Wix Stores Overview
Wix is a free website builder that offers easy drag and drop editor and for only $17 a month you can add an online store functionality.
Wix Stores Highlights
Wix Stores Full Review
Wix Stores is an online store builder from Wix, a free and premium website building platform that offers an easy drag and drop editor. Over two million users are running their websites on Wix and almost one million have built their online stores using Wix Stores. The platform is easy to customize and does not require any coding expertise. If you are looking for a simple solution, Wix is a must look at. Like some of the best e-commerce website builders, their actual store builder and integrated shopping cart have some pros and cons.
Why Build a Store with Wix?
The advantages of building an online store with Wix include:
- The online store builder pricing ranges from $17 to $25/mo.
- eCommerce and VIP plans feature unlimited bandwidth
- The site builder offers hundreds of free templates in several of the popular categories
- Free domain name for one year with annual subscription
- The platform does not charge transaction fees
- No coding expertise needed to build an online store
- Easy to use and design
- Advertisement vouchers for major search engines and local listings to promote your business
Drawbacks of Using Wix:
- All plans have limited storage space. You can only store 20Gb of images and media
- You can’t choose a different template once you’ve created your website.
- Navigation menu is not capable of accommodating a complex category structure.
- Site Booster and Form builder apps are only available with annual subscription
Wix Online Store Pricing
Wix has a free plan with basic functionality. Users can easily upgrade to one of their premium plans and gain access to additional tools and features. Not to be confused with Wix Free plan, Wix offers a 14 day free trial period on all premium plans. Here is a quick look at their pricing structure:
- Free Plan:Comes with basic features that enable users to create a simple online store. It gives users full control of the look and feel of their website. However, the actual shopping cart is not included with this plan.
- Connect Domain Plan:$7.50/mo. (or $5/mo. for annual prepayments), 500 MB of storage space, and 1 GB of bandwidth. This plan does not come with an integrated shopping cart. Unfortunately, you cannot add a store favicon and Wix ads are shown on your online store.
- Combo Plan:$14.5/mo. (or $11/mo. for annual prepayments), 3 GB of storage space, and 2 GB of bandwidth. Like the plans above, this plan does not come with an integrated shopping cart. However, Wix ads are not shown on your online store.
- Unlimited Plan:$17.50/mo. (or $14/mo. for annual prepayments), 10 GB of storage space, and unlimited bandwidth. It does not come with an integrated shopping cart, but it does not show Wix ads on your online store. This plan comes with a free domain and $300 in ad vouchers.
- Ecommerce Plan:$21.50/mo. (or $17/mo. for annual prepayments), 20 GB of storage space, and unlimited bandwidth. Furthermore, the Ecommerce Plan comes with an integrated online store and all of their features, except VIP support.
- VIP Plan:$30/mo. (or $25/mo. for annual prepayments), 20 GB of storage space, and unlimited bandwidth. This plan is equipped with all of the features included in the plans above with the addition of VIP support, priority response and one-time professional review of user experience and SEO.
On What Wix Plans Can You Run an Online Store?
VIP and eCommerce plans come with an out-of-the-box integrated online store. However, you may also choose a cheaper plan and pair it with one of the shopping cart apps available in their App Market.
Wix Features
Wix is ideal for users that are looking to build a basic online store or website that customers will love. It is best for small online stores with limited budgets. Here is a look at their primary features:
- The store builder is equipped with hundreds of templates in categories such as business & services, music, entertainment, retail, and more.
- Drag n’ drop website editor makes it easy for users to create and edit their online stores.
- Basic optimization options for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
- Basic social media buttons for sharing, liking, and tweeting.
- The website builder comes with an integrated blogging platform.
- Additional features and tools can be found in Wix App Market.
- The created online store is available on any mobile device.
- The ability to add and upload videos and galleries.
- 24/7 customer support and tons of free resources
Apps and Integrations
Wix has a surprising amount of third-party applications that are available in their app store. Some of the popular apps include Facebook like buttons, form builder, Google AdSense, and Wix contact form. We recommend visiting their app store for additional tools and features when creating your online store. Additionally, the app store has shopping carts from Ecwid and other developers that can be integrated with your Wix website plan. So if the plan you choose does not have a shopping cart, you have a few options in the Wix App Market.
Templates and Design
Wix Online Store Templates
From the start, Wix offers users tons of free templates, ranging across several industry categories. The drag n’ drop editor makes it easy for anyone to edit their online store or website, add pages, and other administrative functions. Wix had received a lot of complaints from their users who claim the website editor tends to run extremely slow to the point that it becomes nerve wrecking to accomplish anything. For the most part the speed of the editor depends on the type of computer you use and the speed of your internet connection
Support and Resources
Wix has a robust knowledge base in their Help center consisting of tutorials, videos, and detailed answers to commonly asked questions. They also claim to provide a 24/7 customer support, however there are no clear ways to receiving an immediate help. Phone support is available in a form of a scheduled call back. The most common way of contacting them or is by posting a request in their ticket system.
The Bottom Line
The Wix platform is great for beginners and merchants with small stores. Unfortunately, the online store editor cannot match up with those of Shopify, Weebly, and 3DCart. However, if you are looking for a basic ecommerce platform that can get your store in front of millions of online shoppers, than Wix is the solution for you.
Since Wix offers a full refund during your free 14-day trial period we recommend subscribing for either eCommerce or VIP plan directly to better explore the functionality of their online store builder instead of signing up for their free website plan that will not give an idea of what your store will be like.
Sign Up for 14-Day Free Trial