WiX is a fully hosted site-building service, which means you won’t need a dedicated hosting provider to get your shop up and running.
WiX launched its platform in 2006, and it quickly turned into one of the top website builders you could find. Restaurants and healthcare websites often take advantage of the WiX services, but retail is also on the rise, with over 10,000 businesses trusting this site builder with their shops.
Free Trial
WiX in itself is a free service so you can build and maintain a website without paying a dime. However, we are reviewing only the platform’s online shop capabilities, and for that, you will require a premium plan. Upgrading to a paid package comes with all the features needed to build ecommerce websites and grants you 14 full days to fiddle with your new account. Should you decide to cancel in the meantime, you'd get a full refund.
Ease of Use
WiX initially started as a simple drag-and-drop site builder, and despite all the transformations it has undergone since its early days, simplicity and ease of use remain as core values. If you have absolutely no idea about website design and customization (and you don’t really want to), this is definitely a platform for you.
This ecommerce website maker allows you to effortlessly create or edit your shop on the go, from both PC or mobile. WiX is employing the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. If you have ever dabbled with the world’s most popular CMS, WordPress, you already know just how easy it is to operate it. And if you haven’t—nothing to worry about. You will soon realize that every image, text, or section can be dragged and dropped to the position you see fit.
Once you feel it all looks good, you just hit the Publish button, and your shop goes live!
Features
You can’t claim to be the best website builder without having all the neat features to back it up. So, let’s see what WiX hides under the hood.
- Beautiful storefront
- Inventory tracking
- Coupons and discounts
- Worldwide shipping and taxes
- Multiple payment methods supported
Right off the bat, it seems that WiX provides everything you need for your future online shop. The platform might not be as feature-packed as BigCommerce or Shopify but still covers all the essentials. Some wonderful additional perks include a secure shopping cart, promo ribbons, and personalized thank-you messages.
Support
WiX isn’t just an online store builder. The platform supports a much wider range of services—domains, hosting, themes, plugins, emails, updates. Now imagine maintaining so many things without round-the-clock client assistance—doesn’t sound very reassuring, right? This is why I was a little surprised when I started “digging” for a live person with some sales questions and wasn’t able to find one.
Don’t get me wrong—I love WiX’s extensive knowledge base, community support, and video tutorials. They are genuinely impressive.
Be that as it may, sometimes you just need to get a hold of a live support person. Whether it’s for a quick query or a specific issue you are having, live assistance is a must nowadays if you want to compete for the title of the best website builder of 2022.
You can take advantage of phone support with WiX, but it's not available 24/7. Reaching them is also needlessly complicated—you need to fill out a form online and request a callback in a suitable time.
Live chat is not supported at the moment, which is definitely something the developers should consider.
WiX Pros
If you are just beginning your journey in site building, you will definitely find WiX very attractive. Everything is self-explanatory, and even the in-built editor contains a lot of tips and extra information. You set up a shop and make your first sale in less than a day.
WiX is an ecommerce website builder that strongly benefits from extra components. The WiX template gallery and app market are growing by the day and tempt store owners into a whole new world of design and customization options. With over 500 templates and thousands of apps, both free and premium, you can easily skyrocket your shop to success.
Affordability is a key selling point, so WiX ensures that new clients will get the best bang for their buck. Basic ecommerce plans start from around $23/mo and come with 20GB storage, abandoned cart recovery, and a free domain for one year. More than enough resources to establish a store and build a business at minimum cost.
WiX Cons
All the top ecommerce sites have one thing in common—uniqueness. Chances of getting to that level without any custom modifications or design are close to zero. So while WiX seems a perfect choice for the newbie user, it is a bit too rudimentary if you want to dabble with advanced customizations.
WiX isn’t strictly an ecommerce site builder, so larger businesses won’t find it scalable enough. The developers do offer a VIP plan and enterprise options, but they still can’t match the capabilities.
Our Verdict
The WiX.com ecommerce website builder does a fantastic job in supporting small businesses and ensuring their effortless entry in online shopping. Simplicity and affordability are particular highlights, but if you are looking for something more in-depth, there are better choices out there.