Wix is a leading all-in-one website builder that offers a highly customizable drag-and-drop site editor. It’s not only very intuitive and easy to use with tons of high-quality online store templates to choose from for free, but it also offers feature-rich plans that help make selling online easier.
E-Commerce Features
To test Wix’s e-commerce platform, I wanted to create the best real-world experience for me. I currently only have one product I’m selling on my website and I do so with a contact form. So, I scrolled through the elements Wix offers in the site editor and found a bunch of pre-built order forms. My opinion is two-pronged: I love that I don’t have to spend time designing this whole section, but I hate that I can’t easily resize anything. I managed to find an order form that I could resize and customize for my needs.
I want to talk about form settings, which is tangentially related to Wix’s e-commerce features. I set up my form so I could accept payments and send customers directly to a checkout. I also chose the fields I wanted to save for my built-in contact list (name, email, etc.), and then Wix applied labels to contacts who used my online order form. On top of that, I set up an automated email response to say thank you and another automation to create a task to remind me to follow up with them a week later. Individually, these are all common features, but together in one menu as I’m setting up an online order form, it’s kind of brilliant.
Adding a store to my site was as easy as selecting an online store from the left-hand menu. The checklist of what I needed to do to set up everything was helpful because I can get excited and try to do four things at once; Wix reeled me back in.
Adding products to my store was as easy as you’d think: Add photos, a title, description, pricing, variants and SKUs. Once again, Wix makes things even easier with everything you need in one spot. I adjusted SEO settings from a menu on the product page and an SEO assistant told me what’s most important (indexing products, for example, is high on the list). I also created a coupon through a pop-up that let me set conditions such as type of discount (dollars off, percentage, BOGO, etc.) and type of limitation (total number of uses, one per customer, dates valid, etc.).
I could go on and on about Wix’s e-commerce tools, but I tend to be a prolific writer and there are word count limits. I’ll put it like this: I’m considering switching from my current WordPress and plugin configuration, as well as my email marketing subscription, in favor of Wix because of how easy it is to manage everything in one place.
Teajai Kimsey, a marketing professional with over 20 years of experience and our e-commerce advisory board member, also likes Wix for its many features. “Wix also offers built-in email marketing, multichannel selling and easy import/export with a csv file. These are all important parts of a successful e-commerce business,” she said.
Site-Building Tools
Creating a website on Wix is easy enough. I’m difficult to please when it comes to site editors because I want boundaries to help me design a site that doesn’t look haphazard with no white space, but I also want the freedom to adjust elements as I see fit. I wouldn’t call Wix the Goldilocks of website builders, but it comes close. I’m grateful that Ctrl+Z works to undo all the wonky resizing I’ve tried with headers, images and forms.
What makes Wix great for site building is the pre-built elements. You don’t have to create animations for text or image gallery designs from scratch. Many elements come with multiple options and they’re all customizable, so it can work out of the box or you can change small bits. I liked that I still had the choice to create these elements myself (I won’t though because I’m not great at it).
The boundaries, about which I always have mixed feelings, are helpful. As I move elements around on a page, the dotted lines let me know when I’m out of alignment or centered. Does this mean I’ll have a great-looking site no matter what? No. So, I’d say Wix gives you enough freedom to mess up, but if you trust Wix’s templates and elements, you can have a clean and well-designed website.
Payment Processing and Accounting
Wix scores well in this category for a few different reasons. Transaction fees are on par with most payment processing options from similar businesses, like Square. I can find lower transaction fees through traditional merchant accounts, but if you run a small business with low-volume sales like me, you may have difficulty getting a merchant service provider that will give you low fees.
Also, Wix includes easy-to-manage inventory, a way to accept payments in person and built-in PCI compliance. It’s worth mentioning that Wix and QuickBooks integrate well. I think the connector is easy to set up, so the data I add in Wix automatically transfers to QuickBooks, eliminating manual product and sales entry in my accounting software.
Pricing
Wix isn’t the cheapest e-commerce platform around. You’re going to pay at least $36 per month at the regular rate to sell products online and in person with Wix. This is on par with Shopify but not nearly as affordable as Square. Here’s a closer look at pricing with Wix:
Service and Support
Wix offers 24/7 support via phone and live chat, but talking to an agent took a while and a few hoops. Using a chatbot, I answered questions to help get me to the right agent (I asked about domain pricing and domain privacy). An agent joined soon after and was friendly and understood my question. In fact, he went beyond my one question and followed up with questions for me in order to provide a better answer. Also, it was his birthday (this is only relevant because I love that he shared that with me, which made the interaction feel more personal).
Who Should Use It?
Wix is the best e-commerce platform for businesses that want a very easy-to-use site builder that comes with everything you need to build and manage an online store.
In conclusion, Wix offers a comprehensive and user-friendly platform for building and managing an online store. With its customizable drag-and-drop site editor, feature-rich e-commerce tools, and seamless integration with payment processing and accounting systems, Wix provides a one-stop solution for businesses looking to establish a strong online presence. Whether you’re a small business owner or an experienced marketer, Wix’s intuitive interface and robust features make it a top choice for creating and managing an e-commerce website.
