Become an ECommerce Maven in 2015

Maybe you’ve been thinking about opening an online store on WooCommerce, but you feel like you need to learn more about it first.

Perhaps you aren’t sure which online store software to use.

Or maybe you’re a big-picture person, so you want to know more about global trends in eCommerce.

In this post, I’ll give you three courses that you can take now—or over the next few months—to learn more about eCommerce. They range from WooCommerce specific, to hybrid WooCommerce/eCommerce, to big-picture thinking.

The best part? They’re all either very affordable or free!

WooCommerce 101 Video Tutorials – Build Your Store from Start to Sale!

Just last week, WooThemes published a series of WooCommerce 101 Video Tutorials. It takes you through:

• Part 1: Installing WooCommerce.
• Part 2: Selecting the settings under the General tab.
• Pard 3: Selecting the settings under the Products tab, including Product Options and Inventory.
• Part 4: Configuring your Tax Settings.
• Part 5: An example of how to set a Tax Rate.

I just watched these videos and they provide a great introduction to setting up your WooCommerce store. In the intro post, Danny Santoro says that more are coming soon, so keep an eye on the WooThemes’ site for additional video content.

Cost: Free 

ECommerce with WordPress and WooCommerce

Treehouse’s course ECommerce with WordPress and WooCommerce is aimed at WordPress developers or business owners. It aims to tell you everything you need to know about setting up an eCommerce store.

The course:

• includes a big picture overview of eCommerce;
• goes through the different options for eCommerce on WordPress and explains why Treehouse is focusing on WooCommerce; and
• takes you through the details of setting up and running your WooCommerce store.

The six-phase course is taught by the delightful Zac Gordon. While I haven’t taken this course yet, I plan to. I’ve done other Treehouse courses in the past and found them to be effective yet fun.

One cool thing about Treehouse is that they allow you to put your membership on hold. So if you take a course, but then go through a busy period, you can pause your membership (and monthly payment). You can also cancel your account at any time.

Cost: $25 per month for a basic membership (or $49 per month for a pro membership, which includes talks from industry professionals and access to workshops and interviews). 

Foundations of eCommerce

If you’re anything like me, you need to grapple with the forest before you care about the trees.

Sure it’s great to know the practical details—what software to use, how to set up your store, how best to reach your customers—but what’s the point if everyone is going to abandon online shopping and go back to the malls? (By the way, I don’t think that’s going to happen).

Well, there’s a course for you too. Foundations of eCommerce, taught by Vijay Sethi of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, is on offer in January-February of 2015.

The course, which runs over six weeks, is broken into three parts:

• Part 1 will look at Internal Digital Transformation, including digital business models and products.
• Part 2 covers Customer Digital Transformation, including online customer experience and customer personalisation and targeting.
• Part 3 examines how to Sustain Digital Transformation, including networks and platforms and intellectual property rights.

Because this course is being run out of a Singaporean university, I’m hoping it’ll offer insights into Asia Pacific eCommerce, which (as you’ve probably guessed by now) I’m pretty excited about.

I’ve tried a few Coursera courses in the past (and completed one) and found them to be of excellent quality and value.

Cost: Free 

Resolution #1: Learn More About eCommerce

Winter is setting in here in the US and across much of the world (or if you’re in Australia, you’re increasingly looking for a reason to stay in the aircon).

Either way, that means new year’s resolutions are on their way. Why not add one (or all!) of these courses to your list for 2015?