Introduction Ecwid Demo
Have you ever Wondered if you are using the ideal ecommerce platform for selling online? Do you sometimes stumble upon a new service that’s more functional and cheaper than what you’re using today? Starting a small business is all about keeping your prices low, and finding an ecommerce platform that will assist you with half the battle. Unfortunately, when you operate a small business website it frequently becomes tricky when you want to bring on a new ecommerce platform or even just alter your site at all. Read our Ecwid review to find out more about this solution. Ecwid Demo
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Many options Intentionally create a closed system, which is tedious to maneuver away from once you get started. But with a stage named Ecwid, you do not need to be concerned about this. In fact, the whole goal of the company, which began in 2009, is to quickly and quickly create an internet store system on your present websites.
You do not have To make a completely different site. Just implement Ecwid on any stage, CMS or social networking (in five minutes) and you’re good to go.
This increased my Attention, since I understand the struggles that come along with attempting to migrate sites, particularly in regards to ecommerce. So, I needed to put together a comprehensive review of this Ecwid system to find out if it is worth the time.
How Many Men and Women Use Ecwid?
It is quite Impressive what Ecwid has done since 2009, with more than 1 million merchants getting signed up. What is even more cool is that the Ecwid merchants span over 175 distinct countries, showing that this isn’t just a platform for most people in the united states or Europe. Even companies in developing countries have a chance to find an internet store heading, and you do not even have to squander your previous site if you have one.
The usership Continues to grow, particularly considering Ecwid is currently PCI DSS Level 1 certified. If you are not certain what this is, it is pretty much the gold standard for security in the ecommerce world. You can rest easy knowing that you and your customers’ data is safe and secure.
Along with The total merchant count, over 20,000 active users are using the Ecwid Shopping Cart for WordPress. The difference between that 20,000 and also the 1 million is the fact you don’t need a WordPress site in order to implement Ecwid. So, the 20,000 simply identifies WordPress users using the plugin.
What is Ecwid, and how can this function?
Ecwid is a hosted Alternative for building an online store. Unlike competing products like Shopify, Bigcommerce and Volusion, which permit you to build a new site with e-commerce performance, Ecwid is targeted more towards people who already have a website and simply wish to add an internet store for this.
Much like other E-commerce platforms, Ecwid allows you to set up’catalogs’ of products, and include photos, pricing, weight etc. . each. You can specify shipping prices, accept credit card payments and so on — all the key stuff that you would expect to be able to perform with an e-commerce solution.
However it differs Apart from competing products such as Shopify, Volusion, Squarespace and Bigcommerce since it isn’t actually designed to let you create a fully-featured, standalone e-commerce website; instead, it is intended to enable you add an internet store to an existing online presence.
(That said, Ecwid have Recently added some new functionality, called’Starter Website’, which will let you create a one-page standalone offering. We’ll talk via this in more detail later on in the review.) Ecwid Demo
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The Product operates by giving you a widget which gets put on other sites — hence the title Ecwid: it’s short for’E-commerce Widget’. You receive a few lines of HTML code (the widget) to add to an present website or social media profile, and your store is displayed wherever you’ve inserted this code.
Features
Ecwid makes Strides in the market by catering to companies which don’t want to start a brand-new site. The primary attribute is that you can take your old site and immediately incorporate the Ecwid system within a couple of minutes.
You can also Mirror the machine onto several different websites if you anticipate selling elsewhere on the web. Manage all of these sites from one location instead of switching between multiple dashboards.
Another pleasant Attribute is the syncing between multiple devices. Sell on-the-go with your smartphone. This means that you can go to a tradeshow to generate a few sales and all these sales are reflected onto the backend of your website.
The system is Also made to integrate nicely with social networks, so you may sell your items on Facebook if needed. 1 part of Ecwid we particularly enjoy is the shipping aspect. With real-time transport integrations you constantly know what is happening with your orders and at which they are being shipped to.
What other trendy Things are included with Ecwid?
It runs on a super fast framework
It comes with an address book for customers and customers
The machine has over 43 translations for selling round the world
You receive a Lot of promotional tools such as vouchers, discounts, and bulk pricing and more
Produce your own customized email notifications
Utilize the automatic tax alternative (automatic tax charges at checkout, tax reporting and filing)
Point-of-sale functionality
Thanks To Ecwid’s point-of-sale (POS) performance, you may use your Ecwid shop to market not only online but in bodily places too — in stores, market stalls, in theatres and so on.
Together with Ecwid’s POS Functionality, irrespective of if a customer buys a product in shop, online, on their telephone or through Facebook, everything stays in sync – i.e., the retailer’s catalogue, inventory and client / transaction info.
There is a couple of methods that you can take advantage of this feature: the simplest is likely to use’Paypal Here.’ This involves downloading the Ecwid iOS app from the Apple’s App shop, connecting it to the Paypal Here support, and then taking payments utilizing a mobile card reader (pictured above).
You have two options when it comes to POS Hardware and Paypal Here: you can buy a chip and swipe reader (for $24.99) or a processor and tap reader (for $79.99). Both may be arranged straight from Ecwid.
There’s a few Things worth noting about the Paypal Here integration: first, it’s only available to merchants in america and UK. Secondly, it is not yet available on Android apparatus. (On their site, Ecwid say it will be available shortly — but they’ve been saying that for quite some time now). Ecwid Demo
If you’re located outside That the US / UK, or want to utilize another mobile device type, the fantastic news is that Ecwid also functions together with the Vend, Clover, NCR Silver and Square POS systems. These all ease utilizing a larger selection of hardware in a physical retail location (full-sized card readers, receipt printers, cash drawers tablet racks etc.) and are usable in more countries.
Although you could avail Of the Paypal Here POS choice on most of paid-for programs, you’ll want to be to the priciest’Unlimited’ program if you would like to avail of a Vend, Clover, NCR Silver or Square integration.
Reactive storefronts
Ecwid Storefronts are responsive, meaning that they will display correctly across apparatus — desktopcomputer, tablet computers and mobile. In an era where smartphone internet surfing is eclipsing desktop browsing, this is vital.
Free program
Unlike many similar Products, Ecwid offers a completely free plan.
Granted, it is a pretty Basic plan, where features like discount vouchers and support aren’t available, and it only allows you to sell up to ten products in two categories — but this may actually be adequate for some users, and using it is a good way to try the system out.
However, A vital point to notice about the free plan is that it is not good from an SEO standpoint — you need to be on a paid plan to make certain your product pages speak to hunt engines correctly (more on SEO under ).
Speech detection
Ecwid is ahead of the Pack in that its storefronts could be automatically translated into nearly 50 distinct languages — clients can see your shop in their own language, without you needing to worry about producing alternate versions of this. Ecwid provides this performance by discovering visitors’ language automatically according to their browser settings / IP address.
Competing products like Shopify And Bigcommerce are nevertheless to supply this type of functionality — that they force you to rely on third party programs, the creation of multiple shops or Google Translate to supply different language versions of your shop, which is less than perfect. So a definite triumph for Ecwid here.
Ecwid and search engine optimization
Search engine Optimisation (search engine optimization ) in Ecwid is a fairly straightforward affair. You can edit the title of your webpage and its meta description; the relevant fields are pre-populated for you automatically, but you can tweak them to suit your SEO objectives.
As far as I could tell However, you can not manually change the URL of a product — you need to make do with the one that Ecwid creates for you. This is not ideal because key words in URLs are used by some search engines to categorise content during indexing.
However, The URLs that are automatically generated by Ecwid include the title you’ve given to your own product – so in the event that you include some keywords on your product name (maybe not a bad idea anyway) your URL will comprise them also. This functions as a tool of a workaround, but I would prefer full control over URLs. Ecwid Demo
1 place where Ecwid does not perform quite so Well on the SEO front entails AMP — accelerated cellular pages. As its name suggests, AMP pages load quicker on cellular devices. This motivates people to stay longer on your webpage, thus increasing’live time’ –something that’s believed by many search engine optimization experts consider to be rewarded by Google with preferential treatment in search results. Furthermore, Google occasionally highlights AMP pages in carousels in search results, giving AMP articles an extra little boost.
Regrettably However — and unlike competing products like Bigcommerce or even Shopify, you can not produce AMP variations of your products using Ecwid.
Importing and exporting data
Like many competing Goods Ecwid allows you to import and export your data in CSV format.
The Export option allows you to export product data, orders and customers (in CSV format) and ensures that should you feel the need to migrate your shop to another e-commerce platform, you should not have some major difficulties doing so.
Using Ecwid with other platforms
Ecwid and WordPress
WordPress does not Supplied any e-commerce performance from the box, so anybody wanting to sell on the stage will need a third-party alternative like Ecwid. There’s an Ecwid plugin available, so adding an Ecwid store to your WordPress site is quite straightforward — you can get up and running with a couple clicks.
You simply sign up for an Ecwid account and then install the free plugin.
Ecwid and Squarespace
Squarespace comes with Increasingly excellent e-commerce features, but the amount of payment gateway options is quite limited — you need to use Stripe or Paypal. (And with Stripe only works if you’re selling products from particular countries). The other main issue with the built-in Squarespace selling tools is they don’t facilitate dropshipping, and complete export of merchandise is not currently possible.
Integrating Ecwid with Squarespace permits you to bypass these limitations, and adding it to a Squarespace website is quite easy: it is a simple matter of including a code block into a webpage and pasting some HTML to it.
Ecwid and Wix
As With Squarespace, there is currently no dropshipping choice for Wix users, therefore again Ecwid can provide a good workaround. A dedicated program is offered by Ecwid to allow you integrate the item on a Wix store easily.
Programs and plugins
Ecwid provides a pretty Restricted number integrations with other apps that are well-known. Integrations do exist with services Mailchimp, Xero and Freshbooks; but to be honest the assortment of integrations could be extensive — competing goods like Shopify provide a much wider range of programs. Notable omissions in the Ecwid store comprise Quickbooks and Zendesk, for example (that said, a Quickbooks integration is coming shortly ).
The Picture is better in regards to CMS plugins: these are available for WordPress, Wix and Joomla, allowing to you set up Ecwid on these platforms quite easily. Ecwid Demo
Interface and ease of use
Ecwid’s Interface is pretty user friendly. Like many similar online store builders, you receive a vertical menu on the left which allows you to access key functionality, and the area on the right is used to edit or display related products, site content and reports.
As with any e-commerce tool, you will have to Spend a reasonable amount of time getting your head around producing catalogues and product variations, establishing transport prices and so on…but there is nothing that should represent also a lot of a learning curve.
Matters are aided by an ‘onboarding checklist’ that is supplied to you once you log in for the first time.
If You’re stuck however, you can always get in touch with Ecwid’s support staff — more on this later — or, if you are on a’Business’ or’Unlimited’, you can make the most of the included customization service (you get 2 hours and 12 hours personalization period from Ecwidon these programs ).
Ecwid and GDPR
I’m not a Attorney, so please be aware that the below observations shouldn’t be interpreted as legal advice, but I am going to do my very best to spell out a number of the major GDPR issues facing Ecwid consumers under.
With the introduction of The EU’s new GDPR laws, there are several legal measures that website owners now need to take to ensure that they are adequately protecting EU customers’ and visitors’ privacy. There are severe financial penalties for doing so (to the point where it’s usually a good idea to consult an attorney on what to do); and even if your business is not based in the EU, you still need to obey the regulations where any site visits from the EU are worried.
Based on my Understanding of the crucial GDPR rules, the main priorities for potential Ecwid store owners are to:
· Provide adequate privacy and cookie notices
· Process and store information securely
· Get explicit consent from those registering to mailing lists it is okay to send them e-newsletters
· Provide a means to opt in or revoke permission to use of non-essential biscuits on a website (and to log that approval ).
There does not seem to be Whatever stops you fulfilling the first few requirements easily enough with Ecwid, although you will need to devote time and possibly money creating adequate notices and crafting information capture forms so that they are GDPR compliant.
Where things get Complex with Ecwid is the fourth requirement — cookie approval. To ensure GDPR compliance, you need to exhibit a cookie banner to your visitors which
· Allows them to select which cookies they want to conduct BEFORE those biscuits are run (i.e., to provide’prior consent’)
· Logs their approval to run biscuits Ecwid Demo
· Allows them to revoke approval at a later point
So for example, if you Utilize a Facebook Ads cookie in conjunction with your Ecwid store, you will be breaking up GDPR laws unless you have a banner set up which does all the above.
Nowout of the box at There isn’t a means to take care of the cookie approval issue with Ecwid. Nor is there an adequate program accessible from the Ecwid app store (the only alternative on this front I can locate, the’EU cookie banner’, doesn’t seem to supply the essential functionality — even though costing $1.99 per month to use).
It Appears to me that the only option available to Ecwid users is to use a professional product such as CookiePro, which does supply all the necessary performance to generate cookie approval fully GDPR compliant. Despite being a strong product nonetheless, Cookiepro does need quite a great deal of configuration and you will need to put quite a lot of time aside to set it up.
Setup and Layout
I really like The fact that you can run a web site without paying for anything. This makes the setup process that much easier, since you simply need to punch in your email and make a password to proceed right to the backend interface.
The machine has Wizards for every platform you want to place your store on. In case you have a WordPress site, simply walk through three steps to get up and running. You can also click on options like Facebook and Joomla, based on the place you want to sell.
The backend Design is flawless, since it walks you through every site creation and integration measure with a few fine photos and text. As soon as you obtain your shop implemented on a website or social page it looks fairly sleek.
The layout Depends upon the subject you have on your website, but as you can see below, it shows photos well and appears clean and simple to navigate. I particularly enjoy the Shopping Bag area, which can be prominent and easy to locate for customers when they want to market.
Though many Websites will be mobile friendly, it;s nice understanding that Ecwid includes a native shopping program for both iOS and Android. Merchants now get a native shopping application for iOS and Android.
This means you Can mange your store and market on the go, while also giving your clients a chance to get products from the mobile interface.
The closing Design thing which makes sense to mention is your language instrument. Since conducting an internet store generally requires you to attain out to individuals from all over the planet, you’re bound to stumble upon a few clients who’d love to read product pages and other content in their native tongue. Ecwid supports 45 languages, so if a user would like to translate from English into Spanish, that’s not a problem at all.
The Ecwid App Market
Possessing the Chance to install software is a sure fire way to scaling your ecommerce website in a fair way. Ecwid has a place called the Ecwid App Market. It offers 65 software, helping retailers extend their store functionality readily. Ecwid Demo
Some of the apps Will help you out with reviews and rating, rewards programs, automatic ad tools, analytics, customized layout themes and much more.
SEO and Marketing
Ecwid is a Third party remedy to your present website, so you would normally need to implement additional SEO and advertising tools to truly get out the word. That said, Ecwid provides quality SEO features to help retailers increase their visibility in Google searches.
Moreover, Google now indexes AJAX sites, therefore all Ecwid shops are indexed by Google without any excess work. It gets even better with WordPress sites, since you gain access to additional SEO plugins and the default search engine performance on the dashboard.
Managing Your Inventory
The Ecwid Inventory system is as straightforward as they come, because it doesn’t appear to incorporate any of the unnecessary bells and whistles you may find on other e commerce platforms.
Each step is Clear and concise, so you may just go in there and sort in a product name, price and image then save the merchandise for afterwards. Of course you can always open the Powerful Options, however they separate these for if you are ready to get started ramping up your store.
As an example of the stock Rich direction toolset, you obtain access to things like from stock merchandise monitoring, mobile device stock management, barcode scanning and much more.
Customer Care
Ecwid provides A Chat With Earnings feature that is always one of my favourite ways to converse to companies. Only send them a question and you can work on something else until they respond.
The Business also Provides a powerful support section with FAQs, a knowledge base, email capabilities and a forum.
Overall, the Service outlets include phone support, online chat support and email support, maintaining the response time short and encourage quality high.
In my eyes, the Platform has everything you might want in terms of support.
Payments and Safety
It’s not necessarily Easy to locate an ecommerce platform which does not charge fees, but that’s just what you get with Ecwid. They never control any sort of trade fee with any of the plans they offer, making it desirable for any shop that’s trying to keep costs down and to improve margins.
Keep in mind that Ecwid is not a payment processor, which means you’ve got to setup something like PayPal or Stripe to process all of the trades that come through your site. It’s rather simple to employ one of these systems, since Ecwid integrates with over 40 global payment options. However, each of these processors have their particular transaction fees so that you need to prepare for these.
It is quite Clear that Ecwid takes security seriously, since the provider is a PCI DSS Grade 1 certified service provider. The company also states that each transaction that includes sensitive data is transferred via a secure HTTPS channel. Ecwid Demo
What if you Would like to accumulate both online and offline payments? Maybe you’d prefer a point of sale integration?
Ecwid Integrates with with Square, Clover, Vend POS, iZettle and PayPal card readers, allowing Ecwid to turn your operation into both an online and offline system.
Advantages and cons of using Ecwid
Advantages
· Ecwid represents a really simple way to add e-commerce to any existing website.
· Point-of-sale performance can be obtained, and there are quite a few ways to implement it.
· The product is cheap by comparison to other alternatives.
· It supports multi-language variations of your shop.
· The shop designs are responsive.
· Plugins / programs are available for major platforms (like WordPress, Drupal and Wix).
· It permits users of website building products which don’t facilitate dropshipping to start doing so (i.e., Squarespace, Jimdo, Wix etc.)
· The’starter site’ option is a fantastic stopgap measure for merchants who need a shop fast, but have yet to develop a full site in order to bring the Ecwid widget to.
· The free Ecwid program is not time-limited, includes service, and is fairly generous concerning features.
Cons
· The Paypal This POS system is Limited to the US and UK.
· The Paypal This POS process is limited to iOS users.
· Telephone support is only available on the more expensive programs.
· There’s a restricted number of programs / integrations offered from the Ecwid App shop.
· You can not change merchandise URLs, which is slightly annoying in the search engine optimization perspective.
· You can’t create AMP variations of product pages using Ecwid.
· Creating Ecwid GDPR-compliant (with regard to obtaining cookie approval ) sounds difficult.
· The free version doesn’t let you get any of the search engine optimization tools.
Pricing
Ecwid comes With four strategies, among which is completely free. They promote the free program like crazy, and mention that a number of other platforms drag you in free trial, where you will finally need to pay.
That is where Ecwid stands outside, and you can see the other payment programs are rather reasonably priced.
The Free program Lets you sell 10 products, whereas the Venture program ups that depend to 100 products and you get items like an iPhone management app. The company program goes up to 2500 merchandise for a superb price and you get live chat support. Priority support comes along with the Unlimited program and you might also sell an unlimited amount of merchandise.
Ecwid is one of The cheapest solutions on the marketplace. You can see that it’s actually cheaper than many of the other programs we’ve reviewed in the past, so if you’re searching for value, this might be the perfect plugin for you.
Conclusion
In short, I am Starting to believe that Ecwid is among the greatest ways to sell online, provided that you employ the best methods to improve your earnings online as well. Ecwid is a slick system, with superb simple implementation steps, which makes it ideal for the small business audience. Ecwid Demo
Click Here to sign up to Ecwid today!