Shopify Vs. Wix
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Is the clothing niche more profitable than accessories? Which topic would be better: wokiee or postage? Is Shopify better than Wix or is it the other way around?
Decisions decisions!
As an ecommerce seller, you make many decisions. Of the plethora of answers you need to find out, choosing the best ecommerce platform remains the most important. This is even more true when your options have overlapping functions.
Although Shopify and Wix have overlapping features, Shopify leads the race if you're looking for ecommerce features specifically. Even so, it's a close contact between the two that boils down to your intent.
Small businesses or brand-conscious entrepreneurs will love Wix for its easy-to-use, affordable features and greater design flexibility.
However, if you are looking for a reputable ecommerce solution that can be scaled and sold worldwide, with a bigger budget and technical knowledge to shorten the learning curve, stick with Shopify.
Shopify or Wix: Which is Better?
Shopify is a solid option for ecommerce apps with fully responsive templates, AMP support on product pages, and dropshipping capabilities. It also supports multi-currency sales functions and has useful integrations with other major apps. Overall, it's a more professional choice for anyone looking to build an online store. If that's what you're looking for, sign up for a free trial ASAP.
Wix has a drag-and-drop interface and a wide variety of bundled templates. This makes it a great choice for those looking to build a universal website. It is also equipped with tools for page layout, data collection, and email marketing. Plus, it's cheaper and you don't have to worry about paying transaction fees. Ready to give Wix a try? Try it out with a free trial.
A look back at the best ecommerce platforms
People want to dig into good ecommerce platforms given their increasing popularity. But what's the best out there?
We reviewed dozen of ecommerce platforms and narrowed them down to the top seven options that tick the right items on an ecommerce seller's checklist. Wix and Shopify both made the list.
Visit our guide to the best ecommerce platforms to see where each product is and what criteria we think they are best suited for.
Shopify wins
Several useful ecommerce features: Shopify websites are specially designed for ecommerce and have many useful ecommerce features that cover every little aspect of the sales process. It has multiple payment gateways, inventory management tools, third-party platform integrations, and shopping carts. The platform is also scalable so you can grow as your business needs grow.
Fluid topics and greater flexibility: Shopify offers over 60 professionally designed and customized themes, giving you the freedom to add custom product pages based on your needs. In addition, this customization and flexibility extends to changing page elements. You can move, add, remove, or resize page elements to make your shop more branded. Optimizing topics is also possible – provided you are familiar with HTML and CSS. When you're tired of the way your website looks, all you have to do is pick a new theme and have a brand new store in minutes!
Custom domain name: Every Shopify user is given a custom domain name that they can use to brand their respective stores and the online business more efficiently and effectively. You can manage your domain in the same location as your domain store, which makes it easy for you to make changes to both and manage your domain at the same time.
Excellent integrated analysis: Shopify goes one step further and offers you numerous integrated analysis functions such as Google Analytics, customer behavior, stock levels and conversion tracking to know exactly how your business is developing and which aspects need to be adjusted for better results. You can also view online store sessions, total sales, best-selling products, recurring customer rate, average order value, and behavioral reports (poof!) On the platform to help you make better decisions.
Shopify App Market: Virtually every ecommerce plugin and feature was first developed for Shopify because of its huge popularity. Whether it's free or premium content management marketing add-ons, this platform gives you all kinds of unique features. Case in point: an augmented reality function that allows you to navigate through the product with your smartphone and see every detail. In addition, other marketplaces such as AliExpress and Oberlo also offer compatible apps to make your business management easier.
Faster checkout options: Shopify has prioritized customer preferences when designing sign-in and checkout options. You can make user registration mandatory, optional, or prohibited before checking out. Plus, registration is incredibly easy as users only need to enter basic information. As a seller, you can add users manually or import the list via CSV and sort it using a tag system.
Other payment options: Shopify gives you multiple options to sell items around the world thanks to its Amazon FBA or 3PL order fulfillment support, as well as support for multiple currencies through a complex, unsupported HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Liquid hack. That might not be ideal, but it's definitely there. You also get direct access to over 100 different payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Shopify's fully integrated payment system.
No upper limit for products and stocks: Most web servers or external platforms have a limit on the number of products you can add to your store – but not Shopify. There is no limit to the number of products you can add to your Shopify store. Even the lowest subscription package doesn't limit the number of products you can add to your inventory.
Shopify losses
Learning curve: Shopify developers claim the platform is the best for creating and managing online stores, but they don't claim that it is rightly the easiest. Although Shopify uses templates that eliminate the need to edit HTML and CSS style, the sites are more difficult to edit than Wix. This is because the focus is on the products and the way you present the page. If you want to make any additional changes you will need to learn to edit the backend code.
Limited free themes: We love how modern and responsive Shopify themes are, but the limited number can limit your options. Most topics require you to pay a one-time fee of between $ 140 and $ 180, as only ten topics are free.
Expensive: Shopify gives you a wide range of subscriptions starting at $ 29 a month. Not only is it more expensive, but you also don't get a free plan (only a 14-day free trial). The basic plan contains only the smallest functions. So if you want to access more advanced features like fraud analysis and reports, you have to pay a higher price. Unless you're using Shopify Payments – something that isn't widely available – you'll have to pay a transaction fee in addition to the payment processor fee.
Missing email hosting facility: You won't get email hosting, although web hosting is included in all Shopify plans. So you can't host a domain-based email address like (Email Protected). However, you can set up email forwarding. This will automatically forward all emails sent to (email protected) to your regular email account. You will need to set up other third-party email hosting connections to use the email forwarding feature.
Wix wins
Massive Template Collection: With the basic Wix editor, you can choose from more than 500 beautiful templates for your website and fill them with content of your choice. There are several built-in dynamic templates – from home pages to blogs to landing pages – suitable for beginners and experts alike. People on a tight budget will be happy to know that the platform has 60 completely free, modern, and stylish ecommerce templates.
Intuitive drag-and-drop interface: The drag-and-drop interface is at the heart of Wix and makes it incredibly easy to use. Because of this, not only can people of all skill levels use the platform, but you also have enough options to turn your site into a real powerhouse by expanding its functionality. The mobile editor allows you to review and edit your website to optimize it for mobile devices.
Free plan: Wix is definitely the cheaper platform with prices starting at $ 23 a month. There is also a completely free plan and free domain name feature (for the first year) that further add to the appeal. Plus, you don't have to worry about paying additional fees with the platform.
Built-in video function: Wix seriously makes your products shine, which is one of its biggest USPs. It has built-in product video that enhances the customer experience by allowing them to see the product live. You will also appreciate the product zoom feature and the fact that you can create a distinctive checkout page to make the checkout process as hassle free as possible.
Efficient SEO Guide: Wix helps you optimize your ecommerce website for SEO by highlighting areas that require your attention. It then does the hard work by letting you enter keyboard tags and other metadata. You can also change the URL of each page to best fit Google's needs.
Tons of additional features: Aside from its core functionality, Wix has a whole ecosystem of useful tools and products to make website building easier. It offers your free HTTPS to ensure that visitor interactions with your website remain secure, templates for creating offers for customers, and built-in payment options like PayPal and Stripe. There is also a logo maker available that makes branding even easier!
Online store integration: Wix allows you to add an online store to your website at no additional cost. Since the user interface is easy to use, the integration process is very simple and you don't even need an external purchasing solution.
Wix losses
More difficult with the redesign: Wix's intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes designing your website easy. But when you redesign, you have to pay the price. You don't have the flexibility to make major changes simply by choosing a new theme. Instead, the redesign process is extremely manual. If you want to make drastic changes to your online store, you practically have to rebuild your entire website. Plus, you don't have access to HTML and CSS, which makes the overall process more time-consuming and difficult.
Limited integration with third-party apps: When we talk about app integrations, this isn't even a fair fight as Wix has far fewer ecommerce developers building apps for its platform. For example, you won't find a Google Shopping Feed or a Facebook Product Feed. This means that you cannot run Google Shopping Ads or Dynamic Product Ads on Facebook through the platform. Native integration with email marketing applications is also lacking, worrying for owners who rely on email marketing for revenue. The only way to integrate a Wix store into an email marketing add-on is to either use Zapier or write the code yourself.
Forced Wix branding: They say there is no free lunch and Wix proves it very well. If you decide to go with the Wix free plan and want to keep it, be prepared to have the Wix branding at the top of your website. It's not too disgusting, but it's not exactly discreet. What makes it more annoying is that it appears before your website header!
Non-Transferable Site: While some may justify that Wix doesn't want users to export websites created using their technology, it is a disadvantage for those looking to migrate. The fact that scalability isn't Wix's greatest strength makes this an even bigger problem. If you want to rebuild your website and remove it from Wix, you will have to pay a ton of money. In short, if you sign up for Wix, you may have them for a lifetime.
Comparison of the top ecommerce platforms
While Shopify and Wix are great ecommerce platforms, there are several other alternatives with their own perks. Make sure to check out our top deals for the best ecommerce platforms to find the right option for your specific needs.
- Wix – Best for flexibility and customization
- Squarespace – Best Ecommerce Platform for Creatives
- BigCommerce – Best for medium to large stores
- Shopify – Best All-in-One Ecommerce Platform
- WooCommerce – Best for WordPress Websites
- OpenCart – Best for selling digital products
- Ecwid – Best for integrating with your current platform
Summary
Shopify is the more obvious choice as we are specifically looking at ecommerce features. But that doesn't mean that Wix has lost its charm.
Shopify is the best solution for large online stores that need all the bells and whistles of scaling and selling around the world, while Wix is more for general use cases and for owners who rely on content creation to get more traffic achieve. It also offers more creative freedom unlike Shopify.
In the end, the choice is yours – just make sure you make the right one.
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