Should I Use Wix or Shopify For My Singapore Website

If you would like to have a stronger presence on your current offline or online store, you should seek a new and robust e-commerce platform in the market. You are lucky! There are various high-quality platforms in Singapore from which you can choose from, including Shopify and Wix.

Shopify is the evident leader regarding recognition, but Wix is also popular since over 68 million websites are using the platform. It does not mean that all sites that utilise WIX sell brands online, but it is good to note that WIX offers eCommerce tools that compare with Shopify.

In this article, you will get a detailed comparison between WIX and Shopify based on various aspects like ease of use, cost, and features. Read on to realise whether WIX or Shopify is the perfect one for your online store.

Comparing Wix And Shopify Based on The Main Features

• SEO tools

Both Shopify and WIX come with various inbuilt SEO features. In general, you can create metadata yourself, or let the systems do it for you. Each of these CMS chimes the search engines when new content is crafted.

• Key online store practicality

Both WIX and Shopify has some basic functionality features. But regarding online sales, Shopify is the evident leader with its exceptionally clean product pages and outstanding store management features.

• Templates and themes

Since the primary aim for developing Shopify was only to improve e-commerce stores, it comes with inbuilt themes to serve your needs. Shopify themes are also very adaptable since you can conceal various aspects within the editor of the theme. This allows you to customise multiple sections without the need to copy the theme, like on a performance server.

WIX also has some online store themes that can serve your needs, but the number has not yet reached that of Shopify. The company, however, is crafting some elegant themes that aim at specific industries like furniture and jewellery.

• Discount and coupon codes

Coupon codes and discounts are both integrated without additional costs from Shopify or WIX. It is hard to differentiate between the two e-commerce platforms because for both platforms; you can indicate the specific products available for discounts with ease.

• Management of inventories

WIX E-commerce platform is very clean regarding inventory management, but Shopify organises all your lists in one area. With Shopify, you can access the content creation page, space for your gift cards, and inventory tab from the same section.

• Customisation capabilities

Shopify has always been the CMS of choice for website developers who need to design and apply their code. The only challenge is that you have to understand their Liquid programming language because it is not compatible with CSS and HTML. Most individuals find themselves hiring developers with expertise in Liquid language.

On the other hand, WIX is primarily developed for elementary web developers who have less experience in site designing. This means that the themes are mass-produced and you should not expect it to have advanced customisable options.

• Blogging features

Although Shopify has a cleaner content management area for your blog than WIX, both the platforms include advanced solutions for your blogging requirements. The primary benefit of using WIX for your blogging needs is that it provides an authentic drag and drop section.

• Multilingual capabilities

WIX features a robust multilingual app that can change your website into any language you wish. Shopify strains in this matter, but it has some themes have capabilities of supporting two languages. WIX is the evident winner in this field.

• Apps and add-ons

There are various cool integrations that you can include in your WIX e-commerce platform, but remember they are all directed towards online stores. So, you have to sieve through the additions that can be more useful for your offline stores.

Shopify should be the platform of choice when it comes to targeted e-commerce add-ons and apps for web hosting.

• Payment gateway alternatives

Shopify features over 70 payment gateway options including PayMill, Authorize.net, Stripe, and PayPal. Wix has been improving over the years, but it doesn’t quite measure up with its 17 gateways of payment.

Wix vs Shopify: The main difference

Wix offers basic user-friendly ecommerce features geared towards small online stores with less than 100 products. Shopify is suitable for much larger stores as it is built to easily manage thousands of store items. Wix’s Business Basic plan starts at $23/month whereas Shopify Basic is $26/month.

Comparing WIX And Shopify Based on The Ease of Use

WIX is undoubtedly designed for non-developers who feel unsettled due to complex interfaces and cumbersome coding needs. WIX offers useful add-ons, templates, and a suitable drag and drops editor for making your web pages to appear professional without great experience.

However, the ease of use also entails some sort of customisation by developers and individuals on their store. Since Shopify is designed for online stores, its ease of use cannot be underrated. Handling customers, inventory management, and uploading products are all simple. So, even if WIX is very simple to use, it is too elementary.

Product Presentation and Features

On the surface, it seems surprising that Shopify has fewer features than Wix for presenting your wares. You can only add 3 variants in Shopify for size, colour, or material. Wix gives you 6 variants and up to 30 options, for example, to choose different colours. Both let you create titles, descriptions and image galleries with cool zoom effects. But Shopify does not support carousel videos in all its themes, while Wix does.

Having said that, it all changes when you start investigating further into Shopify’s extra apps. You can find a wide range of free and paying add-ons, which will enable reviews (impossible with Wix, which enables user comments) Facebook stores, eBay item importers and tons more. Also, there is one thrilling and (so far) unique Shopify feature: Augmented Reality. This allows you to use your smartphone to navigate around the product and view every little detail.

With Wix there is also one major drawback: you currently cannot embed videos in your product descriptions.

Verdict: Both Shopify and Wix present items well, but Shopify apps give more options and flexibility to the platform.

SEO Optimization

Both Shopify and Wix are fairly good when it comes to search engine optimization practices. You can modify your page titles, descriptions, headings, alt texts and redirects. Sitemaps are available under yourdomain.com/sitemap, and you can also add a Facebook Pixel code to track your eCommerce conversions on social media.

The only strange things worth mentioning are that Shopify and Wix don’t play so nice with URLs. Shopify adds “/collections/” or “/products/” to some of them. Wix adds “/product-page/” to product pages so you cannot get full control over your URL. However, if you modify a URL, Shopify lets you click a box to automatically create a redirect from the old page. Wix only reminds you to do it.

Verdict: Both are good, except for the way they handle (some) URLs.

SSL Encryption

Winner: both Shopify and Wix offer SSL encryption with all their plans. Both eCommerce builders also allow your customers to check out on your own domain, which builds trust. This is a win-win for everyone.

However, if you modify a URL, Shopify lets you click a box to automatically create a redirect from the old page. Wix only reminds you to do it.

Verdict: Both are good, except for the way they handle (some) URLs.

Shopify or Wix: Which loads faster

The GTmetrix test with a Shopify website gave an A rating (92%) and a score of 85 with a Pingdom test. These are incredibly good results, especially with a loading time of between 1 and 4 seconds.

Wix, seemed a little bit slower with a GTMetrix Test score of 65% (D ranking) and a Pingdom test result scoring 82. The load time took up to 9 seconds in some tests, which is not ideal for your users or SEO. Wix also did not score particularly well in our big speed test of 11 different website builders.

Market Place / App Store

Shopify and Wix have huge marketplaces, with tons of apps (we counted 1500+ for Shopify) from third-party developers and from the platforms themselves. 

Wix’s App Market

The main difference is that Shopify’s apps are all related to ecommerce. With Wix, you are also looking at apps designed to enhance your website or blog. These can be industry-specific, for instance, related to hotels, restaurants or event planning.

Verdict: Difficult to discern, it ultimately depends on the kind of products you will sell. But Shopify’s apps are more likely to extend your store, and Wix’s apps will help your website holistically. Although there is a Shopify called Lite, a shopping cart plugin for existing websites, at $9 a month, most people will need the Basic Shopify Plan, starting at $26 per month. For Wix, your first option is Business Basic, which starts at $23 per month.

Comparing WIX And Shopify Based on The Costs

The sure thing is that WIX pricing is more complicated than Shopify. But that should not make you rule it out.

Setup Costs

Both Shopify and WIX don’t charge setup fees.

Monthly Fees

Although WIX advances annual plans for reduced pricing, it is not a good idea because it forces you to be stuck in a single platform for some time. So, let’s look at the monthly charges. It is not possible to develop an online store using WIX unless you choose the $17 monthly package, or the $25 VIP monthly charges.

Shopify offers a Lite monthly plan at $9 or the Basic monthly plan at $29. I can conclude that the Shopify lite monthly plan is the best for starters. And, because the Basic WIX and Shopify plans have unlimited products and no transaction fee, Shopify is a better option since it contains more templates.

However, the WIX $17 plan can be a good choice if you need a complete online store for less than the Shopify basic plan.

Transaction Charges

Both Shopify and WIX don’t charge transaction fees, but processing fees may apply from the service providers.

Bandwidth Fees

Neither solution implements bandwidth charges.

Free Trials

Both Shopify and WIX have a free trial period of 14 days. Therefore, if you are not sure the option to select, try out both options and decide the one that offers you the best UX

Tax Options

Shopify gives you much freedom to include or exclude taxes from the prices displayed on your store. They also support automatic tax rates for different countries. A cool trick that can save you time, but worth double-checking.

Wix lets you enable or disable taxes and set them on a region-basis. Using the free Avalara app, your Wix store will also calculate tax rates automatically. You can even define product categories for special tax rates (e.g. many EU countries charge lower VAT for food).

Support

Shopify Live Chat. Shopify offers 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone. Their tutorials are generally clear and helpful, and the large community means you are likely to find answers in the numerous forum threads. The cherry on the top is Shopify’s excellent marketing blog, where you can find good info on how to grow your business.

Wix also has a great marketing blog and well-written tutorials. However their support is only offered via phone or forums, and it is limited to business hours. On the upside, the community is also huge, so you will not feel alone with your problems.

Verdict: After testing both options, we have to say we received better answers from the Shopify support. They are also accessible through more channels.

Overall review: Wix or Shopify?

Choose Shopify if:

• You need a solution for a serious ecommerce site. One that needs to scale and sell everywhere around the globe.
• You are a drop shipping business
• You need multilingual stores
• You want more payment gateways

A Wix store is best if:

• You want an easier way to build an online store
• The store is not the main goal of your website
• Creating content is the main way for you to acquire traffic (blog, landing pages etc)
• You want more design flexibility

Final Verdict

The WIX e-commerce platform is a friendly choice. However, it is hard to advocate it over Shopify because Shopify has been in the market for so long and they are determined to help online stores. It features better themes, and it is quite easy for web designers in Singapore to make a qualified website using their platform. Also, you will not save a lot by choosing the WIX platform.