We’ve talked many instances about easy methods to get your ecommerce website up and working inside just some minutes, however you’ll begin to discover that almost all of content material on-line is about promoting bodily merchandise, and we wish to repair this. A number of the greatest ecommerce platforms present choices to promote your personal digital merchandise resembling eBooks, music and video programs, however they don’t significantly give attention to these digital objects. There are only some platforms on the market that do, and Simple Digital Downloads – aka EDD – is without doubt one of the extra extremely revered ones.
Why? Simple Digital Downloads works seamlessly with WordPress, and you actually don’t have to start out paying for something till you are feeling like increasing your retailer. Let’s check out an in-depth evaluate of the Simple Digital Downloads system to see if it’s the suitable choice for you.
Simple Digital Downloads: Options
Simple Digital Downloads is a straightforward plugin for WordPress. In contrast to many different plugins you’ll bump into, it’s slightly light-weight and it doesn’t overpower your web site. You’ll be able to count on the location to maneuver shortly with none issues.
It additionally offers a state-of-the-art checkout system which is good for these clients who wish to obtain a number of information at one time. Your complete interface is fairly darn easy, so that you don’t have to fret about individuals getting annoyed and leaving the location earlier than shopping for something.
What else comes with Simple Digital Downloads? Your clients obtain their very own profile to allow them to all the time come again and obtain what they purchased.
You’ll be able to put up low cost codes for these particular summer time or vacation reductions. You may also simply observe all of the funds that undergo your website and handle your stories with ease.
Simple Digital Downloads’ Knowledge Reporting Options
Simple Digital Downloads has some glorious information reporting instruments so as to view your earnings based mostly on date ranges and classes. The entire statistics may be filtered by looking for particular merchandise.
The stories are saved on the WordPress dashboard, with clear graphs and tables in order that even a newbie can perceive and really feel snug with studying the data. The information reporting instruments embody buttons for exporting your retailer information. The entire exports are transferred right into a CSV file. We additionally like the truth that you may monitor all the downloads out of your web site, and examine on potential abuse or spam. Your whole gross sales are additionally detailed within the information reporting module.
Simple Digital Downloads: The Low cost Codes
Prospects love a very good low cost. That is why it is important to supply the occasional low cost codes for particular occasions or holidays. Fortunately, Simple Digital Downloads has its low cost code performance constructed into the plug-in. For example, you might select a percentage-based or flat charge low cost to supply to your clients.
Another settings embody the choice to restrict a coupon’s utilization by a sure variety of instances used or by the kind of consumer. Automated begin and finish dates are potential, together with the power to incorporate or exclude sure merchandise from the low cost codes.
Lastly, you may discover it advantageous to require a minimal buy whole for the low cost to work. For example, you may say that the client will get 20% off after spending $50.
Simple Digital Downloads’ Buyer Administration Instruments
We talked about a bit of bit about how buyer administration instruments are included with Simple Digital Downloads. However now we wish to take a deeper look into what these buyer administration options can do for what you are promoting. To begin with, nearly all buyer particulars are proven within the WordPress dashboard. This contains info resembling an e mail handle, buyer identify, and all latest purchases.
You’ll be able to manually create a buyer web page and even hyperlink a few of these information to different profiles. One in all my favourite options is that the Simple Digital Downloads dashboard exhibits you a buyer lifetime worth so you may determine a few of your VIP clients.
Simple Digital Downloads: The Purchasing Cart Expertise
The purchasing cart is without doubt one of the primary causes Simple Digital Downloads turned so widespread within the first place. Not solely can it help each visitor and registered consumer checkouts, however you may customise your purchasing cart with Purchase Now or Add To Cart buttons.
It actually is without doubt one of the easiest checkout processes for purchasers. As well as, customers can save their carts and are available again to them when they’re able to buy. Apart from that, the one different standout characteristic can be that you would be able to require your clients to conform to phrases and providers earlier than they purchase.
Simple Digital Downloads: Ease of Use
The primary time I began enjoying round with Simple Digital Downloads I actually thought it might be a bit of amateurish, because it’s utterly free and I normally assume that the paid premium plugins are those which are worthwhile.
Nonetheless, the plugin was slightly easy to obtain and put onto my website. You simply go to their web site and click on on the Obtain button. This locations the file in your pc which might then be uploaded and activated in your WordPress web site.
There’s additionally a pleasant product demo for trying out the entrance finish of the location, however this didn’t actually inform me something concerning the backend and easy methods to setup your merchandise.
Evidently, the plugin is sort of straightforward to make use of, since they supply a radical directions web page proper off the bat.
There’s a little Downloads tab on the left-hand facet of your dashboard, and that’s all you actually need to know when it comes to transferring across the plugin.
This tab offers choices so as to add a brand new product, examine your fee historical past and to see your stories. The one factor that’s a bit of tedious is combining your present theme with the plugin. You principally have to determine how your theme works with the plugin, so you’ll have to leap to a web page and place a certain quantity of merchandise on this web page or set your homepage to characteristic a few of your extra widespread objects.
Simple Digital Downloads: Pricing
The Simple Digital Downloads plugin is totally free. This is without doubt one of the primary causes it’s so widespread for promoting digital merchandise. You may need to pay a bit of cash on your fee processor, however this relies.
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The primary space the place you may need to pay some cash is for those who go to the Extensions web page.
This allows you to energy up your website a bit of extra with objects resembling e mail stories, fee gateways, and invoices.
Should you pay for 3 or extra extensions you get a ten p.c low cost, and so they additionally package deal collectively a few of the extensions with enormous reductions.
As for WordPress themes which are suitable with straightforward Digital downloads, you will discover a number of free themes on the Simple Digital Downloads web site. The builders additionally advocate many group themes that play effectively with the Simple Digital Downloads plugin. Having mentioned that, chances are you’ll determine to purchase a premium theme from a spot like ThemeForest. If that is the case, you must issue the price of that theme into your total funds for working a digital product web site.
A Have a look at A number of the Extensions
Simple Digital Downloads comes with loads of options so that you can get began promoting digital objects on-line. In actual fact, primary shops should not should buy any extensions to broaden performance.
Nonetheless, the extension library has some glorious instruments for these firms that want distinctive options resembling recurring funds, frontend product submissions, and software program licensing.
The classes for the Simple Digital Downloads extensions are listed under:
- Cost gateways
- Accounting
- Licensing
- Analytics
- E mail Advertising
As talked about earlier than, you even have the choice to buy some extension packages that will make it cheaper and supply a greater worth for a big group of extensions.
The pricing for these extensions varies drastically. I might argue that you must count on to pay round $50 to $100 per extension. For instance, the Stripe Cost Gateway extension is listed at $89 for a single website license. The Mailchimp extension is a bit of cheaper at $49 for a single website license.
To provide you an concept, listed below are a few of the hottest Simple Digital Downloads add-ons to select from:
- Recurring funds
- The Stripe fee gateway
- Software program licensing
- Entrance finish submissions
- The PayPal Professional and PayPal Categorical gateway
- Free downloads
- Mailchimp
- A checkout fields supervisor
- Dropbox
An All Entry Go:
Much like firms like Elegant Themes, Simple Digital Downloads additionally has “membership” move choices so as to pay a certain quantity per yr for entry to some or all the Simple Digital Downloads merchandise.
These packages are glorious for builders with shoppers and for individuals who could be working a number of web sites. We additionally prefer it for those who simply need entry to all the extensions for one web site.
Listed below are the passes to provide you an concept of how a lot you may should pay and what comes together with every package deal:
- Private Go – $99 per yr for single website licenses to all e mail advertising integrations.
- Prolonged Go – $199 per yr for help to promote recurring subscriptions and use all fee gateways. Every extension you obtain comes with a single website license.
- Skilled Go – $299 per yr for entry to all premium extensions and market performance. All extensions get single website licenses.
- All Entry Go – $499 per yr for entry to all extensions and limitless license key utilization. That is splendid for an company or a community of internet sites.
Updates and help are included with all the passes.
Simple Digital Downloads: Setup and Design
Since 65 p.c of ecommerce visitors comes from cell gadgets, you must positively think about using a platform that gives cell responsiveness. That is one more reason Simple Digital Downloads works so effectively.
Though it will depend on the theme you’re utilizing, for those who go for a responsive theme, the plugin appears to work fairly effectively so that everybody who makes use of cell gadgets can see your merchandise okay.
The one phrase I can use to explain the Simple Digital Downloads design is minimalistic. They don’t have any bells and whistles included, so you may work by yourself CSS styling to make the location look the best way you need.
All it’s important to do is add a picture, punch in an outline for the merchandise and implement a button for individuals to purchase from you.
Simple Digital Downloads: Managing Your Stock
Let’s say you wish to add a couple of digital merchandise to your web site. All it’s important to do is click on on the Add New button beneath the Downloads tab in your WordPress toolbar, after which it provides you a WordPress editor web page identical to you have been about to write down a weblog put up.
On the backside of the web page, you may sort in a worth for the obtain and embody numerous different particulars resembling product sort, notes, the obtain hyperlink, and a picture. Be at liberty to additionally change what number of instances a single individual can obtain the file.
Simple Digital Downloads Evaluation: website positioning and Advertising
Simple Digital Downloads doesn’t appear to have any built-in website positioning or advertising instruments, so that you both have so as to add your personal WordPress plugins or buy a few of the objects they promote within the extensions retailer. This isn’t an enormous drawback since WordPress means that you can add just about something and this plugin is totally free.
Funds and Safety
Should you go to the Settings web page you’ll discover a Cost Gateways choice to mess around with the fee programs you should use. As soon as once more, numerous different fee gateways can be found within the Extensions Retailer, however by default you may implement a PayPal fee gateway.
It’s fairly easy to arrange, and from what I’ve learn you should not have to fret a lot about safety, though I had some hassle discovering documentation about safety on the Simple Digital Downloads web site.
Simple Digital Downloads Evaluation: Buyer Help
The Simple Digital Downloads help is unimaginable. In brief, the corporate offers Boards, FAQs and an space to submit your personal tickets in case you have any questions.
Simple Digital Downloads Evaluation: Conclusion
The Simple Digital Downloads plugin is extraordinarily light-weight and simple to make use of, so it might be my first selection if I have been planning on promoting some eBooks or songs, so be at liberty to provide it a strive, since you may all the time simply uninstall it for those who discover it isn’t a match on your website.
Tell us within the feedback part in case you have any questions on this Simple Digital Downloads evaluate.
Editor’s be aware: This put up was initially printed on February 11, 2015 and has been utterly revamped and up to date for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
