Wix eCommerce Platform — The Future of eCommerce
Wix has engineered a fully-flexible, new eCommerce platform — empowering online retailers to provide unique experiences to their customers, unrestrained.
Redefining eCommerce
When we say “eCommerce”, we mostly think of selling physical products, but it’s not only that. These days, websites sell just about everything: bookings, rentals, tickets, deliveries…any kind of services, really. And people that come up with kick-ass ideas that can be monetised online should have the appropriate tools. Wix strives to enable entrepreneurs to provide anything to anybody, wherever in the world. If you can imagine it, you can sell it.
The flow of the online sales process can consist of many different components that an eCommerce platform should take care of, including:
ordering and shipping
pick up
packing
discounts
tax
tips,etc.
Most platforms are capable of providing the first couple of these only...But it’s not always possible to foresee what features a business will need to create a seamless process for users. In the latest release of Wix eCommerce, the product team has taken the top feature requests (from Wix Partners and individual users) and made them reality.
The split
Let’s remind ourselves of how sales through Wix have worked previously. There is Wix Store, which allows you to sell products, manage inventory, use cart and checkout functionality and all the necessary process flows.
Then there are other options like Wix Music, which allows you to sell albums, and Wix Bookings, which allows you to sell services. Many of these options perform a checkout flow, which are all different. That’s how the product team came to realise it wasn’t the right way to go. They decided to split the stores into two: the Wix Online store and Wix eCommerce platform, both of which include components that can be used together or separately, depending on one's business needs. Now you have the Wix Online store out-of-the-box, and Wix Bookings integrated into the eCommerce platform. More functionality will be added in near the future (e.g. Wix Events).
Extendable - Catalog SPI
The most important and advanced thing now is that you can also integrate your own catalogue into the Wix eCommerce platform (though you may need a developer's help). This can be done in a few easy steps, by implementing the Catalog SPI short function. Your catalogue (storefront) can be anything, even a Google Sheet or storefront from another platform. Additionally, developers are now free to change the logic of the platform when it's needed, for each eCommerce project. To do this, the Wix team developed more SPIs and more entry points for business owners to use their own logic and create the smoothest flow for their customers. For example: different shipments (depending on the product type) and different payments (credit card + gift card) in one cart!
More new features:
Unique subscription cycles
Flexible subscription plans for your customers and better billing cycles depending on the nature of your products.
Loyalty program
Members-only promotions and discounts, customers points and rewards to incentivise repeat purchases.
Immersive shopping experience
Real-time 3D/AR and semi-realistic product previews to help customers visualise your products.
Custom amounts for gift cards
Freedom to input desired amount for gift card purchases.
Set pick-up points for orders
Pick-up points allow customers to collect orders from specified locations and not pay for home delivery.
Offer time-specific deliveries
Streamline delivery timelines with a calendar that allows customers to pick a delivery window on a particular date.
Place orders on behalf of customersProvide assistance to customers by editing orders for them through your dashboard or by creating and sending an invoice.
Explore and adopt these powerful features to both accelerate your growth and increase customer satisfaction!