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When Shopify launched, it was an online store itself.

The site sold snowboards, and its name was Snowdevil.

The founders quickly changed vision, and the site became a platform for creating online stores.

In fact, Shopify is the first e-commerce platform. Its name back then was Jaded Pixels.

Shopify has grown considerably over the past years.

In 2011, the company only had 10 employees.

Today, Shopify has over 2,600 employees worldwide.

Just as WordPress has made it easier for anyone to set up a blog, Shopify has made it simple for anyone to set up their digital store.

On the other hand, is Wix.

Wix is a web development platform that launched in 2006.

The platform makes it easy for anyone to create a blog or website, even if they are using the web for the first time.

Today, Wix has over 110 million users.

You don’t need any web development skills to create beautiful, professional websites on Wix. No coding required.

So, let’s start the debate:

Shopify versus Wix. Which platform is the best for e-commerce?

Shopify is more popular than Wix.

But also, Wix tends to come up in conversations since it has over 110 million users.

You should keep in mind that not all Wix users sell items online.

Although, Wix provides e-commerce tools and features that compete with Shopify.

Which platform is better?

Shopify or Wix?

Shopify and Wix pricing plans

A perfect place to start the Shopify versus Wix debate is their pricing plans.

First, look at Wix’s pricing plans:

Then, look at Shopify’s pricing plans:

When you compare both, you’ll notice that Wix pricing plans are more difficult to understand.

Wix has a lot more plans, and it’s hard to choose which one is right for you.

The Shopify’s pricing page is easier to grasp.

You know what you’ll get when you sign up.

However, that doesn’t mean you should rule out Wix.

Both platforms don’t charge setup fees for your first online store.

You can’t start an online store with Wix except you choose their eCommerce plan, which costs $16.50/month or VIP plan, which costs $24.50/month.

Shopify’s Lite plan is $9 per month, and their Basic plan is $29 per month.

The Basic plan has everything you need to start selling.

And the eCommerce plan is the best for running your online store on Wix.

In both plans, there are no transaction fees. You can list unlimited products in your store.

Shopify’s Basic plan offers you more templates than you’ll get on Wix’s eCommerce plan.

However, Wix’s eCommerce plan will give you everything you need to run a full online store for less than you’ll pay for Shopify Basic plan.

Both solutions won’t charge you for bandwidth usage.

Shopify and Wix don’t charge transaction fees, but you’ll still have to pay credit card processing fees. Shopify wins here because they give you over 70 options to choose from.

Shopify and Wix both offer free 14-day trials.

Use these 14 days to see which platform gives you the best experience.

After your free trials have ended with both platforms, you’ll decide to choose where to run your online store.

Don’t be fooled.

These platforms lack one big tool you’ll need to achieve success with your online store.

You need a tool like GrowthFunnel to get lots of sales and turn customers into advocates of your store.

You may want to ask me the below question:

What is GrowthFunnel and why do you need it on your online store?

GrowthFunnel helps you collect email addresses from your online store.

According to The Relevancy Group’s findings, US marketing executives believe that email alone drives the same amount of revenue as their social media, website and display ad efforts combined.

If you’re not collecting emails on your online store, no matter which e-commerce platform you use, you’re losing.

A survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association found that 66% of consumers have made a purchase based on an email they received.

Setting up your e-commerce store alone isn’t enough. You need to market and grow your store too.

That is why you need GrowthFunnel.

GrowthFunnel lets you create popups that get shoppers’ attention on your website.

Our popups are also the most advanced. GrowthFunnel has built an exit intent technology that detects when consumers are about to leave your website.

Your popup message displays as shoppers are about to leave.

You have complete freedom and control on how, when and where your popups show on your website.

Also, you can try out GrowthFunnel for 14 days for free. Sign up for a free trial on GrowthFunnel as you use Shopify or Wix.

Now that you know an important tool you need, let’s continue our Shopify vs. Wix debate.

The ease of use of both platforms

Shopify and Wix are both easy to use.

Let’s start with Wix.

Anyone can set up their digital store with Wix.

Wix powerful drag and drop editor is the best I’ve seen.

When you want to add an element, just click the “Add” button.

Drag the element to wherever you want it. It’s so simple.

Wix lets you place anything anywhere.

Their editor also helps you control how you want things to appear on mobile devices.

If you look closely at the above image, you’ll see some dotted lines that tell you the limits on smartphone screens.

When you want to create a new website in Wix, you may see this screen which asks if you want to create a site in Wix ADI or the Wix Editor.

While ADI is automated and easier to set up, the Editor has more customization options as well as more apps.

Wix ADI asks you a few questions and automatically starts designing your site for you.

Wix ADI is an artificial intelligence (AI) technology that does everything for you.

But if you want more control and customization, I recommend you use the Wix standard editor.

Wix has created 78 video tutorials on YouTube to guide you through the process.

Shopify is also easy to use and understand.

Here’s how their overview dashboard looks like:

You can access any aspect of your e-commerce site from the Shopify dashboard.

Through the left side of the dashboard, you can view orders, add products, view the details and purchase history of customers, view site’s analytics, generate discounts for your products, and add apps from the Shopify App Store.

You can also create and view sales channels like your online store, Facebook, Amazon and more.

Shopify and Wix both offer free themes. (Wix call them Wix templates).

You can download a free theme and customize it to fit your needs and branding.

But if you don’t want to do that, buy a premium theme from Shopify Theme Store.

Customize it a little bit. You’ll have to do this so that your store won’t look like thousands of other Shopify stores.

Shopify has more e-commerce specific themes than Wix.

Like Wix, you should have no problem creating, rearranging and editing your content and product details in Shopify.

A few things are seamless in Wix than Shopify.

For example, if you want to add a map from Google Maps to your Shopify store, you’re directed to enter a Google Maps API key. This will take a little more time.

But with Wix, you just set the address you want the map to center and add it to your store.

In general, both e-commerce platforms are beginner-friendly.

But I’ll say that Wix is beginner-friendlier than Shopify.

A complete non-developer can use Wix to create an amazing looking professional store.

Shopify is more popular in e-commerce because it’s only a platform for creating online stores. Nothing else.

So, you can easily upload your products details, manage inventory and handle customers with ease.

Although Wix is too easy to use, it is not the perfect option for building an online store.

Shopify is the ideal platform for those who want to make serious money in e-commerce.

Their layout is simple.

Any newbie will master Shopify’s interface within 1 – 3 days of usage.

There’re lots of educative materials on the web on how to use Shopify.

Lots of articles and YouTube videos.

There’s also Shopify discussion forums where you can ask for feedback on your store, discuss an idea, or get general advice on anything to do with commerce.

The majority of Shopify users mastered the platform without much educative materials or help. So, I strongly believe that you can do it too.

As I’ve noted earlier, even though Shopify is beginner-friendly, Wix outdoes it in that aspect.

Shopify and Wix features

Why the Shopify vs. Wix debate is so hot right now is because of the design aspect of setting up an e-commerce store.

E-commerce store owners want a solution that allows them to manage their sites all by themselves without help from anyone.

The web designing part is where most store owners tend to need help.

That is what gave birth and rise to the Shopify versus Wix debate.

I believe design matters a lot.

It’s easier to design stores in Wix than Shopify.

But customization is limited in Wix.

For example, Wix does not allow writing HTML and CSS. If you want great customization, Wix is not the platform for you.

With Shopify, you can edit HTML and CSS. You have the freedom to build anything you want.

There are no limits to what you can do in Shopify.

Wix goes for ease in design. Shopify goes for full customization while maintaining some ease.

Another thing to note is that any e-commerce platform should offer these basic features:

• Product database
• Shopping cart
• Checkout page
• Payment processor
• Order database

Both Shopify and Wix offer all these.

But Shopify offers a lot more.

For example, Shopify lets you sell through Facebook messenger.

It syncs with Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) and integrates nicely with Ebay.

With Shopify, you can sell via Buyable Pins, Google Merchants, Twitter Cards, and more.

You can do remarketing with ease when you choose Shopify

You can also synchronize your orders with shippers like UPS and USPS.

Of course, it’s not every store or merchant that needs all these features.

But if you want an e-commerce platform that gives you the complete freedom to do whatever you want in your store, Shopify beats Wix, hands down.

You’ll get all the advanced features you need when you sell through Shopify.

Accepting payment on Shopify and Wix

By now, I’m sure you can’t wait to set up your online store with Shopify.

Shopify is way better than Wix if you want to create a store that sells.

Now, talking about payment, over 70 payment gateways are available through Shopify.

Wix is far behind with only 7 payment gateways.

Shopify has its own payment system, and it’s free to use.

The Shopify vs. Wix debate is very poor when it comes to payment.

Conclusion

If you have doubts about Shopify before you started reading this article, I’m sure that they are gone by now.

Shopify is the best e-commerce platform in the Shopify versus Wix debate.

Anyone comparing Shopify to Wix needs to know what their aims are.

If your aim is to launch an online store, then Shopify is the best for you.

But if you just want to set up a content site, then you may consider choosing Wix ahead of Shopify.

Keep in mind that no matter which e-commerce platform you decide to use, you still need a growth tool to help you capture and convert visitors.

GrowthFunnel is the tool I’m talking about.

GrowthFunnel lets you create popups that collect visitors’ email addresses on your site.

Not only that.

It also helps you address visitors by their names.

Are you ready to start using your chosen e-commerce platform with GrowthFunnel today?

Sign up for a free 14-day trial right now.

Thank you for reading and please share this article with your friends on social media.