WP Tavern #159 – James Kemp on WooCommerce Innovations and Trends in Selling Online
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Mar 5, 2025 
In this episode, James Kemp, the Core Product Lead for WooCommerce at Automattic, shares insights into his journey and the innovations driving e-commerce today. He emphasizes the importance of community feedback in product development while addressing challenges like backward compatibility. James highlights WooCommerce's substantial market impact, revealing it powers around 37% of e-commerce sites. The discussion touches on the competitive landscape, innovative trends like mobile technology, and the platform's recent rebranding efforts to better compete with giants like Shopify.
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James Kemp's WooCommerce Journey
- James Kemp began using WordPress in 2009 and WooCommerce in 2011, initially building sites for clients.
- He developed premium plugins, culminating in Iconic WP, a WooCommerce plugin shop acquired by Liquid Web Stellar in 2021.
Core Product Lead Role
- Within WooCommerce, there are multiple product managers, each focusing on a specific area like order management.
- James Kemp's role as Core Product Lead connects these areas and community feedback to overall product development.
WooCommerce Market Share
- WooCommerce powers a significant portion of all e-commerce websites, holding a substantial market share.
- Recent data suggests WooCommerce powers 37% of all e-commerce sites, with millions of live installations.