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There are few decisions more impactful to the success of your eCommerce business than the platform you choose to run it on. With so many options to choose from, it can be difficult to know which is best for you. It’s a big decision, and one you’ll want to make only with all of the information in front of you.
If you’re familiar with the company that’s writing this blog, you’ll know we’re a Shopify Plus partner. That doesn’t mean we’re biased though, as we’re huge fans of another eCommerce platform too, Webflow.
Whilst we’ve previously discussed why Shopify is such a powerful eCommerce platform in the face of its major competitors - namely BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento - there are some occasions where we’d recommend that a brand use Webflow instead. So, if you’re currently weighing up the pros and cons of different eCommerce platforms, and Webflow and Shopify are two of your top considerations, read on.
Here, we want to break down the benefits of the two different platforms, where they each excel, and where they fall short to help you decide which one is best for you.
But first, let’s give a bit of background…
Shopify is the most popular eCommerce platform available today. Having long marketed itself as the eCommerce platform for entrepreneurs, as well as being the home for enterprise-level businesses such as Gymshark and Kylie Cosmetics, Shopify also makes its ease of use for those new to eCommerce a core part of its offering.
To this end, whilst Shopify has the ability to be complex, it’s also easy to get a store up, running, and trading in an afternoon. Shopify clearly values retail, and as the eCommerce agency founded by retailers, that’s something we can gladly get behind.
In short, Webflow is a visual website builder that allows users to create websites, including eCommerce sites, without having to write any code. It’s often referred to as the web development platform for designers, as it allows users to create visually interesting and engaging websites without having the restrictions of not knowing how to code. Instead, Webflow uses an intuitive, drag and drop interface that allows users to design their sites in real time.
Although much lesser known than Shopify, Webflow is perfect for businesses that want complete control over the design of their website and need a platform that can scale as their business grows.
Although Webflow and Shopify are both viable options for one to run their eCommerce business, in relation to each other, they both have their own stack of pros and cons.
Assuming you’re planning to enable eCommerce with your platform of choice, then the first, and most glaring difference, is that Webflow does not market itself as an eCommerce platform, but as a website builder.
Whilst the Webflow platform does enable eCommerce functionalities, they are not nearly as robust as the functionalities offered by Shopify, BigCommerce, or even simpler eCommerce builders like Squarespace and Wix. For example, more complex product bundles or product options will be much harder to achieve in Webflow, and will likely require you to make the user journey unintuitive as a result. Whereas, Shopify is an eCommerce platform through and through, and enables those complex eCommerce functionalities with relative ease.
Whilst those without coding knowledge and experience would likely find Shopify the easier platform to use, they will be hamstrung by its design limitations. Shopify asks users to use a “Shopify Theme,” which is essentially a template for how the content on a site will be displayed. There’s no problem with themes, and the quality of your visual content and brand foundations will have a higher impact on the visual experience overall, but it would be false to say they don’t limit you, even if only slightly. Especially in comparison to Webflow, which enables users with pixel perfect design control similar to professional design tools.
Adding to this, Shopify doesn’t let you customise its checkout without being on its most expensive plan, whereas Webflow allows this regardless of the plan you opt for. Which brings us on to…
Cost should not be the driving factor between which eCommerce platform you choose, as being able to meet your goals is a much larger consideration, but it is a factor nonetheless.
Shopify has four different plans available. They are…
Webflow’s pricing is a bit more complex, with them offering five different plans for non eCommerce websites and three pricing plans for sites with retail functionality, which are the only three we’ll be discussing here.
They are…
(*Webflow’s pricing is actually listed in USD, but we have converted the prices to GDP for a more direct comparison)
Additionally, While the Shopify plans have transaction fees of 2%, 1%, 0.5% and 0.15% for their different plans respectively, Webflow’s standard eCommerce plan is the only one of its three plans that takes a percentage of your sales, at a flat 2% per sale. With all of this considered - unless you’re using Shopify Basic, which we don’t recommend for any serious business - Webflow slightly edges Shopify out in the cost department, bringing us on to making our final decision.
Well, the real answer to that question, which will likely disappoint many, is - it depends.
Shopify takes up a much larger chunk of the eCommerce landscape than Webflow. In fact, of the top 100,000 most used eCommerce stores, 19% of them are powered by Shopify, but less than 1% are powered by Webflow. This is not due to Shopify being significantly cheaper either - in fact the opposite is true. So, you may wonder why anyone would choose Webflow in the first place.
The reason is simple, Webflow allows you to build the kind of brand-centric, visually-dense websites that you simply cannot build on Shopify. If you’re a brand that wants to offer a more visually engaging experience, then Webflow is a great option.
If you have a large portfolio of products and want customers to shop as if they were in a physical store, where they can browse to their hearts content, then Shopify is likely the best option for you. However, if you want to guide customers through a branded experience, rife with visuals before asking them to make a purchase, then Webflow is the better route for you to take.
It really does come down to what your brand values, and what functionalities your website needs to succeed.
If you’re not sure what that looks like for your brand, why not speak to an agency with more than 20 years of experience empowering eCommerce brands of all shapes and sizes. We’ve built our fair share of Shopify and Webflow sites after all.
