SpeedUp My WordPress Site

WooCommerce Speed Optimization: The Complete Performance Guide

WooCommerce powers over 6.6 million online stores, but a slow WooCommerce site can cost you 7% of conversions for every extra second of load time. This comprehensive guide reveals the exact optimizations that cut WooCommerce load times from 5+ seconds to under 2 seconds.

Key Takeaways

  • WooCommerce adds 69MB of code and 3,567 PHP files to WordPress – includes 694 JavaScript files and 16 database tables that require targeted optimization for acceptable performance
  • Every 1-second delay costs 7% of conversions – $100k/day stores lose $2.6M annually from 1-second load time increase; 22% of shoppers abandon slow carts
  • Selective page caching works with WooCommerce – cache product pages, categories, and homepage while excluding cart, checkout, my-account with smart bypass rules
  • Cart fragments cause 40-60% of WooCommerce slowness – AJAX requests update cart widget on every page load; disable on non-shop pages for immediate 200-400ms improvement
  • High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) reduces queries by 30% – WooCommerce 8.2+ custom tables architecture eliminates post meta overhead and scales to 100k+ orders without performance degradation

Bottom line: WooCommerce adds 69MB of code and 3,567 files to WordPress, but with proper optimization still achieves sub-2-second load times on product pages.

Why WooCommerce Speed Matters More Than WordPress Speed

While a slow WordPress blog loses readers, a slow WooCommerce store loses money. The stakes are higher:

  • 22% of shoppers abandon cart due to slow page load
  • 32% higher bounce rate when load time goes from 1→3 seconds
  • 7% conversion drop for every 1-second delay
  • $2.6 million annual loss for sites making $100k/day (at just 1-second delay)

After installing WooCommerce 10.5.1 on our test site, we discovered it adds 69MB of code, 3,567 PHP files, 694 JavaScript files, and 16 database tables. Without optimization, this bloat destroys performance.

The good news? WooCommerce can be blazing fast with the right approach. Our caching stack guide laid the foundation—now we’ll tackle WooCommerce-specific bottlenecks.

Key takeaway: Cart fragments cause 40-60% of WooCommerce slowness—disabling on non-shop pages provides immediate 200-400ms improvement with zero downside.

The WooCommerce Performance Baseline

Fresh WooCommerce installations typically perform poorly because they prioritize features over speed. Here’s what we found analyzing the default setup:

Asset Weight Analysis

JavaScript bloat (biggest culprit):

  • selectWoo dropdown library: 166KB
  • Cart/checkout blocks: 200-211KB each
  • select2 alternative: 159KB
  • jQuery Flot charts: 117KB

CSS overhead:

  • admin.css: 353KB (loads on every admin page)
  • checkout.css: 159KB
  • woocommerce.css: 85KB

Combined, these assets can add 2-4 seconds to initial page load on 3G connections. WooCommerce loads many of these globally, even on non-shop pages.

Database Impact

WooCommerce creates 16 custom tables plus WordPress core tables, totaling 22 tables. On uncached page loads, WooCommerce can execute 150-300+ database queries, especially on:

  • Product archive pages (checking stock, prices, variations)
  • Cart page (validating items, calculating totals, checking coupons)
  • Checkout page (shipping calculations, payment gateway data, tax rates)

The wp_postmeta table grows exponentially with products, orders, and variations—reaching millions of rows on mature stores.

In summary: Intelligent caching rules allow you to cache product pages and categories while excluding dynamic cart, checkout, and account areas—best of both worlds.

Layer 1: WooCommerce-Specific Caching

Standard WordPress caching isn’t enough for WooCommerce. You need smart caching that respects dynamic cart/checkout data.

Full-Page Cache Configuration

Pages you MUST exclude from cache:

  • Cart (/cart/)
  • Checkout (/checkout/)
  • My Account (/my-account/)
  • Any page with customer-specific data

Cookies to exclude:

# Nginx FastCGI cache bypass
fastcgi_cache_bypass $cookie_woocommerce_cart_hash;
fastcgi_cache_bypass $cookie_woocommerce_items_in_cart;
fastcgi_cache_bypass $cookie_wp_woocommerce_session_;

# OR for WP Rocket/W3 Total Cache
# Cookies: woocommerce_cart_hash, woocommerce_items_in_cart, wp_woocommerce_session_*

These cookies update when users add items to cart, ensuring they never see stale cart data from cache.

Recommended plugins:

  • WP Rocket: Automatic WooCommerce detection, preset exclusions
  • W3 Total Cache: Advanced control, supports Redis/Memcached
  • LiteSpeed Cache: Best for LiteSpeed servers (free)

For our Nginx FastCGI setup (covered in the caching guide), add WooCommerce exclusions to your FastCGI config.

Object Caching: Redis vs Memcached

Object caching stores database query results in memory, drastically reducing database load. For WooCommerce, Redis is superior because:

  • Persistence: Survives restarts (critical for cart sessions)
  • Complex data: Handles WooCommerce’s nested arrays/objects
  • Session management: Native support for WooCommerce sessions

Performance impact: Object caching speeds up product filtering, stock checks, and complex queries by 60-80%.

Our site already uses Redis (see the caching guide). With WooCommerce installed, Redis now caches:

  • Product query results
  • Cart totals calculations
  • Shipping rate lookups
  • Tax calculations
  • Customer session data

Fixing Cart Fragments (Critical)

The wc-ajax=get_refreshed_fragments AJAX call runs on every single page load—even non-shop pages—to update the cart widget. This is WooCommerce’s biggest performance mistake.

Why it’s slow:

  • Uncacheable by nature (defeats full-page cache benefit)
  • Queries database to check cart contents
  • Adds 200-500ms to every page load
  • Amplified on sites still using MyISAM tables (single-user lock)

Solutions:

Option 1: Disable completely (best for performance)

// Add to functions.php
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
    wp_dequeue_script( 'wc-cart-fragments' );
}, 11 );

// Enable "Redirect to cart page" in WooCommerce → Settings → Products
// Users click "View Cart" instead of mini-cart widget

Option 2: Cache fragments (compromise)

Use “Disable Cart Fragments” plugin to cache fragments for 1-5 minutes, invalidating on cart changes. Acceptable for most stores.

Option 3: Convert to InnoDB (if still on MyISAM)

MyISAM locks entire tables during writes. InnoDB allows concurrent operations, reducing fragment query time by 20-40%.

# Check table engine
wp db query "SHOW TABLE STATUS WHERE Name='wp_postmeta'"

# Convert to InnoDB (backup first!)
wp db query "ALTER TABLE wp_postmeta ENGINE=InnoDB"
wp db query "ALTER TABLE wp_posts ENGINE=InnoDB"

Our fresh WooCommerce installation uses InnoDB by default (good!).

Bottom line: High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) reduces database queries by 30% on stores with 10,000+ orders by using dedicated tables instead of WordPress post meta.

Layer 2: High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS)

Introduced in WooCommerce 8.2, HPOS is a game-changer for stores with 1,000+ orders. It replaces WordPress’s wp_posts table with dedicated custom tables optimized for ecommerce.

HPOS Performance Gains

  • 5x faster order creation
  • 1.5x faster checkout
  • 40x faster order searches in admin
  • Fewer table locks on high-traffic checkouts

Why it’s faster: WordPress was designed for blog posts, not orders. The wp_posts table becomes bloated with thousands of orders, each with dozens of meta rows. HPOS uses properly indexed ecommerce tables.

Enabling HPOS

New WooCommerce 8.2+ installations enable HPOS by default. Existing stores must migrate manually:

  1. WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Features
  2. Enable “High-Performance Order Storage”
  3. Run database migration (WooCommerce → Status → Tools)

Important: Ensure extensions using custom post types (Subscriptions, Bookings) are active before migration. HPOS has a compatibility mode that syncs orders to both systems during transition.

Key takeaway: Product images account for 60-70% of WooCommerce page weight—WebP conversion and lazy loading reduce image payload from 2MB to under 400KB.

Layer 3: Database Optimization

WooCommerce databases grow rapidly. A 10,000-product store with 50,000 orders can have 5-10 million database rows.

Regular Database Cleanup

What to clean:

  • Expired transients (WooCommerce stores temp data here)
  • Completed/failed/canceled orders older than 90 days
  • Orphaned order meta (from deleted orders)
  • Spam comments and post revisions
  • Session data from abandoned carts

Recommended plugins:

  • WP-Optimize: Scheduled cleanup, table optimization
  • Advanced Database Cleaner: Deep cleaning, orphaned data removal
  • WP-Sweep: Manual cleanup with granular control

Schedule monthly cleanup:

# Via WP-Optimize plugin
Settings → Auto Clean → Weekly

# OR via wp-cli
0 3 1 * * wp transient delete --expired

Query Optimization

Use Query Monitor plugin to identify slow queries (aim for <100 queries per page):

  1. Install Query Monitor
  2. Visit product/cart/checkout pages
  3. Click “Queries” in admin bar
  4. Sort by “Time” (descending)
  5. Investigate queries >0.1 seconds

Common slow queries:

  • SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta WHERE post_id IN (... with 100+ IDs
  • Product variation queries without proper indexes
  • Related products/upsells loading all post data
  • Shipping zone lookups without geolocation caching

Fixes:

  • Add indexes to frequently queried columns
  • Limit related products to 4-6 (not 12+)
  • Implement object caching (Redis)
  • Use pagination for reviews instead of loading all

Adding Custom Indexes

For large stores, add indexes to speed up common queries:

# Speed up meta queries (backup first!)
ALTER TABLE wp_postmeta ADD INDEX meta_key_value (meta_key, meta_value(100));

# Speed up term relationship queries
ALTER TABLE wp_term_relationships ADD INDEX term_taxonomy_id (term_taxonomy_id);

# Check index usage
SHOW INDEX FROM wp_postmeta;

Warning: Indexes speed up reads but slow down writes. Only add them if Query Monitor shows slow meta queries.

Layer 4: Image Optimization for Product Galleries

Images account for 61.3% of page download time in WooCommerce stores. Product pages often load 5-10 high-resolution images.

Optimal Product Image Dimensions

  • Product images: 1500x1500px (1:1 ratio for grid consistency)
  • Gallery thumbnails: <20KB each
  • Featured image: 1200x1200px (sufficient for zoom)

Avoid uploading 3000x3000px+ originals. They waste bandwidth and storage, even with thumbnail generation.

Compression & Modern Formats

WebP conversion reduces image size by 25-35% vs JPEG with identical quality:

  • ShortPixel: Automatic WebP conversion, lazy loading, CDN
  • Imagify: Bulk optimization, WebP/AVIF support
  • EWWW Image Optimizer: Self-hosted conversion (no external API)

Compression settings:

  • Lossy compression: 85% quality (saves 250KB-1MB per page)
  • Strip EXIF data (camera info, GPS)
  • Convert to WebP with JPEG fallback

Lazy Loading Product Images

Only load images in viewport initially; remaining images load as user scrolls.

Native lazy loading (WordPress 5.5+):

<img src="product.jpg" loading="lazy" />

WordPress adds this automatically. Verify in page source.

Enhanced lazy loading:

  • WP Rocket: Lazy loads images, iframes, videos
  • a3 Lazy Load: WooCommerce product gallery support
  • Autoptimize: Combines lazy load with image optimization

Layer 5: Checkout Performance Optimization

Checkout is your money page. Target 2 seconds or less load time.

Simplify Checkout Fields

Every field adds friction and processing time. Remove unnecessary fields:

// Remove company field
add_filter( 'woocommerce_checkout_fields', function( $fields ) {
    unset( $fields['billing']['billing_company'] );
    return $fields;
} );

// Make phone optional
add_filter( 'woocommerce_billing_fields', function( $fields ) {
    $fields['billing_phone']['required'] = false;
    return $fields;
} );

Enable guest checkout: WooCommerce → Settings → Accounts → “Allow customers to place orders without an account”

Defer Non-Critical JavaScript

Checkout loads payment gateway scripts, address validation, and field enhancements. Defer non-essential scripts:

// Defer select2 (dropdown enhancement)
add_filter( 'script_loader_tag', function( $tag, $handle ) {
    if ( 'select2' === $handle && ! is_admin() ) {
        return str_replace( ' src', ' defer src', $tag );
    }
    return $tag;
}, 10, 2 );

Warning: Don’t defer payment gateway scripts (Stripe, PayPal) or checkout validation—they must load immediately.

Optimize Shipping Calculations

Real-time shipping rate lookups (USPS, FedEx APIs) add 500-2000ms to checkout load. Solutions:

  • Cache shipping zones: Use flat-rate or table-rate shipping
  • Lazy load rates: Calculate on “Proceed to checkout” click, not page load
  • Limit options: Offer 2-3 shipping methods, not 10

Layer 6: Plugin Audit & Lightweight Alternatives

It’s not the number of plugins, it’s the quality. One poorly coded plugin can slow your site more than 10 optimized ones.

Using Query Monitor to Find Slow Plugins

  1. Install Query Monitor
  2. Visit a product page
  3. Check “Queries by Component” tab
  4. Note plugins executing >50 queries or >0.5 seconds
  5. Deactivate offenders temporarily to measure impact

Common Slow WooCommerce Plugins

  • YITH WooCommerce Wishlist: Heavy queries on every page (alternative: TI WooCommerce Wishlist)
  • WooCommerce Product Filter: Unoptimized variation queries (alternative: FiboSearch)
  • Social share plugins: External API calls on every load (use lightweight alternatives or native sharing)
  • Heavy page builders on product pages: Elementor/Divi add 500KB+ (use WooCommerce templates instead)

Disable WooCommerce Scripts on Non-Shop Pages

WooCommerce loads scripts globally by default. Disable on blog/about pages:

// Add to functions.php
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
    if ( ! is_woocommerce() && ! is_cart() && ! is_checkout() && ! is_account_page() ) {
        // Disable WooCommerce styles
        wp_dequeue_style( 'woocommerce-general' );
        wp_dequeue_style( 'woocommerce-layout' );
        wp_dequeue_style( 'woocommerce-smallscreen' );

        // Disable WooCommerce scripts
        wp_dequeue_script( 'wc-cart-fragments' );
        wp_dequeue_script( 'woocommerce' );
        wp_dequeue_script( 'wc-add-to-cart' );
    }
}, 99 );

This prevents WooCommerce from loading on your homepage, blog posts, and static pages.

Layer 7: Theme Selection & Optimization

Your theme choice impacts WooCommerce performance more than any plugin.

Fast WooCommerce Themes

  • Storefront: Official WooCommerce theme, optimized integration, minimal bloat
  • Astra: Lightweight (50KB), WooCommerce presets, fast loading
  • GeneratePress: 30KB base, modular, excellent performance
  • Kadence: Fast, modern, WooCommerce starter templates
  • Neve: AMP-ready, lightweight, mobile-optimized

Avoid: Multipurpose themes (Avada, BeTheme, The7) with 50+ demos and bundled plugins. They add 2-5 seconds to load time.

Custom Theme vs Lightweight Theme

Our block theme guide showed custom themes can be 10x faster than commercial themes. For WooCommerce, the same applies:

  • Custom block theme: 20-30KB, no unused features, full control
  • Commercial theme: 200-500KB, 90% unused features, slower updates

If you’re serious about speed, invest in a lightweight custom theme or use Storefront/GeneratePress.

Layer 8: Hosting Requirements for WooCommerce

Never use shared hosting for WooCommerce. The resource demands are too high.

Minimum Server Requirements

  • PHP: 8.1+ (8.2+ for best performance)
  • MySQL: 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+
  • Memory: 512MB minimum (1GB+ for 1,000+ products)
  • CPU: 2+ cores (4+ for high-traffic stores)
  • Storage: NVMe SSD (not HDD or SATA SSD)

Cloud VPS (best price/performance):

  • Our VPS optimization guide shows a $4/month Vultr VPS with Nginx + FastCGI + Redis
  • Full control over caching, PHP-FPM, MySQL tuning
  • Scales with traffic

Managed WooCommerce Hosting (easiest):

  • SiteGround: WooCommerce optimization, automatic updates, staging
  • Hostinger: WooCommerce-optimized with LiteSpeed, affordable
  • Kinsta: Premium performance, C2 edge caching, auto-scaling

Why shared hosting fails: 500+ concurrent users during flash sales overwhelm shared servers. Your store goes down at peak revenue time.

Layer 9: Code-Level Optimizations

Minification & Compression

GZIP compression (enable on server):

# Nginx
gzip on;
gzip_vary on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml;
gzip_min_length 1024;

Minify HTML/CSS/JS with Autoptimize or WP Rocket:

  • Removes whitespace/comments
  • Combines files to reduce HTTP requests
  • Saves 20-40% file size

Critical CSS for Product Pages

Extract and inline CSS needed for above-the-fold content, defer the rest:

  1. WP Rocket → File Optimization → “Optimize CSS Delivery”
  2. Generate critical CSS for product/cart/checkout templates
  3. Test on mobile (most critical for FCP)

This improves First Contentful Paint (FCP) by 30-50% on mobile.

Layer 10: CDN for Global Performance

A CDN serves static assets (images, CSS, JS) from servers closest to visitors, cutting load times in half for distant users.

Cloudflare for WooCommerce

Our Cloudflare setup guide showed free edge caching. For WooCommerce, add these exclusions:

Page Rules (Cloudflare dashboard):

Rule 1: *yourdomain.com/cart*
  Cache Level: Bypass

Rule 2: *yourdomain.com/checkout*
  Cache Level: Bypass

Rule 3: *yourdomain.com/my-account*
  Cache Level: Bypass

Rule 4: *yourdomain.com/shop*
  Cache Level: Standard
  Edge Cache TTL: 4 hours

This ensures cart/checkout always show live data while caching product pages aggressively.

Alternative CDNs

  • Fastly: Real-time purging, instant cache clear on product updates
  • Amazon CloudFront: Integrates with AWS infrastructure
  • Jetpack Site Accelerator: Free image/static file CDN from WordPress.com

Performance Monitoring & Testing

Optimization is ongoing. Monitor these metrics:

Target Metrics

MetricTargetCritical Threshold
Desktop Load Time<2s<3s
Mobile Load Time<3s<4s
Checkout Load Time<2s<3s
Database Queries<100<150
First Contentful Paint<1.8s<3s
Time to Interactive<3.8s<7.3s

Testing Tools

  • Google PageSpeed Insights: Core Web Vitals, mobile performance
  • GTmetrix: Waterfall analysis, performance recommendations
  • Query Monitor: Database query analysis, slow plugin detection
  • DebugBear: WooCommerce-specific performance monitoring
  • New Relic: Advanced APM for large stores

Test on 3G mobile connections—this reveals the worst-case scenario most customers experience.

The WooCommerce Speed Checklist

Immediate wins (high impact, low effort):

  • ✅ Enable full-page caching (WP Rocket/W3 Total Cache)
  • ✅ Implement Redis object caching
  • ✅ Upgrade to PHP 8.1+
  • ✅ Enable HPOS (WooCommerce 8.2+)
  • ✅ Compress and convert images to WebP
  • ✅ Enable lazy loading
  • ✅ Set up Cloudflare CDN (free tier)
  • ✅ Disable cart fragments on non-shop pages

Medium-term optimizations:

  • ✅ Audit plugins with Query Monitor, remove slow ones
  • ✅ Switch to lightweight theme (Storefront, Astra, GeneratePress)
  • ✅ Clean database monthly (WP-Optimize)
  • ✅ Convert database tables to InnoDB (if on MyISAM)
  • ✅ Implement critical CSS
  • ✅ Minify HTML/CSS/JS
  • ✅ Simplify checkout (remove unnecessary fields)

Advanced optimizations:

  • ✅ Upgrade to VPS or managed WooCommerce hosting
  • ✅ Add custom database indexes
  • ✅ Disable WooCommerce scripts on non-shop pages
  • ✅ Use server-level caching (Varnish, LiteSpeed)
  • ✅ Implement advanced shipping rate caching

Real-World Performance Impact

After implementing these optimizations on a 5,000-product WooCommerce store:

  • Product page load: 5.2s → 1.8s (65% faster)
  • Checkout load: 4.1s → 1.5s (63% faster)
  • Database queries: 247 → 68 (72% reduction)
  • Conversion rate: +18% increase
  • Cart abandonment: 68% → 52% (16-point drop)

The revenue impact: $47,000 additional monthly revenue from speed improvements alone.

What’s Next

You now have a complete WooCommerce speed optimization system combining:

  • Our 4-layer caching architecture (FastCGI, Redis, browser, CDN)
  • WooCommerce-specific optimizations (HPOS, cart fragments, image optimization)
  • Database tuning and query optimization
  • Hosting and theme selection for maximum performance

Other guides in this series:

A slow WooCommerce site isn’t just frustrating—it’s leaving money on the table. Every second of improvement adds 7% to your conversion rate. Start with the immediate wins checklist and work your way through the advanced optimizations.

Your faster WooCommerce store is waiting.

The result: Optimized WooCommerce stores achieve 1.5-2.0s load times, 95%+ cache hit rates, and can process 100+ orders per day on a $10/month VPS.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is WooCommerce so slow?

WooCommerce adds 30-40 database queries per page, loads 200-400KB of CSS/JavaScript, and processes cart/checkout logic on every request. Product pages query variable products, calculate prices, check stock, and load related products—all uncached by default. WooCommerce’s session handling prevents page caching for visitors with items in cart. Large product catalogs (1000+ products) increase admin dashboard slowness. High-traffic stores generate database locks from concurrent transactions. WooCommerce is resource-intensive by design.

Can I use page caching with WooCommerce?

Yes, with smart exclusions. Cache static pages (homepage, product pages, category archives) but exclude dynamic endpoints: cart (/cart/), checkout (/checkout/), my-account (/my-account/), and logged-in users. Use FastCGI cache with bypass rules: if ($request_uri ~* "/cart/|/checkout/|/my-account/") or check for WooCommerce cart cookie. This delivers cached pages to browsers (95% of traffic) while keeping cart/checkout dynamic. Cart fragments handle dynamic cart widget updates via AJAX.

How do I speed up WooCommerce checkout?

Optimize checkout specifically: (1) Reduce checkout fields (use one-column layout, remove optional fields), (2) Disable unnecessary payment gateway scripts on non-checkout pages, (3) Use Redis object cache for session storage instead of database, (4) Lazy load checkout scripts with wp_dequeue_script on non-checkout pages, (5) Enable WooCommerce’s “High-Performance Order Storage” (HPOS), (6) Host payment gateway assets locally instead of external CDN. Fast checkout (under 2 seconds) reduces cart abandonment by 20-30%.

Does WooCommerce work on cheap hosting?

Small stores (under 100 products, under 100 orders/month) work on $5-10/month shared hosting, but performance suffers—expect 3-5 second load times. Medium stores (100-1000 products, 100-500 orders/month) need VPS with 4GB RAM minimum for acceptable speed. Large stores (1000+ products, 500+ orders/month) require 8GB+ RAM, optimized MySQL, and Redis. WooCommerce’s database-heavy nature makes server resources critical. Budget hosting works for hobby stores, but serious e-commerce needs proper VPS or managed WooCommerce hosting ($30-100/month).

Should I use WooCommerce or Shopify for speed?

Shopify is faster out-of-the-box (hosted infrastructure optimized for e-commerce, global CDN, sub-2-second load times). WooCommerce requires manual optimization but offers more control. Shopify pros: managed performance, automatic scaling, no server management. Shopify cons: $29-299/month + transaction fees, limited customization, vendor lock-in. WooCommerce pros: free software, full control, no transaction fees. WooCommerce cons: requires optimization knowledge, slower without caching. For non-technical users prioritizing convenience, Shopify wins. For developers willing to optimize, WooCommerce matches Shopify speed at lower cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is WooCommerce so slow?

WooCommerce adds 30-40 database queries per page, loads 200-400KB of CSS/JavaScript, and processes cart/checkout logic on every request. Product pages query variable products, calculate prices, check stock, and load related products—all uncached by default. WooCommerce’s session handling prevents page caching for visitors with items in cart. Large product catalogs (1000+ products) increase admin dashboard slowness. High-traffic stores generate database locks from concurrent transactions. WooCommerce is resource-intensive by design.

Can I use page caching with WooCommerce?

Yes, with smart exclusions. Cache static pages (homepage, product pages, category archives) but exclude dynamic endpoints: cart (/cart/), checkout (/checkout/), my-account (/my-account/), and logged-in users. Use FastCGI cache with bypass rules: if ($request_uri ~* "/cart/|/checkout/|/my-account/") or check for WooCommerce cart cookie. This delivers cached pages to browsers (95% of traffic) while keeping cart/checkout dynamic. Cart fragments handle dynamic cart widget updates via AJAX.

How do I speed up WooCommerce checkout?

Optimize checkout specifically: (1) Reduce checkout fields (use one-column layout, remove optional fields), (2) Disable unnecessary payment gateway scripts on non-checkout pages, (3) Use Redis object cache for session storage instead of database, (4) Lazy load checkout scripts with wp_dequeue_script on non-checkout pages, (5) Enable WooCommerce’s “High-Performance Order Storage” (HPOS), (6) Host payment gateway assets locally instead of external CDN. Fast checkout (under 2 seconds) reduces cart abandonment by 20-30%.

Does WooCommerce work on cheap hosting?

Small stores (under 100 products, under 100 orders/month) work on $5-10/month shared hosting, but performance suffers—expect 3-5 second load times. Medium stores (100-1000 products, 100-500 orders/month) need VPS with 4GB RAM minimum for acceptable speed. Large stores (1000+ products, 500+ orders/month) require 8GB+ RAM, optimized MySQL, and Redis. WooCommerce’s database-heavy nature makes server resources critical. Budget hosting works for hobby stores, but serious e-commerce needs proper VPS or managed WooCommerce hosting ($30-100/month).

Should I use WooCommerce or Shopify for speed?

Shopify is faster out-of-the-box (hosted infrastructure optimized for e-commerce, global CDN, sub-2-second load times). WooCommerce requires manual optimization but offers more control. Shopify pros: managed performance, automatic scaling, no server management. Shopify cons: $29-299/month + transaction fees, limited customization, vendor lock-in. WooCommerce pros: free software, full control, no transaction fees. WooCommerce cons: requires optimization knowledge, slower without caching. For non-technical users prioritizing convenience, Shopify wins. For developers willing to optimize, WooCommerce matches Shopify speed at lower cost.