Should you’re at present utilizing Wix and contemplating a transfer to WooCommerce, you might not be fairly certain get began. The excellent news is that migrating information from Wix to WooCommerce isn’t as difficult as you would possibly suppose! You’ve got 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 examine 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 house owners select Wix for its ease of use, that does come at a value – when it comes to 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 the whole lot you must function a web based retailer, together with product listings, cost 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 supply unparalleled ecommerce options and supreme flexibility and customizability, whereas nonetheless being usable for inexperienced persons 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 implies 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 house owners?
Along with elevated safety and performance because of the variety of builders engaged on it, you even have full management over how you utilize it. The code isn’t “locked down,” like that of proprietary instruments like Wix.
You’ve got full flexibility and management over the design and performance of your web site, and may use it nevertheless you see match. You gained’t have to fret about proprietary platforms taking down your ecommerce website with no discover in the event that they resolve you’ve violated their phrases. And, with WordPress, you possibly can entry and modify the total supply code of your website, whereas this isn’t attainable with Wix.
With WooCommerce, you too can select any host that you simply’d like, based mostly on issues like safety, options, bandwidth, and pace. Should you 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 examine to the pliability and customization choices that include WordPress and WooCommerce. Listed here are a couple of examples:
Themes/templates
Each WordPress and Wix provide designs that work as a place to begin on your web site. WordPress calls them “themes” and Wix calls them “templates.” And whereas each provide an excellent variety of decisions, there are lots of extra choices out there with WordPress. Choose from free choices within the WordPress repository, free and premium themes instantly from WooCommerce, or any variety of themes made by third-party builders.
And in the event you ever need to swap WordPress themes, you possibly can simply accomplish that. Merely select a brand new theme, preview it in your website, after which activate it. Normally, particularly in the event you’re utilizing the Block Editor, there will probably be only a few adjustments you’ll must make throughout your website.
Nonetheless, with Wix, you merely can not swap templates on an current website. You would need to switch the positioning to a brand new occasion, then swap your Premium plan to that new website. And there are fairly a couple of components you possibly can’t switch from one website to a different, together with your on-line retailer.
This makes it fairly troublesome and time-consuming to modify templates.
Plugins/add-ons
Once more, each WordPress and Wix provide instruments that you should utilize 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 limitless. The WordPress repository, which is totally made up of instruments which can be free and vetted by WordPress, has over 60,000 plugins. You’ll be able to seek for the right resolution, and decide based mostly on critiques from actual customers, screenshots, and descriptions.
The WooCommerce extension retailer 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 possibly can at all times 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 begin and run a web based retailer. Design your web site, listing your merchandise, accumulate funds, ship or ship your objects just about, and comply with 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 virtually actually a plugin or extension out there to fulfill your wants. And if there nonetheless isn’t an answer, then you possibly can rent a developer to create one thing for you, because the 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 possibly can solely embrace as much as 15 photographs for every product. So when you have 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 on the subject of the best way you promote your merchandise. For instance, wholesale promoting isn’t at present attainable with Wix, with out an inefficient and restricted workaround. However with WooCommerce, you possibly can have a full-fledged wholesale retailer, with customized wholesale roles, role-based pricing, delivery and cost 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 possibly can make the most 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 remains to be at its core.
Whenever you create a weblog put up with Wix, you will have entry to a really restricted drag-and-drop editor. For instance, you possibly can solely add 13 sorts of components, together with pictures, movies, tables, and buttons.
However while you create a weblog put up with WordPress, you will have entry to your entire block editor (extra on this beneath). Select from dozens of components, from fundamental paragraphs, pictures, and movies to columns, newest posts, tables, and social media feeds. You should utilize this to really create distinctive content material that may have interaction 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 house owners to construct their total website visually, without having to know any code in any respect. Each additionally provide particular person components – paragraphs, pictures, movies, and so forth. – and prebuilt segments like lists of latest posts and picture galleries. In WordPress, these are known as “blocks” and “block patterns,” whereas Wix calls them “components” 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 components like maps, pricing sections, accordions, data packing containers, and extra – basically, something you possibly can think about.
Each WooCommerce and Wix are thought-about comparatively straightforward to make use of on the subject of constructing a retailer and creating and managing merchandise. Nonetheless, the pliability and customizability that include WooCommerce push it excessive. Study extra concerning the WordPress block editor.
Delivery capabilities
Should you promote bodily merchandise, delivery is a crucial a part of working your on-line retailer. With Wix, you will have a number of delivery choices out there to you:
- Free delivery
- Flat charge 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 desk charge delivery, which helps you to create intricate, customized guidelines for delivery, based mostly on the whole lot from location and value to weight, merchandise depend or any mixture of those.
- Calculate real-time charges from further carriers, together with UPS and FedEx.
- Set conditional delivery charges based mostly on elements like person position and product class.
- Get discounted delivery 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 a web site builder on a proprietary platform, you’re, sadly, restricted on the subject of scalability. You’re tied all the way down to their internet hosting instruments, and restricted on the subject of the adjustments you may make to website efficiency, search engine marketing, and code optimization. You’re additionally restricted on the subject of the performance and design decisions you may make throughout your on-line retailer.
However you’ll by no means outgrow WordPress and WooCommerce. You’ll be able to select any host you’d like, based mostly on elements like efficiency, safety, and bandwidth. And you may make any performance selection conceivable – if there’s not a WordPress plugin for what you want, you possibly can 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 thousands and thousands of consumers discover success. Study extra on this article about WooCommerce scalability.
As you develop, you might also need to promote globally, although some shops will even need to accomplish that from the start. There are a variety of things to think about right here, together with languages, currencies, and delivery choices.
Whilst you can show costs in a number of currencies with Wix, you can’t truly cost for them in a number of currencies. This could make issues way more troublesome for patrons in a number of international locations. However with WooCommerce, there are a number of instruments that make it straightforward so that you can settle for any variety of currencies in your website, and permit guests to modify between them.
Help and neighborhood
Wix presents a wide range of help choices, relying on the plan you’ve bought. In addition they embrace documentation that helps you construct and run your retailer.
WordPress and WooCommerce have a neighborhood help discussion board the place you will get solutions to your entire questions. For premium WooCommerce extensions, stay chat help can also be out there. Each WordPress and WooCommerce even have intensive, detailed documentation, and a curated video tutorial library.
And the neighborhood 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 house owners and builders on the market who need to assist one another succeed.
How do you harness the ability of this neighborhood? Be a part of the WooCommerce Slack channel, attend a meetup in your space, or take a look at the official WooCommerce Fb group.
Pricing
Relating to WooCommerce vs. Wix pricing, WooCommerce clearly stands out. WordPress and WooCommerce are fully free for all core performance – the whole lot you must arrange, design, and run the vast majority of on-line shops. All you’ll want is a internet hosting supplier and area identify to retailer your web site information and make it viewable on-line.
Whereas Wix presents a free plan, it’s not a viable choice for ecommerce shops, as you possibly can’t use your personal area identify, your website will show Wix branding all through, and you can’t settle for on-line funds. Ecommerce plans begin at $27 per thirty days, however prohibit the quantity of space for storing you will have and the variety of movies you possibly can host in your web site.
You’ll even have extra restricted options. For instance, with the Enterprise Fundamental plan, you possibly can’t make the most of automated gross sales tax, accumulate and share buyer critiques, provide subscriptions, or accumulate funds in a number of currencies. If you’d like entry to all ecommerce options, you’ll want the Enterprise VIP plan, which is $59 per thirty days.
We’ve talked fairly a bit about WooCommerce extensions right here, which open up the performance and design prospects even additional on your on-line retailer. Whereas many of those are premium instruments, they’re very moderately priced and let you piece collectively particular options slightly than pay for ones you don’t want.
The add-ons out there with Wix differ extensively on the subject of pricing. Some can be found at no cost, others as month-to-month subscriptions. For instance, the Google Adverts & Google Procuring app prices $39.99 per thirty days with Wix. The same WooCommerce extension, Google Listings and Adverts, is out there at no cost.
All in all, WooCommerce is a way more cost-effective resolution, whether or not you’re simply beginning out or working an enterprise-level enterprise.
How one can migrate from Wix to WooCommerce
If you have already got an current 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 possibly can take right here, and the appropriate selection will rely in your particular wants and expertise stage. Regardless, you’ll first must:
- Select your personal internet hosting plan. Your internet hosting supplier will home your web site information and make it attainable for individuals to see your website 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 may stroll you thru the method of beginning your retailer.
Now, let’s take a look at a couple of methods emigrate from Wix to WooCommerce.
Word: Since Wix is a proprietary system, there’s not a solution to export your website as an entire and import it to a different platform like WordPress. So this course of will concentrate on migrating information, resembling weblog put up content material and pictures, slightly than the design of your web site.
1. Manually migrate your on-line retailer
Wish to sort out the migration by yourself? No drawback! Listed here are the steps it’s best to take:
Export your Wix weblog content material
The very first thing it’s best to do is export your weblog content material from Wix, which you’ll do utilizing your website’s RSS feed. Should you 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 laptop.
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 simply saved out of your Wix web site and click on Add file and import. Now, you possibly can go to Posts → All Posts and examine all the weblog posts you imported.
Nonetheless, this import didn’t embrace any of the weblog put up’s pictures. To maneuver your pictures, you’ll want to make use of a plugin known as Auto Add Photos. Go forward and set up and activate this software in your WordPress website.
To put in any plugin from the WordPress repository, just like the one above, you’ll go to Plugins → Add New. Then, you possibly can seek for the plugin by identify, click on Set up now after which Activate.
Now, return to Posts → All Posts and open the Display Choices dropdown on the high of the dashboard. Change the “Variety of objects per web page” discipline to “999” and click on Apply.
This may present 999 weblog posts per web page. When you’ve got greater than 999 posts in your website, you’ll nonetheless must take the subsequent step on a number of pages.
Now, verify the clean checkbox subsequent to the Title discipline to pick 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 pictures will probably 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 high left to pick your entire merchandise. Click on Extra Actions → Export.
This may obtain a .CSV file to your laptop you can now import into your WooCommerce website.
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 appropriate 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 pictures to every particular person product.
What about pages? Sadly, Wix doesn’t provide a solution 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
Should you don’t need to sort out the steps above by yourself, you possibly can at all times rent a developer to care for the whole lot for you. They can’t solely migrate your Wix retailer to WooCommerce, they’ll additionally design your website as an entire and get you began on the appropriate foot. This can be a nice choice if you wish to focus extra in your merchandise and advertising than your retailer setup.
The WooExpert Market is a superb place to seek out the appropriate developer on your wants. You’ll be able to view an inventory of businesses totally vetted by WooCommerce, then filter them based mostly on language, price range, location, and extra.
3. Simplify the method with the Cart2Cart software
The Cart2Cart extension takes care of the vast majority of the migration give you the results you want, with out requiring you to rent a developer. And in the event you’re unsure if it would work on your state of affairs, you possibly can take a look at the software at completely no value.
Right here’s an inventory of only a few issues you can migrate with Cart2Cart:
- Product names, SKUs, descriptions, costs, variations, and pictures.
- Stock administration data like amount and availability.
- web optimization information like meta descriptions and titles.
- Buyer and order data like identify, cost technique, order date, and extra.
- Coupon codes.
- Weblog posts and pictures.
You’ll be able to see a full listing of migration information right here. There are additionally further providers you possibly can make the most of, like preserving order IDs and organising 301 redirects.
Pricing varies relying in your particular retailer, and relies on the variety of merchandise, orders, and clients you will have, in addition to any add-ons you resolve to buy. You should utilize the useful software on the backside of this web page to get an estimate.
You’ll be able to full your entire migration from Wix to WooCommerce in three easy steps:
- Select your Supply (Wix) and Goal (WooCommerce) platforms.
- Choose the information you need to switch.
- Run an non-compulsory, free demo migration or proceed with the total migration.
Then, simply look forward to the method to complete. Not proud of the outcomes? You gained’t must pay something!
What do I do after migrating my information?
Now that you simply’ve moved your website and product information from Wix to WooCommerce, you’ll must construct and design the remainder of your on-line retailer. This beneficial article about beginning a web based enterprise offers all the small print you must create your pages, design your ecommerce web site, add any extensions you’d like, and extra.
As soon as your website 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 it will rely in your area identify supplier and host, Bluehost has a tutorial right here that’s an excellent instance of the method.
Steadily requested questions on WooCommerce vs. Wix
Should you nonetheless have questions on shifting from Wix to WordPress and WooCommerce, or the comparisons of Wix vs. WooCommerce, we need to assist! Discover solutions to often requested questions beneath.
Can you utilize WooCommerce with Wix?
No, WooCommerce and Wix usually are 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 got a number of choices to maneuver merchandise from Wix to WooCommerce. The primary is to export a .CSV listing of your merchandise from Wix, then import that .CSV file into your WooCommerce retailer. The import software included with WooCommerce will work to map the fields for every product (e.g. value, 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 selection, it’s additionally essentially the most hands-off, and means that you can concentrate on different elements of working your small business.
Lastly, you should utilize the Cart2Cart extension emigrate your information from Wix to WooCommerce. Whereas this can be a premium software, 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?
Relating to WooCommerce vs. Wix, the platform you select on 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. And so they’re extra inexpensive and supply entry to an unequalled neighborhood of builders and retailer house owners.
Migrate from Wix to WordPress and WooCommerce
Should you’ve determined to maneuver your on-line retailer to WooCommerce, welcome! We’re right here to assist with something that you simply want. An excellent place to get began is with our documentation, which may present solutions to any questions you might have.
Wish to see what others are doing with WooCommerce? Try ecommerce shops that cowl all totally different industries, all of that are utilizing WooCommerce to develop their enterprise.
