In recent years, it is much easier than ever before to launch a website. Lately, eCommerce features have been introduced by many website designers in order to help their customers convert their websites into online stores. Wix vs Shopify is among the most potential nominees for the best website builders for eCommerce currently.

The best choice when it comes to selecting a solution to create an online store will be one that perfectly compromises multiple considerations, such as your business type, budget, and technological skills. This article is an in-depth comparison of Wix vs Shopify for ecommerce. Keep an eye on it till the end and you’ll certainly discover a suitable solution to create an online store.

wix vs shopify

Key Differences Between Wix vs Shopify for eCommerce

Wix vs Shopify are similar at some points, in which they:

  • Aimed at users lacking coding expertise
  • Build and update a website for users
  • Enable consumers to sell items

Yet, both of these platforms have distinct intentions.

On the one hand, Wix is a framework that is close to WordPress for content management. The platform is completely hosted, which ensures that they manage all facets of running a website that is technological and server-related. Originally, Wix was developed as a content-based solution.

In addition, Wix is considered one of the most favored drag-and-drop website builders, which allows you to generate an eCommerce store and start selling a small range of items.

Therefore, Wix is perfect for users who want to:

  • Build a blog – While WordPress has been the market leader in this field, there are several based-on Wix blogs out there.
  • Build a brochure site – Wix is ideal to show your product or service if you need a simple site.
  • Create a design portfolio – Many photographers and graphic designers prefer Wix as a platform to display their design portfolio online.
  • Build an online basic business website

difference between shopify and wix

On the other hand, Shopify could be top of mind in terms of building an e-commerce website or online stores. In fact, Shopify allows users to set up an online store and sell their products online without any technical knowledge.

It is so well designed that adding products and variants is a breeze. Moreover, it has linked tutorials that make the process easy for beginners.

Besides, they have a massive third-party app that lends a wonderful helping hand to users. Shopify also has a whopping great library of themes to select from, and with their built-in software, any technically impaired users can create an elegant storefront.

Therefore, users can use Shopify to sell practically anything

Including subscriptions, digital products, and physical products online.

If Wix or Shopify migration is on the horizon, an automated migration service can come in handy for you. Cart2Cart has proved to be an optimal go-to migration option for online entrepreneurs who want to focus on business development instead of taking care of the migration-related hassles. With 11+ years of migration experience, Cart2Cart provides the highest quality data transfer between 85+ platforms at the most competitive prices.

Compare Wix vs Shopify – Pros and Cons

To give you an overall look at both platforms, let’s take a glance at the column showing the bright sides and downsides of them.

  Wix Shopify
Pros – Integrated Drag-and-Drop store builder
– Limitless commodities & bandwidth
– Free-hosting and SSL certificate
– Provide domain checkout
– A wide selection of responsive stunning templates
– Great serve response time
Effective methods for design and SEO
– Free guides about how the platform can be used
– An optimal platform for constructing small sites on a budget
– Powerful eCommerce tools that are friendly with users
– Provide abandoned checkout recovery
– Excellent performance
– Marketing and SEO optimized
– Contemporary and user-friendly interface
– Plans comprise features of a website designer
– Using the API to quickly expand on the platform
– 24/7 support as soon as possible
Cons – Basic SEO integrations are offered only
– Cost extra for purchasing email accounts
– Too much creative freedom
Pricey premium templates
– Apps, premium themes, transaction fees, your monthly subscriptions can be expensive
– Several restrictions for larger online stores
– Email and domain hosting is not included

Shopify vs Wix Pricing 

Wix’s most enticing aspect is that they offer an entirely free plan. Shopify, meanwhile, only offers a 14-day trial. However, Wix’s free plan is limited as free plans do not allow users to use their own domain or sell online.

Wix pricing ranges between its two choices: Website and Business & eCommerce. In this article, only the eCommerce side will be focused on. The three plans for Business & eCommerce Wix include:

  • Silver Plan – $75/month
  • Gold Plan – $100/month
  • Platinum Plan – $150/month

These plans are distinguished by the following parameters:

  • Storage: This varies depending on the plan, with more of it offered by more costly plans.
  • Access To Apps: include Site Booster helping you to send your site to directories, an events calendar app, and a logo-making app.
  • Support: Only on the VIP or Enterprise plans have available premium support.

The majority of users who take Wix into consideration tend to be newbies. As a consequence, the best value e-commerce package costs $23 for Wix, which provides the basic features you need to sell online.

shopify pricing plan

Shopify provides users with five basic plans to select, including:

  • Basic – $39/month 
  • Shopify  – $105/month 
  • Shopify Advanced – $399/month

The distinctions between basic plans of Wix vs Shopify are:

  • Storage: while Wix offers users 20GB of storage, there is no storage limit in Shopify.
  • Fee: Wix does not charge a commission or purchase tax, but Shopify charges a minimal 2%.
  • Staff Account: users will have up to two Shopify personnel accounts, but just one Wix administrator.
  • Free: Users can use Shopify for a 14-day trial, while Wix charges no trial fees but also offers a return guarantee in 14 days.
  • Shipping: If users use Wix, there are no reduced offers from shipping firms. While with Shopify, users will get up to about 60% off DHL Express, USPS, UPS, and others.
  • Email campaign: Users can build up to ten email campaigns with Wix. This functionality does not extend to Shopify. But they need to install an app that does this, such as MailChimp or GetResponse if they want to build an email campaign on Shopify.

Shopify can be suitable for those who are running big stores. Shopify will adapt you with discount codes, unregulated storage goods, and multi-channel integration.

Ease of Use

Wix and Shopify are user-friendly and easy-to-maintain solutions. You needn’t any specific tech skills to construct the required configurations. Wix comes to the best with ease for beginners. Shopify is a simple-to-use platform with an intuitive interface. With Shopify, managing the web-store is fast.

In terms of ease of use between Wix vs Shopify, Shopify comes with flexibility, those looking to build-up and start selling an online store can have fantastic, versatile features at their fingertips.

wix or shopify

Besides, Shopify requires users with little design comprehension. Restricted technological or design capabilities do not stop your online presence from being established. Also, those familiar with HTML and CSS will find that they have considerable influence over expectations for web design.

Shopify also prides itself on being a hosted solution, which means that users needn’t worry about data security, web hosting, technical upgrades, or software installation.

On the other hand, Wix is especially friendly to newbies, Wix template editor can lend you a hand with complete control no matter how your skills are. Wix also provides users with Content Management Systems (CMS), which makes it easier for them to change their web presence.

Wix vs Shopify Themes & Design

Quality and quantity

Shopify themes are, as one would imagine, fairly strictly targeted towards e-commerce and are arguably more robust for use in that sense, they are all tailored delicately to appeal to users. Users can also cover certain parts inside the theme editor, allowing the possibility of customizing certain sections without having to duplicate the theme, such as on a staging server.

The functionality and appearance of Shopify’s templates are also incredibly majestic. They are nice, sophisticated, and more customizable than Wix. The price ranges from 140$ to 180$. If you are on a budget, there are also amazing responsive templates without cost that will be a smart alternative.

Wix has fewer themes than Shopify. However, Wix provides a much wider variety of general-purpose models, so there is much more on offer from Wix if your goal is to create a content-driven platform.

The solution also creates some very stunning themes for online shops that concentrate on those niches such as jewelry and furniture.

SHOPIFY THEMES

Mobile phone performance

Shopify’s templates are superiorly responsive, ensuring that their elements, such as text, pictures, forms can automatically resize themselves to fit the screen on which they are displayed (desktop computer, tablet).

On the contrary, Wix uses “positioning”, where pixel positions web elements. So when you create a store with Wix, you have to build two versions of your Wix website, one for your desktop and one for your mobile device.

However, the solution still does a pretty decent job of automatically working out the mobile version for users, so they needn’t change it, particularly if they make minor changes to a design.

Related topic: Shopify vs OpenCart

Payment options

Considering about payment gateway when selling on Wix vs shopify, both of them offer customers various options. 

Wix accepts Paypal, Square, Credit Cards, COD, and Debit Cards while Shopify has many payment options, it accepts payment gateways such as PayPal, ApplePay, Amazon Pay, Stripe, COD (cash on delivery), and even cryptocurrencies.

Both platforms offer their own built-in payment gateway: Shopify Payments and Wix Payments. When using their built-in payment processors, Shopify and Wix charge equivalent transaction fees, which are 2.4% and 2.9% respectively,

Moreover, if you use a third-party payment gateway, Shopify takes a portion of your purchases. The payments range based on the contract you’re on, from 0.5% to 2%. Meanwhile, using Wix’s third-party payment gateways would not charge you any fees at all.

shopify and wix

Point-of-sale functionality (POS)

Shopify POS system is accessible in most nations, meanwhile Wix POS only works well in certain ones such as US, Canada, UK, Australia, and Japan.

Shopify POS works in most nations, while Wix POS is only available in certain countries. POS is more firmly integrated into Shopify, the merchandise is designed with POS as a key feature, rather than an add-on. Therefore, with Shopify, you can find things such as dedicated POS support, a hardware store for POS, and monitoring for POS, which is helpful.

On the other hand, if you wish to use POS on Wix, in order to get stuff off the ground, you will have to partner with an external product – Square. With Wix, it’s by no way impossible to get a decent POS setup, but it will certainly not be as seamless a process as with Shopify.

shopify wix pos

Abandoned cart recovery

Wix and Shopify have abandoned cart follow-up features and it is usable on all Shopify’s plans and on all Wix’s eCommerce plans.

Wix does not allow the email addresses of cart abandoners available to its clients, although this is completely provided in Shopify. While using Shopify’s basic plan, merchants can easily track the cart abandoners through direct email.

Shipping

Shopify and Wix both allow you to make a variety of rules for delivery. Both platforms encourage you to offer your clients various types of shipping.

Shopify supports users from free delivery to collaboration with alternate shipping suppliers, at all levels of the complex shipping period. So that users are never left stuck when they arrange delivery with Shopify.

With Wix, it’s a little inappropriate since it requires applications to support users with global shipping payments. Moreover, when business owners track orders and set tax rules for each product, Wix does not provide printable shipping labels.

wix shopify pricing

Dropshipping

In Shopify, the dropshipping concept is strongly supported, which is a super-friendly solution designed specifically for dropshipping, and there are different dropshipping apps that fit well with the platform. Shopify has lots of features to help you handle your sales, marketing tasks, and customer payments. This is great for dropshipping beginners.

Up until recently, Wix does not support dropshipping. However, several integrations with the solution that promote it have been recently launched. These are with Modalyst, Spocket, Printful and Printify.

You may find it interesting to explore: Is Dropshipping Worth It? How to be successful with Dropshipping?

Third-party Apps Integration

For third-party apps, Wix has poorer support than Shopify. For the Wix platform, there are far fewer eCommerce developers making apps, which is Shopify’s reverse.

Both solutions offer users free apps, however, Shopify has a treasure of over 5000 integration apps, giving it a perfect resource for your business to scale up. compared to a small number of Wix’s, over 50 apps.

Discover more: Top Best Apps for Shopify store by purpose

Apps from Shopify offer a fantastic opportunity to customize your store to suit your particular business needs. Thanks to this versatility, the Shopify App Store has thousands of applications that can help boost the efficiency of the Shopify storefront.

Therefore, in terms of third-party integrations, Shopify has advantages over Wix.

shopify third party app

Marketing Features

Whilst Shopify relies mostly on third-party integration apps, Wix is an all-in-one marketing tool that helps users conveniently handle marketing campaigns in one location and is available as a separate subscription.

SEO Features

Both Wix vs Shopify have:

  • Adjust titles/descriptions – the headline and text appearing in Google
  • Customize slugs from URLs
  • Append alt text to pictures
  • Get better advice with prompts from ‘SEO best practice’

As a multifunctional solution, Wix has the upper hand here. It offers support for keywords, indicating popular words or phrases worth using, something not provided by Shopify.

wix shopify seo

Blogging

Wix helps users conveniently create beautiful blogs with ease. In fact, the only challenge it faces is the accessibility of the archive, which stores old posts for users to read.

Shopify comprises a pretty good blogging engine that helps users to link and maintain a blog filled with laden-features. Also, The platform helps make the levels of customers’ interest better, keeping them aware of news and developments for store owners.
However, Shopify has no analytics, social bookmarking, and searching features built-in, compared to Wix.

wix shopify features

Social and Media Integration

In recent years, people have a tendency of hunting for commodities on the market. However, sales on separate platforms are not sponsored by Wix.

One deal-breaker between Wix vs Shopify is Shopify’s multichannel integration. With Shopify, users can connect social media accounts such as Twitter, Instagram, and market sites such as Amazon and eBay to their online store with ease.

Customer Support

In terms of customer service, Shopify obviously outclasses Wix. Via email, talk, or phone, Shopify provides 24/7 support. Their workers are well-trained, professionally competent, and have a sincere willingness to assist their clients. Linking to an established entry in their online knowledge base is the standard Wix customer service approach.

As a website designer, therefore, the underlying explanation for the shortcomings in Wix’s eCommerce platform stems from the roots of the company is probably understandable. Shopify, on the other hand, was created by coders primarily looking to create an eCommerce solution that is hosted. They put a far higher emphasis on technological competence, and the marketplace now has plenty of quick and reliable, enticing eCommerce templates.

shopify wix customer support

Security of Wix vs Shopify

Wix and Shopify both take security very seriously and have plenty of safeguards in place to protect both business owners and their clients to make sure that they can sell online safely.

On any plan for both Wix and Shopify, SSL protection is involved. This safeguards the data of your clients as they request information (such as registration or payment details) on your website, and is also a significant Google ranking element.

Wix and Shopify are also Level 1 PCI DSS compliant approved, which ensures that users’ store is PCI compliant automatically. Compliance with PCI is necessary for securing payment records, business data, and preventing fraud.

shopify wix security

For any website or online shop, viruses, DDoS attacks, and others are always a possibility. Fortunately, to better secure their systems and the store, Wix and Shopify have built-in security mechanisms. Neither platform lists the particulars of these defenses, as it will make them easy to hack, but it is fair to assume that they are working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep their customers safe online.

Wix vs Shopify – What is Better

There are various strengths as well as downsides for both of these eCommerce builders. Whilst Wix serves as a website builder, Shopify was designed to help users open their online shops. Wix is also easy to use and better suited to smaller firms, where Shopify manages even greater sales.

The Wix platform can be used in various sectors and is a framework for content management. The solution also gives users the opportunity to build and design websites that can provide e-commerce to accommodate various purposes.

compare shopify and wix

On the other hand, Shopify matches well with big business. It’s meant for individuals who are willing to start up an online store or establish a brand to grow. Moreover, this platform does not require users to use it with in-depth technical expertise.

Is Wix or Shopify better & which solution would you prefer? Let’s take a brief look at the comparison recap.

  Wix Shopify
Worth the price A store can be installed free of charge, but the owner must update them for the selling of three economic eCommerce plans. An affordable, attractive option for small businesses starting out and desiring to minimize costs and those medium to big ones wishing to develop their stores
Ease of use Ease of use is a strong point for Wix because the drag and drop editor is simply ultimate and perfect Beginner-friendly, the system’s dashboard is intuitive and understandable, while the method of drag-and-drop editing assists to produce nice outcomes with minimal effort
Design The designs are quite up-to-date with amazing templates easy to edit and also optimal for small online stores Offers exclusively professional-looking themes for online sales, with 8 free themes available and 60+ paid ones
Apps Integrations A large app store, but less unique integrations for eCommerce than Shopify Many countless, powerful huge options for third-party integrations from their store to boost sales fast
Marketing SEO and marketing features, particularly blogs, are surprisingly strong in Wix Great features for both SEO and Marketing
Help and Support Center for help, forum, phone, FAQ. It is also comprehensive and specifically clarified in the documentation for users 24/7 phone support, community, help centers, reading guides, live chat
Security Offer overall SSL secure payment support  and have level 1 PCI DSS security System hosted on a compatible PCI DSS Level 1 server

Conclusion – Wix vs Shopify: Should One To Choose?

You should choose Wix if your business is/prefer:

  • Suitable for small businesses
  • Want to push on multi-channel such as Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels
  • SEO optimization with best sales tools
  • Run a blog along with a website
  • Analytics tools built-in
  • Design flexibility

You should choose Shopify your business is/prefer: A serious powerful eCommerce platforms with a wide range of supportive integrations

  • A multilingual store
  • An array of creative control
  • Greater blogging features
  • Need powerful eCommerce features
  • More payment gateways

While some analyses of Wix vs Shopify for dropshipping ended in draws, if you are looking strictly for eCommerce features in 2021, Shopify wins by a nose. Nonetheless, the two solutions are just about neck and neck. The choice is yours, hope this article can help you to find an appropriate solution.

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