moments.

However, you do need to have a domain name and hosting which will cost you around $100 to get started. 

However, in order to take money from customers, you’ll need to have a way to accept electronic payments, such as bank cards, PayPal, and even Apple Pay.

WooCommerce gives you this.

It also gives you a database, allowing you to add all your products. 

Customers can then spot a product they like and instantly pay for it.

All you have to do is dispatch the order. 

Of course, WooCommerce doesn’t take all types of payment instantly.

It automatically accepts PayPal and Stripe, others needed to be added, using the add-on option. 

WooCommerce makes the process of creating a website simple, allowing you to focus on what matters, getting your news business off the ground. 

Enough talk!

Let’s take a look at the best statistics concerning WooCommerce.

How Many Websites Use WooCommerce in 2023? 

1. Over 6.3 Million Websites Use WooCommerce

There are approximately 1.8 billion websites in the world.

However, there are only around 200 million active websites!

Not all of these are e-commerce sites, but an estimated 6.3+ million active websites are using the WooCommerce plugin.

The latest research also shows that a large percentage of inactive websites have got WooCommerce plugged in.

It’s estimated that over 160 million websites have the WooCommerce plugin. 

Depending on which report you look at, you’ll find between 6% and 8% of all websites are using WooCommerce. 

It’s worth noting that this number has been steadily rising in recent years.

Part of this has been fuelled by the global pandemic, forcing people to look for new business opportunities and ways to earn money. 

Experts expect the number of users to continue to grow as people look for new career opportunities post-pandemic.

(W3Techs)

2. Nearly 50% Of Sites Are In The US

According to the latest research, almost 50% of all sites using WooCommerce are based in the US. 

According to the latest figures over 2.8 million WooCommerce sites are made in the US.

Surprisingly, the UK takes the second spot although the number pales compared to the US. 

At present, 270 thousand UK sites use WordPress.

Germany gets the number three slot with 179 thousand WooCommerce sites.

Italy comes close behind with 165 thousand sites, followed by France with 159 thousand. Surprisingly, Brazil gets into the top ten with 151 thousand, and the Netherlands gets 150,000.

India, Russia and Australia complete the top ten list.

They have 148 thousand, 135 thousand, and 134 thousand WooCommerce sites respectively.

(Colorlib)

3. WooCommerce Has A 39% Market Share

WooCommerce is one of the most recognized and used plugins in the world.

While it is unlikely to ever be as big as WordPress, it does do a good job of dominating the e-commerce industry. 

According to the latest research, WooCommerce is used by 39% of the world for e-commerce. 

Much of its success is via WordPress as this is used by nearly half of all active websites, all these sites have the option to use WooCommerce without charge. 

It’s estimated that 20.2% of WordPress sites use WooCommerce

To illustrate how much WooCommerce dominates the industry, consider the second-place market leader.

That’s Squarespace Online Stores with 14.95% of the market using its services. 

A further 14.67% of the market uses Woo Themes, a paid version of the WooCommerce plugin.

It’s worth noting that the fewer the number of products on a site the more likely it is the site is using WooCommerce.

For example, roughly 5,300 websites with over 20,000 products use WooCommerce. 

In comparison, over 39,000 websites with 500 products or less use the WooCommerce plugin. 

While WooCommerce can handle over 100,000 products, it’s much easier to build a site with a smaller list of products.

That may be why this size of site is so popular. 

(Shopify)

4. In 2020 WooCommerce Made Over $20 Billion In Revenue

According to the latest reports WooCommerce was used in over $20 billion worth of sales during 2020.

This is the highest year on record and is directly linked to the global pandemic.

In fact, the revenue in 2019 was closer to $10 billion, that’s a serious jump!

The pandemic forced people to shop more online and get creative regarding employment opportunities. 

It has led to a Gross Merchandising Volume of $11.8 billion.

We’ve mentioned that WooCommerce is free, which may lead you to wonder where WooCommerce gets all its revenue. 

While the software is free, there are plenty of useful extensions and stylish themes which people are willing to pay for.

The average theme is $79 a year and a WooCommerce plugin can be as much as $299 a year.

In addition, WooCommerce makes a small charge for every transaction processed through it.

As you can imagine, that’s a lot of annual sales and, even at a small charge rate, will be worth millions every year. 

(Matt Mullenweg)

5. There Are Over 4,600 Free WooCommerce Plugins

There are so many WooCommerce plugins it can be difficult to know exactly how many are on offer.

The easiest way to see how many there are is by looking in the WordPress repository.

Simply visit the WordPress repository, select tags, and then enter WooCommerce in the dropdown box.

You’ll be given a list of WooCommerce plugins and told there are over 4,600.

It should be noted that this is just the free plugins.

There are approximately another 1,400 premium plugins which need to be paid for. 

Of course, if you’re looking at adding a WooCommerce plugin you should proceed with caution.

There is literally a plugin for everything.

That makes it tempting to download everything. However, this is likely to slow your system down.

It’s better just to take the ones you feel are useful. 

(WordPress)

6. Facebook Is The Most Popular WooCommerce Social Media Channel

Woocomerce is the most popular e-commerce site.

It’s not surprising that it’s chosen by many people on social media to help them create the right social media site or even allow them to process payments. 

While WooCommerce can be used with virtually any site, it’s most popular when used in conjunction with Facebook. 

This isn’t that surprising considering Facebook is the most popular social media site.

According to the latest research, 42.4% of WooCommerce used on social media is with Facebook.

Instagram follows closely behind with 37.4% and YouTube takes the third spot with a much lower 12.2%.

These positions, although not the exact pêrcentages, have stayed consistent in recent years.

(Github)

7. Merchants Prefer Using Email

Merchants need to communicate with customers.

There are several options and phone calls are the least likely option.

That’s because the majority of the transactions are being processed electronically and merchants prefer to communicate with the associated customer via electronic means

Email is the most popular with 54% of merchants choosing this as their primary contact method.

It’s effective and allows merchants to create templates and send messages automatically. 

It’s worth noting that apparel and home/garden are the most popular products sold online by merchants.

Food and drink take the third spot, with business and industrial in the fourth position. 

(Github)

8. WooCommerce Is Downloaded Over 400,000 Times A Week

The popularity of an app can generally be assessed by looking at the number of downloads.

The more popular the higher the number of downloads and the more likely it is it will be referred to by others.

According to the statistics, in January 2023 the WooCommerce plugin was downloaded 435,562 times in just one week!

It’s impossible to know how many of these downloads were replacing ones that had been lost or deleted versus downloads for new websites. 

You’ll even find it hard to identify how many new websites are actively using WooCommerce as there is no analysis regarding which type of site the software has been downloaded to. 

(WooCommerce)

9. Approximately 12,600 WooCommerce Sites Earn More Than $100,000 Annually

According to the latest reports over 12,600 WooCommerce sites earn in excess of $100,000 every year.

This isn’t necessarily a testimony to the power of WooCommerce to help build your site. 

However, it does illustrate that successful companies stick with WooCommerce because it works. 

As a startup or someone trying to grow your business, knowing that WooCommerce is easy to use and works is a valuable piece of information. 

It’s interesting to note that the combined revenue of all stores using WooCommerce is greater than the gross revenue generated by 35% of countries around the globe. 

In short, if all WooCommerce businesses joined together they could be a country!

(Statista)

10. In Respect Of Open Source Platforms, WooCommerce Is The Second Most Popular On The Planet

There are thousands of open-source sites online, where people are able to use and improve the systems for free.

These are some of the most popular types of sites. 

That makes it even more impressive that WooCommerce has managed to secure the second spot out of all the open-source platforms. 

According to the latest statistics it enjoys a 12.96% usage distribution.

The only site that beats it is WordPress with a 79.64% usage distribution.

That’s not surprising as WooCommerce needs WordPress to function. 

After all, WordPress effectively powers over 40% of the internet. In short, using WordPress and WooCommerce together should help you achieve success online.

Of course, that’s never guaranteed. 

(wpswings)

Summing Up

WooCommerce is often the unsung hero.

It is a necessary associate to WordPress and is relied on by millions of people across the planet.

Yet, many people have never heard of it. 

That’s because people look at websites for the products and not who created it or what platform it is built on. 

Only those doing the building appreciate what WooCommerce does.

It explains why most people, when asked how many websites use WooCommerce, don’t have a clue. 

Fortunately, those in the know, and the people who have taken the time to read these statistics, realize that it’s an essential part of many sites.

Now all you have to do is use these statistics to start or improve your business.

Anyone can do it!

Sources