An e-commerce store is a great way to grow your business and make your products available to a huge customer base online.
This method of selling is especially popular after successful Kickstarter campaigns.
While there are many host platforms to choose from when building your online store, the two heavyweights we are going to focus on today are Wix and Shopify.
In today’s post, I’m going to take you through some of the benefits and drawbacks of each site so that you can decide how best to launch your online store.
After you read this, you will have a thorough understanding of the pros and cons that come with each platform, and be better equipped to move forward.
Let’s dig in.
Shopify: Major Pros
I want to start out by going through some of the major pros that come with building your online store through Shopify.
Powerful Built-In Features
Shopify asserts itself as an industry leader when it comes to built-in e-commerce features.
With Shopify, you will have all the tools you could possibly need to build and market your online store right at your fingertips. Some of the major features include:
- Auto-shipping price calculator
- Customized shopper profiles
- Social media integration
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Shopify analytics
Assets like these can help to skyrocket your sales, make your store to rank better on SEO, and keep customers returning to your site for more.
Diverse Payment Options
When doing business online, it’s super important to have payment options for your customers.
Credit cards aren’t the only way people pay online anymore. Shopify knows this, and works with over 100 payment providers around the world so that any visitor who reaches your site can become a potential paying customer.
Shopify is also unique in that it offers its own payment method in Shopify payments, which allows you to accept payments instantly without lengthy third-party activations.
Almost any way that your customers want to pay, Shopify provides. And with so many different ways to pay online, this is a major bonus.
24/7 Support
Another great benefit of Shopify’s platform is their 24/7 customer support. Sellers love Shopify’s attentive approach, and can always feel confident that someone will be there to assist them, should they need it.
Shopify also provides a ton of great forums on their help page including:
- Starting your store
- Selling on Shopify
- Managing products and payments
- Marketing your store
- Expansion of your ecommerce business
If customer service is important to you, then Shopify has got you covered.
Wix: Major Pros
Now that we’ve talked about some of the major pros of setting up your online store through Shopify, I want to do the same for Wix.
In many ways, Wix is just as powerful. Let’s check out some of their site’s most touted features.
Cheap Plans
Wix offers e-commerce plans that start for as little as $23 per month.
While you’re probably going to want to go with a more advanced plan (ranging up to $49 per month), you can be assured that there are no hidden fees, and plans include everything you need to sell online.
All plans offered on Wix include:
- Plans & recurring payments
- Customer accounts
- Customer domain
- Free domain for 1 year
- Removal of Wix ads for personal branding
- $300 add vouchers
With more expensive plans, you can expect more storage space, video hours, and prioritized customer care.
Sleek Editing Interface
With over 500 templates to choose from, you are sure to find a website interface that you love to best represent your brand.
All of the templates come with great, easy-to-use drag-and drop functionality that makes putting your own flair into any of the templates extremely user-friendly.
The templates are even organized by category, optimizing interface with product integration.
For example, healthcare websites should appear differently than a travel and tourism site. Wix provides these templates for you, so you don’t have to worry about building a look from scratch.
Great Apps
There are many apps that can be added, or ‘plugged in’ to your store with Wix.
You can use these apps to do things like manage global shipping payments, send abandoned cart emails, and more.
Obviously, this is an extra step as compared to Shopify, who has most of this functionality already built-in to their platform.
However, with powerful plug-ins like Ecwid available, you won’t be missing out on any of the built-in features that Shopify is offering.
The only downside with this method of third-party integration is that if you are having a problem with the software, you will have to contact the apps support teams directly rather than Wix. And with some of the apps, their support teams may not be as equipped and attentive as sites like Shopify and Wix themselves.
Shopify: Major Drawback
Now that we’ve established what makes these sites great to use, I want to make sure to note the major drawbacks of these sites as well.
We’ll start with Shopify.
Costs add up
If you take advantage of all of Shopify’s functionality, the costs can really start to add up.
Apps, premium themes, and the cost of your monthly subscription can lead to you spending hundreds of dollars per month just to host your online store.
If you are a bigger store who is driving a lot of sales, this might not be of much concern. As long as you believe that a truly great e-commerce platform is a good investment for your store, then these costs might be worth it.
For smaller start-ups, however, Shopify’s higher costs can really make a dent.
There are ways to remedy the costs a bit. For example, if you sign up for a two-year commitment, Shopify does offer 20% off your chosen plan.
You’ll have to decide if the costs associated with running a Shopify store are worth it for you. If you’re a smaller company just starting out, it might be better to go with Wix.
If you have just run a successful Kickstarter campaign, however, and already have built some decent clout in the industry, it’s likely that paying a little bit extra will be of benefit.
Wix: Major Drawbacks
It’s hard to find additional drawbacks other than higher costs for Shopify stores. In most categories, they simply have Wix beat.
Still, Wix can be a viable option if you are looking to save money on your e-commerce platform host. Just make sure you note these significant cons before you get started.
Checkout options / Customer Logins
Wix’s checkout options and customer login settings are very basic.
While you can add a members area for repeat buyers to save time, this is about the only feature they offer.
Shopify, on the other hand, allows your members to register before checkout (if you want them to). It’s easy for users to subscribe by providing some very basic information, and you can add users manually or import a list via CSV, sorting them through a tag system.
All this to say, because Wix is built for all types of websites (not just e-commerce), they simply don’t prioritize the checkout process as thoroughly as Shopify.
Shipping Costs & Carrier Integration
Although Wix has improved in recent years to include free shipping, a flat rate, weight-based rate, and a creation of shipping rules, they still lack in certain areas.
Unlike Shopify, you can’t print and buy your own labels on the platform. Instead, you have to use a third party external provider like Shippo or ShipStation.
Additionally, real-time shipping is only available through USPS in the USA and Correios in Brazil.
Alternatively, Shopify works with USPS, FedEx, and UPS for a wide array of shipping options to deliver your product to your customers quickly.
Conclusion
There are many factors in choosing which e-commerce platform you should choose before building your online store, the leading variable being cost.
At the end of the day, Shopify is going to give you all the functionality you need in one place. But, you’ll have to pay for it.
Wix, on the other hand, is a simple, easy-to-use, cheap option that anyone can utilize to build their online store. It’s a great place to start out to start building some momentum selling online.
If you’ve run a successful Kickstarter campaign; you’re already on the right track.
Whatever provider you go with: don’t delay. Keep the momentum going, and make your products available through e-commerce!
