5 Best Online Performance Tests for WooCommerce Stores to Boost Speed in 2025

Table of Contents

• Top Performance Tests for WooCommerce Stores: Why You Should Conduct Them?
• Understanding WooCommerce Site Performance & Core Web Vitals
• Best Performance Tests for WooCommerce Stores Listed
• Common WooCommerce Store Performance Issues & Solutions
• Conclusion
• Hire WooCommerce Performance Improvement Experts

We all know how crucial the speed of an e-commerce store is.

If an e-commerce store doesn’t load properly, users will simply close the browser and return to the search engine to find a store that loads quickly and offers a comfortable browsing experience. Website speed parameters are essential for determining how well a website performs.

We utilise various tools to assess whether an e-commerce store’s speed is satisfactory or needs improvement.

In 2025, website speed is one of the most important parameters for both desktop and mobile devices. Currently, 90% of people first visit a website from their mobile devices, and they only take about two seconds to decide whether to continue browsing. So improving mobile performance is very important now.

Top Performance Tests for WooCommerce Stores: Why You Should Conduct Them?

Launching a new website is just the beginning. If your site’s performance is subpar or loads slowly, how will you know its speed or performance quality without conducting load testing and evaluating it against specific parameters?

This is why developers conduct performance tests using three to four different reputable and professional tools after building a website. These tests help identify areas for improvement, ensuring the site is optimised before it goes live.

Improving the site’s performance is crucial for retaining visitors and reducing bounce rates. Testing is vital because, in a competitive digital marketplace, visibility, traffic, and ROI are critical. Neglecting performance tests can lead to potential customers choosing competitors with faster, more reliable sites.

Think of your online store as a physical shop.

If your store is cluttered and uninviting, customers will choose a cleaner, more appealing store down the street. Similarly, an WooComerce store must be well-maintained and optimised to attract and retain customers.

Performance tests are essential for ensuring your WooCommerce store stands out and competes effectively in the online marketplace.

Understanding WooCommerce Site Performance & Core Web Vitals

When discussing WooCommerce store performance, we rely on specific indicators provided by search engines like Google and Bing. These indicators are used as ranking factors. To explain these combined indicators, we have three distinct ones: LCP, TBT, and CLS. These three indicators: LCP, TBT, and CLS, collectively define the performance of your WooCommerce site and are called Core Web Vitals, which are essential for achieving optimal performance.

Largest Contentful Paint

Firstly, we have LCP, or Largest Contentful Paint, which is a key indicator of page load speed and user experience. LCP refers to the largest content element visible on your website when a user visits it, such as an image or any other substantial element on the page. It is a key indicator of user experience.

Total Blocking Time

Next, we have TBT or Total Blocking Time. TBT measures the time taken by any script, class, or HTML block to load.

If it takes more than 50 milliseconds, the user’s browser will notice, potentially slowing down the website and impacting its rating. Therefore, any script taking more than 50 milliseconds becomes a critical ranking indicator.

Cumulative Layout Shift

Finally, we have CLS or Cumulative Layout Shift. CLS measures the stability of your website’s layout. If you’re reading an article or playing a game on a website and a pop-up suddenly appears, disrupting your experience, it is considered intrusive.

This affects the CLS score negatively. The layout should remain stable without unnecessary interruptions, ensuring a smooth user experience.

These three indicators: LCP, TBT, and CLS, collectively define the performance of your WooCommerce site and are called Core Web Vitals.

First Input Delay (Defunct)

Within these indicators, there was previously another indicator called FID, or First Input Delay. This measured the total delay for the first input, such as the first tag, script, or any element loading on the website.

However, it has now been replaced by Total Blocking Time (TBT), which measures how long any asset takes on the website.

Nowadays, most people use TBT instead of FID, but if you want to use FID, you still can. However, using TBT is considered more modern and aligns with the current version of Core Web Vitals.

Best Performance Tests for WooCommerce Stores Listed

Let’s review various performance tests that WooCommerce sites can take to improve overall speed and achieve effective WooCommerce speed optimisation.

1. GTMetrix for WooCommerce Performance

The first WooCommerce site performance indicator we have is GTMetrix. Now, GTMetrix provides grading from A to F, with an A grade being the best, indicating that your website’s performance is above 90 percent.

It includes the structure, meaning the HTML and CSS structure of the website. Then you have LCP, TBT, and CLS. These are your Core Web Vitals scores by default, which directly inform you.

GTMetrix assigns its own grade when analysing performance and structure, grading them separately. If you look at both combined, GTMetrix shows the actual rating of your website.

GTMetrix also highlights the benefits of using a content delivery network (CDN) to enhance page load times by serving static content from servers closer to visitors.

Speaking about the website we have here, it has an A grade, which means our website is excellent. Similarly, we can improve the performance of your website as well through performance testing services.

This applies to an e-commerce store too. Testing through GTMetrix will tell us what the GTMetrix grade is, and what the Web Vitals grade is, and it gives you a total grade, showing you the total speed and providing ways to improve it below, which we will explain further on how to enhance it.

Now, if you take a look at the second image, there’s a website with a grade of F. Its performance is at 10%, but the structure is quite good at 80%.

The performance is poor because when we checked the Core Web Vitals, the Largest Contentful Paint indicates that the site is taking way too long to load—it’s over 10 seconds when it should ideally be around 2 seconds.

The CLS score is also impacted negatively because some elements are shuffling, which seriously affects the site’s score. Combined, these factors are bringing down your performance, resulting in an F grade.

Now, if you check on GTMetrix, they’ve provided ways to improve. First, they suggest reducing the main thread tasks as they are too many.

Then, there’s an issue with JavaScript execution when the site opens; you’ll need to fix that. You can either load it fully afterwards or exploit JavaScript by default through lazy loading or any other method.

2. Pingdom for WooCommerce Performance

The second plugin I consider more reliable by performance indicator is Pingdom. By default, Pingdom provides you with its grading, which ranges from A to F.

It informs you about page size, total load time, and the total number of requests. If these metrics are performing well, your performance automatically improves on Core Web Vitals. That’s why I personally prefer Pingdom.

For optimal results, consider using managed WooCommerce hosting, which offers specialised features like 1-click backups and expert support tailored for WooCommerce sites.

When evaluating performance grading on Pingdom, your performance is currently at a B grade of 83, which can be improved. Your page size is around 2 MB, which can be optimised. Your page loading time is 5.4 seconds, which is good.

If your load time is less than six seconds, that’s very good. If you have around 100 requests, that’s very good again. Here we have 87 requests, so considering this, your score on Pingdom and other metrics combined show that your website speed is performing very well.

Additionally, Pingdom provides you with insights based on grading, explaining why it has graded your website accordingly.

If you look at the second image, it shows that the lowest grading score on your website is due to having too many HTTP requests. Ideally, you should have fewer HTTP requests, as having 87 is too high.

Then, it suggests using cookie-free domains. If you’re adding cookies to browsers, it might be affecting your score negatively.

This is something to consider, especially if you’re doing remarketing or running ads, as it could be important for you. If you can’t make them cookie-free, consider this aspect carefully.

Thirdly, there’s the suggestion to compress components with Gzip. Whether you’re using Gzip, Brotli, or any other compression tool, it should be evident in the results.

If you’re using Brotli and it’s not showing up, there might be a reason for that, but it’s crucial to use compression because most websites and plugins rely on it. Even Google uses its own insider tools, so it’s better to use them.

If your grade is slightly lower, Pingdom has pointed out the issues. It’s a preferred tool for many stores because it provides a clear method of showing your grade, load time, and page speed. If you improve these aspects, your store’s performance will naturally improve by default.

3. Google Page Speed Insights for WooCommerce Performance

Google PageSpeed Insights is one of the most trusted tools, even utilised by Google Search Console for assessing website performance.

Google PageSpeed Insights provides detailed metrics on various aspects of your WooCommerce store load, helping you identify and address performance bottlenecks.

Many people understand its significance, while others might overlook its potential. This tool evaluates key metrics such as CLS, FCP, Total Blocking Time, and LCP—all of which contribute to Core Web Vitals.

Google has integrated these metrics into PageSpeed Insights, providing a comprehensive bar chart that indicates areas for improvement. If a website scores in the green, it is performing well. Otherwise, the tool offers suggestions for enhancement.

For those looking to improve their WooCommerce store’s performance, Google PageSpeed Insights is a reliable starting point. It provides diagnostics and highlights issues such as render-blocking resources, which may cause delays.

For example, if your website’s rendering is blocked for 400 milliseconds, this tool will help you address it. It also suggests reducing CSS to save space and managing DOM size to ensure efficient loading.

These diagnostics are crucial for optimising your site’s performance. While the tool identifies urgent issues like render-blocking resources and CSS optimisation, it also warns about DOM size, which should be addressed promptly.

Google PageSpeed Insights is highly reputable, and I recommend starting with this tool for performance testing. Once you have the results, you can work with developers to implement the necessary fixes.

This is a practice we follow for our WooCommerce store clients to enhance their site performance effectively.

4. DeBug Bear WooCommerce Performance Test

Another tool we have in the market is Debug Bear. Now, if we talk about Debug Bear, it’s a relatively new tool; it’s not very old and has recently started making its mark in the market. However, I find its grading method quite impressive.

It provides a detailed insight into page size and other grading tools. Additionally, it merges with Web Vitals and informs you about various metrics, including the time to first byte, CLS, LCP, and other indicators. By combining all of these, it gives you a comprehensive total score. Debug Bear also provides insights into the efficiency of your database tables, which is crucial for optimising order data storage and overall site performance.

Within Debug Bear, there are two main scores: the Crux Score and the Lab Test Score. The Crux Score is a combined score of every parameter included in the total testing, while the Lab Test Score is based on the lab tests conducted by the tool, providing insights on aspects like delay and sizing.

The Crux Score is particularly important as it indicates the overall website score. By using other tools in conjunction, you can further enhance your performance.

Debug Bear also offers recommendations, though the free tool limits you to 25 suggestions. For instance, it might recommend implementing lazy loading for screen images to decrease delay, reduce server response time, and minimise large CSS files.

Issues like render-blocking resources, also highlighted by Google PageSpeed Insights, are addressed here as well. The tool informs you of existing improvements and offers suggestions for further enhancements.

Debug Bear is an excellent tool for testing and improving your WooCommerce store’s performance.

Whether you’re handling the improvements yourself or planning to consult a developer, it provides valuable recommendations on how to optimise your WooCommerce store. You can use the provided URL to test, fix, and enhance your website’s performance.

5. Web Page Test for WooCommerce Performance

Another tool that I use is the Page Speed Test, also known as Web Page Test. This tool provides various indicators, directly informing you about Core Web Vitals. Essentially, it’s a merger of Core Web Vitals, offering everything you need.

Web Page Test offers a comprehensive analysis of various metrics to help you improve your WooCommerce store’s performance.

It includes metrics like FCP, Speed Index, Largest Contentful Paint, Cumulative Shift, Blocking Time, and Page Weight—many of which you won’t find in Core Web Vitals.

The first thing it offers is a complete visual process, showing how long it takes for a website to load.

For example, the website might remain a blank page for the first three, four, or five seconds, and then fully load at six seconds.

This visual page loading process helps significantly when checking what improvements are needed or what might be causing render-blocking issues, which lead to performance problems and slowdowns.

When you scroll down and click on ‘Explore’ in the detailed comparison, it identifies the issues present. For instance, it might show that the primary timing issue is due to CPU busy time.

You’ll need to explore the website and check the other components. It informs you about content load time, speed index, visual completion time, and other factors, all mentioned within.

This tool provides a summarized and visual approach, especially when conducting speed testing for your WooCommerce store or pre-launch store. It offers a more visual approach, making it user-friendly compared to other developer-focused tools.

While other tools provide developer-friendly recommendations, this tool allows even non-developers to easily understand what’s happening on the site, thanks to its visual graphs and step-by-step explanations. It gives you more options to improve WooCommerce Store performance by default.

Common WooCommerce Store Performance Issues & Solutions

1. Database Challenges

When we talk about common performance issues in online stores, the first major concern is database challenges. If your database is slow or you’re using an outdated version, it will inherently affect the website’s performance. This can give visitors the impression that your WooCommerce store is slow.

For database optimisation, you have the option to use any database unit that aligns with your WooCommerce store. It’s crucial to verify whether its performance or version is compatible with your store.

If it’s not compatible, it may cause slowdowns. Even if it is compatible but outdated, it can still lead to performance issues. You’ll need to address this yourself.

2. Image Optimisation

Another significant issue is related to image optimisation. WooCommerce stores typically contain numerous images. If these images aren’t optimised properly, they can significantly increase the page size, leading to longer load times and a perception of a slow website.

When it comes to images, you can optimise them as they’re being uploaded. There are several plugins available that can assist in improving image performance. Many paid plugins automatically optimise images as you upload them to your website.

3. Plugin Inefficiencies

Finally, plugin inefficiencies can also impact performance. Many WooCommerce stores use various plugins, some of which may be slow or lack support, especially if they are free versions. This can result in slower site performance, requiring you to hire a developer to optimise or replace them if you lack coding skills. Even for those familiar with coding, improving plugin performance can be time-consuming.

Plugins like WooCommerce checkout can also cause these types of issues. Solving these can improve the performance of the store.

For plugin optimisation, you might need to hire a website development agency with experts in speed optimisation. Agencies like WP Creative specialise in this area and have numerous clients in the Australian market.

They provide comprehensive optimisation and speed performance improvements for WooCommerce stores. Similarly, you should consider hiring a WordPress development agency to enhance your site’s performance. These agencies can evaluate your plugins, make necessary improvements, and customise them to ensure your site ranks well and operates efficiently.

Conclusion

In conclusion, optimising your WooCommerce store’s performance is essential for delivering a seamless shopping experience and achieving better search engine rankings.

By conducting thorough performance tests using tools like GTMetrix, Pingdom, Google PageSpeed Insights, Debug Bear, and Web Page Test, you can identify and address issues that may be slowing down your site.

It’s crucial to pay attention to database optimisation, image optimisation, and plugin efficiencies to ensure your site runs smoothly across desktop and mobile devices.

By implementing these strategies, you can enhance your store’s performance, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately increase your conversion rates. Don’t hesitate to seek expert assistance from agencies like WP Creative for specialised performance improvement services tailored to your WooCommerce store’s needs.

Hire WooCommerce Performance Improvement Experts

WP Creative stands as a leading custom development company in Australia, catering to a diverse range of clients including local businesses, WooCommerce stores, and WordPress websites.

Renowned for its bespoke development and design services, WP Creative excels in performance enhancement, a critical service aimed at optimising site functionality and capturing a wider audience. By focusing on boosting a WooCommerce store’s performance, WP Creative ensures that its clients’ sites not only perform efficiently but also attract and retain more customers.

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