For those who’re at present utilizing Wix and contemplating a transfer to WooCommerce, you will not be fairly certain the right way to get began. The excellent news is that migrating knowledge from Wix to WooCommerce isn’t as difficult as you would possibly suppose! You’ve three viable choices for shifting your on-line retailer that we’ll discover in a second.
However first, let’s check out what Wix and WooCommerce are, and evaluate WooCommerce vs. Wix on elements like scalability, ease of use, and pricing.
What’s Wix?
Wix is a proprietary web site constructing platform that gives each a free, restricted plan, alongside a number of premium plans. It bundles all of its web site performance on one platform, together with internet hosting and any ecommerce instruments wanted to run ecommerce web sites. Whereas many web site homeowners select Wix for its ease of use, that does come at a worth – by way of value in addition to customizability and management.
What’s WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an open-source, free plugin that provides ecommerce performance to WordPress. It’s run by Automattic particularly for WordPress, and every part you have to function a web based retailer, together with product listings, fee assortment, and delivery choices. There’s additionally a library of free and premium extensions that may add extra performance to your retailer.
WordPress and WooCommerce work collectively to offer unparalleled ecommerce options and supreme flexibility and customizability, whereas nonetheless being usable for rookies and builders alike.
WooCommerce vs. Wix
So how precisely do these two platforms stack up? Let’s check out some key elements.
Management and possession
WordPress is an open-source platform, which signifies that the software program is out there to the general public, and anybody can use, modify, and research its code freely. What precisely does this imply for retailer homeowners?
Along with elevated safety and performance because of the variety of builders engaged on it, you even have full management over how you employ it. The code isn’t “locked down,” like that of proprietary instruments like Wix.
You’ve full flexibility and management over the design and performance of your web site, and may use it nevertheless you see match. You received’t have to fret about proprietary platforms taking down your ecommerce web site with no discover in the event that they determine you’ve violated their phrases. And, with WordPress, you may entry and modify the total supply code of your web site, whereas this isn’t doable with Wix.
With WooCommerce, you too can choose any host that you’d like, based mostly on issues like safety, options, bandwidth, and pace. For those who construct your retailer with Wix, you’re confined to solely utilizing their internet hosting instruments, which may restrict your progress.
Flexibility and customization
Whereas Wix touts itself as a platform with out limits, it nonetheless doesn’t evaluate to the pliability and customization choices that include WordPress and WooCommerce. Listed here are a couple of examples:
Themes/templates
Each WordPress and Wix supply designs that work as a place to begin to your web site. WordPress calls them “themes” and Wix calls them “templates.” And whereas each supply an excellent variety of selections, there are various extra choices obtainable with WordPress. Choose from free choices within the WordPress repository, free and premium themes directly from WooCommerce, or any variety of themes made by third-party builders.
And for those who ever wish to switch WordPress themes, you may simply achieve this. Merely select a brand new theme, preview it in your web site, after which activate it. Generally, particularly for those who’re utilizing the Block Editor, there might be only a few adjustments you’ll must make throughout your web site.
Nevertheless, with Wix, you merely can’t swap templates on an present web site. You would need to switch the positioning to a brand new occasion, then swap your Premium plan to that new web site. And there are fairly a couple of elements you can’t transfer from one web site to a different, together with your on-line retailer.
This makes it fairly tough and time-consuming to change templates.
Plugins/add-ons
Once more, each WordPress and Wix supply instruments that you should use so as to add performance to your on-line retailer. Wix calls these “apps.” WordPress calls them “plugins,” whereas WooCommerce-specific instruments are “extensions.”
Wix does have an app market with a good variety of choices, from dropshipping and advertising apps to type and social media instruments.
However with WordPress and WooCommerce, the alternatives are just about countless. The WordPress repository, which is totally made up of instruments which are free and vetted by WordPress, has over 60,000 plugins. You may seek for the right answer, and decide based mostly on critiques from actual customers, screenshots, and descriptions.
The WooCommerce extension store has a whole bunch of extra free and premium choices, every one particular to the world of promoting on-line. Discover options for advertising, funds, delivery, buyer administration, and extra. And, lastly, you may all the time obtain and set up a premium or free WordPress plugin from third-party builders.
Retailer performance
Each Wix and WooCommerce embrace all of the performance wanted to start out and run a web based retailer. Design your web site, checklist your merchandise, accumulate funds, ship or ship your objects just about, and observe up with clients.
However once more, because of the open-source nature of WordPress, WooCommerce means that you can create something you’d like, with out limits. If there isn’t an answer already constructed into WooCommerce, there’s nearly actually a plugin or extension obtainable to fulfill your wants. And if there nonetheless isn’t an answer, then you may hire a developer to create one thing for you, for the reason that software program code is available to view and modify.
With the web site builder from Wix, you don’t have that very same functionality. And also you’ll run into different constraints, too. For instance, you may solely embrace up to 15 photos for every product. So when you’ve got a couple of totally different variations that clients can select from, you could not have the ability to embrace photographs for all of them.
There are additionally limitations in the case of the best way you promote your merchandise. For instance, wholesale promoting isn’t currently possible with Wix, with out an inefficient and restricted workaround. However with WooCommerce, you may have a full-fledged wholesale store, with customized wholesale roles, role-based pricing, delivery and fee guidelines particular to wholesale clients, and extra.
Running a blog
Running a blog is a essential a part of any web site, particularly a web based retailer. And with WooCommerce, you may reap the benefits of the highly effective running a blog options of WordPress. You see, WordPress was initially created particularly for running a blog. And whereas it’s expanded far past that now, running a blog continues to be at its core.
Once you create a weblog publish with Wix, you might have entry to a really restricted drag-and-drop editor. For instance, you may solely add 13 kinds of parts, together with photographs, movies, tables, and buttons.
However while you create a weblog publish with WordPress, you might have entry to the complete block editor (extra on this under). Select from dozens of parts, from primary paragraphs, photographs, and movies to columns, newest posts, tables, and social media feeds. You should use this to really create distinctive content material that can interact potential clients.
Ease of use
Each Wix and WordPress make the most of a drag and drop editor to create pages and posts. Each allow retailer homeowners to construct their complete web site visually, while not having to know any code in any respect. Each additionally supply particular person parts – paragraphs, photographs, movies, and so forth. – and prebuilt segments like lists of latest posts and picture galleries. In WordPress, these are referred to as “blocks” and “block patterns,” whereas Wix calls them “parts” and “sections.”
However one of many greatest ways in which the block editor included with WordPress shines is in its flexibility. Whereas there are many blocks and block patterns included by default, you too can set up WordPress plugins that add much more options and capabilities to the block editor.
For instance, the Jetpack plugin provides numerous further blocks, like picture hotspots, social media feeds, and calendars. There are additionally block-specific plugins that embrace parts like maps, pricing sections, accordions, information containers, and extra – basically, something you may think about.
Each WooCommerce and Wix are thought-about comparatively straightforward to make use of in the case of constructing a retailer and creating and managing merchandise. Nevertheless, the pliability and customizability that include WooCommerce push it excessive. Study extra concerning the WordPress block editor.
Transport capabilities
For those who promote bodily merchandise, delivery is a vital a part of working your on-line retailer. With Wix, you might have a number of delivery choices obtainable to you:
- Free delivery
- Flat fee delivery
- Weight-based delivery
- Value-based delivery
- Product-based delivery
- Calculate USPS real-time charges
Whereas WooCommerce additionally contains all of those choices, most by default and others utilizing extensions, you too can:
- Arrange table rate shipping, which helps you to create intricate, customized guidelines for delivery, based mostly on every part from location and worth to weight, merchandise rely or any mixture of those.
- Calculate real-time charges from further carriers, together with UPS and FedEx.
- Set conditional shipping rates based mostly on elements like consumer position and product class.
- Get discounted shipping labels from USPS and DHL.
As with many different areas that we’ve already checked out, WooCommerce merely affords you extra choices and adaptability than Wix.
Scalability and international promoting
As you develop, you need the ecommerce platform you select to develop with you. And since Wix is an internet site builder on a proprietary platform, you’re, sadly, restricted in the case of scalability. You’re tied all the way down to their internet hosting instruments, and restricted in the case of the adjustments you may make to web site efficiency, search engine marketing, and code optimization. You’re additionally restricted in the case of the performance and design selections you may make throughout your on-line retailer.
However you’ll by no means outgrow WordPress and WooCommerce. You may select any host you’d like, based mostly on elements like efficiency, safety, and bandwidth. And you may make any performance alternative possible – if there’s not a WordPress plugin for what you want, you may work with a developer to create it. To not point out the truth that WordPress and WooCommerce had been constructed for scalability, serving to shops with tens of hundreds of merchandise and hundreds of thousands of consumers discover success. Study extra on this article about WooCommerce scalability.
As you develop, you may additionally wish to promote globally, although some shops can even wish to achieve this from the start. There are a selection of things to think about right here, together with languages, currencies, and delivery choices.
When you can show costs in a number of currencies with Wix, you can’t truly charge for them in a number of currencies. This could make issues way more tough for patrons in a number of nations. However with WooCommerce, there are several tools that make it straightforward so that you can settle for any variety of currencies in your web site, and permit guests to change between them.
Help and group
Wix provides quite a lot of help choices, relying on the plan you’ve bought. Additionally they embrace documentation that helps you construct and run your retailer.
WordPress and WooCommerce have a group help discussion board the place you may get solutions to your entire questions. For premium WooCommerce extensions, reside chat help can also be obtainable. Each WordPress and WooCommerce even have in depth, detailed documentation, and a curated video tutorial library.
And the group that comes with WordPress and WooCommerce is totally unequalled. Because of the open-source nature of the software program, there’s a spirit of helpfulness that merely doesn’t exist with proprietary platforms like Wix. There’s an enormous group of retailer homeowners and builders on the market who wish to assist one another succeed.
How do you harness the facility of this group? Be a part of the WooCommerce Slack channel, attend a meetup in your space, or take a look at the official WooCommerce Facebook group.
Pricing
On the subject of WooCommerce vs. Wix pricing, WooCommerce clearly stands out. WordPress and WooCommerce are utterly free for all core performance – every part you have to arrange, design, and run nearly all of on-line shops. All you’ll want is a internet hosting supplier and area identify to retailer your web site knowledge and make it viewable on-line.
Whereas Wix provides a free plan, it’s not a viable choice for ecommerce shops, as you may’t use your individual area identify, your web site will show Wix branding all through, and you can’t settle for on-line funds. Ecommerce plans begin at $27 monthly, however limit the quantity of space for storing you might have and the variety of movies you may host in your web site.
You’ll even have extra restricted options. For instance, with the Enterprise Fundamental plan, you may’t reap the benefits of automated gross sales tax, accumulate and share buyer critiques, supply subscriptions, or accumulate funds in a number of currencies. If you need entry to all ecommerce options, you’ll want the Enterprise VIP plan, which is $59 monthly.
We’ve talked fairly a bit about WooCommerce extensions right here, which open up the performance and design potentialities even additional to your on-line retailer. Whereas many of those are premium instruments, they’re very moderately priced and can help you piece collectively particular options quite than pay for ones you don’t want.
The add-ons obtainable with Wix differ broadly in the case of pricing. Some can be found without cost, others as month-to-month subscriptions. For instance, the Google Ads & Google Shopping app prices $39.99 monthly with Wix. The same WooCommerce extension, Google Listings and Ads, is out there without cost.
All in all, WooCommerce is a way more cost-effective answer, whether or not you’re simply beginning out or working an enterprise-level enterprise.
Tips on how to migrate from Wix to WooCommerce
If you have already got an present web site on Wix and are able to migrate to WooCommerce, this part’s for you! There are a couple of totally different paths you may take right here, and the proper alternative will rely in your particular wants and expertise degree. Regardless, you’ll first must:
- Choose your own hosting plan. Your internet hosting supplier will home your web site information and make it doable for folks to see your web site on-line.
- Set up WordPress and WooCommerce. Hottest hosts embrace one-click WordPress installations. WooCommerce additionally comes with an easy-to-use setup wizard that can stroll you thru the method of beginning your retailer.
Now, let’s have a look at a couple of methods emigrate from Wix to WooCommerce.
Be aware: Since Wix is a proprietary system, there’s not a technique to export your web site as a complete and import it to a different platform like WordPress. So this course of will deal with migrating knowledge, equivalent to weblog publish content material and pictures, quite than the design of your web site.
1. Manually migrate your on-line retailer
Need to deal with the migration by yourself? No downside! Listed here are the steps you need to take:
Export your Wix weblog content material
The very first thing you need to do is export your weblog content material from Wix, which you’ll do utilizing your web site’s RSS feed. For those who haven’t already, you’ll want so as to add an RSS feed button to your present web site. Navigate to a web page within the Wix Editor and click on the + button on the left-hand aspect. Choose Weblog → RSS Button, choose the one you’d like, and add it to the web page. Save your adjustments.
Now, open your RSS feed by going to https://instance.com/blog-feed.xml, changing “instance.com” along with your web site’s URL. This may present you a web page of code. Proper-click, select Save As, and obtain the file to your pc.
Import your weblog content material into WordPress
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Instruments → Import. Then, select Set up Now beneath the RSS choice.
Subsequent, select Run Importer. On the web page that follows, add the file that you just saved out of your Wix web site and click on Add file and import. Now, you may go to Posts → All Posts and consider all the weblog posts you imported.
Nevertheless, this import didn’t embrace any of the weblog publish’s photographs. To maneuver your photographs, you’ll want to make use of a plugin referred to as Auto Upload Images. Go forward and set up and activate this device in your WordPress web site.
To put in any plugin from the WordPress repository, just like the one above, you’ll go to Plugins → Add New. Then, you may seek for the plugin by identify, click on Set up now after which Activate.
Now, return to Posts → All Posts and open the Display screen Choices dropdown on the prime of the dashboard. Change the “Variety of objects per web page” area to “999” and click on Apply.
This may present 999 weblog posts per web page. In case you have greater than 999 posts in your web site, you’ll nonetheless must take the following step on a number of pages.
Now, test the clean checkbox subsequent to the Title area to pick out all of the posts on the web page.
Select Edit from the Bulk actions dropdown and click on Apply. Now, merely click on the blue Replace button and all the photographs might be introduced in from Wix for these posts.
Export your Wix merchandise
Now, it’s time to maneuver your merchandise. In your Wix dashboard, go to the Merchandise tab. Click on the checkbox on the prime left to pick out your entire merchandise. Click on Extra Actions → Export.
This may obtain a .CSV file to your pc that you could now import into your WooCommerce web site.
Import your merchandise into WooCommerce
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Instruments → Import and select Run Importer beneath the WooCommerce Merchandise (CSV) choice.
Add the product .CSV file you downloaded earlier, then click on Proceed.
Subsequent, on the Column Mapping display, WooCommerce will match the columns out of your .CSV file to WooCommerce product fields. You might want to attach a few of these by yourself, which you are able to do with the dropdowns on the proper aspect of the web page.
Now, click on Run the Importer and look forward to the method to complete. On this case, you’ll now must manually add your product photographs to every particular person product.
What about pages? Sadly, Wix doesn’t supply a technique to export web page content material in any respect, so that you’ll must recreate these in WordPress from scratch.
2. Rent a developer emigrate your ecommerce retailer
For those who don’t wish to deal with the steps above by yourself, you may all the time rent a developer to maintain every part for you. They cannot solely migrate your Wix retailer to WooCommerce, they will additionally design your web site as a complete and get you began on the proper foot. This can be a nice choice if you wish to focus extra in your merchandise and advertising than your retailer setup.
The WooExpert Marketplace is a superb place to seek out the proper developer to your wants. You may view an inventory of companies completely vetted by WooCommerce, then filter them based mostly on language, finances, location, and extra.
3. Simplify the method with the Cart2Cart device
The Cart2Cart extension takes care of nearly all of the migration give you the results you want, with out requiring you to rent a developer. And for those who’re undecided if it’ll work to your scenario, you may take a look at the device at completely no value.
Right here’s an inventory of only a few issues that you could migrate with Cart2Cart:
- Product names, SKUs, descriptions, costs, variations, and pictures.
- Stock administration data like amount and availability.
- search engine optimization knowledge like meta descriptions and titles.
- Buyer and order data like identify, fee technique, order date, and extra.
- Coupon codes.
- Weblog posts and pictures.
You may see a full list of migration data here. There are additionally further providers you may reap the benefits of, like preserving order IDs and establishing 301 redirects.
Pricing varies relying in your particular retailer, and is predicated on the variety of merchandise, orders, and clients you might have, in addition to any add-ons you determine to buy. You should use the useful device on the bottom of this page to get an estimate.
You may full the complete migration from Wix to WooCommerce in three easy steps:
- Select your Supply (Wix) and Goal (WooCommerce) platforms.
- Choose the information you wish to switch.
- Run an optionally available, free demo migration or proceed with the total migration.
Then, simply look forward to the method to complete. Not proud of the outcomes? You received’t need to pay something!
What do I do after migrating my knowledge?
Now that you just’ve moved your web site and product knowledge from Wix to WooCommerce, you’ll must construct and design the remainder of your on-line retailer. This beneficial article about starting an online business gives all the small print you have to create your pages, design your ecommerce web site, add any extensions you’d like, and extra.
As soon as your web site is precisely the place you’d prefer it to be, simply level your area identify from Wix to WordPress. This may permit guests to see your new web site after they kind your URL into their browser. Whereas the method of doing this can rely in your area identify supplier and host, Bluehost has a tutorial here that’s an excellent instance of the method.
Regularly requested questions on WooCommerce vs. Wix
For those who nonetheless have questions on shifting from Wix to WordPress and WooCommerce, or the comparisons of Wix vs. WooCommerce, we wish to assist! Discover solutions to often requested questions under.
Can you employ WooCommerce with Wix?
No, WooCommerce and Wix are usually not suitable with each other. WooCommerce is a plugin that provides ecommerce performance to a WordPress web site, whereas Wix is a proprietary web site builder platform.
How do I import a product from Wix to WooCommerce?
You’ve a number of choices to maneuver merchandise from Wix to WooCommerce. The primary is to export a .CSV checklist of your merchandise from Wix, then import that .CSV file into your WooCommerce retailer. The import device included with WooCommerce will work to map the fields for every product (e.g. worth, title, description, and so forth.). This technique is totally free, however does require some work in your finish.
Your second choice is to rent a developer emigrate merchandise for you. Whereas that is the costliest alternative, it’s additionally probably the most hands-off, and means that you can deal with different elements of working your corporation.
Lastly, you should use the Cart2Cart extension emigrate your knowledge from Wix to WooCommerce. Whereas this can be a premium device, it’s extra inexpensive than hiring a developer, and requires little or no work in your finish.
Is it higher to make use of Wix or WordPress?
On the subject of WooCommerce vs. Wix, the platform you select to your on-line retailer will rely in your particular wants. However for almost all of shops, WordPress and WooCommerce are a greater choice. They provide extra flexibility, scalability, and management than Wix. They usually’re extra inexpensive and supply entry to an unequalled group of builders and retailer homeowners.
Migrate from Wix to WordPress and WooCommerce
For those who’ve determined to maneuver your on-line retailer to WooCommerce, welcome! We’re right here to assist with something that you just want. An awesome place to get began is with our documentation, which may present solutions to any questions you’ll have.
Need to see what others are doing with WooCommerce? Try ecommerce shops that cowl all different industries, all of that are utilizing WooCommerce to develop their enterprise.
