Top 4 Ecommerce Website Builders In Australia: Maximize Your Online Sales!

Let’s find out which ecommerce website builders align best with your business needs, offering the perfect blend of functionality, design, and user experience.

Shopify 

With its comprehensive plans catering to various budgets, Shopify stands out as an all-in-one solution for launching and scaling online stores effortlessly. Its no-code approach makes it accessible to entrepreneurs regardless of their technical background.

Type of website builder: Drag & Drop editor 

Personal review

From personal experience, Shopify stands out as a user-friendly platform that simplifies creating and managing an online store. Its straightforward setup means that even those with no technical background can build a search-optimized, live store in just a few hours. 

The platform’s powerful backend editor and comprehensive inventory system provide a solid foundation for managing and scaling your business, making it an ideal choice for stores of all sizes.

The Goods & The Bads

The Goods

• Multi-Platform Selling
• Stand-Out Design Functionality
• Expansive App Library
• Extensive Payment Options
• 24/7 Customer Support

The Bads

• Reliance on Apps
• High Transaction Fees

What Makes Shopify Spotlight 

Customization Capabilities 

Customizing Themes

Shopify offers a dual approach to theme customization, catering to novices and experienced designers. For those looking for simplicity, Shopify provides a range of pre-designed templates that are both elegant and functional. These templates can be customized to a certain extent, allowing businesses to inject their brand identity without extensive coding knowledge.

On the other hand, for businesses seeking complete control and uniqueness, Shopify supports ground-up development using open-source code. 

This allows for a fully customized design, tailored specifically to the brand’s requirements and customer expectations. Shopify’s theme customization balances familiarity with the need for individuality, making it possible to create a unique online presence without straying too far from conventional ecommerce layouts.

Customizing Products

Shopify shines in its product customization capabilities. It offers an intuitive interface for adding, updating, and managing products. This includes seamless integration with existing operational management systems (OMS), product information management (PIM) systems, and customer relationship management (CRM) tools.

For businesses with a wide range of products, Shopify facilitates the management of product variants, supporting a diverse array of options. Additionally, Shopify’s metafields feature allows for adding custom fields to products, collections, and pages, enabling businesses to provide richer product information and create a more engaging customer experience.

Customizing Discounts

Discount management is a critical aspect of ecommerce, and Shopify offers robust tools for customizing discounts. This includes creating traditional discount codes, which can be applied to specific products, collections, or customer groups. 

Shopify also allows for the automated application of discounts based on various criteria, such as customer behavior or purchase history, enabling businesses to create personalized shopping experiences.

Customizing Checkouts

The checkout experience is vital in ecommerce, and Shopify Plus offers extensive customization options. Businesses can tailor the checkout process to match their brand’s style and ethos, ensuring a seamless and trustworthy experience for customers. This includes customizing the checkout flow, adding or removing fields, and integrating various payment options to simplify the customer process.

Customizing Payments

Shopify’s payment customization is designed to cater to a diverse customer base. It supports over a hundred different payment gateways, allowing business owners to choose the ones that best suit their and their customers’ needs. Shopify also offers its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, for a more integrated experience. 

Ecommerce Features  

Shopify’s marketing dashboard provides an integrated platform where you can monitor and analyze your marketing efforts. This includes:

• Performance Tracking: Track the performance of your marketing campaigns directly from the dashboard, allowing you to make data-driven decisions.

• Integration with Major Marketing Platforms: Shopify integrates with major marketing platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads, streamlining your marketing campaigns across various channels.

• Automatic Email Triggering: When customers leave items in their cart without completing a purchase, Shopify can automatically send them an email to remind them of their abandoned cart.

• Customization of Recovery Emails: You can customize the content of the abandoned cart emails, making them more engaging and reflective of your brand’s voice. This can include adding discount codes or special offers to entice customers back.
• Analysis of Abandoned Carts: Shopify provides analytics on abandoned carts, giving insights into customer behavior and highlighting areas for improvement in the shopping experience.

Customer Reviews & Feedback 

Shopify’s reputation in the ecommerce world is mainly positive, with users highlighting its ease of use, robust security, and rich feature set. Let’s look at what customers are saying:

“Overall 1.5 years in I find it most very intuitive- I have taken time to learn and play with the platform though – Hannah F.

“It is one of the famous shopping software in the world and many of friends are using it. The software is very great in the field of ecommerce and it is not difficult use it to create a boutique online. It usable to deal with many orders management online and their online payements sytems works well too.” – Yendouban S.

Successful Story Examples

Manitobah Mukluks

Manitobah Mukluks is a prime example of Shopify’s prowess in product presentation. Their website showcases a full-width image focusing on footwear, drawing visitors into the product listings with striking photography against a clean background. This approach effectively highlights the products, making them pop and appealing to customers.

Flourist

Flourist’s Shopify site is another success story, specializing in various baked goods and special flour mixes. The site excels in using high-quality imagery to sell products and tell a compelling brand story. By integrating its Instagram feed on its homepage, Flourist enhances its visual storytelling, making its offerings more enticing and encouraging purchases.

Wix 

Wix has firmly established itself as a go-to website builder for those looking to create impressive websites without delving into the complexities of coding. Renowned for its drag-and-drop functionality and rich template gallery, Wix caters to a spectrum of users, from personal bloggers to small business owners.

Type of website builder: Drag & Drop Editor.

Personal review

My experience with Wix has been overwhelmingly positive. Its drag-and-drop tools simplify the website-building process, making it accessible even to those with no technical background. The platform’s strength lies in its ability to provide a comprehensive toolkit for ecommerce, alongside the flexibility and creative freedom to customize templates to your liking.

The Goods & The Bads

The Goods

• User-Friendly Editor
• Ecommerce Excellence
• Growth and Scalability
• Creative Freedom

The Bads:

• Template Limitations
• Additional Costs for Advanced Features
• Initial Complexity

What Makes Wix Spotlight 

Wix stands out in the digital landscape as a versatile and intuitive website builder catering to a range of users, from beginners to seasoned professionals. Its array of features and tools makes it a top choice for creating customized, dynamic websites.

Customization Capabilities 

Choose the Website Type

Building a Wix website begins with defining your goals and understanding your target audience. Whether you aim to monetize a site or share personal content, your goals dictate the type of website you create. Wix provides a vast array of website ideas and categories, aiding in the decision-making process and helping you choose a template or design approach that aligns with your vision.

Pick a Website Builder

Wix offers different routes for website creation, each tailored to varying levels of experience and needs:

• Wix ADI: Ideal for beginners or those needing a quick website setup, this AI-driven tool asks simple questions about your needs and preferences before automatically creating a personalized, mobile-optimized website.

• Wix Editor: Suited for anyone looking to craft their site, this platform provides a drag-and-drop interface with numerous design options, allowing for a high degree of customization.

Templates and From-Scratch Option

Wix’s extensive template library, crafted by professional designers, offers over 800 options, ensuring a template for every niche. Alternatively, for those desiring complete creative freedom, Wix allows building a website from scratch, offering a blank canvas to realize your unique vision.

Designing Webpages

Designing your website on Wix involves planning the structure and content of your web pages. From the “Designing Webpages” to the “About Us,” “Product,” “Contact,” and “FAQ pages,” each page plays a vital role in conveying your brand story. 

Wix’s design elements, like colors, menus, buttons, and visual elements, are geared towards creating a cohesive and engaging user experience on desktop and mobile platforms.

Domain Name Selection and Web Hosting

Choosing a domain name is a critical step in establishing your online identity. Wix simplifies this process, offering domain registration services and free web hosting on its secure servers. This ensures that your site is easily identifiable, reliably hosted, and secure.

Ecommerce Features 

Wix stands out in the ecommerce arena primarily due to its robust SEO tools. These tools empower users to effectively tailor their site’s meta titles, descriptions, and URLs, optimizing them for higher visibility on search engines.

Additionally, Wix’s recent enhancements, such as the integration with Semrush and improved keyword support, further bolster its SEO capabilities. This makes Wix an ideal platform for businesses to improve their online presence and search engine rankings.

Complementing its SEO prowess, Wix also boasts a diverse App Market. This market offers a wide range of applications, from shopping carts and live chat widgets to comprehensive marketing tools. These apps are designed for easy integration, enhancing the functionality of ecommerce websites.

Users can choose from free apps or opt for premium versions to access advanced features. This combination of effective SEO tools and versatile app integrations positions Wix as a top choice for creating and managing successful ecommerce websites.

Customer Reviews & Feedback

Wix’s user feedback highlights both strengths and areas for improvement in their services.

“My time using Wix has been enjoyable. Wix has amazing online customer service, which is what makes them so distinctive, even if I appreciate everything about them. My situation was difficult for me to handle, however an employee named Albany assisted me in finding a rapid solution. Albany was sweet and knowledgeable. Hugo helped me with another issue that came up, and he’s amazing and superb at his job. I heartily endorse Wix’s services and client support. You’re going to be happy if you get a website with Wix!” – Alaina

On the flip side, some customers have encountered issues with Wix. “The software was ok – but we got caught real bad with subscription charges. We accidently over subscribed and didnt know we had. Our account ran up over $2000 and Wix wouldn’t refund our mistake. Very disappointing for a large company”.  – Jon H

Successful Story Examples

Cuts & Bruises Barbershop

Cuts & Bruises Barbershop showcases Wix’s creative potential. They’ve crafted a unique website that captures their brand’s essence, featuring a one-page layout that elegantly displays all essential information. Including a live chat widget and an accessible shopping cart, set against a visually striking design, enhances user engagement and reflects the barbershop’s innovative approach.

Seven Grams Caffe

Seven Grams Caffe presents another example of Wix’s prowess in website design, particularly for cafes and restaurants. Their website opens with a stunning fullscreen image that immediately conveys the cafe’s atmosphere. 

The site’s one-page layout effectively includes various sections like testimonials, social media integrations, and image galleries, all while maintaining a seamless user experience. Additionally, the functionality for catering bookings is integrated, showcasing Wix’s capability to handle diverse business needs.

GoDaddy 

GoDaddy has established itself as a user-friendly option for those venturing into the world of website creation, offering an intuitive experience ideal for beginners.

Type of website builder: Drag and drop editor 

Personal review

In my experience, GoDaddy stands out for its simplicity and speed. The platform’s beginner-friendly approach is evident in its ADI feature, significantly reducing the time and effort required to create a functional website. Its theme-switching feature, which automatically reformats content, adds to its user-friendliness, making it a practical choice for those seeking a straightforward path to getting online.

The Goods & The Bads

The Goods

• Quick Website Creation
• Theme Flexibility
• Ease of Use
• Affordable Pricing

The Bads

• Limited Creative Freedom
• Restrictive Block Elements
• Shallow Feature Depth

What Makes GoDaddy Spotlight 

GoDaddy stands out in the website building with its beginner-friendly approach and streamlined customization options, making it an appealing choice for those seeking a quick and straightforward way to establish an online presence.

Customization Capabilities 

Setting Templates

GoDaddy offers over 100 mobile-responsive design templates catering to a diverse range of website needs.

Users can effortlessly personalize these templates by editing colors and fonts to align with their brand identity. Switching templates is straightforward, allowing for flexibility and ease of redesign.

Layout Choices

Each website section can be customized with different layout options tailored for various content types like contact forms, galleries, or subscription lists. This feature allows users to create unique page designs without extensive design skills.

Content Creation and Management

Adding new pages is made easy with GoDaddy’s Content Creator, part of the Websites + Marketing or Digital Marketing Suite.

Users are encouraged to add value content, with guidelines to help structure information effectively. The platform supports the creation of both one-page and multi-page websites, with advice on the core pages needed for a comprehensive site.

Editing and Adding Media

Editing text and styling it with various options is made intuitive directly on the site or through the editor panel. GoDaddy supports adding photos, videos, and even soundtracks to sections, enhancing the multimedia experience of the website.

Ecommerce Features 

GoDaddy’s ecommerce capabilities, though in the process of development, offer some notable features that are beneficial for beginners and growing businesses.

Social Media Integration

While GoDaddy’s current social media integration features are somewhat basic compared to competitors like Wix and Squarespace, they are evolving. Presently, you can add icons to link to your social media pages and connect your Facebook store. 

However, GoDaddy is expanding its offerings to include social sharing, live feeds, post creation and scheduling, and YouTube live streaming integration.

SEO Tools

GoDaddy’s SEO tools are particularly beginner-friendly, automatically reviewing and optimizing websites for search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Key functionalities include:

• Editing Meta Titles and Descriptions: Tailor these to improve search engine visibility.
• Customizable URL Slugs: Helps in making web pages more SEO-friendly.
• Image Alt Text Addition: Enhances SEO through descriptive text for images.
• Mobile Responsive Themes: Ensures websites perform well on mobile devices, a crucial SEO aspect.
• Custom Headers and URLs: Offers advanced users more control over their site’s SEO.

Though the more advanced SEO tools are not available on the basic plan, GoDaddy’s SEO wizard simplifies the process for beginners new to SEO.

Marketing Tools

GoDaddy strengthens its ecommerce offering with marketing tools, including:

• Custom email addresses through G Suite: These are available for one year, enhancing brand professionalism.
• Built-in Email Marketing Service: Supports targeted email campaigns, crucial for customer engagement and retention. The service allows sending various emails depending on the plan, with up to 100,000 monthly emails on the highest tier.
• Digital Marketing Suite: A comprehensive tool that integrates business listings, social media, and email marketing in one dashboard, accompanied by tailored action plans to improve site engagement.

Customer Reviews & Feedback

Users generally praise GoDaddy for its professional-looking website finishes and straightforward functionality. However, some note limitations, particularly in advanced features like robots.txt accessibility and meta-tag plugins in basic packages. 

“GoDaddy consistantly provides me with excellent customer service. Even tonight on Christmas Eve when I found my website wasn’t working properly and I couldn’t fix it, they were available and took care of my concerns and went above and beyond the call of duty to do so. Thank you Romeo (CSR) and GoDaddy.” – Glenn.

“Agent was patient, well informed and able to address all the issues I had. As a long term godaddy customer, I needed to update much of my data and make sure all communication arrives in the m native language. The process was clear and supported by the agent.” – George H Damon, Jr.

Successful Story Examples

Coco River Organics

Coco River Organics used GoDaddy to create an elegant and simple ecommerce website. Their site is characterized by high-quality images that align with their beachy branding and include practical CTA buttons. These features collectively enhance user engagement and facilitate the conversion of interest into sales.

Happy Tails Pet Training

Happy Tails Pet Training’s website on GoDaddy effectively communicates the brand’s mission right from the start. By using an eye-catching, relevant image and following it with clear statements of values and services offered, the site provides an engaging and informative introduction to the company.

Webflow 

Webflow emerges as a sophisticated website builder tailored for web developers and professionals who seek precision and extensive customization in their web design projects.

Type of website builder: Drag and drop editor 

Personal review

In my experience, Webflow offers a high degree of design freedom backed by an impressive range of templates. It’s particularly adept at handling ecommerce and dynamic content, making it a powerful tool for creating complex and visually striking websites. The availability of a free plan also adds to its appeal, providing a solid foundation to build upon.

The Goods & The Bads

The Goods

• Offer unparalleled design customization
• A wide selection of templates
• Free Plan Availability

The Bads

• User Difficulty
• Reliance on External Content
• Limited Support Channels

What Makes Webflow Spotlight 

Webflow stands out in the website builder market for its advanced customization features, catering to users who desire detailed control over their website’s design and functionality.

Customization Capabilities 

After selecting a template, users can dive into customization using the Webflow Designer. 

This interface is where the intricate design process takes place, offering various panels for comprehensive control:

• Pages Panel: Access and manage different pages of your website.
• Navigator Panel: View and modify the hierarchical structure of your site’s elements.
• Assets Panel: Organize and use assets like images and videos added to your site.
• Style Panel: Adjust the style of elements, including fonts, colors, and layouts.
• Canvas: Directly interact with elements on your site for a live design experience.

Responsive Design and Previewing

Webflow emphasizes responsive design, allowing users to check their site’s appearance across multiple devices and breakpoints. Webflow also offers a preview of the design in a browser, ensuring the website is responsive and visually appealing on all devices.

Editing and SEO Tools

Webflow enables users to:

• Edit Text: Customize text directly on the site, with options to change fonts, colors, and styles.
• Change Colors and Backgrounds: Update color schemes and backgrounds to align with brand identity.
• Replace Images: Easily swap placeholder images with personalized graphics.
• Update Links: Adjust link settings for better navigation and user experience.
• Modify SEO Settings: Tailor SEO elements like meta titles and descriptions for improved search visibility.
• Use Symbols: Symbols allow for reusable components that update across the site when edited.

Working with Blogs and Dynamic Content

Webflow’s CMS is a powerful tool for managing dynamic content like blog posts. Users can customize individual posts, manage categories, and schedule posts for automatic publishing.

Adding and Removing Elements

The flexibility to add or remove elements is a cornerstone of Webflow’s customization capabilities. Users can duplicate existing elements or remove unnecessary ones to align the site with their specific content needs.

Ecommerce Features 

Multiple Payment Options

One of Webflow’s standout ecommerce features is its support for various payment methods, catering to a broader customer base and enhancing the user experience.

In addition to standard credit and debit card payments through Stripe, Webflow supports Apple Pay and PayPal. This inclusivity in payment options can significantly improve the checkout experience for customers, offering them the convenience of using their preferred payment method.

Automatic Tax Calculations

Another significant feature of Webflow’s ecommerce platform is its automatic tax calculation capability, simplifying one of the more complex aspects of online selling.

At the point of checkout, Webflow automatically calculates the necessary sales tax and VAT based on the customer’s location and adds it to the total. This automation removes the need for manual tax bracket inputs and VAT adjustments, saving significant time and reducing the potential for errors.

Customer Reviews & Feedback

Webflow’s platform receives diverse feedback, reflecting its capability and complexity.

“The visual editor is intuitive and easy to use, even for those without coding experience, and it gives me complete control over the look and feel of my designs. Webflow also offers a great selection of templates and components, which can save me a lot of time and effort. Overall, I’m very impressed with Webflow and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to create beautiful and professional-looking websites.” – Alex D.in

“Webflow is a top-notch website builder since it offers a wide variety of tools and resources to its users. It is perfect for both new and seasoned programmers because to its user-friendliness and lack of coding requirements.” – Joseph H.in

Successful Story Examples

Grandify

Grandify, a software development agency, utilizes Webflow to provide full product development services. Its success with Webflow demonstrates the platform’s versatility in catering to various business needs, from complete product development to enhancing ongoing projects.

Kajabi

Kajabi, an all-in-one platform for online courses and digital products, employs Webflow to build and customize its offerings. Webflow’s flexibility and robust features support Kajabi’s business model, showcasing the platform’s effectiveness in managing complex online business solutions.

Bottom Line 

The top 4 ecommerce website builders in Australia each offer unique strengths and capabilities, catering to a diverse range of business needs. Whether you prioritize ease of use, advanced features, or customer support, these platforms provide robust solutions for creating your online store.

FAQs