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This number is almost 1.8 billion and is expected to go beyond 2 billion by 2021. As of 2018, there were about 600,000 merchants using Shopify to run their online stores. As of July 2018, Wix reported 110 million users from 190 different countries.
Ever since online shopping was made available, the number of global digital consumers has been consistently on the rise and will only continue to do so. This number is almost 1.8 billion and is expected to go beyond 2 billion by 2021. There is no doubt that the online market is flourishing and this is the number one attraction for online sellers.
If you are a seller and wish to open a shop on the online market, you will find a lot of eCommerce platforms, all of which say they can give you the help you need to create it. If you do a quick Google search of companies that offer the best software to create an effective website, Shopify and Wix will definitely be at the top of your search results. And in the end, you will likely want to decide to between Wix or Shopify.
Having a good understanding of what both can do will eventually help you pick the best one for your business. To do this, you need to know the difference in features, so let’s compare Wix and Shopify.
Shopify is a popular Canadian eCommerce company that has been around for more than a decade. As of 2018, there were about 600,000 merchants using Shopify to run their online stores.
So, what makes Shopify an eCommerce giant? Let’s look at what it has to offer its clients.
In order for your website to be functional and professional, you need to get a domain name for it. Domain names can play a vital role in branding your business as well. Because you are adding the name of your store to it, customers can easily identify your business just by the web address.
Getting a domain name with Shopify is not a difficult task. You will have the option to acquire one a few minutes after you sign up. Domain names on Shopify are not free. However, they are an investment definitely worth making.
Shopify provides a low-risk option for individuals who want to set up shop online. This is done by enabling you to create a Shopify account for free, allowing you two weeks to see firsthand if the platform suits your online store.
You will be able to access for free all necessary features and use that time to decide which tools you will need to continue. If you decide to leave the platform, you can simply delete your account.
Starting a store with Shopify is risk-free. You will not be charged on signing up, and you do not initially have to provide any of your credit card details.
The only feature you have to pay for during the initial phase is the domain name. After you have acquired this you can proceed to run your store with some free default features. Retailers who want to expand their business further will need advanced features and these are not free, but you don’t need to deal with this until you’re already selling.
You don't have to be a programming or design whiz to set up your own Shopify store. Because Shopify was created to provide assistance to ordinary retailers, it made sure all the technical stuff was already taken care of.
Certain features such as security and a wide range of design options that you can choose from are already built into the system. You can easily make any adjustments to the functionality and appearance of your store whenever you wish to do so.
Shopify offers its merchants multiple payment options. This is a very important feature because they, in turn, can be able to offer their goods and services to bigger audiences. When you open a store, you can easily pick the payment gateway of your choice, a decision that might be influenced by your target niche.
PayPal and Shopify Payment are currently the most popular payment gateways. The former is accepted in more than 200 countries, while the latter supports credit cards, however, its global reach is limited.
Shopify offers its clients assistance every step of the way. It doesn’t matter if you are just getting started or an already established business owner. If you need any service from the Shopify team, you will be provided with the help immediately.
This feature will definitely come in handy because you might run into some complications during the marketing process. And if you do so, it’s an advantage to have 24/7 professional help that’s only a phone call or simple text away.
It’s crucial to provide your customers with a few essential things, like advanced features and a great UX (user experience) design. If your business can provide these two things, traffic to your site will undoubtedly increase. Luckily, Shopify has you covered with these basics.
First off, you have a wide range of amazing design templates to choose from. This guarantees that you will find a perfect design for your online store. You can also access tools that help you manage your inventory and check your sales analytics. Furthermore, Shopify helps you easily integrate your online store with dropshipping.
Wix is another eCommerce platform that is worth considering. It has also been around for more than a decade and has helped a lot of traders to open online stores. As of July 2018, Wix reported 110 million users from 190 different countries.
This impressive statistic shows that Wix is definitely a fan favorite, but what makes it popular with users? Let’s look at some of the prominent features of the eCommerce platform:
Like Shopify, you don't have to know anything about coding or be a web design guru to create your own online enterprise. Anyone can create their own website after signing up. You also have the ability to get as creative as you want with a lot of template options that are also among many Wix perks. All of Wix’s design features are accessible and require very little learning.
Wix was created to support any kind of online business. It doesn’t matter if you want to run a clothing store or an art portfolio. You will find the tools suitable for your needs.
Apart from making sure that various industries are represented, Wix software also ensures that everything in your store works as expected. If you have an interesting idea of something to sell online, Wix has got you covered.
Customer support is a must-have for any retailer planning to use a marketplace agency to help them run their business. Wix provides reliable customer support to all its clients. You can easily get in touch with one of their technicians if you need help with any difficulty you might run into.
Customer service is available for Wix clients 24 hours a day and the rate of problem-solving is very high. This feature has also played an important role in getting Wix a bigger audience because loyal customers have recommended it to other aspiring retailers.
Imagine you have an idea to sell a particular product that you designed, let's say a line of t-shirts. If you want to broadcast your product to a big audience, creating an online store is the best choice for you. As a beginner, you will need a website that is suitable for a startup business and Wix is one of the best options today.
Running a small business on Wix is easy because the platform offers all the right tools. You don't have to worry about too many details that might be involved in running a bigger business. Wix enables you to focus on making money without any unnecessary distractions.
In eСommerce, there are certain tools that every retailer needs to be successful. Some examples include analytics, increased mobile responsiveness, SEO optimization, and impressive design features.
Wix offers all these features to sellers making it easy for you to run your business. You can find out exactly which of your products are underperforming and why. Furthermore, you will be able to identify which design trend is working for you and use traffic data to improve your overall search rankings with SEO.
If your goal is to open a store that will be available in multiple countries, Wix has the solution for you. You can easily make your website suitable for people who do not understand your native tongue to help you increase the size of your audience and, as a result, increase your revenue.
We have looked at some of the best features of both Shopify and Wix, and it’s fair to say that they are both very impressive choices for building an eCommerce platform. Unfortunately, you can’t use both of them to build your site if you want to concentrate all your attention on a single winning strategy — one of them has to go. So, in a battle of Shopify vs. Wix, which company would win in terms of what they offer to customers?
To figure out who comes out ahead when looking at Wix vs. Shopify, we need to analyze the two side by side. After you compare Wix and Shopify, you will get a clearer picture of what each of them offers and to help you choose the right one for your business.
Let’s identify the differences between Wix and Shopify by highlighting the better of the two in seven important categories. In order to correctly estimate the platforms, we used the 5-star rating:
When you decide to move to the online marketplace, your ultimate goal is to make as many sales as possible. To do this, you will need some important tools, and both Shopify and Wix have you covered.
Shopify is created to help small businesses get started, just as Wix is. The only difference is that Shopify has the ability to help beginners who have bigger plans for growing the business. Shopify offers more marketing tools than Wix does. This extra number of tools can help skyrocket the sales of retail goods and help them reach a much bigger global audience.
Wix is designed for a smaller scale, and that could be considered both among the pros and cons of Wix. Still, when it comes to getting more sales, you have a higher chance with Shopify than you do with Wix.
With more sales features, Shopify is designed to get you global recognition, while Wix is more suited for a smaller business.
Shopify: ★★★★★
Wix: ★★★☆☆
Because design is a very important aspect of eCommerce, we have to look at the quality provided by both Shopify and Wix. In this category, Shopify and Wix aim at different types of retailers.
Shopify templates are quite numerous (more than 60) and all of them are well designed and created to increase the number of sales. It is also worth noting that users can customize these themes to suit their needs. Shopify themes are also responsive, which means they look good on any device. The only drawback is that the themes are not free.
Wix primarily targets small-scale online retailers, meaning they do not have as many themes as Shopify does. But if we set quantity aside and look at the quality of the templates that both website builders provide, even though Wix does not have as many templates, the available themes are very impressive. Wix themes are not customizable or fully responsive, but they are all free of charge.
Shopify: ★★★★☆
Wix: ★★★★☆
When it comes to creating an online store of your own, it’s vital that you pick an eCommerce platform that enables you to create a website without the stress of complicated options.
Shopify is known for being a fan favorite with its easy startup process. Shopify also provides links to online videos just in case users run into issues along the way. Although it only takes a couple of minutes to get started, you will need a few extra hours to make all the important configurations.
Despite how straightforward and quick Shopify is to set up, Wix is probably the simplest solution out there. Not only will you find step by step instructions on how to create your site, but you will also get high-quality tutorial videos. Wix has an additional tool called Wix ADI which adopts AI to help users incorporate amazing templates to their site in no time.
Shopify: ★★★★★
Wix: ★★★★★
SEO is a key feature for any online business. So, how do Shopify and Wix measure up when it comes to SEO? This category is a pretty close one because both of these website builders are known for excellent, easy to implement SEO practices.
Both Shopify and Wix can help retailers make changes to the titles of their pages that show up in Google searches. In addition, they can make adjustments to meta-texts, descriptions, and headings. You also have the ability to track all conversations or mentions about your business on social media using a Facebook pixel code.
Shopify and Wix share a common disadvantage, they both perform poorly with customizing URLs. If you are trying to control the URL, chances are that you won't be able to successfully do it with either of these website builders.
Shopify: ★★★★☆
Wix: ★★★★☆
Both Shopify and Wix provide reliable customer support to their clients. However, Shopify's customer support is a bit more superior to that offered by Wix.
First of all, Shopify offers several channels in which you can contact customer support. These include voice calls, chat, and email. Additionally, Shopify has created informative tutorials that offer solutions for most situations. Shopify also has a large community, which means if you are looking for help, their active forum threads and members are there to help you out.
As if all that’s not enough, Shopify also has a marketing blog with instructions on how to handle well-known problems affecting their merchants. Wix does not have as many channels as Shopify. In fact, you will only be able to access customer help by phone. Another drawback of Wix is that their call center does not work 24/7.
Shopify: ★★★★★
Wix: ★★★☆☆
Shopify offers numerous payment gateways to its clients. It allows buyers to pay using about 100 processors in various countries around the world. Although Shopify definitely has more payment options for it users, it shares the most popular ones such as PayPal and Stripe with Wix.
Shopify already supports numerous payment gateways like Apple Pay and Amazon, but it also has a payment gateway that is unique to the platform. Shopify Payment allows customers to make money via credit card, the only problem with the gateway is that it is not accepted in many countries, unlike PayPal for example.
As a seller, you also need to pay attention to other information, such as the methods with which your customers feel more comfortable making their payments, or if you will need to make any future changes to your payment gateways. Putting that into consideration, if you are a small business that doesn't really need multiple gateways, Wix may be more suitable for you.
Shopify: ★★★★★
Wix: ★★★★☆
This comparison is a bit controversial because it depends on the value for money, and this varies based on your business goal. For example, if you want to grow a domestic business and your plans are to supply a small audience, you don't need to invest in a lot of marketing tools because ultimately, you will lose a lot of money.
In the opposite case, if you have bigger goals you will need to invest more. This is the major difference between Wix and Shopify. Wix is intended to help you start and run a small business while Shopify aims at helping you start, run and grow your business as much as possible.
Considering these differences, if you look at Wix and Shopify side-by-side Shopify will still take the lead. The ratio between the amount of money you invest into your business to the amount you get after sales is more impressive for Shopify than it is for Wix.
While we’re talking about the price, Wix’s platform costs are more confusing. Although both platforms offer free setup for the first eCommerce store, to get more advanced features you have to pay for a monthly plan.
The Wix plan will cost you starting from $4.50 to $16.50/month for basic subscriptions and $24.50/month for VIP. If you want to get an advertisement-free website, the platform will charge you $120/year.
The Shopify fee starts at $9/month for the Lite plan. The basic plan will cost you $29/month, including transaction fees. Beyond that, the price moves to $79/month and $299/month for more advanced plans.
Shopify: ★★★★★
Wix: ★★★★☆
When we analyze the Shopify vs. Wix eCommerce "battle", we notice that both competitors have a lot of solutions to offer to their clients. The comparison between the two is very interesting and as you will notice in the table below, it’s a very close call.
Shopify has more marketing tools than Wix, therefore, it is quite obvious that it would be a better choice to improve sales and offer more payment gateways. Wix has the edge due to its simplicity. For example, a simple, basic and free design appeals to more beginning sellers. Wix stays ahead in this department when compared to Shopify. When you add up all the scores, Shopify wins the battle, but that does not mean Wix is not a great eCommerce platform in its own right.
Wix vs Shopify, what to choose? Before deciding, you need to know the advantages and drawbacks of each system. Let’s start with Shopify.
Before integrating Shopify into your e-commerce business, you need to be fully aware of the challenges you may face. It will help you decide if Shopify is the right choice for your online shop and what you can expect from its performance. Analyzing Shopify’s challenges in the early stages will help you avoid the problems in the future and save both costs and resources.
So, the most common challenges faced by Shopify users are the following:
Let’s review each of them in more detail and learn more about Wix store vs Shopify.
ERP system is a must-have for any merchant that often deals with large sets of data and significant increases in the volume of orders. If your e-commerce platform is integrated with an ERP solution, it’s much easier to retain customers, track financial reports, and increase revenue.
ERP is an all-in-one system where you can deal with financial accounting, process orders, control inventory, shipping, and purchasing. You always have to think forward. If your business doesn't need ERP integration at the moment, it may become a real necessity in the future. Usually, it happens when:
Before integrating your ERP into Shopify, you need to understand how it sends and receives data or communicates with another system. In case it doesn’t easily connect to other systems, the automation of processes between your ERP and Shopify may be limited. However, there’s good news. Shopify has recently announced that it opens an e-commerce platform to enterprise ERP vendors, and it will send ERP systems up-to-the-minute data on KPIs such as customer experience and sales. So stay tuned.
Which is better Wix or Shopify? Selling on multiple Shopify stores has both benefits and challenges. Sometimes you may feel like Jack of all trades as you have to separately control every account, order, item, and inventory data, as well as communicate and analyze customers at all these channels and also decimate and control inventory when selling the same items on two different stores.
However, there is a way out. First of all, you should optimize and make your site look different to various customer segments: use certain keywords and speak in the language your customers do. Another tip is to centralize all your orders and inventory and keep it in one centralized system that will manage them across all online sites. You can also use a Product Information System to clean and standardize your data from a single location.
If you are a new Shopify user and compare Wix and Shopify, managing a marketplace may become difficult as you deal with various merchants and buyers and need to track the inventory status, shipping and order management, SKUs check, etc. The most common challenges faced by marketplace owners are:
If you still wonder which is better Wix or Shopify, let’s review the challenges of Wix and compare these two options, so that you can choose Wix or Shopify for e-commerce.
Wix provides a variety of different templates for your e-commerce shop, however, they are not interchangeable. With Wix, you cannot transfer content from one template to another and compare how different content looks on various backgrounds. So you need to think twice before choosing your template, as if you decide to change it in the future, you’ll have to migrate all the content from the original template manually.
All Wix users get Wix Analytics for their website. To duplicate and customize reports or create your own, you can upgrade to a Business VIP plan.
If your e-commerce shop is actively developing and the number of users and orders expands, you may feel that you have grown out of Wix and it’s time to migrate. However, it’s not so simple with Wix, as you’ll have to pay a lot of money to recreate and transfer your website away from it.
In general, both Shopify and Wix provide all the necessary features to set up your e-commerce shop in a short time. Wix is more likely to be the go-to choice if you’re a beginner, while Shopify will help your business grow. Let’s see the difference between Shopify and Wix and compare these two systems in terms of payment options, sales channels, and shipping costs and learn more about Wix vs Shopify for e-commerce.
Is Wix better than Shopify? If you need a scalable online shop that will grow as your business expands, Shopify is the best option. Its main benefits are:
If you need to customize your online shop and tailor its features to your unique business needs, choose Shopify development company to work with. In such a way, you’ll get a great combination of Shopify built-in features with functionality created specifically for you, which will make your business stand out among competitors.
Alexander, our seasoned Project Manager at MakeBeCool since 2021, with four years of eCommerce growth expertise. A planning pro and team wizard, he's our go-to strategist. Outside work, Alexander's an AI fan, language lover (currently at B1 in German), and an adventurous traveler exploring places like Costa Rica. With a passion for coffee, he kicks off his mornings in style!
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