Shopify vs Wix - Let’s See who Builds the Best Online Stores

Are you stuck deciding between Shopify and Wix for your online store? Don't worry – in just a few minutes, you'll have a much better idea of their pros and cons. Welcome to another informative post from livelearning.editorx.io, your support for building design businesses and furthering your career through monthly NoCode Design Challenges with prizes and mentoring.

To help you make a decision that perfectly suits your needs, let's dive deeper into the backgrounds of these popular platforms, their features, and pricing structures.

Backgrounds: From E-commerce to Website Building

Shopify has always been a tool designed to build online stores. It has helped many e-commerce businesses launch and grow their sales. Wix, on the other hand, specializes in websites. Over the years, Wix has added numerous features to its arsenal, including its e-commerce plans.

Understanding the differences and similarities between these two platforms will enable you to make an informed choice when it comes to building your online store.

Wix E-commerce Plans

Generally speaking, all Wix e-commerce plans get you unlimited staff accounts, bandwidth, and full features. The main limitation is storage – with the entry plan, you're still given a generous 20 gigabytes. However, you can always increase it by upgrading to one of the more expensive plans.

Usually, Business Basic, their entry-level e-commerce plan, will be enough for most users.

Shopify Plans

The closest equivalent to the entry Wix e-commerce plan from Shopify is Shopify Basic. It's affordable for selling unlimited digital or physical products, but you don't get advanced features like reports and gift cards. Those only come with the Shopify and Advanced Shopify plans.

With that in mind, let's compare their offerings point by point.

Features: Clearing Some Common Misconceptions

There seems to be a lot of confusing information online, so let's clarify some of the biggest misconceptions, starting with the 'abandoned cart' feature. This tool enables you to automatically send an email to customers who have left unpurchased items in their carts, reminding them to complete their purchase. As you can imagine, it's an excellent way to increase sales and reduce cart abandonment rates.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Both Shopify and Wix offer abandoned cart recovery. The main difference is that with Shopify, this feature is available on all plans, while on Wix, you need a Business Unlimited plan or higher to access it.

Payment Gateways

Shopify supports more than 100 payment gateways, including Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and Apple Pay. However, they charge transaction fees if you use a third-party gateway. With Wix, you can choose from several popular payment providers, like Stripe, PayPal, and Square, without incurring any additional transaction fees.

Shipping Options and Integrations

When comparing shipping options, Shopify is more powerful thanks to its integrations with shipping carriers like UPS, DHL, and USPS. Wix lacks these specific integrations but still offers a basic shipping setup.

Ultimately, both platforms have their pros and cons in terms of features. Depending on your needs, one may be better suited for your online store than the other.

Scalability: Growing with Your Business

Both Shopify and Wix have plans for growing businesses, but Shopify has more advanced options for scaling with higher functionality. As your online store evolves, whether it's adding multiple sales channels or building complex sales structures, Shopify is generally better suited to accommodate growth.

That said, Wix's platform is more than adequate for smaller online stores with more straightforward needs. The key here is understanding your current and future requirements and choosing the platform that fits your business the best.

Pricing: Is One More Affordable?

Both platforms offer a range of plans, with different pricing tiers catering to various needs.

Shopify's Basic plan starts at $29/month, while Wix's Business Basic is priced at $23/month (billed annually). However, when considering the extra transaction fees that Shopify may charge for third-party payment gateways and other advanced features, the costs could potentially even out or tip in favor of Wix.

Ultimately, the most cost-effective choice will depend on the specific requirements of your online store, as well as your preferred feature set.

Conclusion: Which Platform Takes the Crown?

While both Shopify and Wix are highly popular and reliable platforms, they each have their distinct advantages.

Shopify shines with its comprehensive e-commerce features and scaling options for growing businesses. However, Wix offers a more attractive pricing structure without sacrificing too much in terms of functionality – making it a great choice for smaller, more straightforward online stores.

In the end, your choice should heavily depend on your business needs, future growth plans, and your preferred feature set. Regardless of your decision, don't hesitate to take advantage of the resources that livelearning.editorx.io can provide, from design challenges to mentoring, all dedicated to helping you succeed in the world of web design and building your business.

Happy choosing, and may your online store flourish, whether it's powered by Shopify, Wix, or even another platform altogether!