Hi WPEC’ers (and now other WordPress e-commerce visitors), it’s been a busy month here at Visser Labs working hard on Plugin updates across the WP e-Commerce suite as well as keeping a pulse on the greater WordPress e-commerce community through the introduction of Jigoshop and now WooCommerce.

While I’ve been covering the new WooCommerce Plugin I haven’t had the chance to reflect on what this means for store owners and Plugin developers alike on other platforms; e.g. WP e-Commerce, Shopp, Jigoshop, etc. Here’s my thoughts. I’d be very keen to hear yours in the comments.

New players entering the market is a big win for store owners as it brings in unique perspectives on how to operate an e-commerce store, for new store owners this means greater choice in matching their requirements against a platform while for existing store owners it means expecting better from their own. This is the gap I set out to fill and exceed as a community developer for WP e-Commerce.

For Plugin developers it’s a completely different ball game as new players provide opportunities to adopt new practices and port them to their own Plugin; in my case through free and Premium extensions. That’s a win for store owners and Plugin developers alike!

I use and develop for WP e-Commerce because it feels like home, I know extensively how it works, have a strong relationship with the Core development team (Instinct) and wider Plugin/Theme developers community, but most of all can extend WP e-Commerce to suit the ever demanding needs of myself, clients and Plugin users/customers; that’s you!

I’m a big believer in a lean store Plugin which is bolstered by free and Premium extensions as it allows for rapid changes in the store’s makeup, be that the storefront and/or WordPress Administration, and see WP e-Commerce continuing towards this goal as 3.9 approaches.

Simply put. Going forward expect more innovative and business-minded Plugins for WP e-Commerce from Visser Labs. 😉