What is Ecwid?
Ecwid, now part of Lightspeed, is a comprehensive ecommerce platform designed to help individuals and businesses create, manage, and grow their online stores efficiently. It allows users to add a full-featured store to any existing website, social media account, or mobile app, while preserving the original design.
Key Features and Functionality
Product Management
- Ecwid enables the sale of various product types, including physical goods, digital goods (up to 25GB per file), subscriptions, services, and gift cards.
- Users can create an unlimited number of product options such as color, size, and material, making it highly flexible for product variations.
- The platform offers tools for bulk editing and mass updates, simplifying the management of large product catalogs.
Inventory Management
- Ecwid provides robust inventory management features, including tracking stock levels on a product and product option level, low-stock alerts, and the ability to enable pre-orders for out-of-stock items or products not yet released.
Sales Channels and Integration
- Users can set up online stores, Facebook Shops, Instagram Stores, and integrate their stores with marketplaces like Amazon and eBay (available in higher plans).
- Ecwid supports mobile point of sale (POS) and allows for seamless integration with existing websites, mobile sites, or social networks.
Marketing and Promotion
- The platform offers features for managing ads on Facebook, Google, Pinterest, and Snapchat directly from the admin panel. It also supports discount coupons, gift cards, and automated tax calculations (available in select regions).
- Tools for abandoned cart emails, wholesale pricing groups, and product filters help in enhancing customer engagement and sales.
SEO and Customization
- Ecwid provides built-in SEO features, including structured data and SEO-friendly URLs. Users can easily edit page titles, meta descriptions, and create clean, search-friendly URLs. However, there are limitations in editing alt text and creating redirects in the widget version.
Mobile and On-the-Go Capabilities
- The Ecwid mobile app allows users to add new products, create orders, and manage their store on the go. It also includes a built-in barcode scanner for quick product and order management.
Security and Reliability
- Ecwid is certified Level 1 PCI compliant, ensuring that all credit card and transaction information is protected with the same level of security used by banks.
Pricing and Plans
- Ecwid offers four plans: Free, Venture, Business, and Unlimited. Each plan varies in features and the number of products that can be listed, ranging from 10 products in the Free plan to unlimited products in the Unlimited plan. The higher plans include additional features such as staff accounts, POS integration, and more extensive customization options.
In summary, Ecwid is a versatile ecommerce platform that caters to the needs of small to medium-sized businesses, offering a wide range of features to manage products, inventory, sales channels, and marketing efforts, all while ensuring robust security and customization options.