If you are looking for website builders to get started, you are in the right place. One of the most popular website builders in the e-commerce world has to be Shopify.
With millions of users actively making profits with their easy-to-use websites and stores, you may want to deter the competition and look for website builders at a cheaper cost. UENI and Shopify can be similar in their attempt to provide you with a hassle-free start to your online presence.
But the real question remains, which, among the two, would be a better choice? Let’s narrow it down in this UENI vs Shopify comparison.
Comparison: UENI Versus Shopify
UENI is designed to help small businesses get online. What this means is that. UENI focuses on a business’s online presence more than anything. To compare it with Shopify, both are similar platforms and yet quite different.
While Shopify is primarily an e-commerce platform where you can make purchases online, it can be used to create your store online. Likewise, UENI helps you to build websites, but it does not require you to understand the know-how of website creation.
Let’s take a look at all the features side by side to get a better understanding of UENI vs Shopify in terms of what each has to offer:
Website Design And Customization Options
The website designing and customization options for both UENI and Shopify are simplified and require no technical coding expertise to build a website.
Premade templates are available on both platforms. When on Shopify, you can expect to come across a lot of customizable templates, while UENI, being a website builder, allows you to enjoy customizable forms, texts, and templates.
Although UENI has enough templates, font styles, and themes to choose from to build your website, it may be underwhelming for all types of businesses, especially larger ones. Shopify, on the other hand, supports website designs with more products, more categories, and more visits.
Marketing And Seo Tools
When it comes to SEO tools, UENI wins the medal as they have included a fully functional SEO builder and management tool to support the optimization and ranking of your site.
Shopify too has an SEO management tool but for better optimization of your store, you would need third-party applications. It’s worth noting that Shopify offers better marketing tools than UENI.
For instance, with Shopify, you would be able to use features like email marketing and multi-channel marketing which you don’t get with UENI website building features.
E-Commerce Features
E-commerce features on Shopify, as you might have expected an e-commerce platform to have, are far richer in quality and number.
In Shopify, you’ll be able to enjoy what you can’t have in UENI. A few of these features include product configuration, product management, shipping and sales report and management, order management, and processing.
Not just that, Shopify Payments manage and secure your payments without you having to do anything. Not to forget, Shopify’s content management system is similar to UENI. UENI, on the other hand, does not offer inventory tracking or management, or any of the eCommerce features mentioned for Shopify.
What you do get with UENI is a unique real-time editing and reporting feature. You can also get online booking tools along with a special editor to do it all.
Customer Support
Shopify’s customer support is one of the best on any e-commerce platform. If you have been on their trial, you’d know how they provide unending customer assistance. Shopify offers email, live chat, and forum assistance to you.
If there is an issue with your store, you can either email Shopify directly or just post it in one of the forums. An employee of Shopify would reach out to you quickly.
Also, you may locate qualified Shopify experts on their websites for any technical support. Shopify also helps when you are just starting by offering video training and round-the-clock customer assistance. Similarly, UENI is known for its helpful and active customer support as well.
There are numerous materials to learn from in UENI including documents, video tutorials, live chats, and emails.
However, you would only get round the clock expert aid when you are one of their premium customers. This means you would need to get on one of the costly plans to get the most customer support from UENI.
Integrations And Apps
Both UENI and Shopify make it easy for anyone to upgrade their store with third party integrations. UENI’s ability to add custom HTML codes allows you to use heavier apps to integrate your website.
Yet, Shopify has its App store where you get thousands of apps to integrate from. You would not have to put in the time to identify apps that are authentic and efficient.
UENI allows only Instagram, Facebook, and GBP integration while Shopify lets you integrate ActiveCampaign, Hubspot, Paypal, Twitter, Stripe, Meta, Zapier, and even Instagram without hassle.
User Interface And Ease Of Use
Shopify and UENI are comparable when it comes to ease of use and quality of user interface. Both of the platforms heavily focus on aiding beginners with no coding knowledge to build a store and go online. Shopify only requires you to drag and drop to create a complete professional store.
Similarly, with UENI you will get an editor that many describe as intuitive and smart. UENI has a simple navigation bar and a site map that makes it easy for you to navigate.
One of the biggest benefits that Shopify usually has over its competitors like UENI is the simplicity of its backend navigation and onboarding process. This means that signing up for Shopify, and the overall usability of Shopify is slightly better than UENI.
Mobile Responsiveness
Mobile responsiveness is a key factor when it comes to the success of e-commerce platforms and website builders.
Most online shoppers prefer the use of phones to order online. An online space that is not mobile friendly is most likely to be less popular and less profitable. Between the two, Shopify is more mobile friendly than UENI. UENI may become laggy due to heavier templates and coding in the background.
Performance And Loading Speed
According to Google recommendations, websites that host online businesses should not take more than 3 seconds to load. UENI takes about only 2.5 seconds to load the page, which I would say, is a near perfect mark for any website page with heavy templates.
Shopify too qualifies for the speed test of fewer than 3 seconds.
With Shopify, you can even improve the loading and performance speed by implication of a few steps like image compression and the use of lighter themes. UENI is quite impressive with consistent uptime and hardly any downtime in weeks.
Shopify’s performance and loading speed depends on app integrations, template and content size, and engagement rates.
Security And Data Protection
Security and data protection on Shopify is superior to UENI. For instance, Shopify Payments lets you conduct transactions without the risk of fraud and payment delays or holdups.
The platform was designed to be resistant to hacker attacks, hence providing you with the maximum security that an e-commerce platform can offer. You may want to note that UENI and Shopify are both PCI compliant and offer SSL certificates.
As an extra security layer, they even let you report your security doubts freely.
User Reviews
Comparing user reviews can give you a real idea of which platform is better for your online business. Shopify’s user reviews on most websites show a higher recommendation rate, compared to UENI’s
Users mostly highlight ease of use, customer service, and template use in positives for UENIs. Yet, there are a handful of complaints regarding UENI’s glitchy user experience and lack of protection and security.
With Shopify, most of the reviews are positive and customers mainly praise the speed, performance, and ease of integration.
Checking and managing content and orders also impress most business users of the platform. You may come across negatives on the integration of heavier apps on Shopify, along with higher costs associated with better features.
Key Takeaways on UENI Vs. Shopify
So, if I have to sum it all up for you to take what’s important, here are key points to keep in mind in an UENI Vs Shopify comparison:
- Shopify is a complete ecommerce platform while UENI is a website builder to get small business owners online
- Shopify offers more management and marketing tools and features and UENI offers better SEO optimization
- Shopify is more secure and more noncontroversial but both offer SSL certification and are PCI complainant
- Third party application integrations are much easier with Shopify App store.
- UENI has a faster loading time but Shopify has better mobile performance.
Should you use UENI or Shopify?
UENI is simply a website builder that offers new businesses to improve their online presence. Shopify, on the other hand, is an e-commerce platform where you can build and customize your stores. If you wish to build a website that does not buy or sell, you could go for UENI. However, UENI does not offer much that Shopify already does not.
Shopify is more reliable, with better features for tracking, order management, and content management. I also prefer Shopify for first timers who would want great customer support and a user interface that works like butter on mobile phones and tabs.
The drag and drop option, pre-built and customization themes and easy app integrations are all superior in Shopify. If you are entering the eCommerce business, you would want to start with Shopify.
Click here to get the Longest Available Free Shopify Trial Today! (No one else has any trial longer than this btw.)
FAQs
Which is better for ecommerce Shopify or UENI?
Shopify is better for ecommerce as Shopify is specialized for ecommerce website building. It has all the ecommerce features that UENI does not have which include features like content management, payment processing, order management, product catalogs and management, etc. Shopify also allows you to manage your promotions, marketing, retail and inventory all under one platform.
Which is better for small businesses UENI or Shopify?
UENI is better for small businesses looking to build their online presence. With limited features and an easy to under interface, you can have a website running in less than a week. Additionally, its SEO builder helps you to achieve better rankings. The plans are affordable and do not require small business owners to know coding to build a website.
How long has UENI been in business?
UENI has been in business since 2014, and is founded by a tech company in London.
Which is more expensive, Shopify or UENI?
Shopify is more expensive than UENI but Shopify offers a free trial while UENI does not. Shopify’s current offer of an extension for 3 months at the end of a 3-day trial period requires you to pay $1 a month. UENI’s cheapest starts at $10 while Shopify’s starts at $39. The subsequent plans are more expensive for Shopify with more features than UENI.
Does UENI work with Shopify?
UENI does not work with Shopify. However, you can integrate many other website builders with Shopify including popular ones like Squarrespace, Wix, or Godaddy.
Is UENI free?
UENI is not a free website builder, and nor does it have a free trial. UENI’s basic plan starts at $10.75 per month.
Final Thoughts
To close it off, I would recommend anyone to use Shopify to build their online business. You may not be able to cut off costs with the slightly more expensive pricing plans compared to UENI, but what you get far outweighs what you don’t.
Apart from real time editing auto updates, there’s not much that you would miss out on when you are Shopify instead of UENI.
All the e-commerce tools and features like order management and payment processing would give you a much more holistic and simplified experience if you are starting your business in the digital space. If you are not sure about Shopify, you can be your judge and give their free trial a try.
Click here to get the Longest Available Free Shopify Trial Today! (No one else has any trial longer than this btw.)
