So, here’s a question to all Moodle users- ‘what features (from the ones mentioned below) should a shopping cart for Moodle have’?
- Multiple payment methods
- A subscription option for courses
- An easy option to bundle and sell courses
- An option to sell shippable course material
- An option to add taxes to course purchase price
- A simple way to offer discounts and sales
- A possibility to add courses to wishlists
- An option for owners to track course purchases
- An easy option for students to track previous purchases
- An option for students to cancel/suspend purchases…
What else?
Of all the features Moodle users are looking for in a shopping cart, these are by far the most popular, and as I see them- the most important.
Moodle’s limited e-commerce capabilities have compelled Moodle LMS owners to look for a better shopping cart. And several Moodle owners have looked to WordPress specifically WooCommerce for a solution.
[space]
Why WooCommerce?
WooCommerce does not focus on extending Moodle’s e-commerce capabilities. It’s above and beyond that. WooCommerce focuses on being a complete e-commerce system. So while there are solutions such as Course Merchant, or Joomdle which focus on Moodle, they tend to miss out on providing certain e-commerce features, you might need.
WooCommerce, on the other hand, focuses purely on e-commerce. And that’s what makes WooCommerce a powerful shopping cart for Moodle.
The primary advantages WooCommerce provides are the ones listed below:
#1 Multiple Payment Methods
I’m going to tell you a secret. (Well it’s not so much of a secret as much as a fact, but anyway) Apart from the inbuilt payment gateways, WooCommerce has over 100 payment gateways readily available as extensions!
This means, if you’re looking to add a location-specific or currency-specific payment gateway for your students, WooCommerce probably already has it available as an extension.
And that’s not all, there are extensions which can allow students to maintain an online wallet (using Account Funds), or pay in installments (using WooCommerce Deposits).
#2 Easy Option to Sell Course Bundles or Subscriptions
No surprises here. WooCommerce allows you to bundle courses and offer subscriptions which provide you- the Moodle LMS owner, the flexibility to sell courses.
With bundles, you can increase your chances of upsells, while subscriptions help increase customer loyalty.
#3 Increase Sales using Discounts and Lead Generation Extensions
WooCommerce has an inbuilt option to schedule sales, and offer discount coupons. Additionally using a Wishlist or WooCommerce inquiry extension, you can increase your chances of conversions by tracking student interest.
#4 Simplified Order Tracking
WooCommerce provides a comprehensive order tracking and reporting system, with the possibility to cancel orders, refund purchases, and track buyer history.
[space]
But WooCommerce is on WordPress… How do I Integrate Moodle and WordPress?
Of course, if there wasn’t a readily available solution which integrated the two (Moodle and WordPress), I wouldn’t have encouraged you to use WooCommerce. Integrating two platforms could be an expensive ordeal.
But thankfully, you do not need to worry about all of that. With the introduction of Edwiser Bridge (a WordPress-Moodle integration plugin) and the WooCommerce Integration for Edwiser Bridge, Moodle LMS owners now have a ready solution which integrates WooCommerce and Moodle.
If you have a WordPress website, all you need is the Edwiser Bridge and the WooCommerce integration plugin and you’re set!
[space]
How does Edwiser Bridge Integrate Moodle and WordPress?
Edwiser Bridge provides Moodle LMS owners an option to sync courses into WordPress. WordPress is used as a shopping portal, whereas Moodle is where the learning happens.
By default, Edwiser bridge provides only PayPal as a payment gateway option. To provide additional payment methods, options to bundle courses and offer subscriptions, you’ll need the WooCommerce Integration extension for Edwiser Bridge.
[space]
WooCommerce Integration
The WooCommerce Integration for Edwiser Bridge adds WooCommerce to the mix, eventually integrating WooCommerce and Moodle. Quite obviously, the inherent advantages of WooCommerce are provided using this extension. But along with this the WooCommerce Integration extension provides the following:
- The WooCommerce Integration inherently provides a course bundle option (you do not need any additional plugin)
- With the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, you can sell courses on a subscription basis as well.
- Course access management is simplified as well, and course cancellation or refund request is handled seamlessly by revoking course access.
Single Sign On Extension
With the Single Sign On extension for Edwiser Bridge, it gets even better. You don’t have to worry about students having to login to two different systems. The plugin takes care of that. When a student is logged into WordPress he/she gets automatically logged into Moodle. So, when a student purchases a course, he/she can directly head over to Moodle and start accessing it.
[space]
Your Thoughts
So I’m a little biased :-p , after all, Edwiser Bridge and WooCommerce Integration plugins have been built by WisdmLabs. But all in all the e-commerce functionality provided by the plugins is unparalleled.
Don’t agree?
I’d like to hear your thoughts. Have you been looking for a shopping cart for Moodle and found something better? Tell us about it. Or, if you are an Edwiser Bridge user, tell us about features you’d like to see. The comment section below is open for discussions 🙂
[space]
