Webflow vs Shopify: Select a visually appealing platform that increases sales

Building an e-commerce website is an exhilarating, but challenging task. The major difficulty while planning for an e-com portal is the choice of the most appropriate platform to build your store on. In this article, we are exploring and comparing the features and functionalities of Webflow vs. Shopify in terms of e-commerce store development. We can see that both of these have benefits and drawbacks, but ultimately being a consistently growing content management platform, Webflow has a slight advantage over Shopify and other competing e-commerce builders with many of its unique benefits and offerings.
Launching an e-commerce business website can be really exhilarating, yet you need to pick one of the best e-com web development platforms which fits your particular needs. If you want to guarantee the success of your e-commerce store, then it’s absolutely essential that you make sure every single UX step and CX touchpoint is spot-on. This approach should be applied all the way from first browsing to searching for what a customer needs to ultimately buy the product.
In the past few years, the e-commerce sector has witnessed tremendous growth with the global sale being $513.60 billion in 2018 which is predicted to surpass $6.3 trillion in 2023. With the expectation of growing to $7.3 trillion by 2025, numerous other businesspeople kicked off their online stores. For someone who is planning the same, all these different options in the market may make it hard to figure out where to begin.
Among the leading eCommerce platforms right now, two of the most prominent choices are Webflow and Shopify, so which is better? We’ll dive into the details of each platform and compare them to help you decide which to choose for your e-com store development project. First, we will have a quick overview of the pros and cons of each and then delve into the Webflow vs Shopify comparison on various functional aspects.
Also read: Webflow vs. WordPress : Which is better?
Price is important when picking an e-commerce platform. While both Webflow and Shopify provide different tiers of pricing, what you get is not always the same.
Webflow offers three ecommerce plans ranging from basic $29/month (at time of writing this) to $212/month for an advanced package. These programs differ in terms of how many items you may be able to sell as well as annual sales caps.
In addition to the 2% processing charge, Webflow Standard comes with a max of three employee seats.
Shopify also offers a set of pricing plans starting from $29/month. But there’s no free plan. They each include unique aspects with certain restrictions like how many team members can be part of it, which also includes discounts on shipping services. With Shopify Payments there are no additional transaction fees. Otherwise, it’s between 0.5% and 2%, based on your membership plan.
Comparing these too options, even though the basic plan seems to be the same for the platforms, Webflow seems to be a bit more economical based on its features and offerings in the overall pricing structure.
Also read: Webflow Pricing for Startups and Enterprise
In terms of ease-to-use, both Shopify and Webflow go neck to neck. Webflow may seem to be a bit complex in the beginning, but it is because of the scope of integrations and features to be added. It may seem difficult for the beginners as it includes aspects of both a web site builder and a content management system (CMS). Webflow is great with its editing tool but there’s more to learn. With the assistance of a good Webflow ecommerce development service, this task can be easily tackled.
You can create your online store with Shopify, which is also simple and user friendly, but has limited options compared to Webflow. Shopify comes with an onboarding check list to get you started with setting up your store and exploring the dashboard. It features editors on both the front end and back end. You can visually customize your online storefront using front-end editor, while the back-end editor lets you control everything from inventory management, discounts, taxes, collections, and shipping.
Also read: Advantages of Choosing the Best No-code Development Agency
Design is an important feature to help you lure and make sure that the customer gets stuck onto your online store. Webflow and Shopify both have templates, but their templates come with different levels of design freedom.
Webflow:
Shopify:
One of the things you need to know here is that with more design options, Shopify makes it harder to transition templates and on the other hand, Webflow templates you can change more easily.
Also read: Is it needed to use preset templates on Webflow or Squarespace?
For selling tools, Webflow has a slight advantage over Shopify as a constantly building platform. It is a fact that Shopify is uniquely built for eCommerce, whereas Webflow offers options for all types of domains other than e-com too with a custom set of features for each. Here are some key features:
Products and Inventory Management
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Multi-Channel Selling
Apps
Staff Accounts
POS (Point of Sale)
Payment Options & Transaction Fees
Considering which platform offers more payment gateways and lower transaction fees, we can see that Webflow standard out on this.
Shopify integrates many payment gateways including Shopify Payments. As of now, the recommend Shopify Payments, for which they do not charge any transaction fees. Otherwise, the fees charged vary between 2.4% to 2.9% + fixed transaction fees depending on the plan you choose.
Webflow supports a number of payment gateways such as Stripe, Apple Pay and PayPal etc. For Plus or Advanced plan, there is no transaction fee charged, but otherwise a fee applies to transactions on other plans.
Also read: Webflow Hosting Plans for Startups and Enterprises
For companies looking to expand, both Shopify and Webflow offer robust website and marketing capabilities compared to other platforms like Magento. But Do big companies use Webflow? The answer is ‘yes’. Let us further explore.
SEO:
Also read: Webflow Myths Debunked: Is Webflow Actually Bad For SEO?
Reporting and Analytics:
Also read: Google Analytics Integration with Webflow
Social Media Integration:
Shopify vs webflow for ecommerce offers social media integrations. On Webflow, you can also sell on your social pages while you integrate social feeds and icons onto your sites too. On both platforms, you can integrate with multiple different types of social media accounts, along with more varied mediums using Webflow’s library of apps.
Blogging:
Email Marketing:
Also read: Key Advantage of No-Code Solution for Enterprise
What we have seen above is a comprehensive comparison of Webflow vs. Shopify in terms of e-commerce web building capabilities. One question we used to hear from our clients lately is Can Webflow replace Shopify? The answer is that even though Webflow and Shopify has almost similar capabilities and features when it comes to e-commerce, Webflow being a much broader and all-inclusive platform for website development, is gaining a significant advantage of Shopify, Magento and other content management systems.
Also due to its great freedom in the design, Webflow is particularly interesting if you want to present yourself visually differently from other companies. It is great for SEO however it can take a bit more to understand, tending to be better suited for those who already have some experience with web design and/or development.
In conclusion, It’s up to you to choose what kind of application you want to make and according to your business targets, tech skills and money in hand. Think about what matters to you and pick the online store builder that’s most in step with your e-store. Webflow vs. Shopify: Each of these platforms has its benefits, and you should choose based on your online shop priorities.
If you need help creating your online store, Sarvadhi can help. We specialize in Webflow e-commerce websites development that fit your needs. Whether you are starting a new business or running a large company, we can improve your digital presence with our skills.
We can add awesome sub text here at this place. Here’s how it would look
This article overviews the EduTech world and how fast it is spreading during and after the global pandemic.
Facing the adverse impacts of climatic change and the need for greener solutions, E-scooter apps are now very popular as green and cheap transport options in urban regions.
This article overviews the reasons why businesses must opt for customized CRMs in their day-to-day operations and explains the importance of CRM development for the business.
Owing to team Sarvadhi’s knowledge and expertise, we built a high performing e-commerce website that perfectly represents our brand values and resonates easily with our audience. Without hesitation, we wholeheartedly recommend Sarvadhi to businesses in need of a reliable web development experience.