Your online store’s success depends on your choice of e-commerce platform, and there are so many of them that it can be confusing.
We’ll go into great depth on the features, costs, and advantages and disadvantages of Shopify and Bigcommerce in this thorough comparison to help you make an educated choice that fits your needs and business objectives.
This article offers insightful information to help you make decisions whether you’re a new business owner or an experienced one considering a platform change.
What is Shopify？
Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that enables entrepreneurs and businesses to create, customize, and manage their online stores. From its founding in 2006, Shopify has expanded into a complete platform with a variety of tools and features to assist small startups as well as big companies.
Pros
Cons
Why choose Shopify？
On Shopify, merchants can build their brand and customize their storefronts to attract customers.
Features relating to order management, inventory management, marketing, data analysis and third-party integrations empower Shopify to become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms.
Moreover, Shopify is currently offering a shocking discount on subscription fees. Shopify offers a 3-day free trial and only costs you $1 for the following three months.
What is BigCommerce？
BigCommerce is a well-known leading e-commerce builder, which offers great scalability for online stores.
Pros
Cons
Why choose BigCommerce？
BigCommerce is very scalable, which makes it the perfect platform for growing businesses and large companies.
The cheapest plan is very affordable, costing only $29 per month, which helps new businesses start their journey with BigCommerce at a low cost.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: Pricing
Now, Shopify offers a 3-day free trial period, which can be extended up to 14 days. After the free trial, you can enjoy the $1 for 3 months plan.
Afterward, you are expected to pay the full price for the plan that you choose. There are four Shopify plans, the Basic, the Shopify, the Advanced and the Plus, costing $33, $92, $399 and $2,300 respectively.
BigCommerce also offers four different plans for users. We assume you are paying on an annual basis in this section.
The Standard, the Plus and the Pro plan cost you $29, $79, and $299 per month respectively.
The most expensive plan is called the Enterprise, for which the subscription fee is not fixed and can be customised.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: 2024 Comparison
1. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which is easier to use?
Shopify is easier to use. Shopify is well-known for its user-friendly interface. On Shopify, since you are creating a new website, you need to customize your storefront and add products to it.
Apart from customizing your Shopify store, you can find all kinds of third-party applications to make your operation easier.
Since BigCommerce targets larger businesses, setting up a store on BigCommerce can be more complicated. It does require a longer learning curve.
For instance, it takes much more time to import products into your BigCommerce store, because BigCommerce asks you to provide very detailed information about your products.
2. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which is better for big businesses?
It depends on your business model. Both Shopify and BigCommerce are suitable for large businesses. Shopify is more specialised in serving B2C businesses whereas BigCommerce is great for online B2B businesses.
Shopify plus is very suitable for big businesses. The plus plan is for complex businesses as it costs $2,300 per month on a 3-year term.
You have all the features mentioned above and you can have up to 200 inventory locations, 50 selling markets and 200 Shopify POS Pro locations.
Apart from those, you can even start your wholesale business on Shopify.
BigCommerce is designed to serve large businesses. The subscription fee for the Enterprise plan can be negotiated and of course, if you have a very high volume of sales, you are very likely to get lower rates. There is no transaction fee on BigCommerce.
3. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which has the better design?
Both platforms have a limited amount of free themes, but Shopify is better when it comes to storefront design functionality.
On Shopify, if you wish to further customize your storefront, you might not use the free themes offered by Shopify. There are more delicate themes on Shopify, costing from $170 to $380, which is quite expensive.
However, successful stores always have a theme matching their brand and always stand out from others.
Even though BigCommerce has more free themes and paid themes than Shopify, the differences between themes, be it a free one or a paid one, are very limited.
If you look into them carefully, you will find out that even the free themes look similar to the paid ones.
4. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which has the better sales features?
Shopify has better sales features. Even though BigCommerce has more built-in sales features for users, Shopify’s sales features are more customizable. To be fair, both Shopify and BigCommerce offer essential features for a business.
Shopify may lose in the battle of the amount of built-in sales features, but Shopify creates a platform where software developers around the world are keen to upload their apps.
As a store owner, you can find more customizable and personalized apps and tools on Shopify to boost your sales.
BigCommerce’s sales features are more standardized, which means you can not customize it however you want. It is suitable for large businesses that are very familiar with these features on other platforms.
5. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which has better support and security?
Both Shopify and BigCommerce provide excellent customer support and security, but after comparing Shopify and BigCommerce, Shopify offers slightly better customer support.
Additionally, when it comes to security, they are on a tie as both of them provide free SSL certificates for all users no matter which plan you are subscribed to.
Shopify offers customer services through various channels, including 24/7 live chat box, email and hotline support.
In addition, there are community forums that are held regularly to help merchants solve issues with their operations.
BigCommerce also offers essential customer services, but what differentiates Shopify from BigCommerce is the help center.
BigCommerce’s help center is full of knowledge, but Shopify’s help center has relevant information pump-ups, which always show the content that you want to know more about.
6. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which has the better marketing features?
The answer to this question is that it is a tie. Both Shopify and BigCommerce have developed great tools for marketing purposes.
Marketing features are essential for an online store, excellent marketing features help you to drive traffic with little effort.
When it comes to the quantity of marketing features, BigCommerce has more built-in marketing tools whereas Shopify has more marketing tools combined with built-in and third-party apps in the app store.
Every BigCommerce plan offers features such as promo codes, customizable URLs, Google Shopping integration, reporting tools and SEO.
Shopify also offers similar features for all of its customers, and with a more advanced plan, you can unlock more functionalities.
5 Reasons to choose Shopify to BigCommerce
1. User-friendly Shopify 3-day free trial
Since October 2023, Shopify has replaced the two-week free trial, followed by a monthly fee of $39 for the basic Shopify plan, with the current 3-day free trial and only $1 for the following three months.
During the free trial period, you can access almost all the functionality on the website. You can explore the integrated tools and built-in features to customize your online store.
2. Over 6,000 Shopify apps
Shopify has over 6,000 apps in its app store. When operating an online store, you will need many different e-commerce tools and third-party applications to support your management.
They save you time and prompt productivity, especially when your store has high traffic and a great number of transactions. The disadvantage of BigCommerce is that you can’t customize to the same degree as Shopify.
3. Flexible E-Commerce Solutions
Shopify provides flexible e-commerce solutions for businesses of any size.
The plus plan is for complex businesses as it costs $2,300 per month on a 3-year term.
You have all the features mentioned above and you can have up to 200 inventory locations, 50 selling markets and 200 Shopify POS Pro locations. Apart from those, you can even start your wholesale business on Shopify.
4. Point of Sale (POS) for Business
Shopify supports both online and in-person sales, which BigCommerce does not.
Shopify POS software is considered one of the best systems for businesses that sell products both online and face-to-face, especially when you sell products on Shopify.
Shopify POS software simply synchronizes with the Shopify e-commerce platform and facilitates your operation, including inventory management, package tracking, customer profiles, sales analysis and so on.
5. Professional Shopify expert
On Shopify, you can easily get professional support from experts. Since Shopify is one of the largest e-commerce platforms around the world, there are many companies offering professional services to Shopify’s users.
For instance, Channelwill, an all in one e-commerce platform, has a brilliant team of experts who you can always turn to when having a problem with your online business.
What’s Next?
As we conclude this comparison between Shopify and Bigcommerce, it’s clear that both platforms offer robust features and capabilities to support your e-commerce venture.
Whether you prioritize ease of use, customization options, or scalability, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses to consider.
Ultimately, the best choice for your online store depends on your specific requirements, budget, and long-term goals.
We hope this comparison has provided valuable insights to help you make an informed decision that aligns with your business needs.
Whichever platform you choose, may your online venture thrive and grow, bringing success and fulfillment to your business journey. Best of luck on your e-commerce adventure!
FAQs About Shopify vs Bigcommerce
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