What is Wix?
First, let's take a look Wix, which started its activities in 2006 and quickly established itself as one of the leaders in e-commerce. It is an intuitive and easy to use website builder that uses a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface to create websites.
When I used Wix, I discovered that it offered an AI-based website builder assistant (Wix ADI) that takes your needs into account and creates a website for you. With Wix, you can create a website in any niche without any knowledge of web technologies like HTML or CSS.
Thanks to the extreme ease of use of the platform, it attracted more than 180 million users and powers over 130 million websites around the world. Wix hosts over 90 million domains and is one of the most popular website builders today.
In addition to being a versatile website builder, Wix has several features that allow it to create e-commerce sites. From shopping cart integrations to payment gateways, Wix offers multiple choices for small businesses.
What is Shopify?
While Wix is a versatile website builder with e-commerce features, Shopify is the ideal solution for creating an online store. Shopify started operating earlier than Wix (in 2004) in an attempt to solve the problems that entrepreneurs typically face when setting up an online presence.
Needless to say, the platform succeeded in this task wonderfully. Today Shopify has the distinction of having served more than 1,000,000 businesses and contributed to generating over 200 billion dollars in revenue.
Dedicated to e-commerce, Shopify's robust and advanced features allow businesses of all sizes to scale their businesses more quickly. Whether it's social media features, e-commerce platform management or SEO features, Shopify has a solution that best fits your business.
Like Wix, Shopify also uses a drag-and-drop website builder, offers a host of integrations, and has multiple customization features. Both platforms have multi-level plans that help your business grow at comfortable rates.
Comparison between Wix and Shopify
At first glance, Wix and Shopify seem to be similar products, and for good reason. Both eliminate the need for coding skills, use a drag-and-drop interface, and have e-commerce features that allow you to create an online store.
However, when examined with a magnifying glass, there are subtle but significant differences between the two. And these are the details that should guide you in choosing between Wix and Shopify. To help you do that, I'm going to compare the different aspects of the 2 platforms in the next sections.
1. Ease of use
Currently, there are more than 20 million e-commerce stores on the web, most of which don't make enough sales to survive. Therefore, to stand out from the crowd, your store must be set up quickly enough to capture the market exactly when you need it.
That's where the usability factor comes in. If the website builder you're using isn't easy to use, you may lose out. Luckily, both Wix and Shopify rank highly on the usability index.
Wix
Let's take the case of Wix first; as mentioned above, Wix uses a simple drag-and-drop front-end editor to create websites. With the Wix editor, all you need to do is choose a template, create the site structure, and add the necessary content.
If you want a faster way to build your website, Wix also offers Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence). The Wix ADI is an automatic website creation tool that creates a fully-fledged website for you in minutes.
All you need to do is enter the required information; ADI takes care of the rest. And if you're looking for further customizations, I recommend opting for the Wix Corvid option, which provides access to Wix APIs for detailed design control.
Shopify
When you use Shopify to create an e-commerce site, the experience is slightly different. Wix allows users to work with a front-end editor, whereas in Shopify, most changes are made in the back-end interface. Only when you preview or publish the changes can you see what your website looks like.
The above means that in Shopify, the editing and dashboard interfaces are separate, which is a good thing if you ask me. Such separation allows you to add and remove products, manage sales and marketing campaigns, and work more quickly with other e-commerce features.
🏆 Winner: Draw
With regard to ease of use, Wix and Shopify both excel in different areas.
Wix offers greater design flexibility and is more aimed at beginners. Shopify has a relatively steeper learning curve, but its simplicity in setting up e-commerce functionalities is unparalleled once mastered.
2. Rates
The most important difference between Wix and Shopify when it comes to pricing plans is that Wix offers a completely free plan, while Shopify only offers a 2-week trial. However, Wix's free plan comes with several restrictions, such as intrusive ads and the inability to connect a custom domain.
When it comes to paid plans, Wix offers three options for selling online:
- Business Basic at $23 per month
- Business Unlimited at $27 per month
- Business VIP at $49 per month
Each plan varies in terms of storage, application access, e-commerce features, and even the level of customer support. And if you're an already established business, you can choose bespoke business plans, which offer custom features in addition to the basic plans.
Now let's get to Shopify's pricing structure, which is simpler compared to Wix's. To sell through Facebook pages, accept credit card payments, and access the buy button, you can use the Shopify Lite plan at just $9 per month. If you're looking for comprehensive content management functionality, the following plans are available:
- Basic Shopify at $29 per month
- Shopify at $79 per month
- Advanced Shopify at $299 per month
For custom Shopify plans, you can opt for Shopify Plus, whose fees are negotiable based on your business needs.
🏆 Winner: Wix
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Shopify store plans are obviously more expensive than Wix's, but they're also more focused on e-commerce features. On the other hand, Wix offers better value for money and allows for greater scalability at affordable rates.
Apart from the above, both platforms are also excellent as content management systems. They can compete with others website creation tools and e-commerce such as WordPress and BigCommerce.
Check out my complete analysis of Shopify and BigCommerce.
3. Speed.
However, setting up an e-commerce store is not only a question of speed of deployment. You should also ensure that website pages load more quickly across all devices and networks. In this respect, Wix is lagging behind Shopify.
Shopify websites typically have an average load time of 1 to 4 seconds, making them more user-friendly. Wix websites, on the other hand, have an average load speed of around 9 seconds, making them a bit slower than Shopify. However, these are approximate values that vary depending on multiple factors such as device hardware and network speed.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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Let's be honest: speed is critical to e-commerce success, and even Google agrees. The speed gap between Wix and Shopify isn't significant, but it does exist, and you should definitely consider it when making your decision.
4. Themes and templates
What is an online store without a well-organized and aesthetic window? That's why choosing the right theme and templates is critical to e-commerce success. They influence how customers interact with the site and determine if they are attracted enough to come back.
The creators of Wix are pretty generous in this regard. When you sign up for a free Wix account, you get instant access to over 800 professional themes and templates. The designs you get are contemporary and are categorized by industry type.
Shopify, on the other hand, offers themes mainly focused on e-commerce sites, which is normal since the platform focuses on e-commerce. However, the number of free themes you get is only 9, which is far less than Wix.
Fortunately, each of these themes also comes in several variants, which means that the choices are not as meager as you might think at first glance. And in case you're not happy with what's available for free, you can always invest in paid themes.
Now that we've taken stock of the number of themes and templates offered, let's talk a bit about quality. In this respect, Wix and Shopify are comparable; the themes are created with functionality and aesthetics in mind, and ensure that the purpose of the site is achieved.
That said, when it comes to e-commerce features, Shopify themes come out on top. These themes are created explicitly for e-commerce stores on Shopify, making them more effective than the multi-purpose themes found on Wix.
Another aspect where Shopify is ahead of Wix is responsiveness. All the themes available on Shopify are 100% responsive, which means that they are fully mobile compatible. On the other hand, Wix themes require a number of adjustments to be mobile-friendly.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Based on the number of themes and templates available, Wix is way ahead of Shopify.
However, the latter prevails in terms of compatibility with e-commerce and responsiveness, 2 essential elements for any e-commerce business.
5. Level of personalization
So far, it's clear that Wix and Shopify offer sufficient choice when it comes to themes. However, that's not enough; sites need to be customized to reflect the spirit of your business.
Both Wix and Shopify allow you to make custom changes using HTML and CSS. Wix has a dedicated feature called Wix Corvid, which allows you to personalize every aspect of your website. This feature allows you to have total control over the appearance of your website.
Shopify has a simple “Edit HTML/CSS” function that you can access from the admin page. Shopify also allows you to change templates at any time, allowing you to change the look and feel of your site without having to completely rebuild it.
Unfortunately, that's not the case with Wix, which doesn't allow you to change models once you've built your site. In my opinion, this can be a serious obstacle that Wix developers need to fix as soon as possible.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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When it comes to personalization, Shopify is the big winner. What if Wix offers similar options, they also have disadvantages in terms of stiffness. Shopify themes can be optimized to a greater extent, improving customer experiences and sales.
6. Characteristics of the product presentation
At first glance, it's easy to think that Shopify has fewer product enhancement features than Wix. After all, Shopify only allows you to add your goods in three variants, namely size, color, and material.
Wix, on the other hand, offers six variants, with around thirty options. At the same time, Shopify and Wix both allow you to add product descriptions, titles, and images. Plus, Wix even supports video carousels in all themes, which Shopify doesn't.
However, upon closer inspection, you'll find that Shopify has a plethora of add-ons that make product showcasing a breeze. For example, you can integrate add-ons to enable customer reviews on Shopify and even incorporate augmented reality (AR) features. Such flexibility isn't available on Wix, which doesn't even allow videos to be integrated into product descriptions.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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Shopify takes the lead in this aspect and keeps the basics of product development simple while providing integrations that make work easier. Wix isn't lagging far behind, though, and is making up for more in terms of the choices offered.
7. Inventory management and shipping
So far, we have mostly been busy exploring the functional side of the website. Now it's time to take a look at what's going on behind the scene. In this section, we're going to look at Wix's inventory management and shipping features compared to Shopify.
In line with my expectations, Shopify offers comprehensive inventory management features. It allows you to download single or multiple products, provides inventory management tools, and even generates revenue reports. With Shopify, you can run a fully-fledged dropshipping business with no questions asked.
When it comes to Wix's e-commerce features, I think it's more designed for smaller “e-tailers.” As a result, its inventory management features are limited compared to Shopify's, and you'll need to use separate applications for reporting and analysis.
When it comes to shipping options, Shopify and Wix both offer the ability to create a variety of shipping rules. From free shipping options to flat rate shipping, to shipping costs based on weight and product type, you have plenty of options at your disposal.
In addition, both platforms offer the possibility of providing shipping quotes in real time to customers. They also offer attractive discounts, which are however limited to certain countries and regions.
Wix offers shipping facilities via USPS, and you can get up to 70% off depending on your plan. As an e-commerce specialist, Shopify offers more options by offering shipping to the United States, Canada, and even Australia.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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In terms of inventory management and shipping, Shopify offers more features.
But since it's specifically meant for e-commerce, that's to be expected. Luckily, Wix isn't too late when it comes to discounts and shipping options.
8. Tax Management
One of the biggest headaches for any business is dealing with taxes. And when using an e-commerce web development platform, you expect to receive some help in this area. True to customer expectations, Shopify and Wix both offer several options in this regard.
Wix gives you the ability to disable and enable taxes, mention tax rates in the product price, and more; you can even set up taxes based on regions. Wix also offers the free Avalara app, which automatically calculates tax rates. However, the downside is that this app is only available for higher-tier plans.
Shopify is no slouch when it comes to taking care of taxes. You can use the platform to perform tax calculations automatically. If you've opted for the Shopify Plus plan, you have access to Avalara, which makes it easy to calculate taxes.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Both Wix and Shopify are equally good at calculating taxes. Both have multi-regional tax calculation functionalities and provide access to the Avalara application.
Moreover, these platforms even allow you to automate the tax filing process.
9. Abandoned cart recovery options
Recovering abandoned carts is a fundamental e-commerce feature, expected from any online store. This feature allows you to locate and target shoppers who added items to their shopping cart but didn't check out. After identifying them, you can send retargeting emails that contain discounts and coupons that will encourage them to complete their purchase.
Both Shopify and Wix offer options for recovering abandoned carts. While Shopify offers this functionality from the platform, Wix uses a third-party add-on to perform this task. Shopify offers the feature on all plans, while Wix includes the abandoned cart recovery feature in its e-commerce plans.
Another aspect where Wix and Shopify differ is the number of automated retargeting emails that each one allows you to send. With Shopify, you can only send one automated retargeting email, while Wix allows you to send up to two. But that's not a very big difference in my opinion.
🏆 Winner: Draw
When it comes to abandoned cart recovery functions, both Wix and Shopify are as good as the other. While there are tiny differences in how each platform uses this feature, they are minimal.
10. Point of Sale functionality
Point of sale, or POS, functionality allows an e-commerce business to sell even from real locations. POS terminals can accept credit and debit card payments, update inventory, and monitor stock levels.
Both Wix and Shopify offer point of sale functionality, but I think Shopify does a better job in that regard. For starters, Shopify POS works in most countries around the world, which isn't the case with Wix POS, which only works in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and Japan.
Second, point of sale functionality is an integral part of the Shopify platform. This means that Shopify was developed with point of sale as the core functionality and provides dedicated point of sale support.
On the other hand, if you need to use point of sale features with Wix, you'll need to use the Square add-on. Of course, that doesn't mean that Wix's point of sale functionality is inferior to that of Shopify, but the process won't be as easy as with Shopify.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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Both Wix and Shopify offer point of sale features, but Shopify offers an integrated and seamless experience that's easy to implement.
With Wix, you'll need to use an add-on, which means you'll need to interact with 2 software entities to do the same job.
11. Social media integration
Currently, social networks are a massive source of e-commerce traffic. Naturally, e-commerce platforms need to integrate with social media channels to increase sales and grow their business.
Shopify provides multi-channel social media support that allows you to connect your store to multiple social media accounts. Whether it's Facebook, Instagram, or other marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, Shopify allows you to work in tandem with all channels and increase your exposure.
In the same vein, Wix allows you to integrate Instagram for digital marketing purposes. With Wix, your store can take advantage of Instagram and sell directly on the platform, providing a great channel to increase sales.
🏆 Winner: Draw
This is yet another aspect where I think Wix and Shopify are on an equal footing. Both platforms make extensive use of social networks and allow you to take advantage of the power of these channels to drive sales.
12. Blogging features
Blogging is an effective digital marketing channel right now, and both Wix and Shopify have features that allow you to create a blog for your website. For any business owner who wants to grow, blogging is an essential path.
Thanks to these 2 platforms, you can create blog posts, categorize them according to your needs, and even allow others to access your content via RSS feeds. Despite the similarities, there are some differences in the functionalities of the 2 platforms.
For example, Wix allows users to easily insert strips of content from blog posts into product pages. Shopify also has a similar feature, which allows you to present your blog content on other pages, but you need to use a paid add-on.
Additionally, Wix allows you to use both tags and categories in blog posts. Shopify, on the other hand, only offers options for using tags. Finally, Wix offers an automatic saving feature that backs up your content while you create it; unfortunately, Shopify doesn't have this feature.
🏆 Winner: Wix
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Wix's blogging service is clearly ahead of Shopify with its “bands” and automatic recording features. Plus, you don't have to spend more on Wix for blogging, while on Shopify, you'll need to invest in an add-on.
If you want to read my complete guide on how to start a blog, click here.
13. Email marketing
Although it is one of the oldest web technologies, email is still considered to be the marketing channel offering the best return on investment. Naturally, both Wix and Shopify offer options for creating and managing email marketing campaigns for your online store.
Here, Wix is several steps ahead of the curve with Wix Ascend, an all-in-one solution for all digital marketing needs. You need to sign up for a separate subscription to access its features, but once you do, you'll be able to access all marketing options from this single interface. This is a feature that can be very useful when running multiple digital marketing campaigns.
Even if you decide not to sign up for an Ascend subscription, you can still launch up to three email marketing campaigns per month with Wix. However, with the subscription, you have access to all of the tool's features, such as higher email bandwidths.
Shopify integrates email marketing features into the admin page, from where you can design and launch campaigns. But if you're looking for more features and greater flexibility, you can opt for several plugins and add-ons like Omnisend Email and Privy.
🏆 Winner: Wix
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Email marketing is one aspect where Wix has an edge over Shopify. With the Ascend platform, Wix allows you to take care of all digital marketing features, including email campaigns. Shopify's features are a bit limited in this aspect without add-ons.
14. Availability of the mobile application
Today, we live in the age of mobile applications and business features on the go. It is therefore normal that you can access and edit your website from a smartphone. To allow you to do this, Wix and Shopify both offer mobile applications for managing stores on the go.
The Wix mobile app, which is available on iOS and Android, is very powerful and allows you to do everything from creating and publishing blog posts to managing events. You can even add images to your product galleries using the app and make general updates to your site.
On the other hand, the Shopify application is more intended to facilitate e-commerce processes. Available on all major smartphone operating systems, the Shopify app allows you to manage most aspects of your store. Shopify even has a POS app to accept physical payments, a chat app, and even a logo creation app.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Both Wix and Shopify offer applications that can take care of site management on the go. However, the Wix app is more suited to general site changes, while the Shopify app prioritizes e-commerce features.
15. Number of add-ons
Wix and Shopify are standalone platforms in and of themselves, but their functionality can be further improved through add-ons. Fortunately, each tool has an app store from which users can access a wide range of applications.
As you would expect, each app store is organized differently and has its own characteristics. The Wix store is more focused on providing additional features to your website. Additionally, you'll also be able to integrate over 250 other tools and services, such as MailChimp.
The Shopify app store, however, far surpasses Wix with its collection of over 3,000 apps and integrations! From accounting to CRM, here you will find everything you need for your online store.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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I don't need to be very explicit here: Shopify wins hands down thanks to its large number of add-ons and integrations. The app store of Wix is efficient, but does not match Shopify's massive offer.
16. Payment integrations
No discussion about e-commerce site builders would be complete without a section on payment integrations. And while both Wix and Shopify are well equipped to accept payments, there are some differences you should keep in mind.
In terms of features, Shopify covers nearly every aspect of accepting payments. It offers integrations with over 100 payment gateways, including its own dedicated gateway, Shopify Payments.
Shopify also allows merchants to accept payments in multiple currencies, leave tips at checkout, and even ask for donations. If Shopify Payments isn't available in your region, you can always opt for third-party apps for payment.
As you would expect, Wix supports all the usual payment platforms like PayPal, Square, and Stripe. However, it does not support digital wallets like Amazon Pay and Apple Pay. Another disadvantage is that Wix does not allow customers to pay for purchases in their local currency.
Despite all of the above, Wix has a significant advantage over Shopify when it comes to payments: it doesn't charge you any processing fees. Shopify, on the other hand, charges transaction fees for using third-party payment gateways.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Shopify beats Wix with its more extensive payment options and functions if you think in terms of pure capacity. But Wix has the upper hand by offering free payment processing, which might be the most attractive factor for your online business.
17. Performance analysis
Effective analysis functions are one of the important factors that determine the strength of an e-commerce solution. If you can't track the performance of your website, you won't be able to assess what steps to take to grow the business.
In this respect, Wix and Shopify are comparable e-commerce tools. Both provide access to Google Analytics, which gives you detailed information about customer behavior. With this data, you can personalize your website and make it more user-friendly.
However, note that you need to have one of the e-commerce plans to use this feature with Wix. With Shopify, on the other hand, it's available for all plans. Shopify even has several built-in analytics functions, such as conversion tracking and customer behavior analysis.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
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Once again, the prize goes to Shopify for its e-commerce usability. Here, you have built-in, third-party analytics integrations with each plan, making Shopify the best choice for analytics.
Wix vs. Shopify: Pros and Cons
In this section, I'm going to highlight some of the strengths of the 2 platforms, as well as a few weak points. This will allow you to compare Wix and Shopify at a glance.
Benefits of Wix
- Simplified editing interface
- A better quality-price ratio
- Access to a large number of tutorials
- Better email marketing opportunities
Disadvantages of Wix
- Fewer search engine optimization (SEO) features
- More focused on small businesses
- Not as good for the dropshipping
Benefits of Shopify
- Broad range of e-commerce functionalities
- The widest choice of payment options
- A considerable number of add-ons and integrations
- Fully optimized for search engines
Disadvantages of Shopify
- Slightly more expensive
- Lack of advanced blogging features
- They may require you to use their payment gateways
Summary
Hopefully, the comparison above between Wix and Shopify has helped you better understand both platforms. While both are great for creating websites, each has strengths and weaknesses.
Deciding which solution to use depends entirely on the needs of your business. If you're looking to create a dedicated e-commerce portal with all the bells and notifications, Shopify offers the best set of features and extension collections.
However, for multi-purpose small business websites that have e-commerce features, Wix is the best option. Its plans are more affordable, editing is easier, and you have access to choices digital marketing advanced in the form of Wix Ascend.
Before making your choice, remember to use the free plans and trials to test each platform.
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