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What is Ecwid? It’s an online marketplace, at heart. But it’s also a business solution for businesses that sell goods and services online. This article will give you the information about how Ecwid works, what its benefits are to your business, whether it could be right for your company – or not.
Ecwid is a web-based platform that allows users to create and manage their own ecommerce store. It’s easy to use, but it can be expensive for small businesses.
Ecwid is an ecommerce platform that allows you to easily integrate an online shop into your current website. It gives you tools to sell online, in person, and via social media. It has a free plan that enables you to sell up to 10 goods for life, as well as premium plans that start at $15 per month.
Despite the fact that Shopify is our top-recommended ecommerce platform, Ecwid is a solid option for small sellers with a few goods who need a quick solution or companies that want to add shopping cart functionality to their current websites.
Ecwid
What We Enjoy
- Plan that is always free
- Simple to use
- Even on free sites, there are no advertisements.
- Wix, Squarespace, Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, and more platforms are supported.
What Isn’t There
- Customer service limitations and customization choices
- The basic standalone builder can only create one page.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) elements that aren’t up to par
Factors to Consider
- Software Fees: Software Fees: $0–$99 per month; has product limits on most plans–$99 per month; most plans have product restrictions.
- There are no transaction fees.
- Processing fees for credit cards vary depending on the payment source.
- Over 80 different payment gateways are available.
Features to Look For:
- Ecommerce checkout may be added to any existing website.
- Countless product variations
- Every plan includes a real-time shipping estimator for USPS, UPS, and FedEx.
- The opportunity to shop in several languages
- Marketing characteristics that are strong (Facebook Messenger live chat, Gift certificates, coupons, and more)
Ecwid may be found at www.ecwid.com
Ecwid is a program that we recommend for a variety of reasons.
Ecwid is one of our top ecommerce systems, receiving a 4.31 out of 5 rating in our review. Its free plan also entered our list of the best free ecommerce website builders because it includes a free shipping calculator for UPS, USPS, and FedEx—a feature that is generally reserved for more expensive ecommerce plans.
Ecwid is especially recommended for:
- Companies that already have a website include: Ecwid may be used as a stand-alone ecommerce platform, but it’s best suited for and most usually used as a plugin to add ecommerce capabilities to an existing site. Ecwid integrations are available natively for Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace users. Ecwid does not need any code to set up, making it more simpler to use than other shopping cart plugins such as WooCommerce.
- Sellers with a limited product inventory include: Ecwid’s free plan is more cost-effective than Shopify’s basic tier (Shopify is our top-recommended standalone ecommerce platform), which costs $29 per month if you have 10 or fewer goods to offer.
- Hobbyists and those who sell on the side: Ecwid’s basic subscription ($15 per month) includes inventory monitoring, Marketing Instruments, and a App for mobile devices, as well as the ability to sell on Facebook and Instagram. This is a more affordable option than Shopify’s basic plan, which has identical functionality.
When Ecwid Isn’t the Right Fit
- Shopify is what you need if you want a full-fledged ecommerce website that can scale. Its platform is designed for fledgling enterprises, but it also provides opportunity for expansion and scalability. You may even create a whole website using the service.
- Square Online is the greatest solution if you have a brick-and-mortar business and want to add an online component for pickup or local delivery sales. It allows you to create a complete website or a small one-page site at no cost.
- BigCommerce is a better option if you have a high-volume company or a large product catalog. It has no transaction costs and may house a limitless amount of physical and digital items and services.
- Squarespace is our preferred website builder for a user-friendly, all-in-one solution if selling isn’t the major emphasis of your site and you simply need a small company website.
- WooCommerce or PrestaShop are excellent options if you require a completely customized website and online shop hosted on your own infrastructure. These are developer-friendly open-source platforms.
Are you looking for something unique? To choose a system that meets your requirements, read our guide to the top ecommerce systems for small companies.
Examples of Ecwid Stores
Ecwid is ideal for companies looking to add a shopping cart to an existing website, as well as for budding entrepreneurs or hobbyists with small inventory. The companies shown below are excellent examples of those that have taken use of Ecwid’s unique capabilities.
Betsy Enzensberger’s original Melting Pops
Betsy Enzensberger is a pop artist who is noted for her lifelike, larger-than-life sculptures of dripping frozen sweets. She went with Ecwid for her online business and enabled multichannel purchasing, which allowed her to link her Ecwid store to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok Shopping, and Google Shopping. This technique resulted in increased sales and brand exposure.
A Bee Kissed Me
Third-generation herbalist Akilah Nisa started A Bee Kissed Me as a side hustle, selling homemade cosmetics and skin care products. She leveraged the advantage of online selling, choosing to go with Ecwid for her ecommerce platform.
She said that since Ecwid interfaces with Square, she can now perform in-person selling, which accounts for 15% of her sales. The Ecwid App for mobile devices is especially beneficial to the solopreneur since it allows her to post photographs taken on her smartphone immediately to her product catalog.
A Bee Kissed Me uses Ecwid’s Site Builder in a Flash for its online store.
L’Coule
Wilhelmina Lillrud, 10, and her parents founded L’Coule, which offers handcrafted designer sunglasses. Wilhelmina creates all of the things herself, and her father manages the company and the internet shop since she is still a juvenile. Her father chose Ecwid since they wanted something affordable, and Ecwid’s plans (including the free plan) were ideal for beginning her internet shop.
For its online shop, L’Coule first utilized Ecwid’s free Instant Site, but has now switched to its own domain name.
Ecwid’s cost
Ecwid offers a free plan as well as three premium plans that start at $15 per month. All of the packages enable you to create your own online shop, integrate it with any website, and sell on numerous sites at the same time. (Your business includes a mobile-friendly shopping cart as well as Apple Pay one-tap checkout.) The authorized amount of items, sales channels, priority support, and integrations are the primary distinctions between the plans.
The Ecwid Free plan allows you to display 10 goods and start an online shop or add products to an existing website. You may activate social media sharing buttons on the product page to make marketing simpler for you. This shop may be added to as many websites as you like, and it works with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Blogger, and Tumblr. However, you won’t be able to use the two most popular social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
The free version is ideal for getting a feel for Ecwid before deciding to pay for it. We appreciate that it’s always free, unlike Shopify’s 15-day trial, since it might take a while to properly learn what the service can accomplish for you. It’s also a good alternative for merchants with a limited inventory.
Venture, Ecwid’s most affordable premium package, lets you sell 100 physical items and link your shop to additional sales channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Etsy. You may also sell digital items, with a file size restriction of 25GB per file. Shop management capabilities (such as discount coupons, Gift certificates, inventory monitoring, and sophisticated SEO tools) are included, as are Android and iOS applications, chat support, and store management features (such as discount coupons, Gift certificates, inventory tracking, and advanced SEO tools).
The Venture bundle is worth $15 a month only to get access to the Facebook and Instagram selling platforms. It’s a terrific match for hobbyists and creatives looking for a side income in internet shopping.
All of the capabilities of the Venture tier are included in the Business tier, with the exception that you may now sell up to 2,500 goods and link to Amazon and eBay. A bilingual storefront and additional shop management capabilities (such as abandoned cart emails, product filters, wholesale price groups, and a multilingual storefront) are also added to your dashboard.
Support is available through phone and chat, and website customization is free for up to two hours for customers on yearly subscriptions. This bundle is for you if you intend on conducting more than casual, low-volume sales. Simply said, you receive all of the tools you need to create a high-end online retail business.
Ecwid’s most expensive membership, Unlimited, includes an unlimited amount of items, priority support, and all of the capabilities available in the other tiers. Additionally, customers who subscribe to yearly subscriptions are eligible for up to 12 hours of free customisation. The branded App for mobile devices version of your shop, which is an excellent tool for maintaining your best consumers and attracting new ones, is the most prominent and helpful of these tools. This plan also includes Square POS connectivity, unlimited employee accounts, priority customer service, and other advanced features.
Features of Ecwid
Ecwid makes selling things online a breeze. If you already have a website on Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, or GoDaddy, Ecwid may be easily integrated without any technical knowledge.
Since the previous time we checked in:
Ecwid’s platform has seen several revisions, including:
- Upgrades to the site are available now (add CSS code, show navigation and categories menu)
- There are no subscription limitations.
- Additional payment options (Alipay, Ayden, and more)
- TikTok is a platform where you may sell your videos.
- Facebook and Instagram stores have in-app checkout.
- Templates have been updated (beta, scheduled for full release in 2022)
Take a look at some of Ecwid’s most prominent features, which are listed below:
Button to Buy Now
Its Button to Buy Now can be added to any webpage and links directly to your products. It even automatically adapts to the website’s colors and style.
The Button to Buy Now allows you to customize the information you would like to reflect when a product is linked to your website.
Site Builder in a Flash
Ecwid was originally intended to be an ecommerce widget (thus the name), but it now now enables you to create a standalone shop called Ecwid Instant Site.
It’s not a full-fledged website like Squarespace or Shopify since it just has one page, which functions more like a landing page than a website. It may be a benefit for firms who need to have an online shop up and operating quickly, despite the limitations.
To test Ecwid’s website builder, we established a sample shop using the free plan.
Its website builder is simple to use, albeit you can only add a few elements to your Instant Site—you can delete some but not add any more than what’s already there.
These were the only parts we could add to our demo store’s homepage while we were building it. You may, however, deactivate and rearrange elements as you see appropriate.
You may also personalize product pages and include as much information as you like, in addition to your landing page.
Choose how you want to present your product photographs and layout, and be as specific as possible to provide your buyers as much information as possible.
Ecwid Themes are a collection of themes created by Ecwid.
Ecwid provides over 70 free site templates to help you create your online business. All of its themes are mobile-friendly, but customizing options are restricted.
Adding to a Pre-Existing Website
Management of Products
Each plan has product limitations, however there are no restrictions on product variations. When ordering, you may also allow shopper-facing adjustments like adding photos as files. Only the Business and Unlimited subscriptions, however, provide inventory monitoring for variations.
In the Product page, enter your product’s name, images, SKU, weight, description, and price.
Ecwid allows you to create product alternatives with an infinite number of variations.
Product Groupings
Setting up Product Groupings involves a hierarchical setup. You need to set up categories in a different section of the dashboard—instead of right inside the product setup pages.
Setting up Product Groupings with Ecwid is easy. You can specify parent and child categories and which categories you want displayed on your store.
Processing of Payments
Ecwid does not have built-in Processing of Payments and instead connects with more than 80 payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe. Even if it doesn’t have a native payment provider, it does not charge transaction fees or markups on top of the payment provider’s processing fees.
POS (Point-of-Sale) Integration
Ecwid doesn’t have a native POS system, but if you upgrade to the top plan, you can connect Vend, Clover, and Square, among others. This plan is expensive at $99 per month. Choose one of our suggested multichannel POS solutions, such as Shopify, if you require an integrated POS and online shop system.
Integration with third-parties
App Market, Ecwid’s app store, isn’t as large as those of Shopify and BigCommerce. It has little over 100 integrations as of this writing.
App categories categorize applications based on their purpose, popularity, and pricing (free and paid).
Multilingual & Multicurrency Capabilities
Ecwid storefronts supports over 50 languages and can automatically translate based on a site visitor’s IP address (note that it translates default store elements such as the buy button and social media shares, but you need to take care of the product description). There’s no extra app, or cost, needed to enable this. A native multicurrency feature is unavailable but can be done with the help of a Integration with third-parties.
SEO
This is one of Ecwid’s flaws, and it is also not accessible at the Free tier. The option to edit page names and meta descriptions is one of Ecwid’s SEO capabilities, however Ecwid automatically creates URLs for product pages depending on your product title. This isn’t ideal since it might be perplexing if you want to modify product names to improve SEO.
As seen in the screenshot below, Ecwid additionally appends random digits to URLs.
Unfortunately, there is no method to remove Ecwid’s allocated numbers.
Another area where the platform falls short when it comes to SEO is the AMP format (Accelerated Mobile Pages). Ecwid, unlike competitors like BigCommerce and Shopify, does not allow you to generate AMP for your items.
Marketing Instruments
Ecwid has robust marketing features that help attract customers and encourage more sales. It has the following on-site Marketing Instruments:
- Live conversation on Facebook Messenger (add a live chat option to your Instant Site)
- Coupons for discounts (create discount codes for customers and marketing campaigns)
- Gift certificates
- Emails to retrieve abandoned carts (automatically send emails to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts)
The highlight of Ecwid’s Marketing Instruments is the inclusion of the Facebook Messenger live chat option across all of its paid plans. This feature is usually a paid add-on or app with other ecommerce platforms. You can also create newsletters to send to your customer, but an integration with Mailchimp is needed.
You may also use multichannel selling to your advantage.
- Sell on many different websites (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more)
- Amazon and eBay are great places to sell.
- TikTok is a platform where you may sell your videos.
- Shop on Facebook
- Shopping on Instagram
Shipping Instruments
Ecwid, like most of its rivals, provides a variety of delivery alternatives (flat fee, based on weight, free shipping, etc.). Its benefit, though, is its built-in integration, which provides real-time shipping costs for UPS, USPS, and FedEx, among others, and is accessible on all plans.
Ecwid provides real-time shipping quotes from the most prominent shipping companies in the United States.
Reporting
Ecwid lacks native reporting, which is a significant drawback when compared to Shopify and other systems. However, free reporting analytics programs such as MonkeyData may be downloaded. Google Analytics may also be used to monitor ecommerce.
App for mobile devices
Ecwid provides a store management app (iOS and Android) for paid subscribers through ShopApp. You can also manage your store through the app by updating inventory, managing orders, and receiving notifications. Images, prices, availability, and any changes that you make online automatically sync with the App for mobile devices.
Ecwid’s User-Friendly Interface
- The user interface is simple and easy to use.
- Dashboard instructions that guide you through the process
- Videos, tutorials, and a help center
- Customer service is available by live chat, email, and phone.
- Those on the Unlimited Plan will get priority assistance.
- On higher levels, there is no charge for personalization (paid annually)
Signing up for Ecwid’s free plan, in my experience, is simple. The dashboard’s navigation is simple, and the prelaunch advice are clearly shown on the site when you log in. It lays out the actions you’ll need to take to get your business up and running.
The disadvantage of a free plan is that you are not entitled to customer service and must depend on the company’s help center. Its information library, on the other hand, is extensive, with everything from community postings to how-to manuals and videos.
Customer service is available by live chat, email, and phone 24 hours a day, five days a week. Those on the Unlimited plan get priority service, while those on the yearly Business and Unlimited subscriptions get free customization for up to two hours and 12 hours, respectively.
Alternatives to Ecwid
Compare Ecwid to our top ecommerce systems if you’re not sure whether it’s perfect for you.
Ecwid: What Users Have to Say
Ecwid’s free plan is a game-changer for most users, who remark about how simple it is to use. They said that it is sufficient to begin selling things online without the need to set up an internet shop. The majority of negative comments, on the other hand, is centered on the fact that it is not as configurable as they need.
Ecwid reviews received the following ratings on prominent user review sites at the time of publication:
- Capterra’s rating is 4.6 out of 5 stars, based on over 500 reviews.
- G2 has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on more than 250 reviews.
- Based on roughly 20 evaluations, TrustRadius gives it a 9.1 out of 10 rating.
When I was browsing Ecwid reviews, I observed the following patterns:
Conclusion
Ecwid is a fairly sophisticated ecommerce platform that can compete in terms of functionality with ecommerce behemoths like Shopify. Its plans are reasonably priced and provide extensive features like as a shipping calculation, language site support, and custom fields in product orders.
Ecwid, in our view, is an excellent choice if you already have a successful website with a good level of traffic. It has a free plan, so join up now without a credit card.
Ecwid may be found at www.ecwid.com
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The “ecwid review reddit” is a popular website that reviews the various features of Ecwid. This article will cover what makes it a good option for your business and whether or not you should use it for your website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth selling on Ecwid?
A: Yes, it is worth selling on Ecwid.
Can I trust Ecwid?
A: Ecwid is a trusted platform for selling products. Its best to read their terms of service before using them, but most people have had good experiences with the company thus far.
Which one is better Ecwid or Shopify?
A: This is a difficult question. There are many different factors to consider when comparing Shopify and Ecwid, so its hard to choose which one is better overall.
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