What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It began back in 2008 when Mike Jolley and Jay Koster saw an opportunity to bring eCommerce to WordPress the open source way, rallying the power of the WordPress developer community.
With 20M+ downloads and 1.7M active stores worldwide (via BuiltWith) it has seen incredible growth and uptake.
Simply: WooCommerce turns your site into a store. You can add the plugin free and the find hundreds of extension on the WooCommerce.com marketplace to customise your store to the skies.
Why the strange name?
It was a brand extension of the founding company WooThemes, creators of themes that made you go: Woo!
What’s been happening the past 12 months?
Woo got acquired by Automattic in July 2015 and so the past twelve months included the continuation of our assimilation process (in systems, goals, culture etc). Because both Woo and Automattic have always been remote, the transition has been pretty seamless, but we’re working on continued alignment and bringing our products and objectives closer and closer.
If an alien landed on earth and wanted to build an eCommerce store, why WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is for those hungry for open eCommerce. It’s the only platform for WordPress developers looking to retain complete control and go under the hood to create something truly unique.
Agile, modular, and robust, WooCommerce is an excellent choice for a merchant wanting more than just the very simplest store – including flexible payments etc.
Plus, Automattic are all in on making it the best eCommerce solution for WordPress users (including those who are more comfortable with WordPress.com), so there are a lot of resources being put into Woo and an exciting roadmap ahead.
Why do you sponsor WordCamps and other events, what do you get out of it?
Sponsoring WordCamps via Automattic’s global sponsorship, is a way to support the WordPress community and make sure that we can continue gathering the way we do across the globe. It helps to keep ticket prices down, making WordCamps more accessible.
Plus, when we have a booth (like at WCLDN) we get to talk to users and hear their pain points, feature requests and feedback.
What would you encourage WordCamp London 2017 attendees to come and talk to you about at your booth this year?
Ask us about WooCommerce Services, and the exciting plans unfolding there.
What’s your top tip for getting ready for a WordCamp?
Get a lot of sleep! And don’t overload on coffee 🙂
Do you have a favourite memory from #wcldn?
Jack Lenox talking about the WordPress Rest API in 2015, he smashed that. Also Marina face-planting at the sponsor event in 2015 when she stepped on the shiny bowling surface.