How to Start an eCommerce Website With Wix (2026 Guide)
Learn how to start an eCommerce website with Wix in 2026: pick the right plan, add products, set up payments and shipping, and launch your online store.
Long Nguyen
Fullstack Developer · AI Engineer · Researcher
Wix is one of the fastest ways to start an eCommerce website without touching code: you pick a template, drag things into place, add your products, and turn on payments. The one catch that trips up most beginners is that Wix's free plan cannot sell, so getting the plan choice right is the real first step. This 2026 guide walks through the whole process, from choosing a plan that can actually take payments to launching and growing your Wix store.
Is Wix right for your online store?
Wix is an all-in-one website builder, so your storefront, hosting, checkout, and marketing tools live in one place with no separate stack to manage. Its strengths are a genuinely easy drag-and-drop editor, fast setup, and the fact that Wix charges no platform transaction fee on sales, taking only standard payment processing. The trade-offs: it is less deep than Shopify for large catalogs and complex operations, and classic Wix sites cap at 100 regular pages. In short, Wix is an excellent fit for small to mid-sized stores, service businesses, and anyone moving off Etsy who wants a full storefront without a steep learning curve.
Step 1: Choose a Wix plan that can sell
This is the step to get right first, because Wix restructured its plans in 2025 and not all of them support selling. The free plan and the Light plan are website-only, with no checkout, cart, or payment gateways. To accept payments you need at least the Core plan.
| Plan | Price (billed annually) | Can sell? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | No | Testing Wix; Wix branding shown |
| Light | $17/mo | No | Personal sites and portfolios, ad-free |
| Core | $29/mo | Yes | The cheapest plan that sells; small and new stores |
| Business | $39/mo | Yes | Growing stores; adds automated tax, abandoned cart, reviews |
| Business Elite | $159/mo | Yes | Large stores; full features and unlimited storage |
For most people starting out, the Core plan is the right entry point, and you can upgrade later as you grow. Monthly billing costs a little more than the annual prices above, all paid plans include a free custom domain for the first year, and prices and plan names can vary by region and promotion, so confirm the current details on Wix before you buy.
Step 2: Create your account and pick a store template
Sign up at Wix and, when asked what you want to build, choose an online store so the setup includes commerce features from the start. You can then either start from one of Wix's eCommerce templates, which come pre-built for different industries, or let Wix's AI generate a first draft you refine. Pick a template close to your niche to save work, then move on to the parts that actually matter for sales: your products and checkout.
Step 3: Add your products
Open the store section of your dashboard and add products one by one or by bulk import. For each item, upload several high-resolution images, write a clear, benefit-led description, and set the price, SKU, and inventory. Configure variants such as size or color where relevant, and group items into logical categories so shoppers can browse without friction. Wix supports physical goods, digital downloads, services, and subscriptions, so set the product type correctly, since digital and physical items handle shipping and delivery differently.
Step 4: Set up payments, shipping, and tax
Your store is not operational until it can take money. In your store settings, open Accept Payments and connect a method: Wix Payments is the built-in option, and you can also add PayPal, Stripe, or other regional gateways. With Wix Payments in the U.S., expect standard processing of around 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction; Wix itself does not add a platform cut on top. While you are there, set your shipping rules, whether flat-rate, free-shipping thresholds, or weight-based, and configure tax collection for the regions you sell to. Higher plans automate sales-tax calculation if that gets complex.
Step 5: Design and optimize for conversions and SEO
With products and checkout ready, refine the experience. Keep navigation simple, make sure the site looks and works well on mobile, and use clean, consistent product photography, since images do most of the selling. Then use Wix's built-in SEO tools to set descriptive page titles, meta descriptions, and image alt text so your products can be found in search. Fast load times and a frictionless path from product to cart to checkout are what turn traffic into orders.
Step 6: Launch and grow your store
Before going public, connect your custom domain and place a full test order to confirm checkout, shipping, and tax all behave. After launch, lean on Wix's growth tools: abandoned-cart recovery, email marketing, and promotional pop-ups to recover and drive sales, and connect social and marketplace channels to sell in more places. Treat the launch as the start, then iterate on what your analytics tell you. If you would rather have the store set up, designed, and optimized for you, Netalith offers eCommerce store setup and support so your launch is handled end to end.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can you start a Wix eCommerce website for free?
You can build and design a site for free, but you cannot sell on the free plan or the Light plan, since neither includes checkout or payment gateways. To accept payments you need at least the Core plan, which is the cheapest Wix plan that supports selling online.
How much does a Wix eCommerce website cost?
On annual billing in 2026, the cheapest selling plan is Core at about $29/month, then Business at $39/month for advanced tools, and Business Elite at $159/month for large stores. On top of the plan you pay standard payment processing, around 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction with Wix Payments in the U.S.
Does Wix charge transaction fees on sales?
Wix does not charge its own platform transaction fee on eCommerce plans, so it does not take a percentage cut of your sales. You still pay the standard processing fee charged by your payment provider, such as roughly 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction through Wix Payments.
Is Wix good for eCommerce?
Wix is a strong choice for small to mid-sized stores and anyone who wants an easy, all-in-one builder with no platform transaction fees. For very large catalogs or complex operations, Shopify offers deeper eCommerce tooling, but for most new and growing stores Wix is faster and simpler to launch.
Can I use my own domain with a Wix store?
Yes. All paid Wix plans include a free custom domain for the first year, and you can also connect a domain you already own or transfer it to Wix. Connecting a custom domain is part of launching a professional-looking store.
Can I sell physical and digital products on Wix?
Yes. Wix supports physical goods, digital downloads, services, and subscriptions on its eCommerce plans. Just set each product's type correctly during setup, since physical and digital items handle shipping and delivery differently.