For those who’re on the lookout for a light-weight ecommerce resolution you’ll be able to add to simply about any present web site, Ecwid is a great selection. You may get arrange and promoting in just some minutes for a really cheap worth, however it lacks a few of the depth of customization that different ecommerce platforms supply.

Preserve studying to be taught who Ecwid is greatest for, what it’s good at, the place it’s missing, and the way its options stack up towards its greatest opponents.

Who Ecwid Is For

Ecwid is a perfect ecommerce resolution for sellers who’re on the lookout for a simple method so as to add procuring performance to an present web site. It’s additionally nice if you wish to preserve your web site and retailer separate so you’ll be able to transfer or make modifications to at least one with out affecting the opposite.

Both method, this platform works greatest if you have already got a web site on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or simply about every other website constructing platform.

General, Ecwid offers a seamless option to get rapidly listing merchandise and make gross sales utilizing the digital properties you already personal. Whether or not you’re dropshipping fashionable items, promoting digital downloads, pushing your merchandise on Instagram or TikTok, or providing a subscription-based service, Ecwid offers you a straightforward path to multichannel ecommerce.

Nevertheless, in the event you’re a bigger store with extra intricate, complicated wants otherwise you need an ecommerce website builder with deep customization choices, Ecwid most likely isn’t the ticket for you.

Our favourite alternate options for ecommerce website builders and platforms which might be made for critical scaling embrace:

• Shopify – Finest all-around ecommerce platform
• Wix – Finest for shops with fewer than 100 merchandise
• BigCommerce – Finest for big inventories
• Squarespace – Finest for cornering a distinct segment market
• Hostinger – Finest worth for a full on-line retailer

See our full information to the perfect ecommerce platforms to be taught extra about our high picks, how we assessed them, and what to contemplate when making your buying resolution.

Ecwid Pricing

Ecwid provides 4 separate plans for utilizing their ecommerce resolution, with every successive plan including new options and growing the variety of merchandise you’ll be able to listing and locations you’ll be able to promote.

For a few of you, there’s no motive to look any additional than their free-forever choice. The Free plan is ideal in the event you’re merely trying so as to add as much as 5 merchandise to an present web site. You’ll by no means need to pay a factor to make use of this tier of Ecwid’s platform.

The entry-level Enterprise plan is mad for newer on-line shops seeking to set up themselves or take the subsequent step of their development plan. For $14.08 per thirty days, you get the power to listing as much as 100 merchandise, together with each bodily gadgets and digital items. You’ll additionally achieve entry to social promoting instruments for Fb and Instagram, plus promoting on TikTok.

The Enterprise plan, at $29.08 per thirty days, offers highly effective options for quickly rising shops. With the power to listing 2,500 merchandise, allow subscriptions, and promote on Amazon and eBay, this plan can scale together with your ambitions. You’ll additionally get superior stock administration, key checkout options like deserted cart restoration, and transport integrations to assist streamline your order achievement.

Want greater than that? The Limitless plan provides, effectively, limitless merchandise. At $82.50 per thirty days, you additionally unlock some issues that the opposite plans can’t entry or are required to pay for, like a free branded cellular app to your retailer, integration with Sq. and different point-of-sale programs, and precedence help. This premier plan offers the liberty and instruments high-volume shops want as a way to thrive.

How Does Ecwid Pricing Examine?

In comparison with ecommerce giants like BigCommerce, Shopify, and Wix, Ecwid’s pricing is budget-friendly.

Ecwid’s introductory paid plan is about half the worth of different suppliers’ entry-level plans. BigCommerce, Wix, and Shopify’s least expensive plans begin round $25 to $30 per thirty days, however they don’t restrict the variety of merchandise you’ll be able to add to your retailer. Nevertheless, Ecwid’s 100 product allotment leaves loads of room to get began.

When you’ve got extra merchandise than that, Ecwid’s center tier is across the similar worth as BigCommerce, Wix, and Shopify’s starter plans, however sports activities options you gained’t discover on these until you improve to a plan north of $30 per thirty days.

And the separation of costs will get extra excessive on the high tier. Whereas Ecwid’s full-featured providing runs $82.50 per thirty days for limitless merchandise and way more, BigCommerce and Shopify’s comparable plans will price you at the least $299 per thirty days. Wix is the one one whose highest-end plan stays under Ecwid’s, not account for Wix’s custom-priced enterprise plans.

Professionals and Cons of Ecwid

Ecwid is an inexpensive, easy-to-use ecommerce resolution for on-line companies. Nevertheless, as with all software program, it has its strengths and weaknesses.

On this part, we’ll discover Ecwid’s main virtues and flaws so you’ll be able to decide if it’s the best platform to your ecommerce hopes and desires.

Ecwid Professionals

Ecwid excels in a number of key areas that make it interesting for anybody seeking to promote merchandise on-line. A few of it’s extra spectacular optimistic features embrace:

• Inexpensive: Ecwid provides a succesful free plan and month-to-month subscription plans beginning at $14.08 per thirty days.
• No fee charges: Other than customary cost processing charges, Ecwid costs no extra commissions on gross sales.
• Ease of use: The platform is user-friendly from entrance to again, with an intuitive dashboard, drag-and-drop instruments, templates, and easy product including.
• (Nearly) all-in-one: Ecwid offers the necessities a rising on-line enterprise wants, together with stock administration, tax calculations, and transport and achievement instruments in a single light-weight resolution.
• Syncs all over the place: Replace merchandise as soon as and Ecwid syncs the modifications to your web site, cellular app, and all linked gross sales channels.
• Constructed-in advertising and marketing: Combine with social networks for advertisements, create coupons and newsletters, and make the most of deserted cart restoration to seize gross sales that might in any other case be misplaced.
• World functionality: Ecwid works for companies all around the world, with site-level help for a number of languages, over 100 cost gateways, and the power to promote in dozens of various currencies.
• Branded cellular app: On an annual Limitless Ecwid plan, you get a free {custom} cellular app. Or, you’ll be able to select to pay individually for one on any Ecwid plan.

Ecwid Cons

Ecwid is extraordinarily succesful, however might run into key limitations for some sellers and companies. Downsides to contemplate embrace:

• Restricted website builder: Ecwid’s drag-and-drop website builder is straightforward to make use of however restricted to a single web page. It isn’t a full web site builder such as you’ll see provided by different main ecommerce platforms.
• Paid plugins: Extending Ecwid’s performance usually requires paying for add-ons that ship options like bulk product enhancing, advertising and marketing analytics, and buyer notifications.
• Underwhelming apps: A few of these options and plugins, like multi-currency help and translations, solely work in some areas of your on-line retailer, which might create a disjointed consumer expertise. Many different apps even have low rankings, indicating that they might use some enhancements.
• Small developer pool: Ecwid is much less widespread than different ecommerce platforms, so there are fewer builders to assist customise and improve the software program. That may create difficulties by way of discovering high quality apps to increase Ecwid’s performance or discovering peer help and troubleshooting assets.

Ecwid Evaluate: The Particulars

Whereas Ecwid is just not an ecommerce platform for constructing out a wholly new web site, its functionality as a option to graft ecommerce performance to any present website is extremely precious by itself. On high of that, it provides a ton of precious options at a budget-friendly worth. On this part, we’ll undergo all the primary highlights of Ecwid, in addition to some areas for enchancment.

Combine On-line Promoting with an Present Web site

If you have already got a website for your enterprise or enterprise, you’ll be able to simply add ecommerce performance with out having to maneuver to a brand new platform or begin from scratch. That’s the principle promoting level of Ecwid in a nutshell.

What does this imply in apply? There are a pair methods to deploy Ecwid’s functionality in your web site.

The best choice is a “purchase now” button you should utilize to promote your merchandise anyplace, from weblog posts and your private home web page to social media properties or wherever else you’d like. You possibly can customise the button to match your model fashion after which place it wherever you need with a easy code injection that you simply paste into the location backend.

If you need greater than a “purchase now” button, you’ll be able to place a whole storefront, product class pages, or single product listings onto your present web site. It’s straightforward to do on any content material administration system or web site builder, together with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and Joomla.

Your on-line retailer will routinely match the fashion of your present website, so prospects gained’t even understand that the 2 items are managed individually.

Social Promoting and Promoting

On all of Ecwid’s paid plans, you’ll be able to promote merchandise instantly on Instagram, TikTok, Fb, Pinterest, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.

When you arrange your retailer and product catalog, Ecwid’s integrations with these channels routinely sync, so any updates you make seem throughout all of your channels immediately.

Ecwid additionally comes with built-in advertising and marketing and promoting instruments to spice up your attain through Fb, Google, Instagram, e-mail, and extra. Plus, it combines your stock, gross sales, and advertising and marketing instruments in a single handy dashboard to make it straightforward to see what’s working, what isn’t, and what the clever subsequent step is.

Market Integrations

If you wish to promote on Amazon, eBay, or Walmart’s marketplaces, Ecwid makes it simpler than simply about every other platform. Handle stock and sync your retailer with all your vendor accounts. Identical to with social promoting, updates will occur in actual time so stock ranges and product particulars are all the time up-to-date.

Nevertheless, you’ll should be on Ecwid’s Enterprise or Limitless plan and use both the Codisto or Koongo apps to perform this. These apps run between $24 and $29 further per thirty days. Although they promote eBay and Amazon as promoting factors of the Marketing strategy, it’s annoying that it’s a must to pay much more to really put it to use.

One-Web page Website Builder

Ecwid provides a easy one-page retailer builder that you should utilize to construct one thing in minutes. Select from any of the 79 free templates to get began after which customise the design to match your model.

The drag-and-drop designer makes it easy sufficient so as to add or take away sections, change colours and fonts, swap out pictures, and the like. Whereas Ecwid’s customization choices are restricted on this regard, this device is good in the event you simply want a primary, single-page storefront to rise up and operating.

Remember that you’ll be able to’t add a number of pages or embrace a weblog, amongst different limitations in comparison with full-featured ecommerce website builders. Nevertheless, for a small enterprise wanting so as to add uncomplicated shopping for choices, the one-page website builder will get the job carried out quick. You’ll have a helpful storefront up and operating in virtually no time.

Stock Administration

Ecwid consists of an stock administration system on choose plans that seamlessly integrates together with your present web site. Rapidly add SKUs and enter product portions and variations with a couple of clicks of your mouse.

Ecwid routinely retains observe of your inventory ranges, decreasing portions when orders are positioned and growing them once more when gadgets are returned or canceled. You possibly can lengthen this functionality with Ecwid apps for bulk enhancing, CRM integration, and achievement automation.

You additionally built-in choices for displaying “bought out” labels, opening pre-orders up as soon as a product reaches zero inventory, or enabling low-stock notifications so that you all the time know when it’s time to reorder.

Product Variations

For those who want a simple option to supply variations of your merchandise, Ecwid offers you a sublime resolution.

Product variations don’t depend towards your product restrict, so you’ll be able to supply quite a few choices with out worrying about operating into your Ecwid plan limits, even on the free plan. Provide totally different sizes, colours, types, add-ons, upsells, and extra, with distinctive product pictures to showcase every variation.

You may as well set individualized pricing for every variation and assign distinctive SKUs to trace stock and transport particulars exactly. On paid plans, you unlock further fields for variations like checkboxes, textual content fields, file uploads for personalized merchandise, and dynamic variations that change based mostly on buyer enter.

Digital Information and Subscriptions

Ecwid provides choices for promoting digital downloads and subscriptions along with bodily merchandise. All of their paid plans let you promote or supply digital recordsdata, present playing cards, and providers, whereas higher-tier plans allow you to create and handle subscription-based choices.

Promote ebooks, on-line programs, photographs, music, memberships, and actually any digital services or products. Simply connect your recordsdata (as much as 25 GB every) to your merchandise and resolve if you wish to restrict downloads or set expiration dates.

As soon as a buyer completes their buy, they achieve quick entry to digital merchandise. Ecwid streamlines the checkout course of by eradicating transport particulars, creating an ultra-fast shopping for expertise so your prospects get what they paid for immediately.

For subscriptions, Ecwid offers you the flexibleness to just accept funds on a schedule you outline, even integrating with Google Calendar so you’ll be able to e-book appointments and let prospects select their most popular date proper at checkout. Nevertheless, this characteristic doesn’t really feel absolutely developed, because the calendar is totally separate and prospects need to manually enter their most popular date and time at checkout.

100+ Fee Gateways

Ecwid provides their very own cost gateway, with extremely aggressive processing charges of two.6% + $0.30 per transaction for many main credit score and debit playing cards. Their gateway lets prospects pay utilizing widespread digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, along with conventional card funds.

Nevertheless, Ecwid additionally integrates with over 100 different cost gateways must you desire to make use of a special processor. Massive names like Stripe, PayPal, and Sq. are included as choices, however Ecwid additionally companions with smaller localized gateways to raised serve prospects from all around the globe.

Some gateways even allow you to supply installment plans for funds by way of providers like Klarna, or let you settle for cryptocurrency. Regardless of which gateway you select, Ecwid is PCI DSS Degree 1 compliant so you’ll be able to really feel assured buyer knowledge and transactions are safe.

Delivery Companions

Ecwid offers you entry to a number of transport carriers so your prospects can select their most popular transport technique at checkout.

Set flat charges, supply free transport, or use real-time calculations based mostly on the package deal particulars. You may as well outline particular transport zones with totally different charges relying on the place packages are being delivered.

On high of that, you’ll be able to leverage Ecwid apps for dozens of transport companions around the globe. Even when your most popular provider isn’t included, you’ll be able to nonetheless enter charges manually or use Ecwid’s transport API.

Ecwid additionally offers you the choice to print transport labels instantly from their platform. Plus, past conventional transport strategies, you’ll be able to present in-store pickup, native supply, or supply prospects their selection of all the above.

The App Market

Ecwid sports activities a market of apps to increase the performance of their platform, with most add-ons in a position to be put in with a couple of clicks. Some apps are free to make use of whereas others require a separate paid subscription.

Add options like retailer banners, popups, and countdown timers, discover options that can assist you market your retailer through e-mail, social media and search, or combine your retailer with dropshipping platforms, CRMs, transport administration instruments, and extra.

That being stated, the vary of apps is slim and we want extra of what Ecwid does have to supply have been obtainable free of charge. On high of that, lots of the present apps have acquired low opinions or haven’t been up to date in years, indicating {the marketplace} isn’t very lively. The dearth of high-quality free apps means you usually need to pay further to get the precise performance you need to your retailer.

Your Personal Branded Cellular App

Ecwid provides {custom} cellular apps for iOS and Android, included free of charge with their annual Limitless plan or obtainable for a one-time $590 charge on different plans. These branded apps match your Ecwid storefront and supply a devoted cellular expertise to your prospects.

Ecwid builds the apps for you, dealing with all of the technical work required so you’ll be able to launch your personal cellular app with out the huge funding of money and time usually wanted.

The cellular app syncs in actual time together with your Ecwid retailer, routinely updating merchandise, stock, and content material. Whereas practical, the apps a capability to customise them that might actually set them aside from Ecwid’s friends.

Whereas Ecwid’s app offers an excellent cellular procuring expertise, however probably gained’t “wow” your prospects, it’s an enormous edge to even have the ability to get this in any respect from an ecommerce platform supplier. For a lot of shops, the cellular app is a big profit even with out granular management of the way it appears to be like or features. For those who completely want superior options or design, you’ll be able to pay Ecwid for additional {custom} improvement.

Free Customization Hours

You’ll observed we’ve lamented a few of the lack of customization on the Ecwid platform. Thankfully, there’s a built-in method round this.

Ecwid offers free customization hours to assist carry your imaginative and prescient of an ecommerce retailer to life. Their Marketing strategy consists of two free hours, whereas Limitless plans supply 12 hours of {custom} work from Ecwid’s builders. After your included hours are used, extra customization time prices $100 per hour.

Ecwid’s builders can construct nearly any performance or design to your internet retailer that you can think of. And, they’ll deal with all the pieces, whether or not it entails creating {custom} analytics experiences, revamping your checkout course of, or something in between.

Simply present an idea to your ultimate retailer, described by way of photos, sketches, or a written clarification, and Ecwid will make it occur, constructing to your precise specs. This may prevent hundreds of {dollars} in comparison with hiring your personal builders.

How Does Ecwid Stack Up?

In comparison with its opponents, Ecwid greater than holds its personal. However, it’s definitely greatest utilized when have an present web site and need a simple method so as to add ecommerce performance to it. However if you need deeper capabilities (with out having to pay for add-ons and apps) and customization, one in every of our favourite alternate options could also be a greater match for you:

• Shopify – Finest all-around ecommerce platform
• Wix – Finest for shops with fewer than 100 merchandise
• BigCommerce – Finest for big inventories
• Squarespace – Finest for cornering a distinct segment market
• Hostinger – Finest worth for a full on-line retailer

Take a look at our full listing of the greatest ecommerce platforms to be taught extra about them, what we like and don’t like, and the way to decide on the best one for you.