Square For Online Stores: How It Compares To Shopify, Wix, And BigCommerce

TL;DR: Square for online stores works well for businesses that already use Square POS and want ecommerce tied to the same products, inventory, and in-person sales. Shopify suits online-first sellers, Wix offers more website design control, and BigCommerce is built for more complex ecommerce operations. Square can also stay as the POS while another platform runs the online store.

Square can run an online store. The more important question is whether it should.

If a business already takes payments through Square, Square Websites, previously called Square Online, can add ecommerce without creating a separate product catalog and inventory system. Online orders, store sales, stock, customers, pickup, and local delivery can stay connected to the wider Square setup.

That covers a lot for a shop adding online ordering or shipping. The comparison changes when the website needs more design flexibility, marketplace management, international storefronts, B2B selling, or multiple ecommerce storefronts.

Can Square Work For Online Stores?

Yes. Square Websites includes a website builder, online checkout, product pages, inventory, customer accounts, shipping, pickup, local delivery, discounts, marketing tools, and connections to Square POS.

Square’s Free website plan has no monthly fee, although payment processing fees still apply when sales are made.

For products sold both online and in person, tracked stock can update across supported Square channels. That keeps the website and POS from carrying separate quantities for the same item.

What Square For Online Stores Offers

1. Online Store And Checkout

Square Websites can create a simple ordering page or a multi-page ecommerce website. Sellers can add products and variations, accept online payments through Square checkout, customize the site, and connect a custom domain on an eligible paid plan.

The website tools also include customer accounts, product recommendations, reviews, scheduled sales, item badges, bundles, subscriptions, and other features, with some tied to particular plans.

The trade-off is mainly design flexibility. Square has expanded its website tools, while Wix offers thousands of customizable templates and more flexibility over layouts and site design. Shopify also has an e-commerce-focused theme ecosystem.

2. Products And Inventory

Square uses a central item library to manage the products that are available in its POS and website.

Items can include categories, variations, prices, SKUs, images, and inventory tracking. Whenever there is a sale from a Square channel that has inventory management enabled, the inventory number will change.

Square-eligible plans also include advanced inventory tools such as stock receiving, counts, purchase orders, vendors, barcode labels, and transfer orders. Those stockroom tools matter more for retailers using Square for Retail, where the POS has to handle variations, suppliers, returns, barcodes, and location-level inventory.

3. Shipping, Pickup, And Local Delivery

Square supports shipping, in-store and curbside pickup, and local delivery. Pickup and delivery settings can include ordering windows, preparation times, delivery times, and order limits. Local deliveries may either be delivered by the merchant themselves or third-party delivery couriers.

Shipping tools include labels, shipping discounts, destination-based settings, and free-shipping rules. Real-time carrier rates are available on eligible Square plans and require the relevant shipping setup. Square shipping profiles can also be configured by destination country.

4. Online And In-Person Sales

Square Websites and Square POS are designed to work from the same Square setup. Products, tracked inventory, online orders, discounts, and other commerce data can move across online and in-person selling without a separate ecommerce back office.

Shopify connects ecommerce with Shopify POS, while Wix and BigCommerce also support physical retail connections. The difference is what each platform lets the business do around those sales.

5. Marketing And Sales Channels

Square Websites includes built-in SEO tools and connections to Google and Meta. Sellers can also use Square Marketing, Square Loyalty, coupons, pop-ups, lead forms, gift cards, and other Square tools around the store.

For marketplace management, Shopify Marketplace Connect can sync listings, inventory, and orders with Amazon and eBay. Walmart and Target Plus are also supported in the United States.

Shopify Markets handles a different job. It can vary product availability, pricing, currencies, domains, languages, and some storefront content by market, with certain customizations depending on the Shopify plan.

Wix supports ecommerce across channels, including Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, and Google, while also giving sellers more control over their websites and content.

BigCommerce has dedicated tools for B2B, multiple storefronts, headless commerce, and open API workflows.

Square Vs Shopify Vs Wix Vs BigCommerce: Key Differences

Area	Square	Shopify	Wix	BigCommerce
Core focus	Connecting ecommerce with Square POS and local store operations	Ecommerce, sales channels, apps, and international selling	Website design and flexible site building with ecommerce	Advanced ecommerce, multi-storefront, B2B, and complex catalogs
Website control	Structured ecommerce builder with plan-based customization	Ecommerce-focused themes and customization	Extensive design and layout control	Flexible storefronts with themes, APIs, and headless options
In-person selling	Core part of the Square system	Shopify POS connects with the ecommerce platform	Can connect with POS systems including Square	Connects to POS partners including Square through integrations
International ecommerce	International shipping through country-based shipping profiles	Shopify Markets supports localized markets, currencies, catalogs, and domains	Multilingual and international ecommerce tools	Multi-currency, multi-storefront, APIs, and international commerce tools
Square connection	Native	Requires a Square-Shopify integration for shared catalog or inventory workflows	Square and Wix now support a direct connection	Square integrations can support catalog and inventory sync, depending on the setup
Best suited to	Local and in-person sellers adding ecommerce	Online-first and multichannel merchants	Design-led businesses that also sell online	Growing or complex ecommerce operations

Square can create multiple websites under one account, so the distinction is not simply “Square has one site, and BigCommerce has many.” BigCommerce’s Multi-Storefront and B2B tools are built for different storefront experiences across customer groups, locations, currencies, languages, and business buyers.

When To Use Square For Online Stores

Square is worth using when the online store needs to do jobs such as:

• Take orders from the existing Square catalog
• Keep tracked web and counter stock together
• Add shipping to store sales
• Offer in-store or curbside pickup
• Handle local delivery
• Launch without a monthly website subscription on Square Free

A seller can have a large catalog and still use Square. What matters more is what happens around the catalog.

If the difficult part is keeping products, stock, pickup orders, and store sales together, Square already has the pieces for that workflow. That is where Square for small business fits best: payments, POS, online sales, customer records, and basic operations stay inside one connected setup.

If the difficult part is running several marketplaces, localizing different markets, handling business buyers, or building distinct storefront experiences, those are the areas to compare more closely.

Where Square For Online Stores Falls Short In E-commerce

For design-heavy websites, Wix gives the seller more control over page layouts and content. That matters when photography, editorial pages, service information, or branding carries as much weight as the product catalog.

For marketplace and international operations, Shopify has dedicated tools for syncing supported marketplaces and tailoring products, prices, currencies, languages, domains, and content for different markets. Some Shopify Markets features are plan-specific.

For B2B or more complex multi-storefront setups, BigCommerce provides buyer portals, account pricing, quote workflows, approvals, role-based access, and other B2B tools.

Those features only matter if the business needs them. A local store adding pickup and shipping does not gain much from a B2B buyer portal or a headless storefront.

When Shopify, Wix, Or BigCommerce May Make More Sense

If marketplace management or localized international selling is becoming part of the weekly workload, then the seller should consider Shopify. Marketplace Connect and Markets address those jobs directly rather than making “online-first” the sole reason. Compare Square vs Shopify guide as separate buying decisions.

When the website itself is important, Wix is worth considering. A Square seller can keep core product and inventory data in Square while using Wix for website design, shipping settings, online categories, videos, blog content, and SEO. Wix Square Integration can sync products, inventory, customer data, and multiple locations between Wix and Square.

BigCommerce should be considered when the operation needs B2B purchasing workflows, multiple storefronts, headless commerce, or API-based customization. Its Square connection can import the Square product catalog and keep inventory synced in both directions.

Can Businesses Keep Square And Use Another Ecommerce Platform?

Yes. Replacing the website does not automatically mean replacing Square POS. The important question is what needs to stay synchronized. If an item sells through Square but the online store does not receive the stock change, the business still has two inventories to reconcile.

Square supports connections to ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and Wix, while BigCommerce also supports Square through integrations.

DPL’s Shopify Square Integration is another option for businesses that want to keep both systems. It can import, export, and link products, sync inventory across connected locations, move eligible Square orders into Shopify, sync new customer records, and support Square gift card workflows.

That decision is less about whether Square and Shopify can connect and more about which system should control each part of the catalog and inventory workflow.

FAQs About Square For Online Stores

Final Thoughts

Square does not need to match every ecommerce feature in Shopify, Wix, or BigCommerce to work well for an online store. The useful test is narrower: what does the business need the website to do that Square does not already handle?

While that may be enough for some sellers, others may prefer Wix’s creative control, Shopify’s marketplace functionality, or BigCommerce’s B2B commerce and multiple storefronts feature.

If the ecommerce platform changes later, Square can still stay at the counter. When Shopify becomes the ecommerce platform, syncing Shopify and Square can keep the two systems linked while the business maintains a clear source of truth for product and inventory data.