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  2. Getting Started on the Woo Marketplace

Getting Started on the Woo Marketplace

Merchants and builders come to the official Woo Marketplace for trusted products that enable them to create exactly the store they want. We’re looking to grow our offering with extensions, integrations and themes that add real value for anyone building a business with WooCommerce.

The following guidelines will give you insight into products we’re currently looking for, how to best position your products for Marketplace consideration, and the submission process.

Get to know your future customers

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WooCommerce transforms a WordPress website into a powerful eCommerce store. From theme designs to complex functionality, customers can purchase what they need from WooCommerce.com. On average, stores running WooCommerce have 15 products.  (Data from WooCommerce Tracker)

Customers purchasing from WooCommerce.com are fans of WordPress and the open-source ethos.

Marketplace customers are:

  • Both merchants and builders.  67% are buying extensions for their own stores, while 33% are developing sites on behalf of store owners.
  • Spread across many verticals.  The top verticals by store volume include: Fashion and Apparel, Health and Beauty, Education, Food and Drink, and Home and Garden.
  • Selling physical products, and multiple types of products. 70% sell physical products; 24% of stores that sell a physical product, also sell another type of product like digital goods, services, memberships, or tickets.
  • Selling many, many products. 40% sell 11-100 products, while 1 in 4 sell 100-500 products.
  • Operating all over the world: The strongest representation is currently in the US and Europe, while faster growth is in APAC and LATAM.

The most successful products sold in the Marketplace fill a clear business need for a large portion of store builders and developers. Get to know what customers want firsthand:

Products we’re looking for

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We’re looking for products that help store owners create successful businesses. Before submitting a product for review, please consider the following:

  • Focus on best-in-class extensions and integrations. The Woo Marketplace is ideal for proven products that will benefit from expanded visibility in a premium environment. We prioritize products with an existing customer base and positive feedback (e.g. with above-average ratings).
  • Submit solutions in categories that are currently underrepresented. Browse the Woo Marketplace, see what’s already listed and what’s not. For guidance, we are prioritizing solutions in the following categories:
    • Accounting
    • AI Assistance
    • Analytics & reporting 
    • B2B / B2C product sourcing
    • Block-based themes (see below bullet for additional conditions)
    • CRM tools / platform 
    • Customer support tools /platform
    • Inventory management
    • Localization / Multilingual / International pricing
    • Payments (see below bullet for additional conditions)
    • Personalization
    • Point of Sale (POS)
    • SaaS
    • Scalability support
    • SEO
    • Store automations
    • Tax 
  • For block themes, know our current vertical focus areas. These include Clothing and Fashion, Health and Beauty, Electronics/Gadgets, Bookings/Accommodation, Restaurants (Booking a table), Subscription-based services.
  • Think carefully before submitting products in payments.
    • For new payment plugin submissions we will prioritize products that support new regions, verticals, methods not listed today. We are particularly interested in B2B, Crypto, and Omni-channel solutions.
    • The payment service provider (processor or acquirer) is required to be involved in the submission process. We can help facilitate bringing the provider into the discussion but will prioritize submissions where this relationship is already in place.
    • Payment extensions will only be listed with an accompanying partnership agreement (custom or standardized) and cannot be submitted into the paid extension monetization/listing model.
  • Be original. WooCommerce is committed to open-source and promoting best practices within the community. We therefore expect our partners to support the intent of GPL and submit products with evidence of meaningful development work. Do not submit forked product. Forked products will be rejected or removed from the Marketplace.

Key technical guidelines

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Monetization options

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The Woo Marketplace offers the following monetization options:

  • Paid extension or theme with an annual subscription.
  • Free extension that requires a separate monthly or annual subscription to a connected service (for example, this is a common model for SaaS products).

Marketplace vendor agreement

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Except for those partners who sign a custom agreement with us, all vendors listing on WooCommerce.com must agree to our Marketplace Vendor Agreement. If you require additional or custom terms, we can address this separately.

Vendors selling on the Woo Marketplace agree to:

  • Maintain and update products to keep up with developments in both WordPress and WooCommerce, and to continually add new features for customers.
  • Provide support for their products. Support is submitted via WooCommerce.com and then routed directly to partners.
  • Manage their own product pages, hosted on WooCommerce.com.
  • Manage their own Partner page, hosted on WooCommerce.com.
  • Manage their own documentation, hosted on WooCommerce.com.

Vendors earn 70% of net revenue for the sale of their non-exclusive products, meaning the products can be sold on our Marketplace as well as off-platform. “Net revenue” applies to products sold in our Marketplace and means all revenues received by us in connection with a customer’s subscription for the product, less any amounts for discounts, refunds, reversals, affiliate fees, payment processing fees, and taxes. Payments are sent with 30 days of the end of the month.  

Vendors also enjoy:

  • Promotion on the Marketplace screen within WooCommerce.
  • Discovery on the official Marketplace, including search benefits from being listed on WooCommerce.com and WooCommerce.com/documentation.
  • Participation in WooCommerce.com sales and promotions, as determined by the WooCommerce team.
  • Customer feedback through ratings, reviews, and support tickets.
  • Recurring revenue through automatic renewals, high renewal rates, and renewal pricing that is not discounted.

Submitting a product

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Getting started

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To submit a product for Marketplace consideration:

  • Create a vendor account with WooCommerce.com.  As part of the account creation, you will be asked basic profile information such as business name, business website, and what your business sells.
Sign up for a vendor account
  • Start a submission from the vendor dashboard. Once the vendor account is created you can log in at any time with vendor account credentials and go to Submit Product from the left navigation menu to start the process.
  • Choose the right submission flow.  Select from Extension / Theme / SaaS options, fill out details for your product, and save changes at will before submitting.

Information we ask for

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The information we ask for will vary slightly depending on the submission flow selected. To make submissions seamless, and to ensure there’s enough for a comprehensive review, we only ask for critical details.

Product details  

This section may ask for product name, suggested primary category, and a short description.

  • Make sure product names do not violate our trademark guidelines, otherwise a product may be immediately rejected.
  • For extensions and integrations, indicate which category your product best fits under. If your submission is approved, we’ll confirm where the product will be listed ahead of launch. The Woo Marketplace top-level categories are:
    • Conversion: Ways to optimize a store for sales, including upsells, cross-sells, order recovery, store alerts, and rewards and loyalty.
    • Customer Service: Products that allow stores to manage pre-and post-purchase interaction with customers.
    • Merchandising: Products that create new types of products for a store.
    • Marketing: Ways to optimize a store for discovery and engagement, including email, automation, advertising, SEO, social integrations, and reporting.
    • Shipping, Delivery & Fulfillment: Products that allow stores to manage physical products, including shipping options, carriers, inventory, and fulfillment.
    • Store Content and Customization: Extensions that customize the eCommerce features of a site, including product pages, checkout, or search features.
    • Store Management: Solutions for managing the nuts-and-bolts of a store, including accounting, taxes, and point of sale.
    • Payments: Products that allow stores to take payments, primarily payment gateways.

Product upload 

Upload your product. When you submit the form, an automatic code review will start. Check the key technical guidelines to make sure your product will pass the tests first time!

Business details 

This will help us better understand why your solution may be a good fit for the Woo Marketplace.

  • Tell us about your product’s key features and benefits.
  • Tell us about the product’s pricing model.
  • Tell us about how it compares to similar products.
  • Tell us about products with which your product offers special integration or that need to be activated.

Testing instructions

This will help us test how your product works. 

  • Provide instructions on how to install, configure, and use the product.
  • Provide the URL to a walkthrough video that gives our team an overview of the product.
  • Provide the URL to demo site, along with necessary data and login credentials to test the product.

Compatibility and interoperability

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  • Interoperability with top Woo extensions. Products should not cause issues with widely-used Marketplace extensions.  If your product is found to break any of these extensions when installed alongside them, it may be rejected or removed from the Marketplace.  These popular Marketplace extensions include:
  • Compatibility with WooCommerce features. Visitors expect the Woo Marketplace to be the leading source of extensions and themes that support the most optimal ecommerce experience. This means we will only accept submissions that are compatible with the latest enhancements to the core WooCommerce platform and overall merchant experience. Review the Woo Public Roadmap for primary initiatives, and what to expect this year from WooCommerce. 
  • Block Editor compatibility. As we evolve within the WordPress ecosystem, we’re placing a strong emphasis on Block Editor compatibility for WooCommerce extensions. While we continue to support classic and hybrid approaches, prioritizing Block Editor compatibility ensures your extensions align with the latest trends and offer users a more intuitive and cohesive experience.
    • Extensions: Eliminate shortcode dependency. Many plugins still rely on shortcodes to output content. To enhance compatibility with the Block Editor, it is essential that these shortcodes are provided as blocks. This not only future-proofs your product but also allows users to leverage the full potential of the Block Editor’s capabilities.
    • Themes: While we continue to accept classic and hybrid themes, it’s essential to note that we are prioritizing Block Themes for the Woo Marketplace. Block Themes are designed to fully leverage the capabilities of the Block Editor and provide users with a more intuitive and flexible content creation experience.
    • Cart and Checkout blocks: The block-based Cart and Checkout is now the default experience in WooCommerce, offering a more streamlined and visually cohesive shopping experience. As a developer, prioritizing compatibility with these default blocks ensures your extensions and themes seamlessly integrate with the enhanced default shopping flow. Read more: Understanding the Architecture of Cart and Checkout Blocks

Review process

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Submission status

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Once you submit your product, the submission will be locked until a reviewer adds comments.  Possible statuses a submission can go through:

  • Draft: Initial status and not submitted for review yet
  • Pending Review: Automated process for code review. Sub-statuses during this phase include:
    • No Build – Initial status and product has not yet been submitted for review
    • Queued – Product submission is currently in the queue to be processed
    • Preparing – Preparing the automated review process
    • Processing – Automated processing of the plugin file
    • Testing – Automated tests of the plugin file
    • Successful – Plugin passed all the automated tests
    • Failed – Automated processing and/or tests failed. Find more information on possible errors on the WooCommerce Plugin Developer Handbook
  • Business Review: Submission has successfully completed automated code review and is awaiting review from our business team
  • UX Review: Submission has successfully completed Business Review and is awaiting detailed product review
  • Changes Required: Our team has requested changes to the product or documentation
  • Approved: Submission has been approved and next steps for launch will be sent via email
  • Rejected:  Your product has been rejected, reasons may be provided in the submission comments

Submission review

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Submissions go through code, business, and product reviews. Once the submission is in business review, you can expect a formal decision from a reviewer within 30 days. Throughout the review process, we may provide feedback and ask for changes before rejecting or approving a submission. For guidance, below is what we look for during each review phase (and what you should be sure to include before submitting):

Code review

The code review includes automated tests of the extension file (if applicable).

Business review

The business review includes an analysis of product performance, rationale, competition, and developer/company history.

  • Does the product name adhere to our trademark guidelines? Is it brief (no more than three words)?  Is it unique (not identical to a product listed on a different marketplace)? Is it customer-focused (your customers’ words rather than your own)?
  • Does the product have an existing customer base, with above average ratings? Do you have a history of building products, with above average ratings?  
  • Does the product fill a merchant need in a category underrepresented in the Woo Marketplace?
  • Have you provided at least 2 competitive solutions with traction among merchants? Have you highlighted how your solution is substantially better? If relevant, the competitive analysis should include products currently listed in the Marketplace.
  • Is the proposed price equal to or less than the price of the product sold in other environments?

UX review

The product review includes a deeper analysis of product UX and UI.

  • Does the product have a single core purpose and use WooCommerce features as much as possible?
  • Does the  product follow all UX guidelines? Products should be built with the UX guidelines in mind in order to provide a consistent user experience. Failure to adhere to UX guidelines can result in delayed launch or rejection. 
  • Can the product function “out-of-the-box” without much configuration? 
  • Have critical flows been thoroughly tested on your product? Ex. WooCommerce Core critical flows
  • Is your product compatible with WooCommerce core features such as High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) and Cart & Checkout Blocks? 
  • .Have you submitted a walkthrough URL showcasing the product frontend and backend setup?
  • Have you submitted a walkthrough URL showcasing the product frontend and backend setup?
  • Have you submitted a demo site URL with the product configured?
  • Have you provided a data file URL to test your product?  For SaaS and 3rd-party integration solutions, have you provided credentials and URL to access a demo account?
  • Have you submitted technical documentation per the provided template? 

Once a submission successfully passes these review phases, it will be formally approved and proceed to onboarding for launch.

Launch requirements

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Our team will provide guidance through each step of the onboarding process, which includes:

  • A fully functioning product that meets Marketplace guidelines.
  • For SaaS products, integration with our billing API.
  • Proper setup and workflows to manage customer support.  
  • Marketing content such as a product logo, screenshots, and product page copy.
  • Documentation such as instructions for how to install, configure, and use the product.
  • Final editorial and UX reviews prior to launch.

By adhering to these guidelines, you contribute to a more cohesive ecosystem and empower users to make the most of WooCommerce.