Webflow Ecommerce vs Shopify 🦾

Is Webflow Ecommerce Better Than Shopify? 🛒

If you’re new to the world of ecommerce and are keen to start your journey on the right foot, it’s imperative to choose the right platform to kickstart your online store.

Nowadays, there are so many options to choose from that identifying the solution that will best meet the needs of your business could be rather challenging.

So, to help you guys out, we’re going to compare Shopify to Webflow ecommerce to uncover which market leader best suits the needs of your business.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive straight in!

Webflow Ecommerce vs Shopify 2022 - Key Features 🗝️

What’s the difference between Webflow ecommerce and Shopify? Take a quick browse through the key features of these two platforms using the table below:

10 Things Shopify Can Do Better than Webflow Ecommerce

N0.1: Free Subdomain

If you’ve done your research, you'll know that every merchant on Shopify receives a free subdomain on.myshopify.com.

This makes the process of registering for a custom domain name quick and simple as the domain name generator is a super easy way to view a variety of original domain names that have been sourced from a selection of top-level websites.

On the other hand, merchants relying on Webflow ecommerce to power their store will, unfortunately, have to purchase a unique domain name from a third-party solution, as subdomains are not offered to merchants for free as they are on Shopify.

N0.2: Add Unlimited Products

It may surprise you to learn that merchants relying on Webflow ecommerce to power their store can list up to 3,000 products on their website.

However, Shopify knocks this figure straight out of the park with its allowance of unlimited product uploads!

Removing this restriction enables merchants to sell more products to their customers, wherever they are.

For this reason, we’d say that businesses with a large inventory may prefer Shopify, plus Shopify’s robust inventory management system makes it incredibly easy to track, view and adjust product stock at any time.

N0.3: Effortless Dropshipping

Is Webflow ecommerce better than Shopify for dropshipping stores?

While Webflow currently supports dropshipping via third-party integrations, we wouldn’t recommend this solution as the best choice for businesses that are interested in dropshipping products to their customers.

Why? Well, we believe that Shopify is more suitable for dropshipping stores as the platform has several apps for merchants to sell products to their customers without managing an inventory of their own.

It’s also worth noting that merchants can connect their Shopify store to; Spocket, Modalyst and Syncee alongside many other services to offer dropshipping services to customers through the platform.

N0.4: Expanding Store Functionalities

If you’re looking for some extremely useful features that will improve the customer experience of your Shopify store, look no further than Shopify’s collection of 6,000 apps via the Shopify App Store.

Here, you’ll discover a huge collection of applications that can improve product pages on your site, run loyalty programs, chat live with customers and so much more.

Webflow certainly has a range of integrations for merchants to use too, but we can say with some certainty that its overall collection is much more limited in terms of variety.

Additionally, Shopify apps have a bonus in that they are all designed with store success in mind.

N0.5: Sell Anywhere

If you didn’t already know, Shopify partners with several digital marketing platforms, such as; Instagram, Facebook, Walmart, Etsy, Amazon, TikTok and Pinterest.

Essentially, the motivating force behind each partnership Shopify enters is to enable businesses to sell wherever their customers shop!

Also, another reason to love Shopify is purely for its one product inventory feature that syncs all of your inventory across the digital marketing channels that you sell on through Shopify.

While Webflow also enables its user's access sales channels via a variety of integrations, we have to say that the range is somewhat limited compared to the number of channels covered by Shopify.

So, all in all, we think that Shopify has the edge in this category over Webflow ecommerce. Don't you agree?

N0.6: Recover Abandoned Carts

Did you know that Shopify offers an abandoned cart recovery feature across all of its plans?

Reviewing abandoned carts is a great way to find patterns that might suggest why your customers are leaving the checkout without finalising their purchase.

Identifying where the checkout process is falling short on your website is an excellent way to bridge the conversion gap and increase sales for your business.

We’d recommend turning your attention to this area of your website before major shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive.

Shopify also helps merchants to set up email campaigns that are designed to target customers after they have abandoned their cart at the checkout.

The email will contain a link to the customer’s cart to remind them of the products that they had intended to purchase.

Webflow ecommerce on the other hand currently doesn’t offer abandoned cart recovery support with any plan for its users. So, we know which platform we'd rather go to for support!

N0.7: Improved Payment Experiences

When comparing Shopify to Webflow ecommerce, you’ll find that both platforms require a gateway integration to accept payments.

Fortunately enough, Shopify offers its payment processor known as Shopify Payments, which makes it super easy to collect payments from your customers.

As Shopify Payments is a core aspect of Shopify’s platform, it offers centralised reporting and a simple activation process without any transaction feeds included!

N0.8: Unify Online and In-Store Sales

Have you heard that Shopify offers a first-party POS system that lets merchants unify all of their sales in one place?

By using Shopify for both your online and physical store, merchants can keep their inventory fully synced, keep track of payments and offer flexible shopping options that customers expect such as; local pickup, ship-to-home and more.

Webflow ecommerce on the other hand doesn’t have a POS system and there are no off-the-shelf POS integrations for the web design tool at this time. So naturally, we believe that Shopify is the clear winner here!

N0.9: Scale your Business

Are you ready to transform your online business into a recognisable brand?

Take it from our experts, Shopify can be relied on to provide your business with the resources and support that it needs to make a lasting impression on a wider audience.

Simply start small and evolve your store into an enterprise-level business, or turn to Shopify Plus if your brand is well-established to manage high volumes of website traffic and sale spikes during busy promotional periods!

N0.10: Build a Brand

Shopify isn’t just an ecommerce platform, it is also the complete toolbox for building a brand around your business.

Whether you’re looking to design a custom logo, create promotional videos, or generate a slogan for your store, Shopify has got you covered with a vast range of free business tools.

One thing that we love and admire so much about Shopify is the level of support that is provided to merchants too and in this instance, the solution’s offering of free business tools is second to none, especially when comparing the platform to Webflow ecommerce.

Why do Merchants Prefer Shopify over Webflow Ecommerce?

Built for Ecommerce

Shopify’s platform strives to improve commerce for everyone and so businesses using this solution will have access to the most comprehensive set of tools to create and design the perfect ecommerce store.

Webflow on the other hand is primarily a web design tool with an element of ecommerce integrated into its core which is the number one reason why merchants prefer Shopify over Webflow.

Free Shopify Themes

Shopify also offers its customers over 70 professionally designed website themes to choose from and currently, nine of these are free!

Sure, Webflow ecommerce does have a wider range of themes to choose from, but they all come at a cost and are far less intuitive than the designs found via the Shopify Theme Store.

Smooth Shipping Experience

Want the smoothest shipping experience for your customers?

Browsers can flow through the checkout while teams calculate shipping costs and source shipping labels directly from within the admin dashboard.

On Webflow however, merchants will need to use a third-party integration to source and print shipping labels, not to mention performing other shipping-related tasks.

Additionally, Shopify offers its customers a wide range of marketing tools such as; Shopify Email, a blogging CMS, automatic discount settings and the acceptance of gift cards which all contribute to an excellent shopping experience for customers on-site.

24/ 7 Shopify Support

Shopify delivers great customer support around-the-clock via phone, chat and email, but Webflow ecommerce provides support primarily via email and only operates from Monday through to Friday.

So, it’s a no-brainer which platform delivers the most efficient support to its customers.

The Mobile App

Did you know that Shopify offers a mobile app that enables businesses to manage their; products, orders, customers and staff straight from an iPhone or Android device?

This is a super handy forward-thinking tool that can keep your store and its team organised.

However online businesses using Webflow ecommerce will not receive access to a native app for their website. This can make things rather challenging when it comes to running a business from anywhere in the world.

This is just one of the many benefits of choosing Shopify to launch your business, as the team is always thinking ahead, identifying the tools and resources that merchants need to succeed before they even know to ask for them.

Fraud Detection

Another major perk of Shopify is its built-in fraud analysis feature which helps merchants to identify any orders that may be suspicious.

Meanwhile, online businesses using Webflow ecommerce will be reliant on third-party solutions such as Stripeand PayPal to provide fraud protection for their business, but these solutions may not always be on the money.

So, in terms of accuracy and guaranteed support from the platform, we’d have to go with Shopify as the strongest candidate for acting against fraud.

Reports and Analytics

In addition to a variety of useful features and forms of support that we have mentioned within today’s guide, Shopify also offers merchants exclusive access to a range of performance reports, such as; product reports, finance reports and many more.

If you need some assistance on what each report is for and how you can analyse the data that Shopify will collect from your store, check out our guide on Shopify reports and analytics to become a pro!

If you’re thinking “Hey, what about me? I’m using Webflow ecommerce to power my store” You guys can also access reports and analytics for your site, but these will be via third-party integrations, most of which will require a monthly subscription to access.

Product Launches

When it comes to launching new products online, Shopify has the uptime and hosting capabilities to handle significant spikes in website traffic.

We’d say that this is a crucial feature to value if you’d like your business to maintain its online presence during significant product launches and shopping events.

Business Expansion

Another cool feature of Shopify is its focus on business expansion. The platform has grown the volume of resources available for global commerce as it enters into additional markets.

With localised storefronts and a variety of currencies to choose from, stores on Shopify can provide local customers with a seamless shopping experience.

Additionally, merchants can also use the apps in the Shopify App Store to sell like a local on platforms such as WeChat and WhatsApp.

Webflow Ecommerce - FAQs

Got a few questions? See the section below for some of the most commonly asked questions about Webflow ecommerce and Shopify:

N0.1: What is the difference between Shopify and Webflow ecommerce?

The key difference between Webflow ecommerce and Shopify ecommerce is that Webflow focuses solely on creating websites for small businesses, whereas Shopify specialises in the broader realm of ecommerce.

As a master in this space, merchants can expect to receive access to all of the tools and resources that they will need to build their store, create a brand around their business and own their assets with Shopify.

Webflow on the other hand added an ecommerce element to its solution after its main platform had been created.

So, when considering whether you should go with Webflow ecommerce or Shopify to run your online store, it’s important to know that ecommerce has walked hand in hand with Shopify since day one.

N0.2: Is Webflow ecommerce more affordable than Shopify?

Webflow ecommerce and Shopify have very similar pricing when it comes to a basic plan (beginning at $29 USD per month) but for intermediate and advanced plans, Webflow does come in at slightly lower price points.

However, Webflow does not provide its users with as many features as Shopify and this is especially true for higher-tier price plans.

For instance, customers on an Intermediate or Advanced price plan with Shopify will be given favourable shipping pricing, access to detailed reports, the option to sell in multiple languages and more.

Shopify also allows merchants to add unlimited items to any store, whereas Webflow limits product uploads to 3,000 items and this is going by the terms of the most advanced plan available...

N0.3: Is Shopify better than Webflow ecommerce?

There’s no denying that Webflow is a good choice for designing a visually appealing website, but we believe that Shopify is an even greater choice that enables businesses to create visually aesthetic websites that offer flawless performance with strengthened marketing, conversion and retention efforts.

Additionally, Shopify is also based on an ecommerce foundation that presents a wealth of features to online businesses that Webflow does not offer.

So, if you’re ready to get set up with a sleek and modern store that accepts gift cards and discount codes, conducts automatic fraud assessments and allows for unlimited product uploads, these features are all available with Shopify.

If you already have a website, why not take advantage of Shopify’s Buy Button tool?

A buy button is a shortcut to the checkout process and merchants can generate an embeddable product card and checkout button that can be added to landing pages or blog posts.

Last but not least, Shopify is not just a platform to manage sales generated from your online store, but it is also a platform to manage in-store sales for brands with a brick-and-mortar business.

Shopify also offers its users a plethora of educational resources and financial services, not to mention access to a community of Shopify Experts and support.

N0.4: Does Shopify have better security than Webflow ecommerce?

Both Shopify and Webflow ecommerce provide security features to their users, but Shopify has the upper hand due to its integrated fraud analysis tool which helps businesses to analyse suspicious orders and avoid potential chargebacks.

N0.5: Is Shopify better for tax calculations than Webflow ecommerce?

From what we’ve heard Webflow calculates sales tax automatically at the checkout based on the location of the customer, but this option is only accessible to merchants that are based within; the US, EU, Canada and Australia.

Due to this, we’d say that Shopify’s tax functionality is 100x better, as the platform takes care of sales tax and VAT calculations wherever your business is located.

Shopify users can also set up manual tax rules for specific regions to comply with local laws and the platform also calculates shipping rates for merchants automatically!

This enables businesses to offer free shipping to their customers after a specified price point, how great is that?

If we had to decide between Shopify and Webflow, we know which platform we'd choose!

So, that concludes our comparison of webflow ecommerce vs Shopify in 2022. What are your thoughts? Reach out and let us know.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!