Dropshipping

Wix vs. Shopify: The Battle for the Best Platform for Dropshipping

Nedina Gjorgjieva

Nedina Gjorgjieva

Dec 26, 2023 · 12 minutes

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Wix and Shopify have been competing very closely with each other for some time now, both making the 5 leading eCommerce platforms last year.

So, how does one rule out which platform is the obvious winner when it comes to running a dropshipping business?

Today, we’ll be examining the main features, pricing, design options, available apps and integrations, SEO optimization tools, and customer support, and provide recommendations for when to use Wix or Shopify based on specific business needs. 

Quick comparison: Wix vs. Shopify

Main features

Wix features:

• Theme selection: Access more than 500 customizable store templates.
• User-friendly website builder: Easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder, allowing you to create stunning online stores without any coding knowledge.
• Complimentary hosting: Benefit from hassle-free web hosting provided by the platform itself.
• App market: With a diverse app market, Wix offers various apps for inventory management, order tracking, marketing, SEO, social media, and customer support, enhancing the overall functionality of the store.
• Responsive mobile design: Wix ensures your online store looks superb on both desktop and mobile devices.
• Blogging functionality: Seamlessly integrate a blog to enhance your eCommerce presence and marketing efforts.
• SEO capabilities: Boost your store’s online visibility and drive more traffic using comprehensive built-in SEO tools.
• Tax customization: Tailor taxes and delivery rules to each specific shipping destination for better management.
• Diverse payment options: Facilitate transactions through various methods.

Check out: How to start dropshipping on Wix?

Shopify features:

• Unlimited product listings: Display an endless selection of products in your dropshipping store.
• Team access: Set up multiple user profiles for your team members.
• Built-in web hosting: Simplify domain setup directly through Shopify.
• SSL certificate: Secure your store with an included SSL certificate at no additional cost.
• Built-in blogging feature: Keep your audience engaged with an on-site blog.
• Multiple payment methods: Accept payments via over 100 different gateways tailored for dropshipping.
• App integration: Choose to install from over 8,000 apps.
• Sales channel: Connect your store to additional platforms such as Amazon and eBay.
• Discount features: Utilize tools to create discount codes and gift card options.
• Currency conversion: Cater to international customers with automatic currency conversion.
• Multilingual support: Offer your store in various languages with a translation feature.
• Analytics reports: Leverage detailed analytics and reports for a better understanding of your store’s performance.

Check out: How to start dropshipping on Shopify?

Category winner: Shopify

While Wix offers great design options and an extensive app market, Shopify has a much broader selection of tools that can cater to both small and large dropshipping businesses.

Pricing

Wix pricing: 

Wix’s plans are divided into three types of subscriptions:

Website plans – suitable for small businesses with the most essential features:

• Connect domain plan – $4.50/month
• Combo plan – $8.50/month
• Unlimited plan – $12.50/month
• VIP plan – $24.50/month

Business and eCommerce plans – suitable for eCommerce entrepreneurs and dropshippers ready to grow their online stores:

• Business basic plan – $17/month
• Business unlimited plan – $25/month
• Business VIP plan – $35/month

Enterprise plans – for large-scale businesses with customized pricing

Shopify pricing:

Shopify has three pricing plans tailored to various business needs: 

Basic plan – standard plan for beginners in dropshipping and eCommerce

• Priced at: $32/month

Shopify plan – suited for growing dropshipping ventures, offers everything the basic plan does, with additional features.

• Priced at: $92/month

Advanced plan – caters to much larger businesses, including all features from the two previous plans and more advanced tools

• Priced at: $399/month

Category winner: Wix

Wix has the upper hand here primarily for its more diverse and cost-effective range of plans. 

Design

Wix design:

Wix offers a solid toolkit for web design, well-equipped to allow you to design an appealing site for your dropshipping business with the help of:

• Wix ADI: Wix offers an Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) feature that allows you to create a customized website with just a few clicks. The ADI analyzes your preferences and automatically generates a personalized design template for your online store.
• Drag-and-drop editor: Wix’s drag-and-drop editor gives you complete control over the layout, design elements, and content placement. You can easily customize colors, fonts, images, and videos to match your brand aesthetic.
• Templates: Wix provides over 800 professionally designed templates. These are fully customizable, allowing you to add or remove sections as per your requirements.

Check out: Best Wix templates

Shopify design:

Let’s take a look at how Shopify performs in terms of design and customization capabilities:

• Themes: Shopify offers a diverse collection of over 100 customizable themes that are designed with eCommerce functionality in mind. Shopify caters to various styles with options starting from around $300, alongside a generous selection of free choices. 
• Drag-and-drop editor: Just like Wix, Shopify also offers a simple drag-and-drop editor that can be used efficiently by anyone.
• Liquid language: Shopify uses its own programming language called Liquid, which gives you extensive control over the design and functionality of your online store. 

Check out: Best Shopify themes

Category winner: Wix

Although Shopify offers more themes and equally powerful design features, WIx might slightly take the lead in this section because of the larger selection and bigger number of free templates. 

App market

Wix app market:

Wix presents its users with an extensive selection of over 250 plugins in the Wix App Market. 

The cost of these plugins ranges from free to $100, many of which also come with free plans as well.

These apps are designed to streamline various dropshipping and eCommerce operations, including areas like marketing, customer service, social media integration, search engine optimization, image enhancement, and more.

Check out: Best Wix plugins

Popular Wix apps:

Rabbit SEO: This tool is designed to enhance your SEO by offering comprehensive keyword research. Besides that, it also helps in the optimization of landing pages, and building backlinks. Additionally, it keeps you updated on your search rankings through daily email notifications.

WixChat: This application alerts you whenever a visitor engages with your site. You will also receive notifications when messages are received or purchases have been made. It allows you to provide visitors with quick responses.

Omnisend: Omnisend offers ready-made and customizable email and SMS templates. It integrates seamlessly with Wix Booking and allows you to book confirmations, handle cancellations, and send reminders.

Shopify app market:

In the Shopify App Store, users have access to over 8,000 extensions.

These cover anything from SEO tools, email marketing, customer feedback, social media management, and customer support tools, to name a few.

Prices range from free to around $300.

Check out: Best Shopify apps

Popular Shopify apps:

Privy: Privy simplifies your marketing campaign by automating your emails and SMS messages. The app allows you to create engaging banners, and it integrates with other apps as well, including Mailchimp and Klaviyo.

Shopify Product Reviews: This app allows you to insert customer feedback on any desired products. It offers a customizable design and enables you to export reviews as CSV files. The review ratings can also be incorporated into Google search results.

Sixads: Sixads is a comprehensive marketing app that can help you create ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Google. It offers an easy setup for advertisements and advanced marketing techniques.

Category winner: both

Both Wix and Shopify offer a range of apps and integrations to help enhance the functionality of your online store.

SEO optimization tools

Wix SEO tools and apps:

Wix provides built-in SEO features such as customizable meta tags, alt text for images, and customizable URLs. These elements are vital for optimizing individual product pages and improving their visibility in search engine results.

Additionally, Wix offers the “Wix SEO Wiz,” a complete SEO checklist that provides step-by-step guidance on optimizing your website.

Shopify SEO tools and apps:

Similar to Wix, Shopify allows you to optimize your store with built-in SEO tools.

Shopify also offers an integrated blogging platform, enabling you to create content that can further boost your site’s SEO.

It also provides you with an automatically generated sitemap along with managing the URLs, meta, and title tags.

If you need additional support, you have at your disposal a variety of free educational resources on eCommerce SEO.

Check out: Best SEO practices for your Shopify store

Category winner: Shopify

While both platforms offer essential tools for optimization, Shopify edges ahead with its more comprehensive SEO capabilities. 

Customer support

Wix customer support

Wix assists its users by offering the following means of support:

• Phone support
• Email support
• Help center with articles and tutorials
• Wix Community where users can ask questions, share experiences, and seek advice from other users and Wix support staff.

Shopify customer support:

On the other hand, Shopify provides the following customer support features:

• 24/7 support through live chat, email, and phone
• Extensive knowledge base
• A community forum for users to find answers to common questions

Category winner: both

Both platforms are known for their responsive customer service teams that are dedicated to helping users resolve any issues they may encounter.

Ease of use and flexibility

Wix ease of use and flexibility:

Wix is well known for its convenient drag-and-drop editor that allows users to easily customize their websites without needing any coding knowledge. The web-creating process is quite straightforward and beginner-friendly.

Shopify ease of use and flexibility:

Shopify provides a highly flexible and customizable interface as well, that enables users to create unique online stores with a few steps. With no required knowledge of HTML/CSS, Shopify offers advanced design capabilities that can be handled even by beginners.

Category winner: both

Both Wix and Shopify stand out in their own right for ease of use and flexibility. 

When to use Wix?

When comparing Wix and Shopify for your dropshipping business, you may find that Wix is the better choice in the following scenarios:

• ✅ Small business. If you’re just starting out and don’t require advanced eCommerce features.
• ✅ Limited product range: If you have a small product range you want to sell. 
• ✅ Design flexibility. If you’re looking for extensive design freedom.
• ✅ Budget constraints: If you need to stick to a strict budget.

When to use Shopify?

Here’s when you might consider using Shopify:

• ✅ Growing business: If you’re planning to grow your dropshipping business.
• ✅ High number of products: If you need a platform that can handle larger inventories and higher volumes of sales. 
• ✅ Advanced eCommerce features: If you think you’ll need more extensive features.
• ✅ Affordable fees: If you’re looking for an affordable eCommerce platform.

Check out: Best Shopify alternatives

Dropshipping with BrandsGateway on Wix vs. Shopify

When integrating BrandsGateway with Wix or Shopify, you’re combining these powerful eCommerce platforms with a top-tier clothing dropshipping supplier. 

BrandsGateway provides a seamless dropshipping experience that includes:

• An extensive range of over 20,000 luxury fashion items from more than 100 renowned designer brands.
• A diverse catalog featuring high-end clothing, footwear, bags, jewelry, accessories, watches, and sunglasses.
• The flexibility to set your own profit margins, with potential earnings up to 250%.
• Access to premium marketing materials.
• Automated dropshipping ensuring up-to-date inventory management and automated order processing.
• Fast global shipping, delivering within 1-3 days across Europe and 5-7 days globally, covering over 170 countries.
• A 14-day return policy.
• Dedicated support for dropshippers through various communication channels including email, phone, WhatsApp, and demo calls.

Dropshipping with Wix and BrandsGateway

STEP 1: Create a free account on BrandsGateway on the registration page.

STEP 2: Open the BrandsGateway Wix App.

STEP 3: Install the app in your dropshipping store.

STEP 4: Select a dropshipping package.

STEP 5: Import the BrandsGateway product catalog.

Dropshipping with Shopify and BrandsGateway

STEP 1: Sign up for free on the registration page.

STEP 2: Go to the BrandsGateway Shopify App.

STEP 3: Download the app in your dropshipping store.

STEP 4: Choose a dropshipping package.

STEP 5: Import the BrandsGateway product catalog.

Which platform is the final winner?

Since every dropshipping business is unique, all we can say is that both Wix and Shopify offer outstanding features that cater to different business needs – from beginners to advanced.

Remember, what works best for one dropshipper may not necessarily be the ideal choice for another. 

So, here’s our recommendation: think about where you see your business in the future and what tools you’ll need to get it there. 

Take into account the platforms’ pricing plans, design options, app integrations, SEO tools, and other relevant features to rule out the best choice.

FAQ

Continue reading other platform comparisons

• WooCommerce vs. Wix
• Shopify vs. eBay
• Shopify vs. Amazon
• Shopify vs. WooCommerce
• Shopify vs BigCommerce
• Shopify vs. Shift4Shop

About the Author

Nedina Gjorgjieva

Proud bookworm, passionate content writer and devoted Arctic Monkeys fan. Always in the mood for travel and sightseeing.

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