WooCommerce's Next Chapter: Agency Insights on Strategic Priorities
At EShopSet, we believe the best insights often come from the trenches—from the agency owners, PMs, and developers who are building and scaling ecommerce solutions every single day. That’s why we love seeing vibrant community discussions about the future of platforms like WooCommerce. Recently, a fascinating thread popped up, asking a crucial question: If you could influence WooCommerce’s next chapter, what would you prioritize?
The original poster kicked off a thought-provoking conversation, touching on everything from core product and developer experience to performance, AI, and community. The responses were incredibly illuminating, revealing a clear consensus on some fronts and highlighting critical areas that WooCommerce needs to address to stay competitive and relevant for agencies building bespoke solutions.
The Enduring Power of Flexibility (and Why We Can't Lose It)
One of the strongest themes that emerged was the overwhelming desire to preserve and enhance WooCommerce's legendary flexibility. A community member posed a pivotal question: Should WooCommerce double down on being flexible, or move towards a more opinionated, “batteries-included” approach? The consensus was immediate and resounding.
As the original poster eloquently put it, flexibility is “probably the top reason why I’ve been using it for years.” This sentiment was echoed by others, with one respondent stating emphatically, “Definitely flexibility imo. I don't think WooCommerce should ever attempt to compete directly against the ilks of Shopify.” For agencies, this flexibility is gold. It’s what allows us to meet unique client requirements, integrate specialized systems, and truly differentiate our solutions. However, there was a caveat: while blocks are useful, some feel they’ve somewhat diminished the "total freedom" developers once had, suggesting a need to make them even more flexible and decoupled from unnecessary overhead.
Performance at Scale: The Elephant in the Room
Perhaps the most concerning point raised was around performance, especially at scale. One seasoned developer, a self-proclaimed "devout Woo dev and loyalist," shared a painful truth: despite their loyalty, they often recommend Shopify for larger stores purely for performance reliability. They noted that while WooCommerce excels in the small to medium market, very few large stores turn to it, often due to underlying WordPress limitations.
This is a critical challenge for agencies looking to grow with their clients or secure enterprise-level projects. The ability to guarantee robust performance and reliability as a store scales is non-negotiable. While HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage) is a step in the right direction, the community clearly feels more needs to be done to ensure WooCommerce can truly compete when performance is paramount.
Modernizing the Experience: For Merchants and Developers Alike
Checkout Experience: Still Not Good Enough?
The checkout experience was another hot topic. A community member highlighted the need for a “more modern and flexible checkout experience,” noting that many resort to third-party plugins. While the new-ish Checkout Block was mentioned, one respondent candidly stated it’s “still not good enough.” They urged a comparison between a standard Woo checkout and highly optimized ones, emphasizing the lack of fluidity and user-friendliness for the “regular person online.” For agencies, a conversion-optimized checkout is a key deliverable, and relying on external plugins or heavy custom development for this core function adds complexity and cost.
Backend UI: A Painsore for Store Owners
Beyond the frontend, the backend UI for store owners received significant criticism. Comments like “the ui is weird AF for the store owner” and “It makes me wanna puke lol” highlight a serious usability gap. While tech-savvy developers might navigate it, the vast majority of merchants find the product dashboard and general admin settings dated compared to modern commerce platforms. This directly impacts client satisfaction and can be a significant hurdle during client onboarding and training. The original poster agreed, acknowledging that some areas, especially product management, “still feel dated compared to modern and not-so-modern commerce tools.”
Empowering Developers: Beyond Just Blocks
For developers, the desire for greater control and efficiency was clear. One suggestion was to decouple the Block editor and Store API from unnecessary baggage, allowing for filters to switch from block theme-ready styles to functional skeleton styles for components like the checkout block. This would "unleash more of Woo's power for devs creating bespoke stores," reducing the "fatigue" of doing all that work themselves. Another practical ask was for a built-in custom field GUI and custom taxonomies, which would significantly streamline development workflows and reduce reliance on third-party plugins for fundamental data management.
EShopSet Team Comment
This discussion perfectly encapsulates the challenges and opportunities facing WooCommerce. We strongly agree that flexibility is its superpower and must be protected. However, the performance and UI/UX issues for both merchants and developers are critical pain points that agencies navigate daily. WooCommerce needs to invest heavily in modernizing its core experience while simultaneously providing robust, decoupled tools for developers to build at scale. Ignoring these will continue to push larger projects towards competitors.
Ultimately, the community's voice is a powerful guide for WooCommerce's future. For agencies, understanding these priorities isn't just about choosing a platform; it's about making informed decisions that impact project delivery, client satisfaction, and long-term scalability. By staying attuned to these discussions, we can better advocate for our clients' needs and build more resilient, high-performing ecommerce solutions.
