Had a chance to record a podcast at WordCamp US 2017 with Brad Williams and John Hawkins from WebDevStudios talking about eCommerce and WordPress.
This last weekend I was in Nashville, Tennessee, which is known for its music and food, primarily hot chicken and BBQ. But during the time I was there, it was the place to be if you are involved with WordPress in any way, shape or form: WordCamp US, the pinnacle of WordPress events.
I spent my time in what is known as the Hallway Tracks, where I visited my vendor friends and countless WordPress colleagues, making new friends, being part of tons of conversations. While I was there, I was lucky to snag my two good friends, Brad Williams and John Hawkins from WebDevStudios. These two are all you need to know about WordPress— and just a couple of all around good guys. Listen in as we talk about eCommerce and WordPress. It starts right after I ask Brad to tell us about WebDevStudios.
You will find the full transcript at the end of this post.
We chatted about:
* What they view as progress in the eCommerce and WordPress space over the last couple of years
* The question of scalability for online stores using WordPress
* How they would answer the question, I want to sell my product online with WordPress. Where do I start?
* What they would tell someone who wants to sell online and is questioning if a WordCamp is right for them?
Transcript
You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: BobWP eCommerce Show Episode 113 December 6 2017
What is WebDevStudios?
Brad Williams: Hey Bob, it’s good to see you. So, WebDevStudios, we are a full-blown development and design agency with a focus on WordPress. But we actually work WordPress at scale, building custom applications a lot of functionality with awesome design. If it’s WordPress, we do it.
What’s been the biggest progress in eCommerce and WordPress in the last couple of years?
Bob Dunn: So, we’ve all been here in eCommerce and WordPress for a while. What do you think has been the biggest progress in the last couple of years?
John Hawkins: Some of the progress has been all about making things easier for the end user: people who own shops. Big shops, little shops. We’ve done some gigantic WooCommerce installations but I think the real advancement has been more toward the little guy who came in. You want to sell a digital product and you want something simple right away. Or you will have physical products and you need something a bit more complicated. eCommerce can now handle just about anything under the sun. So I’d say that has been kind of the biggest progression.
Brad: Also, to add to that, we’ve seen WooCommerce come out and really grow. I don’t know if I’d call it a standardized eCommerce plug-in, but it’s obviously the leader by far. So having that platform that we are all using, growing it and making it better, when in years past there were a lot of eCommerce options and they were all just kind of okay. Now we have one clear leader, which is great. So I think just having that out there has been a big plus for the WordPress eCommerce space.
Any thoughts on scalebility?
Bob: Okay, so you dropped the word scalability and I think that’s what a lot of people think WordPress is this tiny little thing and how can it possibly be scalable for a large eCommerce site? From your experience as an agency, any words of wisdom, insight from your own experience?
Brad: Yeah, I think, when people talk about scalability, whether it is WooCommerce or WordPress, it’s a similar conversation, right? It’s the same kind of response when people say, is WordPress scalable? Of course it is. We have a lot of examples. WordPress.