What Is Ecwid? A Comprehensive Review of Ecwid

Ecwid could be a great option if you are considering starting your own online business. So, what is Ecwid? This review will walk you through the essentials of Ecwid, how it can help your online business grow, and what plan from Ecwid can benefit your business.

What Is Ecwid?

Ecwid is an online store builder that functions as a “software as a service” (SaaS) product. Unlike owning the software outright, users pay a monthly subscription to access Ecwid’s features. Established in 2009 and acquired by the e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) company Lightspeed in 2021, Ecwid supports over one million online stores in 175 countries.

The platform’s stability and ongoing presence make it a reliable choice for those looking to enter or expand in e-commerce.

Ecwid offers typical e-commerce functionalities, such as creating product catalogs, adding images, setting prices, and specifying product weights. Users can also establish shipping rates and accept credit card payments. All these operations are manageable directly through a web browser without installing software on your computer.

Unlike other e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, and BigCommerce, Ecwid’s primary use is not to build a new standalone e-commerce site. Instead, it enhances an existing website or online platform by adding e-commerce capabilities.

Pros and Cons of Ecwid

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How Does Ecwid Work?

As mentioned, Ecwid operates by integrating a software plug-in with your existing website or social media platform. This lets you add e-commerce capabilities such as a shopping cart and online payment options. Ecwid has also launched a new tool called “Instant Site,” a complimentary service for Ecwid account holders without a pre-existing website. This tool provides a free, mobile-responsive website entirely managed by Ecwid, making it a hassle-free option for new users.

To begin using Ecwid, you integrate the Ecwid plug-in with your website, allowing you to conduct online transactions. This plug-in is compatible with widely used website builders like WordPress, Wix, and Drupal, ensuring a smooth integration process.

Ease of Use

Ecwid is designed for straightforward setup and operation, enabling users to build websites rapidly. It is an effective tool for businesses looking to establish an online presence efficiently.

Users can launch their websites within an hour of registering with Ecwid. The platform’s clear and intuitive dashboard allows for easy navigation and management of store settings, simplifying the process of running an online store. Ecwid’s versatility also supports using an instant site feature, offering businesses multiple options for crafting and maintaining their online presence effortlessly.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up an online store with Ecwid:

• Create an Account: Sign up with Ecwid by entering your store name, address, and product type. Set a password for your account.
• Website Integration: If you have an existing website, add Ecwid as a service. Without an existing site, Ecwid provides a sub-domain (like EXAMPLEBIZ.ecwid.site) to serve as your store’s webpage.
• Control Panel: Use Ecwid’s control panel to manage your store. This includes setting up the website, creating products, adjusting delivery settings, and configuring payment options. Note that the ability to add multiple images or videos is limited.
• Instant Site Website Builder: The Instant Site tool allows you to quickly publish pages, though it lacks the advanced features found in platforms like GoDaddy, Shopify, or Wix.
• Add Products: In the dashboard’s Catalog section, name products, upload images, and set prices. Shipping rates automatically sync with USPS, UPS, and FedEx.

Top Features of Ecwid

Ecwid is a comprehensive e-commerce platform tailored to assist businesses of different sizes in developing and managing online stores. Unlike conventional website builders, Ecwid operates primarily as a plugin that integrates with existing websites or as a standalone platform through its Instant Site feature. Here is an enhanced breakdown of Ecwid’s primary features:

• Plug-in to Create an Online Shop

Ecwid offers simple tools that allow users to set up an online store quickly within about five minutes. This can be done by integrating with an existing website or using Ecwid’s Instant Site builder.

The platform enables mass upload and bulk editing of product catalogs, speeding up the setup process. This functionality ensures that users can have their online store up and running quickly on any website platform without coding skills. However, the limitation to a single-page layout may not meet the needs of businesses aiming for a more extensive online presence.

• Ship on Demand

Ecwid seamlessly integrates with dropshipping services, allowing businesses to sell products without maintaining inventory. Orders are automatically sent to a supplier who manages the fulfillment process. This integration significantly reduces the burdens of inventory management and shipping, proving advantageous for entrepreneurs seeking to reduce operational demands.

• Digital File Sales

Ecwid facilitates the sale of digital products, including software, eBooks, music, and other downloadable content. It supports large file sizes of up to 25 GB for paid plans, exceeding competitors’ capacity, like BigCommerce, which offers 512 MB. This capability is advantageous for vendors of substantial digital products, providing versatile options for delivering digital goods to customers.

• Marketing Tools

Ecwid includes a robust suite of marketing tools designed to enhance business visibility and stimulate sales. These tools support the creation of discount coupons, integration with Google Ads, and enable selling on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The comprehensive marketing capabilities facilitate customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, thereby increasing the overall value derived from each customer.

• Shipping Management

Ecwid provides an array of shipping management tools that connect with major carriers such as UPS, USPS, and FedEx. The platform automatically estimates shipping costs based on product weight, dimensions, and the customer’s delivery address. It also enables merchants to establish custom shipping rules and flat rates.

Options for local delivery or in-store pickup further enhance flexibility. Additionally, Ecwid offers access to discounted shipping labels through its control panel, facilitating the comparison of shipping rates and selection of the most cost-effective options directly from the platform.

• Customer Management

Ecwid offers advanced customer management tools that allow businesses to monitor customer interactions, access order histories, and categorize customers based on specific criteria. These tools aid in crafting targeted marketing strategies and personalize the shopping experience, essential for boosting customer loyalty and satisfaction.

• Bulk Inventory Uploads and Updates

Ecwid streamlines the management of extensive product catalogs through its bulk editor and mass update tools. These features are invaluable for efficiently uploading many products or implementing broad updates to existing inventory. They are particularly advantageous as your business grows and product strategies develop.

With these tools, you can swiftly alter product details such as prices, descriptions, or shipping weights for multiple items simultaneously, which is far more time-efficient than updating each item individually.

• Tax Calculations

Ecwid automates the intricate task of tax calculation, offering significant time savings for online merchants. The platform automatically determines the appropriate tax rates based on the customer’s location, using their IP address for accuracy. This real-time tax calculation feature supports over 16 countries, including the US, UK, EU, Australia, and Canada.

Merchants can configure tax-inclusive or exclusive pricing, manage different tax rates for various product types, and even handle tax-exempt items, all of which streamline operations and minimize the likelihood of calculation errors.

• Assisted Setup

Ecwid ensures a straightforward initial setup process accessible even to users on the free plan. The platform offers guidance through a well-organized dashboard that outlines the necessary steps, often breaking them down into manageable tasks with projected completion times.

Ecwid provides enhanced personalized setup support for higher-tier plans, including consultations with specialists to ensure your store is optimally configured for success.

Ecwid’s Point-of-Sale Capabilities

Ecwid provides robust POS features, enabling merchants to extend their online stores into physical spaces like stores, market stalls, or events. One key component is Ecwid’s mobile POS solution, powered by Square, which ensures that sales data is consistent across all channels—whether purchases occur in-store, online, through mobile devices, or on Facebook. This synchronization maintains current catalogs, inventory, and customer transaction details.

Ecwid offers two primary methods for utilizing POS technology: the mobile POS option and full POS integrations. The mobile POS route involves the ‘Sell on the Go’ app, accessible on iOS for users on paid plans, and offers a 28-day trial for those on free plans. This application supports card readers from Square,  PayPal, and Zettle. However, it is essential to note its availability is limited to certain countries, including Canada, Australia, Japan, Ireland, the US, and the UK, for Square and 13 countries such as France, Brazil, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico, the UK, Spain, and the US for PayPal Zettle. Currently, this app is only compatible with iOS, leaving Android users needing support.

Ecwid facilitates integration with third-party POS systems through its Unlimited plan for merchants whose needs still need to be met by the Mobile POS. Compatible systems include Square, Alice, Clover, and Vend (now known as Lightspeed Retail POS X-Series), which provides a comprehensive POS system with hardware like receipt printers, tablet stands, and card readers. This flexibility allows businesses to choose the best operation setup, ensuring effective sales management across diverse environments.

SEO and Blogging Features of Ecwid

Ecwid provides robust SEO tools that enable users to optimize their online stores for search engines effectively. Users can manage SEO settings through a dedicated tab for each product and category, allowing them to edit titles, descriptions, and URLs. Additionally, Ecwid automatically generates ALT tags for images based on product titles, which helps with image indexing on search engines.

The platform also supports clean URLs, which is crucial for search engine readability and user experience. These URLs are automatically generated for products and categories; users can customize them further. For more advanced control, Ecwid allows the inclusion of meta tags on category pages, which can enhance their visibility in search engine results.

Regarding indexing, Ecwid stores benefit from automatic sitemap generation and the inclusion of a robots.txt file, which directs search engines on which pages to index. Additionally, users can set up 301 redirects to ensure that any changes in URL structures do not negatively impact their SEO efforts.

However, Ecwid does not include a built-in blogging feature, a notable limitation for users relying on content marketing. To address this, Ecwid can be embedded in popular website builders like WordPress, Weebly, and Wix, which do offer blogging capabilities. This integration allows users to maintain a blog on an external platform while still managing their e-commerce store through Ecwid, effectively boosting SEO by driving more traffic to their site from blog content.

Ecwid Marketing Tools

Ecwid offers a robust suite of marketing tools designed to attract customers to your website and enhance sales:

• Email Marketing:

Ecwid features an email automation system that allows for the automatic sending of various types of emails. This includes reminders for abandoned carts, order confirmations that suggest related products, expressions of customer appreciation, feedback requests, and special offers for occasions.

• Discounts and Coupons:

Users can create and distribute discount codes via website banners, product pages, public pages, or social media. An automatic discount feature also lets users apply specific discounts to certain products and customer groups. Furthermore, Ecwid supports issuing gift cards to encourage repeat business from loyal customers.

• Multichannel Selling:

This feature enables merchants to sell their products on major online marketplaces and social media platforms, including eBay, Amazon, Facebook, Google Shopping, TikTok, and Instagram, through seamless integration with these channels.

• Ad Campaigns:

Merchants can create and manage Facebook and Google ad campaigns directly from their Ecwid dashboard.

Other On-site Marketing Tools:

• Facebook Messenger Live Chat: Integrates live chat functionality into your e-commerce store.
• Gift Cards: Enables customers to purchase redeemable gift cards in your online store.
• Abandoned Cart Emails: Sends automatic emails to customers who have abandoned shopping carts. (Available only on the Business & Unlimited Plans)
• Multilingual Catalog: Allows product listings to be displayed in multiple languages, which benefits international sales. (Available only on the Business & Unlimited Plans)

Additionally, the Abandoned Cart Recovery feature can include discount codes to entice return visits and facilitate the setup of retargeting campaigns on Facebook and Google.

Themes and Customization Options of Ecwid

Ecwid provides over 70 free themes that users can use to adjust their online store’s design. These themes are organized into categories to help you find one that aligns with your business needs. However, the choices among these themes are limited, with many appearing quite similar. This limitation is partly because Ecwid is tailored for single-page stores, which narrows the scope of customization possibilities.

The Instant Site feature allows users to add and edit customizable content blocks and set up basic navigation menus. Despite being a notable update, the customization options in Instant Site still fall short of those offered by competitors like Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce. Ecwid’s section-based editor includes predefined layouts for content blocks but cannot add custom widgets or more complex features found on other platforms.

Ecwid has recently enhanced its platform by introducing a live editor feature that shows real-time previews of changes, aiding users in making adjustments more efficiently. However, suppose Ecwid is used as a plug-in on an existing website. In that case, superior design options may be available by selecting a theme from your primary CMS or site builder’s theme store, especially if your site is hosted on platforms like WordPress or Wix, which have a broader selection of themes and more extensive customization capabilities.

For those seeking more sophisticated or diverse design features or planning to expand their online store, exploring other eCommerce platforms that provide more comprehensive customization tools and a broader array of themes might be beneficial.

Pricing of Ecwid

Plan	Monthly Cost
Free	$0
Venture	$25
Business	$45
Unlimited	$105

Ecwid provides four different pricing plans, distinguishing itself from many competitors by including a free option, which is a significant aspect of its marketing strategy. The free plan offers basic features such as the ability to sell up to five products, unlimited bandwidth, mobile-responsive checkout, and options for social media advertising. It also allows the store to be added to any website.

The other three tiers are paid plans with progressively greater capabilities. The “Venture” plan costs $25 per month, supports up to 100 products, and includes features like live chat and email support, a store management app, and no transaction fees. The “Business” plan, at $45 per month, allows up to 2500 products and adds phone support, abandoned cart emails, and automated email marketing to its list of features. The most comprehensive plan, “Unlimited,” costs $105 monthly and offers unlimited product listings, priority support, and all other available Ecwid features, including a branded e-commerce app.

Prices for these plans are based on a monthly payment, but Ecwid also offers a discount equivalent to two months free for annual payments. Notably, none of Ecwid’s plans impose turnover limits or extra transaction fees, and the top-tier plan even includes 12 hours of free customization work if paid annually. This tiered pricing structure caters to various business needs, from small startups to large enterprises.

Ecwid Payment Gateways

Ecwid ensures the safety of online transactions by incorporating over 100+ payment gateways worldwide. It also maintains high-security standards as a PCI DSS Level 1 certified service provider, including 3D Secure transaction technology.

Integrating a POS system with your online store allows you to accept payments globally. Ecwid also stands out by not imposing transaction fees, benefiting retailers and customers by simplifying the payment process.

Among the various payment gateways, Ecwid supports are well-known options such as

• PayPal: Several versions include PayPal Checkout, Payflow Link, and PayPal Payments Pro Hosted.
• Stripe: Integrates well with Ecwid for accepting credit card payments and supports options like SEPA Direct Debit and iDEAL.
• Square: Allows businesses to accept credit card payments and is known for its user-friendly interface.
• Afterpay: Provides a buy-now-pay-later option for customers.
• Authorize.Net: A popular choice for secure credit card transactions.
• Alipay and WeChat Pay: Catering to businesses targeting Chinese customers.

Ecwid also provides several offline payment methods, such as cash on delivery, bank transfers, and invoice payments. However, these payment types involve manual processing, and updates to order status must be made manually in the Ecwid system.

Additionally, Ecwid enables cryptocurrency transactions through CoinPayments and CointoPay.com. While Ecwid does not charge additional transaction fees, payment processors may incur minimal costs.

Ecwid’s App Store

The Ecwid App Store features approximately 250 app integrations, including essential tools like TaxJar, Printful, and ShipStation, which facilitate tax management, drop shipping, and shipping. However, this number is relatively small compared to Shopify, which offers over 8,000 apps, and WordPress, with more than 60,000 plugins.

Of the 250 apps available on Ecwid, only about 45 are free; the others require a purchase. This means several popular integrations such as Klaviyo, Postscript SMS, Gorgias, QuickBooks, and Privy need to be included. Users who need these tools can use Zapier to connect them to Ecwid, although this incurs additional costs for Zapier’s service.

A significant disadvantage of Ecwid’s app ecosystem is the relatively higher pricing for apps, likely due to its smaller user base. This can increase the cost of enhancing an Ecwid store’s functionality.

While Ecwid effectively integrates with various platforms, including social media channels and POS systems, its limited range of app integrations may be restrictive for users seeking extensive customization options.

Customer Support

Ecwid provides different levels of customer support based on the subscription plan. Every user, even those on the free plan, can access email support. Venture plan subscribers receive live chat support, while phone support is available to those on the Business and Unlimited plans. Ecwid’s customer service operates around the clock, providing 24/7 assistance to higher-tier subscribers. This is particularly useful for businesses requiring immediate help or those who prefer more personal interaction methods.

Who Is Ecwid Best For?

Ecwid is ideal for new sellers and small business owners looking for an affordable way to set up an online store. It provides a free plan that is attractive to those eager to sell online without major initial expenses. If you have an existing website, Ecwid enables you to add eCommerce capabilities by simply adding a code snippet to your site. This method quickly turns an essential website into a functional online store.

Ecwid is adaptable and can accommodate business growth. The free plan allows you to start with a few products, and as your business grows, you can shift to more extensive plans. Ecwid provides an “Instant Site” option for those without a website, allowing you to establish a complete online store quickly. This feature suits businesses at various growth stages, from startups to those expanding their operations.

Conclusion

Ecwid is a solid e-commerce platform, particularly well-suited for small businesses and new sellers seeking a cost-effective solution to start selling online. Its easy-to-use interface features like automatic translations, integration with existing websites, and a free plan make it an attractive option for those looking to get online quickly.

While the platform offers robust tools for customer management, marketing, and POS capabilities, its limitations in design customization and the relatively small app store might be restrictive for larger businesses or those needing more advanced features. Overall, Ecwid scores a commendable 4 out of 5 stars, offering reliable functionality with room for growth, especially for businesses in their early stages.

Frequently Asked Questions