Wix vs Wordpress for new small online shop

[fisicx]

Well that blank page is 40% slower than a fully built site.

Maybe I'm being Mister Thicko here but I'm now totally lost. These posts are because you said:

A fresh install of WordPress runs shockingly slowly even on decent hosting.

I've shown you a fresh install of WP that doesn't seems to be slow. Which bit of that site is shockingly slow?

I agree a fully loaded site with all the bells and whistles installed cnd run at a snails pace but that's not what we are discussing here.

 

[James McManus]

Helping a friend with a website!

They have been looking at using Wix for the Wix webbuilder and payment system.

They will only need to list max 20 products, which will include images and video (I am worried Wix page load speed will be slow if video's included?)

Is Wix suitable?

I assume once in you are tied to the Wix ecosystem?

I have suggested setting up their own wordpress site, which will give them much more control over hosting provider and future costs etc.

Have any of you had any experience to compare Wix vs Wordpress - pro's and con's?

I assume there is a WP plug-in for payment processing - are these expensive vs Wix payment system?

email - I think Wix will charge for Google workspace or MS365 to allow email. Is this necessary - do hosting providers include an email server that they can link into their personal gmail account to receive and send emails using their domain email address?

Thanks.

You should definitely consider Shopify. It’s very cheap for small businesses and has all the capabilities to scale.

The reasons why I think it’s good for small businesses is because you can link it to other marketplaces like eBay, Etsy and so on.

The themes are pretty decent to get you started. It takes a bit of learning curve to get used to it but the theme editor is nice to handle for most small businesses.

I recommend trying to build on each and seeing what best suits your business needs

Helping a friend with a website!

They have been looking at using Wix for the Wix webbuilder and payment system.

They will only need to list max 20 products, which will include images and video (I am worried Wix page load speed will be slow if video's included?)

Is Wix suitable?

I assume once in you are tied to the Wix ecosystem?

I have suggested setting up their own wordpress site, which will give them much more control over hosting provider and future costs etc.

Have any of you had any experience to compare Wix vs Wordpress - pro's and con's?

I assume there is a WP plug-in for payment processing - are these expensive vs Wix payment system?

email - I think Wix will charge for Google workspace or MS365 to allow email. Is this necessary - do hosting providers include an email server that they can link into their personal gmail account to receive and send emails using their domain email address?

Thanks.

 

[YasmeenLondon]

You should definitely consider Shopify. It’s very cheap for small businesses and has all the capabilities to scale.

The reasons why I think it’s good for small businesses is because you can link it to other marketplaces like eBay, Etsy and so on.

The themes are pretty decent to get you started. It takes a bit of learning curve to get used to it but the theme editor is nice to handle for most small businesses.

I recommend trying to build on each and seeing what best suits your business needs

Shopify Pros:
- Less technical (when compared to wordpress) and more user friendly.
- Everything is done under one roof (hosting, building website, payment gateways etc)
- Good Support.

Shopify Cons:
- Less customisable (than wordpress)
- Locked in their system (shopify is a closed platform, you cannot migrate your website out of it and you're locked in their eco system)
- Cost - Shopify is more expensive than wordpress or wix, in addition to the monthly subscription (cheapest being £19 then £49 then £259) you also pay more per transaction, as well as you pay a subscription for your plugins and extra features, require a customised contact form? pay a subscription, require bot protection? you must be subscribed to the (2,300 USD/month) plus plan.

 

[antropy]

- Cost - Shopify is more expensive than wordpress or wix, in addition to the monthly subscription (cheapest being £19 then £49 then £259) you also pay more per transaction, as well as you pay a subscription for your plugins and extra features, require a customised contact form? pay a subscription, require bot protection? you must be subscribed to the (2,300 USD/month) plus plan.

Exactly, here's more info on the hidden costs of Shopify: https://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/the-hidden-costs-of-shopify/

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

Even without the costs, with shopify you are totally locked into their system. You have almost no control over anything.

 

[antropy]

Even without the costs, with shopify you are totally locked into their system. You have almost no control over anything.

Yeah, at some point they're going to start screwing over their customers like all the big companies have done once they get the monopoly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in

Paul.

 

[Kerwin]

Yeah, at some point they're going to start screwing over their customers like all the big companies have done once they get the monopoly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in

Paul.

This is why I avoid AWS and GCP and others. They are great services but expensive and if you start using more than a couple of their services you are effectively locked in as transitioning to another provider or going self hosted is too cost and time expensive.

 

[fisicx]

This is why I avoid AWS and GCP and others. They are great services but expensive and if you start using more than a couple of their services you are effectively locked in as transitioning to another provider or going self hosted is too cost and time expensive.

An example of amazon doing just that here:

AWS pricing for Kiro dev tool 'a wallet-wrecking tragedy'

Updated: Amazon giant blames pricing bug after updated plans way more expensive than initially suggested

www.theregister.com

 

[Kerwin]

An example of amazon doing just that here:

AWS pricing for Kiro dev tool 'a wallet-wrecking tragedy'

Updated: Amazon giant blames pricing bug after updated plans way more expensive than initially suggested

www.theregister.com

Painful.

 

[antropy]

Yes there are examples all over the place of a company that starts off "friendly" and then when it gets bought out in future and run by shareholders its policies start to turn nasty on the customers who put it where it is. cPanel is one example, but you're not very locked-in there.

PayPal is a good example though, because while you're not exactly "locked-in", so many people have come to rely on PayPal that you harm you business if you stop accepting payments that way. They increased their fees massively, changed their refund policy so that if you refund a payment, you don't get the fee back, and of course they always side with the buyer in any dispute however strong your evidence to the contrary.

Gmail is another example; in the early days their motto was "never delete another email". Fast forward to today and you get a measly 15GB and have to pay a monthly fee to store more.

Paul.

 

[DontAsk]

Yes there are examples all over the place of a company that starts off "friendly" and then when it gets bought out in future and run by shareholders its policies start to turn nasty on the customers who put it where it is.

Happens all too often with connected hardware. Home automation systems, security systems, exercise equipment. Hike the price, block 3rd party apps or simply turn the servers off and turn it into a heap of junk

 

[mkseoagency]

I surveyed 100's of CMOs on this same subject - and only 9% preferred to use Wix vs. ~90% Wordpress. Wix can be unversatile and time-consuming in my experience compared to Wordpress