Exporting WooCommerce orders to XML is often a requirement dictated by an external system. Unlike exporting orders to CSV or Excel, such a requirement may be very specific and technically challenging.
For example, a 3rd-party fulfillment/shipping provider may request an XML structure that differs from how the order data is actually stored in WooCommerce. Also, some XML nodes may be required only if certain conditions are met.
Unfortunately, most WooCommerce order export plugins do not offer these kinds of custom XML capabilities. Every plugin on this list will allow you to output simple XML, meaning exports that are essentially equivalent to CSV or Excel exports but just happen to be expressed as XML elements. But only the first two plugins provide more advanced XML capabilities, and even the gap between these two is quite significant.
Let's get into it.
Even without taking into account XML capabilities, WP All Export is far more capable as an export tool than the other plugins on this list. In addition to exporting WooCommerce orders, it can also export every other type of WooCommerce and WordPress data, including custom data.
You can filter your order export to any level necessary, manipulate data on the fly, and automatically schedule your exports. You can integrate your exported orders with thousands of external applications through Zapier, including setting up real-time feeds one order at a time, which is ideal for supporting 3rd-party fulfillment.
Just as appealing, you can do all of this through one consistent interface. And if you pair WP All Export with its plugin cousin, WP All Import, you can bulk edit orders or easily migrate them from one WooCommerce store to another.
WP All Export's XML capabilities demonstrate this same level of sophistication and detail. Similar to the other plugins on this list, this plugin will let you export WooCommerce order data to a simple XML structure just by selecting that export type. But if you need a much more advanced XML structure, you can also:
You can also manually edit any part of the XML feed in the editor, letting you essentially write the XML feed by hand if needed.
Best of all, these capabilities are built right into the plugin's interface. Even the use of PHP functions is embedded in the plugin's column selection process, meaning you don't need a separate development environment to implement such a sophisticated solution. Any user can do it, and with lots of sample code snippets available, that person doesn't even have to be a programmer.
Put another way, there is no XML requirement that cannot be fulfilled by this plugin. Period.
For more information, see Export WooCommerce Orders to CSV, Excel, and XML.
Advanced Order Export for WooCommerce is a capable order export plugin, which is why we generally list it as the #2 plugin for order exports.
When it comes to XML, it at least makes an effort to give you some control over your element structure, as you can see from this image:
The problem is that this screen really only lets you:
Put another way, you can't use this plugin to significantly alter the structure or content of your XML output. To do this, you need to use custom code.
To learn more, see Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce.
Webtoffee's order export capabilities, and in fact their overall WooCommerce export capabilities, are roughly equivalent to those of WP All Export for basic needs, but they tend to fall short when it comes to more advanced capabilities.
For example, you can filter, manipulate, and schedule your order exports, but you can't automatically integrate your exports with thousands of external apps, set up a drip feed of each order as it occurs, or modify data on the fly to the same extent.
These limitations are especially apparent when trying to export to XML. Yes, you can take a CSV or Excel order export and output it as XML, but that's about it. There is no ability to truly customize the XML structure/content or to use conditional logic to build that structure. If you receive a request for more complex XML output, you'll simply have to turn elsewhere.
For additional information, see Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce.
Note that in order to use WP Ultimate Exporter, you must first install WP Ultimate CSV Importer. The former is an add-on to the latter.
The breadth of this plugin in terms of data types is actually more on par with WP All Export than that of Webtoffee's offering, even if you opt for one of Webtoffee's all-inclusive suites. But what WP Ultimate Exporter has in breadth, it lacks in depth. Its filter capabilities pale in comparison to its main order export competitors, especially WP All Export. It has no capacity for real-time order exports or any form of automated integration with external apps, though it does offer export scheduling. And other than its ability to select order export columns, it won't let you modify those columns or the data they contain.
This inability to exert true control over your order export's content can be problematic for any export, but it is especially so for XML exports because there is also no built-in facility to modify the XML itself. That means you're essentially just converting a simple CSV export into an XML format.
As with Webtoffee, this approach will only satisfy the easiest of XML requirements.
To learn more, see Import All Pages, Post types, Products, Orders, and Users as XML & CSV.
The good news about wpfactory's Products, Order & Customers Export for WooCommerce plugin is that it is a model of simplicity. For example, you can dump all your product, order, and customer data with a single click, but then it's up to you to open that output in a spreadsheet to apply filters, rename columns, or change the column layout.
You can exert a bit more control when you buy the Pro version, including exporting metafields, but the basic hands-off design philosophy remains the same with respect to manipulating the output.
This is especially problematic if you're trying to comply with a demanding XML specification, as modifying XML entirely by hand is no one's idea of fun. However, that's the situation you'll be in because wpfactory's plugin is incapable of anything other than exporting a simple XML structure (which is, in fact, just a simple CSV output essentially converted to XML).
For more information, see Products, Order & Customers Export for WooCommerce.
Normally, choosing the right plugin to export WordPress or WooCommerce data is a matter of fit.
You're always going to find WP ALL Export at the top of the heap technically. They've been at this since 2011 and have the user base and budget to keep pushing the envelope.
But in most situations, you're looking at a group of competing plugins that are neatly tiered from top to bottom, with each tier representing some kind of trade-off. Sure, it would be easiest to simply buy WP All Export and address all your order export requirements in one fell swoop. But if you're just looking for the cheapest way to complete a specific task, and a plugin on the bottom tier will do that for little or no cost, that's probably your best option. That's why you read "Best of" articles like this — to help you find that perfect fit.
However, in this case, the choice really isn't that hard. If your XML requirements for a WooCommerce order export have any complexity at all, choose WP All Export. It's the only plugin that will definitely meet those requirements and any other XML requests people may throw at you in the future.
If, on the other hand, your XML requirement is dead simple, then examine the pluses and minuses of the remaining four plugins on our list and choose accordingly.
We can't be any blunter than that!
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