CREATE MORE THAN AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITE

An eCommerce website is a website from which you can buy or sell physical or digital products online. This can include a digital storefront, product galleries, product pages, an online shopping cart, online checkout, and all of the backend features you need to manage payment processing, shipping, customer support and eCommerce marketing.

In order to build an eCommerce website, you need the following:

1. A domain name - Your domain name, which is your site’s unique URL, should reflect your brand.

2. Hosting - This is the infrastructure on which your website is maintained. You should seek reliable hosting that ensures your site maximum uptime.

3. Products to sell - You can sell your own physical or digital products and services, or sell ready-to-ship products from a dropshipping supplier.

4. Payment provider - This is the service that allows you to accept payments. Ideally, your payment provider should let you accept multiple payment methods.

5. Online store theme/template and design - Sign up for an eCommerce website builder that allows you to choose a suitable template and customize it.

With Wix, you can get all of these tools for building an eCommerce website in one place.

Wix provides secure and free web hosting as soon as you publish your site, even if it’s a free eCommerce website without a Premium plan. Combined with Wix’s own data centers, your site runs on the unified power of Google Cloud, AWS and Fastly. Your Wix site is served by four data centers across three continents, and is reinforced by over 200 global content delivery network (CDN) nodes. This multi-cloud hosting improves your load times and provides full global coverage.

AI can be used in a number of ways to increase your e-commerce website’s reach and revenue. Wix features several AI tools which can help you increase traffic, engagement and sales, including:

1. AI product description generator - This tool allows you to enter simple prompts about your products and Wix's AI Text Creator will quickly generate high-quality product descriptions, saving time and effort, and uplifting conversion and SEO.

2. Twik AI-powered site personalization - This smart AI engine shows store visitors a personalized product arrangement tailored to their shopping habits. On average, Twik users see a revenue uplift of 12% after using the app.

3. Smart product recommendations - You can increase your average order value with AI-based product recommendation sections, displaying related products personalized to your customer before checkout. Algorithms include frequently bought together, bestsellers, and more.

4. AI image generator - This tool allows you to create personalized image content for your online store by simply providing  a prompt and applying your preferred image style. Having high-quality images on your eCommerce website is a key to increasing sales.

The cost of creating an eCommerce website can vary depending on the size of your site, the features you need and whether you hire a professional to design your site or do it yourself on an all-inclusive platform.

When you take into account design costs, the costs of feature plug-ins, hosting costs and domain costs, you can pay anywhere from $1,000 to over $10,000 to build and maintain an eCommerce website.

If you opt to build your own website on a platform that includes domain, hosting and feature costs, the price will generally be much less. Depending on the platform you choose, and how advanced a plan you need, monthly prices range from about $20 to $200 per month.

Building an eCommerce website on Wix is free. However, once you launch your site and want to start accepting payments from shoppers, you’ll have to opt for a paid subscription. Wix offers several eCommerce plans ranging from $27 for basic eCommerce to $159 for more advanced capabilities. All plans come with free hosting, a free new domain for one year, Wix ‘s drag-and-drop website editor, built-in features to manage your business’s online operations and marketing, and 24/7 customer care.

Follow these 7 steps to start creating an eCommerce website:

1. Sign up to a free eCommerce website builder. Choose a platform with built-in tools to grow your business.

2. Build your eCommerce website. Pick an eCommerce template and customize the various website elements to fit your brand.

3. Add products to your site. Sell your own products or add products from dropshipping or print-on-demand suppliers.

4. Set up payments and shipping. Add a variety of payment options and shipping methods to cater to customers.

5. Choose a domain name. Pick a name for your store and domain that represents your brand.

6. Publish your eCommerce site. Go live and start attracting customers with built-in marketing tools.

7. Manage your online store and scale up. Use Wix’s built-in eCommerce tools to manage orders, shipping, customer service, and every aspect of your business.

​Learn more: How to build an eCommerce website from scratch

There are several factors to choosing a great eCommerce website builder for your business. You should consider an eCommerce site builder which not only helps you create an online store, but also features a full set of eCommerce tools that are sophisticated yet easy to use. Features to look for in an eCommerce website builder include the following:

• A no-code, drag and drop website editor that allows you to build a unique eCommerce website quickly and easily without spending money on a developer.

• A platform that comes with free and secure hosting included, with guaranteed reliability and performance.

• Built-in eCommerce tools for managing, marketing and running your business, with no need for extra plug-ins that cost money and require updates.

• Multichannel sales integrations that allow you to promote and sell your products on platforms like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other channels, while managing inventory and orders from one dashboard.

• Competitive pricing with no surprise fees and extras.

Wix’s eCommerce web builder fills all of these requirements, offering a full eCommerce solution that is ideal for both eCommerce businesses who are just starting, and also for established businesses looking to grow even bigger.

Yes, with Wix you can create as many eCommerce websites for free as you want with an unlimited free trial. This includes building your website with Wix’s no-code eCommerce website builder, adding products, setting up shipping and publishing your site. Once you’re all set up and ready to start accepting payments on your site, you will have to upgrade to a premium plan. However, there’s no obligation to upgrade if you only want to build an eCommerce website and experiment with Wix’s platform. This is the advantage of opting for a platform with an unlimited free trial.

There are several types of eCommerce websites:

1. eCommerce websites that sell their own physical products - The most common type of store is one that sells its own physical products. Examples of physical products are clothing items, or kitchen accessories. In this type of site, customers pay for their purchases online through the website, and then can either pick up their items in person, or have them shipped to their location.

2. Dropshipping websites -  While dropshipping websites also sell physical products, the site owner doesn’t supply the products themselves. In this case the site features products from a dropshipping supplier. When the customer makes a purchase from the site, the supplier ships the product directly to the customer. The owner doesn’t have to hold inventory or handle shipping in dropshipping eCommerce. They merely have to display the products on their site and attract customers.

3. Print-on-demand websites - Print-on-demand is a form of dropshipping eCommerce in which the supplier prints the site owner’s designs or logo on products such as t-shirts, mugs, or more exotic products like headphones and chef’s knives in the case of Wix’s native print-on-demand integration. Just as with dropshipping, the supplier handles the shipping and fulfillment to the end customer.

4. eCommerce websites that sell digital products - Stores that sell digital products sell downloadable or viewable products that do not need to be shipped. This can include ebooks, online courses, music, gift cards, and more.

On a platform such as Wix, you don’t have to choose only one of these types of eCommerce sites. In fact, you can offer your own physical and digital products, as well as dropshipping and print-on-demand products all on one site and manage it all from your Wix dashboard.

Choosing the right name for your eCommerce website is an essential part of establishing your business. Pick a name that best fits your brand. If you’re looking for inspiration, use our Business Name Generator. Type in your business’ industry, any keywords relevant to your brand, and click the generate name button to get a list of business name ideas instantly. Similarly, you can use our Domain Name Generator to instantly get custom domain name ideas for your eCommerce store.

Yes. Wix is a no-code website builder, so you don’t need to be a designer or developer to build an eCommerce business on our platform. You can create your eCommerce website entirely from a blank canvas or customize any of our designer-made templates for your retail business needs. Then simply add the features you need with native and third-party apps and integrations. If you need help with any aspect of Wix eCommerce, you can contact customer care. If you want some professional help to build your eCommerce store, you can hire an expert designer or developer via the Wix Marketplace.

Wix has built-in tools to help you promote your eCommerce business both organically and through paid ads. These tools include:

• SEO tools - to help you get discovered on search engines, including an integration with Google Search Console to see how many clicks and impressions you're getting for what keywords directly from your Wix dashboard.

• Email marketing features - to help promote new products, announce sales, offer coupons and more.Wix's built-in email marketing tools allow you to quickly and easily create customized, designed emails.

• Paid ads - You can also drive customers to your store with paid ads on Google, Facebook and Instagram, all created and managed directly from your Wix dashboard. In addition, you can drive business to your store with TikTok paid ads by easily adding your products on Wix to TikTok's Catalog Manager.