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Been seeing Ecwids name a bit?
Good!
But let’s as well check it out and see what this can do for you.
Will break down some key things.
Let’s get started…………………….
What is Ecwid, and how does it work?
Ecwid is an eCommerce tool for building your own online store with everything you’d ever need to sell your items.
This includes setting up catalogs and categories of products with attached descriptions, photos, pricing information, discount codes, and more.
You can monitor transactions, analyze buyer data and consumer profiles and control shipping processes all from your browser for a monthly fee.
With Ecwid, there is no bulky software installation required, as the platform operates on a SaaS (software as a service) cloud-based model.
Be aware though that Ecwid is different from other leading platforms like Shopify and Wix in that it doesn’t really allow you to design a free-standing website from scratch.
Ecwid DID recently add a new feature called “instant sites,” which offers a free, one-page website that’s customizable and device-responsive.
But (as the name suggests), these aren’t highly personalized sites with in-depth page layers and functions.
Ecwid mainly acts as a plug-in for an online store into an existing website.
Once you’ve decided to take the jump and picked a pricing plan, Ecwid will send you a widget to plug into another site, or wherever your current website lives online.
The platform will send you some HTML code (a very light coding task for the non-techies) and you can add it to your website or social media profiles.
Your online store will appear wherever you add this code.
Pros:
Easy to get started
Ecwid is extremely user-friendly and is great for beginners.
There is no coding, hosting, back-end designing, or bulky installation necessary.
You can download the Ecwid plug-in within minutes and website platforms like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and GoDaddy all recognize the plug-in.
If you’re using an Ecwid “instant design,” the start-up process becomes even easier as you’re working with a single page.
The interface is fairly standard, with a vertical menu on the left allowing you to navigate to your dashboard and other functionalities, and an area on the right displaying your products, reports and other sales content.
There is also a great onboarding checklist to follow when you first log in, ensuring you don’t miss any steps.
In addition, Ecwid storefronts are fully responsive, meaning your store will look the same on any device you access it on.
If you need help, Ecwid offers different levels of support depending on which plan you have.
With a free plan, you can only email customer support.
Get all the way up to the unlimited plan and you have phone, live chat, and email support.
Ecwid also has an integrated knowledge center on its database with guides for quick questions.
Great options for payment
Ecwid is amazing in terms of all the options it accepts for payment and checking out.
Buyers can use PayPal for credit card transactions, which doesn’t charge extra fees on top of PayPal’s commission.
There are over 50 other payment getaways you can connect to Ecwid, some of which are only available to certain locations.
But major ones like Stripe and 2Checkout are easily connected and make checking out easy and quick.
Connecting a payment getaway can cost more (if the platform charges a fee).
You only really need a variety of payment getaways if you expect a high volume of sales and users coming in from all over the world.
Selling
Ecwid has a unique functionality called point-of-sale (POS), which allows you to scale your store operations past the digital world and into the physical as well.
No longer does the customer just have to be on a mobile device to complete a digital retail transaction.
With Ecwid’s POS functionality, it doesn’t matter where a customer buys your product – whether that be in a store, online, or on your social profiles – because the supply chain will stay completely in sync.
Your catalog, inventory, consumer information, customer profiles, and discounts, and sales will all automatically update.
To access this feature, you can download “PayPal Here,” an iOS app that accepts payments with a mobile card reader.
You will then also have to buy an adjoining card reader to physically swipe or tap the card.
Ecwid also accepts Square and Clover hardware systems.
Along the same lines, Ecwid also offers multichannel integration selling, which is super important in the age of social media.
Even if someone doesn’t go straight to your website, being able to see it live and in full scope on a platform like Facebook or Instagram will really help you make more sales.
SEO
In the past, Ecwid had pretty poor SEO (search engine optimization) structures in place, but the site has added some major updates to improve SEO performance.
SEO refers to the practice of gaining a good search rating so your website shows up in search engines before your competitors.
SEO is important because, if users can’t find your site or you don’t have matching keywords to their search on your page, there’s a strong likelihood they won’t be buying from you.
With Ecwid, you can post a product and description, and Ecwid will automatically create a page title and meta description optimized for SEO.
With the premium plan, you can actually edit these descriptions.
Ecwid will also generate SEO-friendly links for each product.
Unfortunately, you can’t edit these links after they’re generated.
Apps and integrations
Ecwid has a robust App Market where you’ll find extra tools, apps, and plug-ins to take your store to the next level.
These can really improve the customer experience for those visiting your site, make buying easier, and scaling growth quickly.
Some of the apps that Ecwid recommends are Google Smart Shopping, where you can advertise your products through YouTube and Gmail, LiveChat, where you can chat directly with customers browsing your store, and SMS Automated Notifications, which send abandoned cart recovery and order information alerts straight to your phone.
Be aware, however, that you can’t install apps from the App Market on Ecwid’s free plan.
Multi-currency and multi-language options
Ecwid is truly a platform for the internationally-minded.
With Ecwid, you can translate your storefront into 50 different languages – allowing your customers to automatically view your store (and your product descriptions) in their home language with no manual translation involved.
In the same vein, if you expect to sell goods in a variety of countries, it’s beneficial to let customers browse, see prices, and checkout in their own currencies without any arduous mathematical converting.
Ecwid offers the ‘Currency Converter’ app which, at $4.49 per month, allows you to display prices in local currencies automatically.
Automatic tax handling
Ecwid far outpaces its competitors in handling tax amounts seamlessly.
It can normally be a complicated process, but Ecwid allows automatic tax enablement.
First, you can update your store settings so that visitors’ world locations are automatically identified based on their IP address.
Then, Ecwid will automatically calculate the relevant tax rate (this includes regional tax regulations as well) and apply it to the sale.
You can also include taxes in the subtotal if needed. Again, this does not apply to a free plan.
Shipping
Ecwid offers three different options for shipping costs, which is nice as each product may need to be treated a bit differently.
You can first define your shipping rates by setting up a customizable calculator that will compute a shipping cost based on weight and the number of items being sold.
If this seems like too much work, you can also charge a flat rate fee or, by using Ecwid’s shipping integrations, receive direct charges from the carrier themselves.
Ecwid supports all major carriers, like UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, and many more.
You can also dropship with Ecwid, which means you won’t sell your products directly.
With dropshipping, you first send the order to a supplier, who will then deliver the goods to your client.
You can do this by setting up dropshipping apps from Ecwid’s app marketplace.
Cons
Limited design options and customization
Because it’s a plug-in, Ecwid doesn’t have the same capabilities as a website builder.
Ecwid gives you a pre-set store design that automatically integrates with your existing website.
You can edit the basic color and functional design of your store with Ecwid, but that’s sort of where the creative liberties end.
You can’t change the size, layout, and scope of products or associated product images.
Your designated color palette and navigational options are pretty standardized, too.
But, if you have prior knowledge of CCS and feel comfortable coding, creating a custom storefront and editing colors and themes is easier.
You can also use the apps in Ecwid’s app store to further design and decorate to your liking.
The free plan is fairly rudimentary
Ecwid’s free plan is pretty limited.
You can’t access SEO features or the advanced tax functionalities previously mentioned.
With an instant site, there is no blogging tool and limited access to priority support if needed.
Not great for large-scale businesses hoping to grow
While Ecwid is a great plug-in for beginners merely hoping to build an online presence, generate revenue and reach new audiences, it isn’t great for major businesses who expect to fulfill thousands of orders every day.
Shopify is a great platform for this kind of store.
Pricing plans
Free Plan
If you have 10 or fewer products that you want to sell, Ecwid is, and will always be, completely free.
This is a fairly basic plan, and is best for those who don’t run large business operations and sales behind the scenes.
Be aware that with this plan, you can’t sell digital goods and the SEO tools are not optimal.
There are three premium plans:
Ecwid Venture – $15/mo
With this plan, you can sell up to 100 items.
Ecwid Business – $35/mo
With this plan, you can sell up to 2500 items.
Ecwid Unlimited – $99/mo
With this plan, you can sell an unlimited amount of products and have more options for custom development.
Conclusion On Ecwid
Ecwid is a great resource for those looking to grow an online business quickly and with ease.
If you’re looking to scale operations but don’t require all the design customizations of a website builder like Wix or Squarespace, a plug-in like Ecwid may be your best bet.
Definitely do your due diligence and shop around before making any major decisions – there’s a ton of options out there!
