WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress that enables store owners to sell physical and digital products from a WordPress site. It provides the storefront, shopping cart, checkout, and payment features and is distributed under the GNU General Public License, making it free to use and modify alongside WordPress.

History: It was created by WooThemes and released in 2011. Automattic acquired WooCommerce in 2015, and it became the flagship e-commerce solution for WordPress. The project continues as an open-source core with a large ecosystem of official and third-party extensions.

Features: Core functionality includes product management (simple, variable, virtual, downloadable products), shipping options, tax calculation, coupon codes, customer accounts, order management, and basic analytics. The checkout supports multiple payment gateways, including official WooCommerce Payments and many third-party extensions. It also provides theme integration, email notifications, and mobile-friendly storefronts.

Extensibility: The platform is extended through a marketplace of extensions and themes. Free and paid extensions cover payments, shipping carriers, marketing tools, subscriptions, memberships, and more. The architecture relies on WordPress’ plugin system and PHP; many sites customize via hooks and templates.

Impact: As a leading e-commerce solution for WordPress, it powers a large portion of WordPress-based online shops and supports businesses ranging from small traders to large retailers. The project maintains documentation and an active community, with ongoing development and security updates provided by developers and Automattic.