Background Gauge Station Ecwid

Have you ever Wondered if you are using the right ecommerce platform for sale online? Do you occasionally stumble upon a new service that’s more practical and cheaper than what you’re using now? Starting a small business is all about keeping your costs low, and locating an ecommerce platform that will assist you with half the battle. Unfortunately, when you run a small business website it often becomes tricky when you would like to attract on a brand new ecommerce platform or perhaps just alter your website whatsoever. Read our Ecwid review to discover more about this solution. Gauge Station Ecwid

Click Here to sign up to Ecwid now!

Many options Intentionally make a closed system, which is tedious to move away from as soon as you get started. However, with a platform named Ecwid, you no longer need to be concerned about it. In fact, the whole goal of the business, which started in 2009, would be to quickly and quickly create an online store system on your present websites.

You do not have To create a whole new website. Just implement Ecwid on any platform, CMS or social networking (in five minutes) and you are all set.

This raised my Attention, since I know the struggles that come along with attempting to migrate websites, particularly when it comes to ecommerce. So, I needed to put together a comprehensive review of this Ecwid system to find out whether it is worth the time.

How Many Men and Women Use Ecwid?

It is rather Impressive what Ecwid has done since 2009, with over 1 million retailers getting signed up. What is even more cool is that the Ecwid retailers span over 175 distinct countries, demonstrating that this isn’t just a platform for people in the united states or Europe. Even businesses in developing nations have a chance to find an online store going, and you do not even have to trash your previous site if you have one.

The usership Continues to grow, especially considering Ecwid is currently PCI DSS Level 1 certified. If you are not sure what this is, it is pretty much the gold standard for security in the ecommerce world. You can rest easy knowing you and your customers’ information is safe and protected.

In addition to The total merchant count, over 20,000 active users are utilizing the Ecwid Shopping Cart for WordPress. The difference between that 20,000 and the 1 million is the fact that you don’t need a WordPress site to implement Ecwid. So, the 20,000 only refers to WordPress users with the plugin.

What is Ecwid, and how does it function?

Ecwid is a hosted Solution for building an online shop. Unlike competing products such as Shopify, Bigcommerce and Volusion, which allow you to build a new website with e-commerce performance, Ecwid is targeted more towards people who already have a site and simply want to add an online store to it.

Much like other E-commerce programs, Ecwid lets you set up’catalogs’ of all products, and include photographs, pricing, weight etc. . each. You can specify shipping rates, accept credit card payments and so on — all of the crucial things that you’d expect to be able to do using an e-commerce solution.

However it differs Apart from competing products such as Shopify, Volusion, Squarespace and Bigcommerce in that it is not actually designed to let you create a fully-featured, standalone e-commerce website; instead, it is designed to enable you add an online store to an present online existence.

(That said, Ecwid have Recently added some new functionality, known as’Starter Website’, that will allow you create a one-page standalone offering. We’ll chat through this in more depth later on in the inspection.) Gauge Station Ecwid

Click Here to register up to Ecwid now!

The Product works by giving you a widget which gets placed on other sites — hence the title Ecwid: it is short for’E-commerce Widget’. You receive a few lines of HTML code (the widget) to add into an present site or social media profile, and your shop is displayed wherever you have added this code.

Characteristics

Ecwid makes Strides in the market by catering to companies which don’t need to begin a brand new website. The primary attribute is that you can choose your old website and immediately integrate the Ecwid system inside a couple of minutes.

You can also Mirror the machine on various other sites if you plan on selling elsewhere on the web. Handle all these sites from 1 place rather than 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 visit a tradeshow to make a number of sales and all of these sales are reflected on the back part of your site.

The system is Also made to integrate well with social networks, so you may sell your items on Facebook if needed. 1 part of Ecwid that we especially enjoy is the delivery aspect. With real-time transport integrations you constantly know what’s happening with your requests and at which they are being sent to.

What other cool Items are comprised with Ecwid?

It runs on a super quick framework

It comes with an address book for customers and customers

The system has over 43 translations for selling round the world

You receive a Lot of promotional instruments like coupons, discounts, and bulk pricing and more

Create your own customized email notifications

Use the automatic tax alternative (automatic taxation charges at checkout, tax reporting and submitting )

Point-of-sale functionality

Thank you To Ecwid’s point-of-sale (POS) performance, you may use your Ecwid shop to sell not just online but in physical places too — in stores, market stalls, in concerts and so on.

Together with Ecwid’s POS Performance, regardless of if a customer buys a product in shop, online, in their phone or through Facebook, everything stays in sync – i.e., the merchant’s catalog, inventory and client / trade information.

There is a few ways you can take advantage of this feature: the simplest is probably to use’Paypal Here.’ This involves downloading the Ecwid iOS app from the Apple’s App store, linking it to the Paypal Here support, then taking payments utilizing a mobile card reader (pictured above).

You have two choices when it comes to POS Hardware and Paypal This: you can either buy a processor 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 couple of Things worth noting the Paypal Here integration: first, it’s only available to retailers in the US and UK. Secondly, it is not yet available on Android apparatus. (On their site, Ecwid say it’ll be available soon — but they have been saying that for quite a while now). Gauge Station Ecwid

If you’re located outside That the US / UK, or need to work with another mobile device kind, the good thing is that Ecwid also works with the Vend, Clover, NCR Silver and Square POS systems. These all facilitate utilizing a wider range of hardware at a physical retail location (full-sized card readers, receipt printers, cash drawers tablet stands etc.) and are usable in more nations.

Although you can avail Of the Paypal Here POS option on most of paid-for programs, you will need to be to the priciest’Unlimited’ program if you want to avail of a Vend, Clover, NCR Silver or Square admin.

Reactive storefronts

Ecwid Storefronts are responsive, meaning they will display correctly across devices — desktopcomputer, tablet and mobile. In a age where smartphone internet surfing is eclipsing desktop browsing, this is vital.

Free plan

Unlike many similar Products, Ecwid provides a completely free program.

Granted, it’s a fairly Basic plan, in which features like discount coupons and service aren’t accessible, and it only lets you sell up to 10 products in two categories — but this may actually be sufficient for some customers, and using it is a good way to try out the system.

However, A vital point to notice about the free program is that it is not good from an search engine optimization standpoint — you have to be on a paid program to make certain that your product pages speak to search engines correctly (more on SEO under ).

Language detection

Ecwid is forward of the Pack in that its storefronts can be mechanically translated into nearly 50 distinct languages — customers can see your shop in their own language, without you having to worry about producing alternate versions of it. Ecwid provides this functionality by detecting visitors’ language automatically according to their browser preferences / IP address.

Competing products like Shopify And Bigcommerce are yet to provide this sort of performance — that they force you to rely on third party programs, the creation of multiple shops or Google Translate to provide different language versions of your shop, which can be less than ideal. So a definite triumph for Ecwid here.

Ecwid and search engine optimization

Search engine Optimization (SEO) in Ecwid is a fairly straightforward affair. You are able to edit the title of your page and its meta description; the applicable fields are pre-populated for you automatically, but you can tweak them to match your search engine optimization objectives.

As far as I can tell However, you can’t manually change the URL of a product — you need to make do with the one that Ecwid generates for you. This isn’t ideal because keywords in URLs are used by some search engines to categorise content through indexing.

But, The URLs which are automatically generated by Ecwid comprise the name you’ve given to your own product – so in the event that you include some keywords in your product name (maybe not a bad idea anyhow ) that your URL will comprise them too. This serves as something of a workaround, but I would prefer whole control over URLs. Gauge Station Ecwid

One place where Ecwid doesn’t perform so Well on the search engine optimization front entails AMP — accelerated cellular pages. As its name suggests, AMP pages load faster on mobile devices. This motivates people to stay longer on your page, thus increasing’dwell time’ –something which is considered by many SEO experts believe to be rewarded by Google with preferential treatment in search results. Furthermore, Google occasionally highlights AMP pages in carousels in search results, giving AMP content an extra little boost.

Regrettably However — and unlike competing products such as Bigcommerce or even Shopify, you can’t produce AMP variations of your goods using Ecwid.

Importing and exporting information

Like many competing Products Ecwid permits you to import and export your data in CSV format.

The Export option allows you to export merchandise information, orders and clients (in CSV format) and ensures that if you ever feel the need to migrate your store to another e-commerce platform, then you shouldn’t have any significant difficulties doing so.

Utilizing Ecwid with other programs

Ecwid and WordPress

WordPress does not Supplied any e-commerce functionality from the box, so anybody wanting to market on the stage will require a third-party alternative like Ecwid. There’s an Ecwid plugin available, therefore adding an Ecwid shop to your WordPress site is very simple — you can get up and running with a few clicks.

You just sign up for an Ecwid account and then install the free plugin.

Ecwid and Squarespace

Squarespace comes with Increasingly good e-commerce attributes, but the number of payment gateway options is very limited — you have to use Stripe or Paypal. (And using Stripe only functions if you are selling goods from certain countries). Another main problem with the built-in Squarespace selling tools is they don’t facilitate dropshipping, and complete export of products isn’t currently possible.

Integrating Ecwid with Squarespace allows you to bypass these limitations, and adding it into a Squarespace website is quite easy: it is a simple matter of including a code block into a page and pasting some HTML into it.

Ecwid and Wix

As With Squarespace, there’s currently no dropshipping choice for Wix users, so again Ecwid can provide a fantastic workaround. A dedicated app is provided by Ecwid to allow you incorporate the product onto a Wix shop easily.

Programs and plugins

Ecwid provides a pretty Limited number integrations with other apps that are well-known. Integrations do exist together with key services Mailchimp, Xero and Freshbooks; but to be honest the range of integrations could be more extensive — competing goods like Shopify provide a much wider assortment of programs. Notable omissions in the Ecwid store include Quickbooks and Zendesk, for example (that said, a Quickbooks integration is coming shortly ).

The Image is better in regards to CMS plugins: All these are available for WordPress, Wix and Joomla, allowing for you to install Ecwid on these platforms quite easily. Gauge Station Ecwid

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 performance, and the place on the right is used to display or edit associated products, website reports and content.

Much like any e-commerce tool, you will have to Spend a fair amount of time getting your head around creating catalogues and product variations, setting up shipping prices and so on…but there isn’t anything that should represent too a lot of a learning curve.

Matters are aided by an ‘onboarding checklist’ that’s supplied to you when you log in for the first time.

If You’re stuck however, you could always get in touch with Ecwid’s support staff — more on that later — or, if you’re on a’Business’ or’Unlimited’, you can take advantage of the included customization service (you get two hours and 12 hours customization period from Ecwidon these plans).

Ecwid and GDPR

I’m not a Attorney, so please be aware the below observations shouldn’t be interpreted as legal information, but I’m going to do my best to spell out a number of the key GDPR issues facing Ecwid users under.

With the introduction of That the EU’s new GDPR legislation, there are many legal steps that site owners now should take to ensure that they are adequately protecting EU clients’ and visitors’ privacy. There are severe financial penalties for doing so (to the point where it is typically a good idea to speak with a lawyer about what to do); and even when your company isn’t based in the EU, you still need to comply with the regulations where any site visits in the EU are worried.

Based on my Understanding of the key GDPR rules, the principal priorities for potential Ecwid store owners are to:

· Provide adequate privacy and cookie notices

· Process and store information safely

· 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 consent to use of non-essential cookies on a website (and also to log that approval ).

There does not Appear to be Whatever stops you fulfilling the first three requirements easily enough with Ecwid, though you will need to spend time and potentially money generating adequate notices and crafting data capture forms so they are GDPR compliant.

Where things get Complicated with Ecwid is your fourth requirement — cookie approval. To Guarantee GDPR compliance, You Have to exhibit a cookie cutter banner to your customers which

· Allows them to select which cookies they want to conduct BEFORE those biscuits are run (i.e., to give’prior consent’)

· Logs their approval to conduct biscuits Gauge Station Ecwid

· Enables them to revoke consent at a later point

So for Instance, If you Use a Facebook Advertising cookie in combination with your Ecwid shop, you will be breaking GDPR legislation unless you have a banner in place which does all of the above.

Nowout of the box at There is not a way to take care of the cookie consent issue with Ecwid. Nor is there an adequate program available from the Ecwid app store (the only option on front I can locate, the’EU cookie banner’, doesn’t seem to supply the essential performance — even though costing $1.99 per month to use).

It Appears to me that the only option available to Ecwid consumers is to use a specialist product such as CookiePro, which will provide all the necessary performance to generate cookie approval fully GDPR compliant. Despite being a strong product however, Cookiepro does need quite a lot of configuration and you will want to set quite a lot of time apart to set this up.

Installation and Design

I really enjoy The simple fact that you can run a web site without paying anything. This makes the setup process that much simpler, because you simply need to punch in your email and create a password to proceed right to the backend interface.

The machine has Wizards for each platform that you would like to place your shop on. If you have a WordPress site, simply walk through three steps to get up and running. You could also click on options like Facebook and Joomla, based on where you would like to sell.

The backend Design is perfect, because it walks you through each website creation and integration step with some fine text and photos. As soon as you get your shop implemented on a site or societal page it appears fairly sleek.

The design Depends upon the theme you’ve got on your website, however as you can see below, it displays photos well and looks clean and simple to navigate. I particularly enjoy the Shopping Bag area, which can be outstanding and easy to locate for customers when they wish to checkout.

Although many Sites are going to be cellular friendly, it;s nice understanding that Ecwid includes a native shopping program for both iOS and Android. Merchants now get a native shopping program for iOS and Android.

This means you Can mange your store and market on the move, while also giving your clients an opportunity to get products from the mobile interface.

The final Design item which makes sense to mention is your language instrument. Since conducting an internet store generally requires you to reach out to individuals from all over the planet, you’re bound to stumble upon some clients who would love to read product pages and other content in their native tongue. Ecwid supports 45 languages, so when a user wants to translate from English to Spanish, that is no problem at all.

The Ecwid Program Market

Possessing the Opportunity to install applications is a sure fire way to scaling up your ecommerce website in a reasonable manner. Ecwid has a location known as the Ecwid App Market. It provides 65 software, helping merchants extend their store performance readily. Gauge Station Ecwid

A Few of the programs Will help you out with rating and reviews, rewards programs, automated advertising tools, analytics, custom layout themes and much more.

SEO and Marketing

Ecwid is a Third-party remedy to your current website, so you’d normally need to implement additional SEO and advertising tools to really get out the word. That said, Ecwid supplies quality SEO qualities to help merchants increase their visibility in Google searches.

Moreover, Google now indexes AJAX sites, so all Ecwid stores are indexed by Google with no excess work. It gets even better with WordPress sites, since you gain access to additional SEO plugins and the default search engine functionality on the dashboard.

Managing Your Inventory

The Ecwid Inventory system is as simple as they come, because it doesn’t seem to include any of those unnecessary bells and whistles you may find on other ecommerce platforms.

Each step is Clear and concise, so you may just go in there and type in a product name, price and picture then save the merchandise for later. Of course you can always open the Powerful Options, however they different these for if you are ready to get started ramping up your own store.

As an example of the inventory Rich management toolset, you obtain access to things like from stock product monitoring, mobile device stock management, barcode scanning and much more.

Customer Care

Ecwid offers A Chat With Earnings feature which is always one of my favorite ways to talk with companies. Only send them a query and you are able to work on something else until they respond.

The Business also Provides a potent support department with FAQs, a knowledge base, email capabilities and a forum.

Overall, the Support outlets include phone support, online chat support and email support, keeping the response time short and support quality .

In my eyes, the Platform has all you could want concerning support.

Payments and Safety

It’s not always Simple to locate an ecommerce platform which doesn’t charge transaction fees, but that’s just what you get with Ecwid. They never control any kind of transaction fee with any of those plans they offer, making it desirable for any shop that’s trying to keep down costs and also to improve margins.

Remember that Ecwid is not a payment processor, which means you have to setup something like PayPal or Stripe to process all of the trades that come through your site. It’s pretty easy to employ these systems, since Ecwid incorporates with over 40 global payment options. However, each one of those processors have their particular transaction fees so you have to prepare for these.

It’s rather Evident that Ecwid takes safety seriously, since the provider is a PCI DSS Level 1 certified supplier. The company also states that every transaction that includes sensitive information is transferred via a secure HTTPS channel. Gauge Station Ecwid

Imagine if you Would love to accumulate both online and offline payments? Perhaps you’d prefer a point of sale integration?

Ecwid Integrates together with Square, Clover, Vend POS, iZettle and PayPal card readers, enabling Ecwid to turn your performance into both an offline and online system.

Advantages and cons of utilizing Ecwid

Benefits

· Ecwid signifies a very simple way to add e-commerce to any present website.

· Point-of-sale performance is available, and there are a number of strategies to implement it.

· The product is cheap compared to other alternatives.

· It supports multi-language versions of your shop.

· The shop designs are responsive.

· Plugins / apps are available for major platforms (such as WordPress, Drupal and Wix).

· It allows users of website building products which don’t facilitate dropshipping to begin doing this (i.e., Squarespace, Jimdo, Wix etc.)

· The’starter site’ option is a good stopgap measure for retailers who want a shop quickly, but have yet to create a complete site to add the Ecwid widget to.

· The free Ecwid program is not time-limited, includes support, and is rather generous in terms of features.

Disadvantages

· The Paypal Here POS system is limited to the US and UK.

· The Paypal Here 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 Program shop.

· You can’t change product URLs, which can be slightly annoying in the search engine optimization point of view.

· You can’t create AMP versions of merchandise pages utilizing Ecwid.

· Creating Ecwid GDPR-compliant (with regard to getting cookie approval ) sounds difficult.

· The free version doesn’t allow you to access any of the search engine optimization tools.

Pricing

Ecwid comes With four plans, one of which is totally free. They promote the free plan like crazy, and mention that many other platforms drag you into a free trial, where you will eventually need to pay.

This is where Ecwid stands out, and you can see the other payment plans are fairly reasonably priced.

The Free program Allows you to sell 10 products, while the Venture program ups that count to 100 goods and you get things like an iPhone management app. The company program goes up to 2500 merchandise for a superb price and you also get live chat support. Priority support comes along with the Unlimited plan and you can also sell an unlimited number of products.

Ecwid is one of The cheapest solutions on the market. You may see that it’s actually more affordable than a lot of the other platforms we’ve reviewed in the past, so if you’re searching for value, this could be the perfect plugin for you.

Conclusion

In short, I am Beginning to think that Ecwid is one of the best ways to sell online, as long as you implement the best methods to enhance your earnings online as well. Ecwid is a sleek system, with super simple implementation measures, making it perfect for your small business audience. Gauge Station Ecwid

Click Here to register up to Ecwid now!