The greatest point about WordPress is how simple it is to make a site. The 2nd greatest point is producing cash from it. Correct?
I suggest for genuine, most sites are created to convert somebody. No matter whether you happen to be marketing a services, solution, or download – a site is to display your brand to the planet.
If you happen to be searching to promote a digital download right from your WordPress internet site, you can do it in just a number of clicks soon after putting in a single plugin.
Which is specifically the purpose of Easy Digital Downloads. It really is various than WooCommerce as it truly just focuses on digital products. Want to promote a song? Offering a plugin to the WP neighborhood? This is your go-to device.
What is Simple Digital Downloads?
Simple Digital Downloads (EDD) is a freemium WordPress plugin that was established in 2012. This strong plugin facilitates the sale of digital merchandise this kind of as music, ebooks, video clips, and software program.
EDD has a huge array of attributes that simplifies the management and addition of merchandise, payment acceptance, and delivery of digital downloads on the common WordPress site.
The cost-free edition of EDD (EDD Lite) is a full plugin that can be utilized to set up an on the web keep with out getting to pay out. Tthat becoming mentioned, the paid edition offers very a bit far more include-ons and integrations to additional customize and increase your on the web store’s performance.
EDD has aided promote above 570,000 merchandise in 115 nations right from WordPress sites. Quite extraordinary, proper?
Simple Digital Downloads Essential Attributes
With Simple Digital Downloads, enterprise owners can produce a seamless on the web keep expertise to promote their e-products with out needing to create or comprehend any code. Here is what you can do:
- Item Management: EDD permits you to produce and deal with your digital merchandise effortlessly. You can include solution specifics, set pricing alternatives, offer solution descriptions, and upload digital files for consumers to download on acquire.
- Buying Cart Program: EDD offers a safe and customizable buying cart technique that allows consumers to include several merchandise to their cart and proceed to checkout effortlessly. It supports different payment gateways, which includes PayPal, Stripe, and other folks, enabling consumers to pay out employing their favored approach.
- Payment and Income Monitoring: The plugin tracks income, earnings, and other transaction-associated details, delivering you with complete reviews and analytics. It really is a bit of a WooCommerce substitute, just for digital downloads.
- File Delivery and Safety: Simple Digital Downloads handles the safe delivery of digital files to consumers soon after a productive acquire. Buyers can also log in to a portal to download details every time essential. This functions fantastic if you happen to be marketing issues like plugins or software program licensees.
- Extensibility: EDD provides a broad variety of extensions and include-ons that let you to lengthen its performance in accordance to your certain wants. These extensions allow you to integrate with well-liked e-mail marketing and advertising platforms, produce licensing alternatives for software program merchandise, set up affiliate programs, and far more.
Versatile Payments & Simple Setup
The cost-free edition of Simple Digital Downloads supports four payment gateway alternatives – Stripe, PayPal, Amazon, and Gateway/Check payments. Go to Settings > Payments > Common. Verify the boxes of the Energetic Gateways you want on to give your consumers the most alternatives.
As soon as you set up your pricing, you can effortlessly include downloads to your keep by going to Downloads & then hitting “Include New”. Identify it, include pricing, and attach your file.
If you want to set variable pricing for a provided solution, examine the ‘Enable variable pricing’ box. If you want to display several cost alternatives, examine the Allow the multi-choice acquire mode.’ Then, enter the cost and optional title for Cost ID:one. To include far more alternatives, click Include New Cost and do the identical for Cost ID:two, Cost ID:three, and so on.
The download file box lets you decide on what kind of file you will be marketing. You also will get to upload the attachment (or several attachments) right inside the plugin interface for fast marketing. Set customized guidelines if you have far more details that consumers want to know.
Low cost Codes
You can effortlessly set up different sorts of low cost codes and different pricing alternatives. Require to alter pricing based mostly on specified traits of a buyer profile? You could entirely do that.
Incorporating downloads are relatively simple. Include the attachment, set the cost, and enter all the metadata about what consumers will be getting. Then conserve it… and you happen to be completed!
You have tons of alternatives to customize pricing reductions with this acquire. Some of them contain:
- Download Demands – Use the dropdown menu to restrict the low cost code to specified merchandise.
- Excluded Downloads – Use the dropdown menu to decide on the merchandise to be excluded from the low cost.
- Start off Date – Pick the date and time the low cost will commence.
- Expiration Date – Pick the date and time the low cost will expire.
- Minimal Sum – Select the minimal sum of acquire ahead of a buyer can avail of the low cost.
- Optimum Utilizes – Enter the quantity of occasions the low cost code can be utilized. For illustration, “First ten consumers can get twenty% off.” You can also enter ‘Unlimited.’
- Use As soon as Per Client – Verify the box if you want consumers to use the low cost code only after.
Client Management Equipment
Simple Digital Downloads provides a complete Client Management technique that permits you to have accessibility to your customers’ individual details. By navigating to Downloads > Buyers, you can see their names, e-mail addresses, acquire historical past, investing quantities, and account creation dates.
This is a way greater organizational plugin if you happen to be functioning with customized ecommerce WordPress sites but will not automatically want to go via the headache of setting every thing up with WooCommerce. WooCommerce adds so a lot of attributes that are not essential if you happen to be just striving to promote digital merchandise.
With EDD, you can also see your customers’ information based mostly on their e-mail and bodily addresses. Plus, the back links underneath every single customer’s title let you to see added specifics which you can download or delete from your database. The greatest portion is that this Client Management function is accessible to the two cost-free and paid consumers. A quite incredible analytical device to assist section your information.
Substantial Ecommerce Reviews
In addition to managing buyer information, Simple Digital Downloads offers you with in depth reviews about your download transactions. By going to Downloads > Reviews > Overview, you can maintain track of your Product sales, Earnings, Regular Purchase Worth, New Buyers, and Complete Refund Sum. All of them are accessible in figures and graphs.
What’s far more? You can customize the date variety (Ex: Month to date) you want to see and even evaluate its information to yet another date variety. If you are an Apple consumer, you can also download the official Simple Digital Downloads iOS App to immediately see the income and earnings of your digital keep on your iPhone.
Which is some thing fairly special and in depth for what appears like a standard WordPress plugin. I look to constantly fail to remember WordPress is a 600 billion dollar sector.
As you can see, our testing internet site has a grand complete of bucks in income and earnings, how incredible. (sarcasm). We really are not employing this on a reside internet site at the second, which is why the plugin appears empty.
All jokes aside, Simple Digital Downloads’ eCommerce Report function permits you to see your information in accordance to different classes. This involves Downloads, Refunds, Payment Gateways, Taxes, File Downloads, Special discounts, Buyers, and Export.
You can also download reviews to CSV files:
Theme Compatibility
Technically,Simple Digital Downloads is compatible with any WordPress theme. EDD also has its personal set of cost-free themes this kind of as Themedd and Vendd, which are exclusively made for eCommerce.
You could integrate these right inside plugins like Breakdance and Oxygen if you happen to be currently employing your personal proprietary theme builder.
As an eCommerce platform consumer, it really is critical to make sure that your theme functions appropriately, particularly when putting in other plugins and integrations. If you happen to be striving to run EDD on a mission crucial internet site, make positive to check the total item checkout movement & seem above your theme styes to make positive every thing functions ahead of you really pull the plug to launch.
EDD Extensions
This is a greater freemium WP plugin due to the fact the cost-free edition of the plugin is currently a full WordPress plugin for eCommerce websites. You will not truly want to do something else. But as your digital keep grows, you will absolutely uncover the include-on attributes to be quite beneficial.
EDD now has above 72 Extensions in various classes – Accounting, Analytics, E mail, Gateways, Licensing, and Advertising accessible to include as plugin integration.
Some EDD Extensions are cost-free to download, other folks demand a paid acquire. Or you could just acquire the premium version of the plugin to get all the extensions. Just improve to the All Entry Pass strategy and you will get every thing incorporated.
Free of charge EDD Extensions
- Extra Shortcodes
- Car Register
- Low cost Widgets
- EDD Empty Cart
- EDD Record File Names
- EDD Acquire Rewards
- External Goods
EDD Professional Extensions
- Acquisition Survey
- ActiveCampaign
- Include to Cart Popup
- Aweber
- Campaign Keep track of
- ConvertKit
- EDD Cross-promote and Upsell
- EDD Social Special discounts
- Free of charge Downloads
- GetResponse
- Invoices
- Mad Mimi
- Mailchimp
- Multi Currency
- Slack
- Zapier
Third-Celebration Extensions
- Ajax Verify Username
- Google Sheet Connector
- MailChimp Special discounts
- MonsterInsights
- WP Affiliate Platform Integration
- WP Fusion
- WP HTML Mail
- WSDesk
Simple Digital Downloads Free of charge vs Paid: What’s the Distinction?
The major distinction among the cost-free EDD (EDD Lite) and the premium edition (EDD Professional) is that the latter has far more innovative attributes for scaling websites with tons of downloads. All of the plugins extensions fall underneath various classes and can assist you serve far more consumers from various components of the planet.
EDD Lite only has Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon as energetic payment gateways. EDD Professional has far more than ten gateways which includes Apple/Google Spend, Authorize.net, Braintree, PayPal Commerce Professional, and Stripe Professional. You can also check every single payment approach with out employing genuine cash.
For your buying cart, EDD Lite and EDD Professional have practically the identical attributes. But for the paid edition, you can set up the Include to Cart Popup extension.
As soon as you activate this function and consumers click the ‘Add To Cart’ button, a modest modal popup will seem and will invite them to go right to the checkout webpage or to carry on buying. Fantastic for websites that you may have several issues for sale that consumers would want to purchase at after.
With EDD Professional, you can also set up a membership or subscription and include extensions this kind of as Material Restriction, Customized Charges, and Recurring Payments. Interestingly, the paid edition has a whole lot of other strong extensions that you can’t uncover in the EDD Lite. EDD Professional also comes with a broad assortment of documentation, guides, and tutorials – this is greater if you happen to be new to plugin setup & integrations.
Simple Digital Downloads Pricing
EDD Professional has four pricing alternatives – Individual, Extended, Expert, and All Entry Pass. All of them are yearly licenses and let limitless merchandise and transactions:
- one site
- E mail Advertising Equipment
- Intelligent Checkout
- Duplicate Goods
- ten+ WordPress Blocks
- eCommerce Attributes
- Fundamental Payment Strategies
- Plugin Updates
- Normal Help
- one site
- Every thing in Individual
- Subscriptions
- Sophisticated Advertising Equipment
- Sophisticated Payment Strategies
- Normal Help
- one site
- Every thing in Extended
- Boost Regular Purchase Worth
- Sophisticated Attributes
- Run a Marketplace
- Application Licensing
- Premium Help
All Access Pass ($499.50/year)
- three sites
- Every thing in Expert
- Total Entry to above 77 Extensions
- Very best Client Knowledge
- Enhanced Retailer Management
- Sophisticated Accounting
- Premium Help
Simple Digital Downloads Pros and Cons
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Simple Digital Downloads Options
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is most likely the most well-liked between the choices to Simple Digital Downloads. Launched in 2011, this eCommerce WordPress plugin is also accessible as a cost-free and premium strategy.
WooCommerce was acquired by Automattic, the operator of WordPress.com, a couple many years in the past & is presently utilized by above six.six million reside sites.
Pros
- Simple-to-use interface
- A lot more payment gateways than EDD
- Tons of accessible extensions
- Best for marketing bodily merchandise
- A lot more suited for enormous on the web shops
- Really broad help neighborhood
Cons
- Free of charge edition lacks marketing and advertising attributes
- Not perfect for marketing digital merchandise
- Steep studying curve for newbies
- No created-in drag-and-drop design and style builder
- Premium ideas are far more costly than EDD
Shopify
Founded in 2006, Shopify is not a WordPress plugin but rather a separate e-commerce site builder. Not like WordPress (which is designed for bloggers), Shopify is designed largely for enterprise owners and involves a internet hosting services. As yet another fantastic different for EDD, Shopify has about two.one million every day energetic consumers in far more than 175 nations.
Pros
- Free of charge trial for three days, no credit score card necessary
- Intuitive drag-and-drop UI
- Really simple to set up and deal with
- Limitless storage/bandwidth
- Constructed-in Search engine optimization attributes
- Newbie-pleasant
- Best for marketing bodily merchandise
- 24/seven buyer help (reside chat, telephone, e-mail)
Cons
- Not greatest-suited for marketing digital merchandise
- Fewer include-ons and extensions
- You really don’t have total handle above every thing
- Steep studying curve for WordPress consumers
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is yet another populare-commerce platform, just like Shopify. But like EDD, BigCommerce also has a cost-free edition as a WordPress plugin. On the other hand, the paid edition is a SaaS (software program as a services) resolution and is a self-hosted platform. As of posting, there are above 47,a hundred reside e-commerce sites employing BigCommerce.
Pros
- Free of charge 15-day trial, no credit score card necessary
- Limitless file storage and bandwidth
- Applicable for marketing bodily and digital merchandise
- Potent apps and integrations
- The professional strategy is practically the identical cost as Shopify
Cons
- You really don’t have total handle above every thing
- The regular strategy lacks main attributes
- Minimal highest upload file dimension (512 MB)
- A lot more costly than EDD
- No fixed cost for the Enterprise strategy
Digital WordPress Downloads? Consider EDD
I have offered programs, bodily merchandise, and digital downloads all on WordPress ahead of (for a lot of many years). I favor plugins like LearnDash for programs, but EDD is a fantastic choice for something digital. Zip files, photographs, actually something digital.
You will not want to go via the entire WooCommerce fiasco just to get a number of files place on your site with an simple membership integration.
If you happen to be searching to promote digital downloads on your WordPress internet site, give Easy Digital Downloads a opportunity & allow us know if you like or detest it 🙂 Very best of luck!
