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Building your online store with WordPress and WooCommerce : learn to leverage the critical role e-commerce plays in today’s competitive marketplace
Sims L., Apress, New York, NY, 2018. 200 pp. Type: Book (978-1-484238-45-5)
Date Reviewed: Jun 27 2019

This is a how-to book on using WordPress and WooCommerce--WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, creating an e-commerce store. The text goes through the steps required to configure the software, with comments, after two short chapters about e-commerce. The book appears to be of great value for someone committed to using WordPress, but is probably of less interest to someone wanting to learn about the state of e-commerce or its history. The book points out that WordPress is probably the most popular content management software, so it is a sensible choice for an online store.

Nearly all the chapters walk the reader through screen shots from WordPress and WooCommerce, giving the implications of different choices. Some of the screen shot text is faint and most of it is small, so it is sometimes difficult to decipher. A person following along on a monitor, though, should have no trouble. The book sometimes mentions alternative software, but usually the author stays with her choices, for example, PayPal is the preferred online payment option and is used consistently. Both WordPress and WooCommerce are open source, but modifying the code is far beyond the scope of the book.

Chapter summaries follow. The first chapter describes e-commerce and the second chapter describes setting an e-commerce strategy. These chapters are clear but succinct. Chapter 3 presents WordPress and how to install it. The next chapter (4) makes a case for PayPal, and then for WooCommerce, and shows how WooCommerce is installed on the WordPress dashboard.

Chapter 5 is “E-Commerce Themes.” Before customizing WooCommerce, the store owner must go through the process of choosing a theme for the web, analogous to creating user experience for a brick-and-mortar store. A theme is available from WordPress or from vendors. The WordPress theme includes product search, a mechanism for featuring products, advertising, and more.

Chapters 6 through 10 cover creating, securing, testing, marketing, and maintaining your online store. With a theme in mind, the user can customize WooCommerce, including payment options and shipping. Security is important, and e-commerce stores should secure a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate; other security strategies are mentioned. The online store should be tested before being launched. Once the store is launched, it should be marketed; social media is recommended. Maintaining an online store is partly a matter of keeping the software up to date and partly a matter of tracking sales.

If I were setting up an online store, I would want this book. It presents a lot of information in an encouraging, reassuring tone. The recommendations seem clear and accessible and assume the reader is familiar with nothing more mysterious than file transfer protocol (FTP) or MySQL.

Reviewer:  B. Hazeltine Review #: CR146610 (1909-0335)
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Electronic Commerce (K.4.4 )
 
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