Yes, absolutely. By far the commonest way to sell stuff using a WordPress online shop is to use the WooCommerce plugin, which integrates really easily into all the payment gateways you ever need and has a host of extensions that allow a lot of flexibility. If you want to combine a sales site with other things – blog posts, info pages, contact forms, membership, subscriptions – then WordPress is the way forward. There is almost nothing that can’t be sold using a WordPress website, from online teaching to hair appointments to cakes to photographs to… you get the idea. The other big plus for using WordPress for your online shop is the ease with which it integrates into other things like media management – so for example you can have a load of downloadable teaching resources on your site which can only be accessed by people who have signed up and paid in advance.

However, one caveat: if your site is ONLY going to be there to sell things, and you have a big catalogue of products (car spares is a good example), it’s sometimes worth considering one of the systems that was designed from the ground up as an e-commerce system. There are a few of these – Magento (powerful but very complex), Shopify (easier to learn but fewer features) and Prestashop (halfway between!) are three good examples. Picture Engine can help you decide, just get in touch and we can talk you through the differences.