Is There Really a Need for Another eCommerce Marketplace?

First, this isn’t just an ecommerce marketplace. It’s dedicated to WordPress eCommerce. That’s a pretty big difference when there are more than 20 other eCommerce platforms out there.

But even then, the question remains, aren’t there other sites selling eCommerce plugins and extensions for WordPress?

Do we really need another?

I think the core answer is still yes. Because most of the marketplaces out there sell products. They sell extensions. And while that’s great, there’s still a gap.

A gap?

Here’s the way I see it.

If you know what you want, and what you need, the current marketplaces and product sites are perfect. They solve a need. That need is the ability to procure a plugin or extension. If there were no more issues, maybe we wouldn’t need this site.

But the reality is that there are many people who have a different need than simply procurement. They have questions like, “Can WordPress and an eCommerce plugin do this?” or “How would I use WordPress and an eCommerce plugin to do that?”

The “can” and “how” questions are often answered in places completely distinct from the places where you can procure the right products. This makes it a two-step process.

  • Find the article that answers our “can” or “how” questions
  • Find the items referenced in the answers and buy them

What if we put those two things together?

What if we decided that your “how” and “can” questions could get answered on an independent and educationally-focused marketplace that also sold you extensions, for a variety of WordPress platforms?

That would be pretty awesome.

And that’s why I approached the only guy I knew and offered to help him create Shop Plugins. Because it seemed like a no-brainer to me.

I can’t wait to see if you all like it as much as I do.