A year ago today, Automattic acquired WooThemes. Since joining Automattic, lots has happened under the WooTeam. This post takes a look at some of the big changes WooMattic has made in the past year and where it’s headed.
But first check out this video:
Growth
When WooThemes started in Sept. 2011, it had zero downloads, nine themes, and six extensions. Now, the company has 13.8 billion downloads and is the most popular ecommerce solution. According to built with, 37 percent of all eCommerce sites use WooCommerce, and that number doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
In April, the first WooConf since the acquisition was held in Austin, where Matt Mullenweg delivered the first-ever State of the Woo. In it, Mullenweg shared some stats on Woo’s growth, including,
- There are 76 people on Woo Team across 18 countries
- There are currently 433 contributors
- WooCommerce Meetups: 40 groups with 5,270 members
- WooCommerce is fully translated into 26 different languages at 100 percent
- There are currently 22 “WooExperts,” hand-selected experts that understand WooThemes’ products
Connect
Earlier this month, WooCommerce announced Connect, a new hosted version of WooCommerce which is now available for testing. The new feature works to makes it easier to add extensions by offloading the code to Automattic’s servers instead of housing them yourself.
As it stands now, you have to find the extension and then download the file. Then you have to download the API and add the subscription key before you can even start using the feature. It’s certainly not the most simple process. With Connect, everything is housed on Automattic’s servers, allowing you to just being using the features of the extension. It becomes more of an activation than an installation.
The functionality is in alpha testing, so you can sign up and start testing. WooCommerce already has a far-reaching presence in the eCommerce world, but making extensions easier to navigate will make it even more accessible to online business owners.
The Future
The year has certainly been a productive one for WooMattic, and the future is equally as bright. WooCommerce 2.6 is in beta and will be released sometime this month. The release will include Storefront 2.0, which is an easy way to make your online store look more modern and be more responsive.
In his State of the Woo address at WooConf, Matt Mullenweg said this year’s goal is to make even more people online entrepreneurs. The goal is to make payments, taxes, and shipments easier so anyone can start up a business with Woo.
A lot can happen in a year and the success of WooThemes is no different. We’re not sure what we’ll see a year from now, but if the company continues to make strides as it has been, it could very well take over the ecommerce market.
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