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Development Support

Migrating to WooCommerce

There are times when an online business will run into too many obstacles with their website platform and feel like it’s a time to change. Whatever the reasoning may be for your need to switch website platforms, migrating to another platform is a possibility that you might be faced with. In our experience most e-commerce websites we migrate are coming from Shopify or BigCommerce and looking to move into WooCommerce. This begs the question as to why? Why are we migrating to WooCommerce? In this write-up I will explore the reasons why we have helped migrate e-commerce stores from Shopify to WooCommerce (WordPress). But first, let’s go over some of the basic history for these items.

History

WordPress was initially released as a blog writing software in 2003. Since then WordPress has grown to power more than 43% (1) of the World Wide Web. WordPress was and still remains a free resource with many free and paid-for software plugins available for expansion. WooCommerce is a free software plugin expansion for WordPress that allows any WordPress site to become an E-commerce website. Introduced in 2011 WooCommerce has grown to be one of the leading e-commerce software options with a market share position around ~30% at the time of this post (2).

Control

The number one reason why we have migrated people away from places like Shopify is control. Dealing with all-in-one solution entities like Shopify can seem very inviting and easy. That’s because it is easier to get going with one of those sites. However the easiest path is not always the best path for longevity. They own and control more about your site than you would feel comfortable knowing about. As the registrar and domain controller for your business they can decide at any moment to shut your store down for whatever reason they decide. I have witnessed this first hand. Having all of your eggs in one basket can be devastating in this situation.

Cost

The cost difference when considering WooCommerce vs Shopify is negligible. They are roughly going to cost about the same to get setup and going. However, when considering longevity as a prosperous measure I would lean on WooCommerce as the better option. Shopify charges a monthly fee depending on your account level. This will include your domain and hosting along with a license to use their software. They also charge for credit card processing and then fees on top of that. If you have a subscriptions option you might again need to split your pennies with each sale. The more money your Shopify store makes, the more money you will be giving to Shopify and its affiliates. The difference here is time and effort. With WooCommerce you will need to set up and manage your own processing account, email marketing services, domain, hosting accounts and more. I know this sounds like a lot of work but having a proper web development team like Skynet Solutions can help you through this process and prepare your business for the long haul. Having a WooCommerce e-commerce website will put you in a position to better understand, control and profit from your business.

Customization

WordPress is built on community development and this shows with its ~58,000 available software plugins compared to ~4000 available for Shopify owners. If there is an option you are wanting for your WooCommerce store it has most likely been created and is available via the WordPress Plugins repository. With WordPress/WooCommerce you also have the ability to buy software outside of their repository. There are many companies that specialize in creating and licensing new software plugins for WordPress and WooCommerce. In the event there is functionality that your e-commerce store is seeking that doesn’t exist there are plenty of developers, much like Skynet Solutions, with experience in creating custom software plugins for tailored your WooCommerce business.

Final Conclusion

WooCommerce is now well on its way to smoothing out some of the disconnects that the all-in-one solutions like Shopify are providing. WordPress/WooCommerce is now providing more walk-through processes as well as more integrated 3rd party service options. These new options can allow for a quicker, easier startup and overall website management process. With WooCommerce there is more setup and you will most likely need a web developer. However, the long term benefits from starting a WooCommerce website for your business will far outweigh the ease of entry with Shopify.

    • If you are needing to migrate your existing e-commerce store, please call Skynet Solutions.
    • If you are needing better e-commerce management personnel, please call Skynet Solutions.
    • If you are needing e-commerce customization, please call Skynet Solutions.
    • If you are wanting pizza, please do not call Skynet Solutions.

 

Sources:

1. https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management
2. https://trends.builtwith.com/shop

Categories
Development Technology Website

Shopify or WordPress WooCommerce?

The most common question most people looking to start an e-commerce site is: Which platform do I use? Shopify or WooCommerce?

Choosing the platform is the first and most daunting part of this process. On the flip side there are people currently on one platform and looking to make a switch to another. Skynet Solutions can assist you in either of these situations as well as advise on which platform to use for your business. In this write up I want to explore some reasons why Shopify might be your better bet over a WordPress WooCommerce website.

There are many variables to consider when starting this process. Many of which I might not shed light on, but I hope to touch on some of the more common instances. Shopify, to me, is like the Apple of e-commerce websites; everything is all there inside the walled garden. Unlike WordPress, creating a Shopify store is a fairly streamlined process that doesn’t require a checklist or reliance on previous web experience. Many of the tedious setup items associated with a WordPress WooCommerce website like, Analytics, Credit Card Processing, SSL, Hosting, Security and Design elements are presented to you in a much more simple selection process. You won’t need to hunt down how to do something or realize something should have been done in the beginning with Shopify. All of the standardized e-commerce web store items are available and more easily set up with a Shopify store.

The Shopify platform is designed to help raise you up with built in support and tools. This platform will grow with your business and allow for expansion all while keeping you within industry standards. Start your FREE, no credit card required, account today for 14 days.

Support

Shopify offers live chat support and help within its developer community for advice on how to improve your store. Plenty of people have documented their processes so that you can fully take charge for your next store upgrade.

Integrations

Shopify has many built in integrations that can easily be implemented in your store. Things like email marketing, abandoned cart marketing, Social media and custom applications are all readily available for setup. If you have a brick and mortar store with a POS system Shopify has you covered with their Point-of-sale integration option. With WordPress WooCommerce you will need to find, purchase/sign-up and setup individual providers for each of the items that I mentioned.

Mobile

Shopify works great with mobile in mind. All available designs are built to work out of the box with mobile applications. Now this is the same as WordPress WooCommerce. However, this story changes if you are looking to run your store via a mobile device. Shopify has much better mobile usability when it comes to administrator access.

Hosting and SSL

Hosting and annual SSL certificates are all taken care of under the Shopify umbrella when you sign up. One less stress and additional cost to be concerned with is annual SSL and Hosting renewals as Shopify has these items built into their packages.

Security

Google reCAPTCHA and other standard security measures are automatically included and setup with your Shopify store. Where as each and every one of these items will need to be sourced and setup with a WordPress WooCommerce website.

Choose Skynet Solutions as your Shopify Partner!

Skynet Solutions is a Shopify Partner that can help you setup a new Shopify store or help migrate you from an existing WordPress WooCommerce site. Contact us if you are needing to migrate an existing website or start your new Shopify account with a FREE 14 day trial (no credit card needed) by clicking the link above. Explore the available account options, see how things work and you could even start an initial store mock up.

I’ve reviewed most of the features that Shopify has and how those can help you create a great eCommerce web store. Going this route can be less complicated, more secure and great for mobile and social media. The Shopify process can potentially cost you more than a WordPress WooCommerce store but it might be worth it to you. I hope this helps you to determine your path and we look forward to helping with your journey!

Categories
Business Development Website

eCommerce Subscription Website Launch

eCommerce websites are our most valued product that we produce here at Skynet Solutions. We take great pride in providing people the means to start or grow their online business. And what a powerful thing it is to have and run and eCommerce Subscription website!

Recently Skynet Solutions helped another business get their boots on the ground with an eCommerce Subscription website for their CBD products. This model is a perfect fit for an audience looking to have a turn-key recurring purchase that is automated.

Skynet helped KAO Naturals develop and manage their new eCommerce Subscription website on a Woocommerce and WordPress platform. Coming from a shopify environment where every little thing costs another monthly fee, or doesn’t exist, they are now set up for sustainable financial growth. Taking control of their payment processing and being able to have the freedom to have specific software developed are only some of the benefits they were looking for. Shopify is great for a starting company or a small one person operation but not great for growing companies with continuous or growing revenue streams. Our custom website design allows KAO Naturals the ability to expand where they see fit.

If you currently use or looking into using CBD products please consider KAO Naturals for your next purchase. They are an American based company that also manufactures their products here in the USA. Its also great to do business with nice people – and KAO Naturals are a good bunch of people. Check their website out for more info and order today!

If you are needing eCommerce website design, creation or management please give us a call or contact us today. You can also view some of our previous work on our examples page.

Categories
Business Design Development

eCommerce Website Overhaul for Muscle Research

Muscle Research LogoMuscle Research has been in the online eCommerce business since 2004. Since that time, as any normal business evolution, Muscle Research has re-branded themselves and been through 5 different website designs. Most of the web changes over the years has dealt with visual aspects as well as keeping up with the ever changing internet and how people view and purchase online. But the time has come for their eCommerce Website Overhaul.

Its hard to imagine but Muscle Research had an eCommerce presence way before the internet was browsable on a mobile device. Yes, thats right; Pre iPhone era. Keeping up with technology and staying relevant on the online space with a constant struggle for any eCommerce business, even today.

This will be Muscle Research’s (mrsupps.com) 5th website re-design and its first overhaul. Skynet Solutions has retained a great relationship with MR over the past years and has completed most of the online and marketing work required for their eCommerce business. But this time it was different. Not only did we completely change the look and feel we helped to migrate them to WordPress.

Change is tough but can sometimes be completely necessary. Migrating information, improving SEO and tightening security measures are all very important aspects that Skynet Solutions meticulously handled during their eCommerce website overhaul. With the use of WordPress as the new website platform, we were able to integrate more marketing, analytics, customer retention and customer interaction methods into the website. We also developed a custom woocommerce product listing display for mobile applications.

Shipping is a big topic for any eCommerce business. Shipping processes can make or break your eCommerce store and cause a lot of turmoil for both parties. The MR web overhaul included integration with our own custom eCommerce fulfillment software plugin that we developed for a centrally located fulfillment company. This integration alone provided a continuity with their distributor and website to maintain and monitor stock levels. Muscle Research has settled into their new website and the added functionality will allow for future growth in an ever-changing environment.

See other examples of our work or contact us today if you require an eCommerce Website Overhaul or any assistance with your online business.

Categories
Business Development Support

Business Automation with Software

Business automation software is the future of consumer-business and business-business interactions. It streamlines all your company efforts into one, seamless process and designated channel of communication. We believe in efficiency and we have the means to achieve it.

Have you ever had a complaint or question from a customer and realized you would have to spend the rest of the afternoon digging through piles of paper files to find their bill and respond to their inquiry? Or have you ever accidentally not billed-or even worse, double-billed-a customer for a service because you didn’t have an effective system to keep track of billing and receipts? Or what about losing the resume of a great prospective job applicant because you have no system in place to keep track of incoming applications? As some point, most small business owners have had to deal with one of these problems or something similar to it.

The problem is, that not only are these things annoying, they’re also a waste of your time and money. We know that as a business owner, you work harder than just about anybody else around and you don’t have time or money to waste-especially when it comes to running your company. The good news is that all of these problems can be easily avoided with simple, automated systems. Everything from sales, human resources and IT to supply chain logistics, management and billing can be simplified with business automation.

Business automation software is the future of consumer-business and business-business interactions. It streamlines all your company efforts into one, seamless process and designated channel of communication. It creates accountability in the office because every action has a responsible owner. Every action is tied to the individual who started that process, so if you or a customer has questions about any service or order, you can trace it back to the source. Business automation software also keeps you from making human errors that can cost your business money. Things like unpaid bills that might go unnoticed in a busy office will never be forgotten by an automated system. By removing the potential for human error, you protect against things like wasted time, wasted money, forgotten accounts and missed steps.

All the little details of running a business can really slow down your process and overwhelm you. We believe in efficiency and we have the means to achieve it. Implementing business automation software reduces the cost of doing business by taking out the labor intensive activities like filing, sorting through stacks of paperwork, copying and faxing and other similar activities. This allows you and your employees to focus on what’s really important-your business! No matter your industry, from the restaurant business to auto body repair to technology development, parts of it can be made easier and more efficient if everyone spends less time looking for paperwork or using the fax machine and gets to spend that time on doing their job to the best of their abilities.

There really isn’t any part of an office process that can’t be automated and made more efficient. Everything from accounts payable to most human resources hiring practices. Looking to hire? We can help you easily streamline your onboarding process for both applicants and your human resources staff with business automation software. Implementing this makes it easier for everyone. Even the best HR employee may lose track of an application or two if you are inundated. And if you have multiple postings at once, it gets even more difficult to track. You don’t want to lose out on a great candidate because you didn’t have a system in place to track them!

We have experience designing and creating software that makes the entire process smooth and streamlined. And if our existing software doesn’t do everything your business requires of it, we can customize software for your unique needs.

Our business automation software allows you as the business owner to focus your time and efforts less on the busy-work and more on the fun stuff. You started your business because you’re passionate about your industry and you know you can do it better than anyone else is doing it. However, when you spend two-thirds of your day bogged down in paperwork, logistics and human resources issues, it’s easy to forget why you actually started your business in the first place. We want to help change that with our business automation software. And rest assured, if none of our existing software works for your business, then we will do what we do best and create custom automation tools specifically for your business.

What is Business Automation and its Purpose?

Business automation starts when a customer makes a request and ends when the customer receives their completed request and pays for the good or service. Every step of the way through is cataloged and organized so that every step of the process is documented and can be referred back to later if necessary. This way, if a customer has a question or a compliant or you or an employee are trying to remember what stage of completion a certain task is at, all you have to do is check the system. No more relying on a he-said, she-said or someone’s distant memory. And goodbye to all those business nightmare scenarios we outlined earlier.

In short, business automation software replaces manual triggers with software. So, instead of you walking over to your coworker’s desk and telling them, “hey, I completed this task, please take over the next step and then send it back to me when you’re done,” the system automatically creates and alert and moves the task from your to-do list to your coworker’s to-do list. You can have set this up in whatever way seems most logical and convenient for you and your employees to use. You can have the system send an email alert or another type of alert when you receive a new task. You can ensure that each task comes with a timestamp and a chain of custody so you can always trace it back and see who sent what task to who when and who completed what step when.

For every project you work on for a customer, no matter how large or small, you can create a task. That way there is always a record that you can reference to see how long it has been since you started a project and what stage of completion it is in. That way, if you or a customer ever has a question about something, all you have to do is check the task so see when and where a problem occurred. No more searching through your email trash folder or wondering where you put that Post-it you had taken notes on at the last client meeting. This creates an end to end process and eliminates the potential for human error and which increases efficiency.

Still not Convinced? Check Out These Statistics.

91% Percent of companies with more than 11 people use a CRM system, compared to 50 percent of companies with 10 or fewer employees

81% Percent of CRM users now accessing their software via mobile devices, leading to greatly increased productivity

79% Percent of top-performing companies using marketing automation for more than two years

  • Sales reps saw productivity increased by 15 percent when they had mobile access to CRM applications
  • Research has shown that 65 percent of sales reps who have mobile access to CRM meet their sales quotes, compared to only 22 percent of those who don’t have mobile access to company CRM
  • Companies considered best-in-class are 67 percent more likely to use a marketing automation platform of some kind
  • 75 percent of customers say they’ll spend more money with a company as a direct result of a past positive customer relationship experience
  • 70 percent of businesses already using CRM software intend to increase spending on it because they’re so happy with it
  • 78 percent of successful marketers say their marketing automation system is most responsible for bringing in more revenue
  • 61 percent of CRM users said security and privacy were not challenges when adopting or using their CRM system
    However, 56 percent said they faced challenges when trying to customize their CRM without professional help
  • 74 percent said their CRM offered improved access to customer data
Categories
Development Digital Marketing News Website

Checkout Styling for WooCommerce and Elementor

As eCommerce experts, the team at Skynet Solutions is always working with small businesses to determine what needs they have they can’t be addressed by the current plugins available for WordPress. One of the most common issues we experienced is that eCommerce stores will often become frustrated with the inability to customize their cart and checkout pages with WooCommerce to make them reflect the rest of the website theme. Checkout Styling for WooCommerce and Elementor adds two new widgets to Elementor PRO to allow you to style your WooCommerce Cart and Checkout with the Elementor page builder.

Following the installation of the plugin, the standard WooCommerce Cart and Checkout pages are extremely limited by design. This creates a cohesive look for businesses that use the plugin but doesn’t allow for the individuality needed to shine against other eCommerce competitors. Historically, the only way to change this was through the use of custom coding or leveraging a plugin that may not be compatible with your existing template or page builder of choice. To combine the best of both worlds, Checkout Styling for WooCommerce and Elementor unites the power and popularity of Elementor PRO with WooCommerce to provide expanded functionality and extra styling options for WooCommerce Cart and Checkout pages.

Unlike other plugins that may completely override your existing theme or template options to provide customization, Checkout Styling for WooCommerce and Elementor adds two new widget options to further improve your store design options. After installing the WordPress plugin, just remove the WooCommerce short code that is currently in use and add the designated CSWE widget through Elementor Pro to match the page you are editing. Once done, you will have new and extensive options to easily customize your WooCommerce Cart and Checkout page.

| ELEMENTOR PRO IS REQUIRED FOR THIS PLUGIN

What Features do the CSWE Widgets Add?

CSWE Cart

CSWE Cart is a custom-designed widget for Elementor Pro that allows an eCommerce store to customize their WooCommerce Cart page using existing Elementor functionality. The goal of this widget is to ensure anyone can personalize their WooCommerce cart page with Elementor PRO as long as they have a basic understanding of the existing functionality the page builder provides. Some of the features you can expect when using CSWE Cart include:

  • Custom Button Text for Coupons and Checkout Buttons
  • Header Text Modifications for Font, Color, Border and More
  • Comprehensive Button Styling Options
  • Responsive Options To Hide Forms Based on Device
  • Custom Background Options and Motion Effects

CSWE Checkout

CSWE Checkout was developed to allow for increased styling options on the WooCommerce Checkout Page that were previously unavailable. By integrating the widget with existing Elementor functionality, eCommerce stores can quickly and easily personalize their checkout page to make it unique. Some of the features that you can expect when using CSWE Checkout include:

  • Custom Field Headers for Billing and Shipping Details
  • Individual Control of What Fields are Required
  • Typography Control for Buttons, Headers and Labels
  • Comprehensive Button Styling Options
  • Responsive Options To Hide Forms Based on Device
  • Custom Background Options and Motion Effects

DOWNLOAD PLUGIN NOW

How Can Skynet Solutions Help?

Skynet Solutions is committed to providing the best web design services possible. If you are ready to expand your web presence, refresh your website design, start your eCommerce website or enhance your digital marketing, we are here to help. You can fill out our online contact form on our website or connect with us on FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn.