It’s a big decision when deciding on the right eCommerce platform to run your dropshipping business. There are many factors to take into consideration before building a website around your specific niche. These factors will differ from person to person depending on your own business needs and your own personal needs.
I will give you a quick rundown of the top 4 platforms to build and run your dropshipping business. I have used multiple website builders and in my opinion, these are the 4 best platforms for dropshipping.
Wix
Ease of Use
Wix is without a doubt one of the easiest platforms to build an online Dropshipping store. It makes use of a beginner friendly drag and drop interface that your grandma could use. Adding products and processing payments is a simple straightforward process.
If creating a website is still a daunting experience, Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) can help design your website for you. You can change between Wix ADI and Wix Editor whenever you please so you are not locked into the one process of designing your site.
Wix Templates
This may be Wix’s best feature is the beautiful template designs. They have a huge range of clean, modern templates to choose from and the best part is they’re free.
All templates come with a mobile editor so you can make sure they look great on mobile devices.
One downside of Wix templates is once you’ve picked your template there’s no changing your mind and swapping templates once published. So if you’re the indecisive type, then make sure you’re 100% happy with your template before building your store.
Wix Features
- Hosting and Domain Registration – Wix is self-hosted which means another separate purchase taken care of for you. You can register your domain through Wix and you get 1-year free domain registration.
- Abandoned Cart – Customers will be sent an email if they leave their cart with products in it but haven’t finished making the purchase.
- Payment Options – Wix has over 40 different payment gateways including Paypal, Stripe and Wix Payments.
- Inventory Tracking – Wix allows users to track inventory and automatically updates once a sale is made.
- Wix Bookings – This allows you to be able to sell a service and allows customers to make their bookings with your service online.
- Customer Security – Wix checkout process is fully secured to allow your customers security whilst making a purchase.
- Apps – Wix already has most features you’ll need for your store, however, if there is a feature they don’t have you can always check out their app store. They have a huge selection of apps including Wix Stores which has many additional options you can use to tinker with your store.
SEO
Wix has built-in SEO tools to allow you to page titles, meta descriptions and alt tags. If you’re a newbie to SEO and it seems like a daunting task Wix has a feature that’ll put your mind at ease. Wix SEO Wiz is a tool that will improve your site’s SEO with simple step-by-step tutorials.
Wix sites are fully optimized for mobile devices. The mobile version is automatically created based on how you create your desktop site.
Pricing
Wix’s eCommerce plans are of good value and competitively priced compared to some platforms. If you’re just starting out the Business Basic plan at $18 a month is probably all you’re going to need. To upgrade to the Business Unlimited plan for an extra $10 a month you get 35GB of storage, 10 hours of video maker and Wix logo maker. All prices are only if you pay for a year subscription up front and prices are slightly higher if you want to just pay month to month.
There’s no free trial with Wix but you do get a 14-day money back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied with their platform.
Pros
-Great support options including phone, email, community forum and social media support.
-Large variety of free themes to choose from.
-Great value for money.
-Wix turbo will help your pages load faster and help with your ranking.
-Easy to use even for newbies.
-Lots of training videos to hold your hand through the building of your store process.
Cons
-The downside of easy to use drag and drop interface is less customization for specific needs.
-Once a template is installed there’s no changing your mind once your site is published.
-You have a limited amount of storage and video hours to use.
Summary
Wix is a great option for small businesses and newbies who are not very tech savvy. If your planning on a huge eCommerce store with thousands of products Wix might not be right for you. Its ease of use, beautiful templates and reasonable prices make it a very appealing option if you’re just starting out.
There are not too many other costs other than the $18 a month for the Business Basic plan. Hosting comes with the plan, templates are free and most apps are free.
WooCommerce
Ease of use
You may have read there is a steep learning curve associated with setting up a store with WooCommerce. I would say there is definitely more to learn compared with platforms like Shopify and Wix but I wouldn’t call it difficult. It will just take a bit more time to get acquainted with the various features, but you will get acquainted.
Being the fact that WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress if you’ve had experience with WordPress you should have no trouble with WooCommerce.
Installing themes and plugins may require a bit of tech knowledge. WooCommerce offers its users some tutorials to assist with the setting up process.
WooCommerce Themes
WooCommerce has hundreds of themes to choose from with a mixture of free and paid themes. You can use regular WordPress themes for your site but I’d recommend avoiding them. Woocommerce themes have features you’ll require and have been designed specifically for eCommerce in mind.
WooCommerce Features
- Abandoned Cart – Doesn’t come with WooCommerce but you can install an app for this feature. This is an essential feature with eCommerce stores these days.
- Payment Options – Over 100 payment options including all the main options including Paypal, Square and Stripe.
- Coupons – You can offer your customers discount codes with variants such as time frames and only for certain numbers of people.
- One Page Checkout – This will reduce the number of abandoned carts that you receive during the checkout process. The only problem with this feature is it will set you back $79 a year.
- MailChimp – WooCommerce connects to MailChimp and gives you access to powerful sales driving marketing features.
SEO
Being a plugin for WordPress means WooCommerce is fully optimized for SEO as soon as you get started. They also have SEO guides to help improve your site’s SEO even further. WooCommerce premier SEO plugin is called Yoast which has a host of features to help even more people click on your products.
Pricing
The most appealing aspect of WooCommerce is its price. It’s completely free, well kinda free. WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, which is also free. However, unlike some other platforms where hosting comes with your membership, you will have to pay a monthly fee for hosting. WooCommerce recommends a bunch of different hosting companies to connect with but some are overpriced. Personally, I’d use Bluehost for hosting if you’re just starting out as it’s good value and all you’ll need.
There are more additional costs with certain features and tools you may need for your store. Many of these features will come free with other platforms but you will have to pay for them with WooCommerce. Nothing is ever free in this life.
Pros
-More customizable than other platforms
-It’s free, if you aren’t intending on purchasing any additional plugins, your only cost is hosting.
-Probably has the best SEO on any platform.
-Huge selection of extensions and plugins.
Cons
-Not as beginner friendly as other drag and drop platforms.
-Many of the features that come with other platforms you’ll need to pay for.
-Support isn’t as good as it could be.
Summary
WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world responsible for 30% of all eCommerce stores online. The main reason for this is the fact that it’s a free plugin for WordPress.
If you’ve had experience with WordPress and money is a bit tight then WooCommerce might be your best bet. It’s worth checking out which additional paid addons you may want for your store before jumping in otherwise it might end up being better value to pick another platform.
Check out eCommerce-Platforms for a WooCommerce review if you want more information.
Shopify
Ease of Use
You won’t need any tech skills to build your only store, even for complete newbies. The main dashboard is clean, simple and easy to navigate. You could literally build a complete dropshipping store with products ready to sell in a day.
Shopify works a little differently from Wix’s drag and drop interface. With Shopify, once you have picked the theme you want, it’s just a matter of adjusting that theme’s specific features to fit how you want your store to appear.
Shopify Themes
The good part about the Shopify themes is their stunning, the bad part is the stunning ones aren’t free. If you’re just starting out and don’t want to fork out the money for a paid version, then Brooklyn and Debut would be my picks for a dropshipping store. The biggest problem with the free versions is they’re not as customizable.
You can change your theme at any time with Shopify so you can start off with a free version initially and upgrade in the future.
Shopify Features
- Apps – Shopify has over 1200 apps to choose from to add just about every feature you can think of to your store. Try to keep apps to a minimum as they can slow down your store.
- Mobile-Friendly – All themes are optimized for every type of screen layout including laptop, tablet or mobile.
- Integrations – Shopify integrates with all the major dropshipping suppliers including Oberlo, Spocket and Salehoo.
- Product Management – Shopify has an inventory management system to help you track your product levels. You have a huge selection of options when it comes to product variants when adding stock to your store.
- Abandoned Cart Recovery – This is an essential feature in any dropshipping store. Almost 70% of shoppers abandon their cart and leave products in their basket. Shopify’s cart recovery feature will send them an email alerting them they still have products left in their basket and you can also send them discount codes to help lure them back.
- Digital Products – You can sell digital products on Shopify such as online courses, music and ebooks. It doesn’t come with Shopify but you can down a free app called digital downloads to enable this feature.
- Hosting – Shopify is self-hosted which is one additional cost you won’t have to pay for. You can also purchase your domain through Shopify which makes it much easier than transferring it over.
SEO
Shopify has a huge range of tools to assist with SEO. Changing meta descriptions, page titles, headings and alt text is a simple straight forward process. Shopify provides a huge amount of guides and tutorials to assist newbies with their SEO.
Pricing
For the Basic Shopify pricing plan, you’re looking at $29 a month which is a reasonable price. The other 2 plans are definitely overpriced and unnecessary if you’re just starting out in the dropshipping world. You only miss out on a few of the features with the higher priced plans and beginners won’t need them anyway.
There is a $9 a month Lite plan but you’re very restricted with what you can do with this plan. If $9 a month is your budget, you’re far better off going with WooCommerce and just paying for the hosting.
All plans come with a 14-day money back guarantee if you’re not happy.
Pros
-Shopify always has beautiful looking templates to choose from.
-Ideal for dropshipping as it has many great features and apps to maximize your profits.
-Beginner friendly even if you’ve had no experience building a website before.
-Quick page loading times.
-Mobile friendly themes.
Cons
-$29 a month is reasonable but still more than some people can afford.
-There are transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify payments
-For the premium looking themes you can be looking at $180
Summary
Some platforms were designed for other purposes initially and Ecommerce was added as more of an afterthought. Shopify was designed from the start with eCommerce in mind which is why it has an abundance of sales features and tools to assist its users.
Shopify is the best all-around website building platform, however, for all these features, you do pay a price. A nice template may set you back $180, you may want a couple of sales apps and the $29 a month. These costs are something to consider before jumping in.
BigCommerce
Ease of use
If you’re a complete beginner with little tech experience then Bigcommerce can take a little time to learn. Designing your store is a little more confusing than platforms like Shopify and Wix. Once your store is setup you shouldn’t have too much trouble with general tasks like fulfilling orders and adding products.
BigCommerce has guides and support to assist anyone having trouble with setting up their online store.
BigCommerce Themes
A beautiful looking website is essential when it comes to a dropshipping store as it helps build trust. BigCommerce themes will help create the beautiful looking website you’re after, but they will cost you. You’re looking at anywhere between $120 and $300 for one of their paid themes. They have 12 free themes that still look good if you don’t want to invest that kind of money.
BigCommerce Features
Shipping – BigCommerce offers a range of shipping options without having to download an app including free shipping, real time shipping quotes and shipping label printing.
Discounts – To help encourage more purchases BigCommerce has built-in discount features, coupons, special offers and gift certificates.
Physical and Digital – With BigCommerce you can sell physical and digital products without having to download an app to do so.
Apps – BigCommerce has a large variety of paid and free apps for you to use. You may not require as many apps with BigCommerce as they already have a lot of the sales features built-in.
Multi-Channel Ecommerce – Enables you to integrate with eBay, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to make selling easier.
SEO
Many online store owners neglect SEO when really, organic traffic is one of the most important factors in the long-term success of your business. BigCommerce is one of the best when it comes to SEO. BigCommerce has a wide range of tools including optimized and unique URLs, Microdata and a heap more. There is a huge guide and tutorial to help anybody who is stuck.
Pricing
Pricing starts at $29.95 for a standard plan and goes up to $299.95 for the pro plan. The 2 higher priced plans are 10% cheaper if you opt to pay annually but the standard plan stays the same price. If you’re just starting out the standard plan is all you will need and you have the option to upgrade if you scale your business eventually. The one important feature you’re missing from the standard plan is abandoned cart saver which could be a deal breaker for some.
Pros
-More built-in sales features which other platforms require an app to perform.
-SEO is among the best with lots of tools
-Free trial for 15 days
-No transaction Fees
-Unlimited storage, bandwidth and products across all plans
Cons
-Upgrading to higher plans is required if you go over the annual sales limit.
-Monthly prices are a little high and factor in the potential cost of a theme.
-Steeper learning curve compared with Shopify and Wix
Summary
If you’re after a platform packed with built-in sales features and great SEO then BigCommerce might be your pick. If you’re a complete beginner with eCommerce and have little tech experience you may want to look for an option with an easier learning curve.
BigCommerce has some great built-in features with some of the best SEO tools but it does fall short in other places. If you’re on the fence the 15-day free trial might be worthwhile.
Conclusion
I’ve tried to point out the similarities and the differences in these platforms to help you make an informed decision if you are deciding which is best for your Dropshipping store. In my opinion, these are the best 4 platforms for eCommerce and you can’t really go too wrong with either of them. No platform is perfect so it’s about weighing up what’s important for you and your business.
If you’re a newbie to building your own website then Wix and Shopify are the simplest to use and navigate. If price is your number 1 priority then WooCommerce might be for you, if advanced sales features are important to you, BigCommerce might be your best option.
Personally, if I’m going to start a new Dropshipping business tomorrow, I would be using Shopify. Shopify is not perfect but it is the best all-around platform due to the fact it is designed specifically for eCommerce and Dropshipping in mind. For $29.95 a month you get everything you need to start your own online store. If you’d rather pay $23 a month, Wix isn’t far behind Shopify in terms of all-around capabilities.
Just remember, try not to dwell on this decision for too long as there is not really a bad decision amongst these 4 platforms.
If you’re deciding on which is the best option for suppliers to work with, I have reviews of Spocket and Zendrop if you are interested. These options will make sourcing suppliers a far easier task.
