Starting an online brand can be quite a daunting experience and knowing what platform to use can be equally challenging. You want to get it just right and for start-ups, you of course want to get the best value for money. So Shopify vs Wix: which is the best?
E-commerce platforms are one of the best money savers in the online retail game, they help tremendously and save you from having to fork up a fortune with a web developer.
We at THE FASHION BLUEPRINT want to make it easier for you to launch or transition your brand online and have come up with a list of pros and cons for the top two ecommerce sites, Shopify and Wix.
1. Ease of Use
Shopify:
Shopify tends to win most polls when asked which e-commerce platform is preferable to fashion entrepreneurs. It has positioned itself to be the go-to platform for anyone wanting to launch a product based business. Though it is not necessarily the easiest to setup, their user guides and tutorials that can be found widely on the web and on their homepage, make it easy to create store within minutes. The Shopify aesthetic in general is quite bright and easy to navigate. You’ll need a good couple of hours minimum to configure everything but there is a 24hr support line to assist with any difficulties.
Wix:
Wix, just like Shopify is a top choice for those wanting an easy way to setup and online presence, actually, the Fashion Blueprint website was created using Wix. It is one of the easiest website builders and can easily be done in a day. Their user experience is excellent, and their tutorials and step-by-step guides are well written and easy to use.
Creating an online store can be long winded and you will need the use of add ons and apps, but the option Wix ADI, uses artificial intelligence, all you need to do is follow a series of questions that will narrow down what your specific needs are for the site, it then generates a ready-made template.
Winner: Wix in general is easier to use, but that is because of their lack in variance and styles in comparison to Shopify. If quick and easy is what you want then Wix is your best choice.
2. Template Design and Customisation
The way your online store looks is one of the utmost important features, it needs to represent your brand and act as your virtual store front (think of how your favourite shop window makes you stop and stare). The attention span of the average person is rapidly declining as social media consumption grows and your target consumer wants their shopping experience to be equally engaging online as it is offline.
Shopify:
Both platforms provide a great range of templates, free and paid but Shopify has better themes that enable you to sell, with over 60+ customisable themes.
Shopify themes are modern and created by independent designers. They can be quite costly but are a one off payment, so you won't need to pay monthly. If you know how to code in CSS and HTML, you can make your own amendments and get the theme exactly to your liking.
Wix:
Wix has over 500 templates but only a few (roughly 60) are for e-commerce. They are easy to edit and much like Shopify, if you know how to code, Wix Code, allows you to customise almost everything from web applications to page scrolling, it can be accessed by clicking ‘Code’ then ‘Developer Tools’ in the Wix Editor. After this, you’ll have total control over how your Wix website looks. Even if you don't know how to code, there are loads of simple guidelines and apps you can add to your page.
Winner: Shopify wins this round due to the fact that their themes are tailored better to e-commerce and allows for much more flexibility with its product pages and overall look of the store.
3. Sales and Marketing Features
Sales and marketing features relate to product presentation, payment options and inventory management, shipping options, abandoned cart recovery and more.
Product Presentation
You can sell both physical and digital products on both sites, however, with Wix, you will need to add an app to sell products, while Shopify requires a third party integration to sell digital products.
Shopify gives you a lot of freedom on how to display your products, add allows unlimited items with multiple variants that you can label yourself, they sadly do not have a product zoom function and you will need to install a separate app for that, as well as product videos.
Wix however offers a built-in product video function to improve your customer’s experience, and you can easily add a product zoom feature.
Shipping
Inventory and shipping go hand in hand, stock management helps you control your production cycle. Shopify allows you to upload single or multiple products and get revenue reports.
Wix has limited inventory management tools but you are able to add apps to help generate sales reports and analytics.
Payment Options
If the customer doesn't make it to the payment finish line you are able to recover the lost sales. This is a great way to retain sales and catch those indecisive customers. Abandoned cart recovery lets you email customers who have left your website with items still in their basket before checking out, both Wix and Shopify have this support feature.
You will also need to install a few additional marketing apps for both Wix and Shopify.
Shopify’s multichannel integration lets you connect your store to social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram, as well as marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. Similarly, Wix supports the ability to sell on Instagram, so you can seamlessly transfer your e-commerce success to a whole new platform. Instagram is a big sales platform and a lot of online brands rely heavily on their social media presence, driving sales with the use of paid ads.
Winner: Shopify has the better sales features as it created for the world of e-commerce, but Wix has greater marketing capabilities especially if reviews and blogging is a bit part of your brand strategy.
4.Value for Money
As a small brand or start up we understand how important budgeting is, you might not have a lot of money to play with and want to get the best value for what you pay. See the below pricing tables a full list of features and pricing package.
Shopify:
Wix:
Winner: Wix is the most affordable website builder and offers greater value for money which makes it ideal for startups, but once your brand does start to grow Shopify would be the better option.
Shopify vs Wix: which is the best?
Shopify and Wix are both great hitting sites and both offer similar features, however for a an online store we think that Shopify wins this battle. Shopify is scaleable and great for any level of online retail. If you have a vision of moving up in the world through international trade and expansion, its payment gateways and multilingual function is ideal.
We are not saying that Wix is a complete no - it's great if you're on a budget and want to be hands on with the store maintenance as it is easy to navigate. If your main focus isn't to sell then Wix is definitely a good idea as its content creation flexibility and blogging features are incredibly easy to use.
Let us know what site you choose to develop your online store in the comments!
Written by Misi Chanel, 2020