Wix vs. Shopify At a Glance

Both platforms offer excellent functionality for building online stores, but Shopify is built specifically for eCommerce, while Wix shines for small businesses or creatives looking for simplicity and flexibility.

• Wix is better for small businesses or bloggers who need a user-friendly platform and don’t require advanced eCommerce tools.
• Shopify is designed for businesses with larger inventories and global customers, offering more robust features for scaling and selling.

Shopify: The More Scalable eCommerce Solution

When it comes to scaling your eCommerce business, Shopify takes the crown. It’s designed specifically for online selling, offering top-tier shipping and fulfillment benefits. Not only does Shopify have its own fulfillment network, but it also partners with carriers to offer discounts of up to 89% on shipping.

For businesses with high sales volumes, Shopify’s automation features, like inventory management for an unlimited number of products, are unbeatable. Wix, on the other hand, limits you to 50,000 products and offers fewer product variants.

Shopify also integrates with over 6,000 eCommerce-specific apps, such as Klaviyo and Spocket, compared to Wix’s 500+ apps. This means Shopify is more versatile, especially for larger eCommerce operations.

Wix: Better for Creative Design Flexibility

While Shopify is optimized for online stores, Wix excels in site design, offering over 800 templates for free. This makes Wix the better choice for those seeking creative freedom with design.

Unlike Shopify’s structured, block-based editor, Wix provides a drag-and-drop editor, giving users more flexibility to position elements anywhere on the page. Although Shopify’s themes are mobile-responsive by default, Wix requires some manual tweaking for mobile optimization, but the tools for doing so are intuitive.

For small businesses, personal projects, or creative portfolios, Wix's design capabilities may be more appealing.

Marketing: It Depends on Your Audience

Both platforms offer a range of marketing tools, but which is better depends on your focus:

• Wix has powerful blogging features and built-in SEO tools that integrate with Semrush for keyword data, making it ideal for content-heavy marketing strategies.
• Shopify, while capable of supporting blogs, is geared more toward eCommerce marketing, offering tools like automated abandoned cart recovery and upsell emails. Shopify also supports multicurrency payments and has a multilingual URL feature, which gives it an edge for businesses with an international audience.

Wix Offers More Advanced AI Tools

When it comes to artificial intelligence, Wix is a clear leader. With its AI website builder, you can create a fully functional site in minutes. Wix also offers a variety of AI-driven tools, like SEO assistants, text generators, and image auto-enhancement.

While Shopify has its own AI tools, like product description generators and email optimization features, these are less extensive compared to Wix’s suite of AI-driven functionalities.

When it comes to optimizing your website for search engines, SEO is a critical factor in driving the right customers to your store. Both Wix and Shopify perform exceptionally well in this area, scoring 5 out of 5 in SEO testing. Both platforms offer essential SEO features, including sitemaps and mobile optimization, ensuring your site is well-prepared to rank highly in search results.

Wix’s SEO Features

Wix stands out for its personalized SEO checklist, which provides real-time feedback on your site’s content and settings. This tool ensures you're taking the right steps to improve your site's visibility. One of the most exciting additions is the AI Meta Tag Creator, available to premium users. This tool automates the process of generating meta titles and descriptions, helping you optimize your pages without the hassle of manually entering the data.

Although Wix’s free plan doesn’t include access to the AI Meta Tag Creator, users still benefit from a wide array of SEO tools, including advanced SEO page settings that allow you to customize each page’s title, description, and URL structure.

Shopify’s SEO Features

While Shopify offers standard SEO features, it shines in ecommerce localization. Shopify provides support for 30+ languages through the Translate & Adapt app, allowing businesses to translate their content and reach international audiences. Shopify is also improving its localization capabilities with new ecommerce features, such as automatic site localization based on browser language, and will be removing the Geolocation app by December 2024, streamlining the international experience for businesses.

Internationalization and Localization

For businesses looking to expand globally, Wix leads the way. It supports 180 languages and automatically translates your content for international visitors, simplifying the process of global outreach. Wix’s partnership with Global-e further enhances its ability to assist businesses in selling products across multiple markets, making it a strong contender for international ecommerce.

While Shopify also supports internationalization, its reliance on third-party apps like Translate & Adapt limits its out-of-the-box language capabilities. However, Shopify's ongoing improvements in this area make it a competitive choice for businesses looking to target international markets.

The Winner for SEO: Wix

In the SEO battle, Wix edges out Shopify due to its comprehensive features, including custom SEO support, automatic translation, and AI-powered meta tags. These tools give Wix users an advantage in boosting their site's visibility and appealing to global customers.

Using ZeeDrop for Cross-Listing on Wix and Shopify

For sellers looking to maximize their product reach, ZeeDrop Crosslister is an invaluable tool. It supports both Wix and Shopify, making it easy to manage listings across multiple platforms. ZeeDrop simplifies the process of transferring products from any suppliers  more than 300  to your Wix or Shopify store, ensuring seamless integration and efficient cross-listing. This tool helps sellers save time, reduce errors, and expand their business by reaching a broader customer base on both platforms.

Which Is Cheaper: Shopify or Wix?

Both platforms offer competitive pricing, but Wix generally costs less:

• Wix plans start at $17/month, while Shopify’s basic plan begins at $29/month. However, Shopify does offer an enticing $1/month deal for the first three months, which may be a deciding factor for new businesses looking to save early on.

For more advanced plans, Shopify can get expensive, with its top-tier Shopify Plus plan starting at $2,300/month, whereas Wix caps out at $159/month.

Shopify vs. Wix: Which Should You Choose?

Ultimately, the choice between Wix and Shopify comes down to your specific business needs:

• Choose Wix if you’re a small business, creative professional, or blogger looking for design flexibility and ease of use.
• Choose Shopify if you’re running a medium to large-scale eCommerce business with a global customer base and require advanced inventory, marketing, and fulfillment features.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I use Wix for eCommerce? Yes, but Wix is better suited for smaller eCommerce operations.

Which is better for larger businesses, Wix or Shopify? Shopify is ideal for larger businesses, offering better scalability and advanced eCommerce features.

Does Wix have better design features than Shopify? Wix offers more design flexibility, while Shopify is more structured but optimized for mobile responsiveness.

In conclusion, while both Wix and Shopify have their merits, Shopify is the superior platform for serious eCommerce businesses, while Wix excels in creativity and user-friendliness for smaller sites.