When trying to pick the right ecommerce platform for your business, evaluating Shopify vs BigCommerce can be very helpful. The platform’s policies and technical features can either enhance or diminish the customer experience, influencing the overall success of your store.
With over 2 million daily users, Shopify stands as a leader in the ecommerce world. BigCommerce, with around 1 million users, follows closely behind. Comparing Shopify and BigCommerce can be complex, especially since both platforms support thousands of successful online businesses.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world, known for its user-friendly interface and powerful tools. It allows users to easily create, customize, and manage an online store without needing extensive technical knowledge.
Shopify offers a variety of themes and plugins that enable businesses to build fast-loading, visually appealing websites. Additionally, Shopify provides tools for inventory management, payments, orders, analytics, and marketing, making it a comprehensive solution for ecommerce businesses of all sizes.
Expert Shopify development solutions by skilled developers provide you with exceptional ecommerce websites using Shopify
What is BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is another top ecommerce platform, known for its extensive built-in features and scalability. It’s particularly popular among larger businesses and enterprises that require advanced functionality and the ability to handle high-volume sales.
BigCommerce offers powerful tools for product and sales management, email marketing, financial reporting, and multi-channel selling. It’s also recognized for its strong SEO capabilities, making it a great choice for businesses looking to improve their search engine rankings.
Business owners looking for BigCommerce websites can get help from leading ecommerce development companies.
A Comparative Analysis of BigCommerce vs Shopify
The comparison between Shopify and BigCommerce is given below:
1. Pricing & Cost
When comparing Shopify vs BigCommerce, both platforms offer free trials and pricing plans that range from about $19 to $299. The key difference lies in the features included at each tier. For instance, Shopify’s Basic Plan includes abandoned cart recovery, while BigCommerce only provides this feature in its Plus Plan.
BigCommerce Pricing:
- Standard: $29/month
- Plus: $79/month
- Pro: $299/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing based on requirements
BigCommerce stands out by not charging transaction fees on any plan, allowing businesses to maximize their sales without extra costs.
Shopify Pricing:
- Basic: $29/month
- Shopify: $79/month
- Advanced Shopify: $299/month
- Shopify Plus: Starting at $2,300, with variations depending on needs
See more details about Shopify pricing.
2. Ease of Use
Ease of use is crucial for both beginners and seasoned eCommerce entrepreneurs, making it an important factor when comparing BigCommerce vs Shopify.
BigCommerce Ease of Use:
BigCommerce is designed with beginners in mind, offering a user-friendly setup for those with little experience in website creation. However, it’s also versatile enough for experienced users and developers to customize and modify store code.
While it may take some time to fully grasp the platform, its out-of-the-box features can significantly help grow your business.
Shopify Ease of Use:
Shopify excels in ease of use, especially for newcomers. Its minimalist dashboard is intuitive and easy to navigate, allowing users to set up a new store with minimal effort.
Shopify’s pre-built sections and in-app guidance make editing simple, letting you focus on business strategy rather than technical details.
3. Themes & Design
Creating an appealing store design is key to attracting customers and driving sales. Here’s how the design options stack up between BigCommerce and Shopify.
BigCommerce Themes:
BigCommerce offers a variety of themes categorized by industry, layout, and price. It provides free themes for beginners and premium options priced between $150 and $399. These themes cater to different business needs, allowing for customization to match your brand.
Shopify Themes:
Shopify provides themes that are modern, professional, and highly customizable. They range in price from $100 to $350, and all are mobile-responsive, ensuring your store looks great on any device. Shopify also offers a mobile preview feature to help you perfect your design.
4. Apps & Addons
As your eCommerce business expands, choosing a platform that offers flexibility and scalability is vital. Here’s how BigCommerce and Shopify compare in terms of app marketplaces and scalability.
BigCommerce Apps:
BigCommerce offers over 1,500 apps across categories like Accounting, Checkout, and Payment. It also features powerful built-in functionalities, reducing the need for third-party apps. With open APIs and advanced scalability options, BigCommerce is ideal for businesses aiming to grow.
Shopify Apps:
Shopify features an extensive app store with over 8,000 apps, making it the largest in the market. You can easily explore apps for shipping, customization, and marketing. Shopify Plus, designed for global expansion, offers advanced tools and functionalities for scaling your store.
5. Payment Gateways
When comparing Shopify and BigCommerce, both platforms support integration with most third-party gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Square. However, a key distinction lies in Shopify’s built-in payment processor, while BigCommerce focuses on enhancing third-party integrations with robust features.
Shopify Payments:
Shopify Payments, the platform’s in-house processor, ensures quick and secure transactions by directly transferring customer payments to store owners. It features instant setup, full integration, no extra fees, and built-in fraud analysis for added security.
BigCommerce Payments:
BigCommerce integrates with over 65 gateways, offering PCI compliance, mobile optimization, and no transaction fees for third-party providers. Its standout feature is multi-currency support, enabling detailed pricing customization, making it highly flexible for global eCommerce operations.
6. Ecommerce Dropshipping
For dropshippers, the ease of sourcing products and automating sales and shipping processes is crucial. Here’s how BigCommerce and Shopify compare in this area:
Shopify Dropshipping:
Shopify’s standout feature for dropshipping is its integration with Dsers and Dropified. Dsers offers a vast selection of products at wholesale prices, and the Shopify app store includes various other dropshipping apps catering to different niches and regions, all highly rated for quality.
BigCommerce Dropshipping:
BigCommerce provides a good selection of product-sourcing apps in its marketplace. However, the quality and comprehensiveness of these apps vary, with some falling short compared to Shopify’s offerings like Dsers.
7. Sales Features
Sales features are crucial for generating revenue, and both BigCommerce and Shopify offer robust solutions, though with some differences.
Inventory Management:
BigCommerce provides a powerful, native inventory management system that integrates smoothly with both online and offline channels. This system supports selling physical, digital, and service-based products without the need for additional apps.
On the other hand, Shopify offers inventory tracking that lets users view and adjust inventory counts while tracking historical adjustments for product variants.
Sales Channels:
BigCommerce’s Channel Manager simplifies multi-channel selling by connecting with various marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Walmart, as well as social channels such as Facebook and Google. This integration helps merchants expand their sales reach.
Shopify similarly supports multiple online sales channels, allowing users to manage products, orders, and customers from a single platform, with support for channels like Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and Instagram.
Point-of-Sale (POS):
BigCommerce integrates with a range of POS providers, including ConnectPOS, Hike, and Vend, enabling seamless online and offline sales. This integration manages product catalogs and synchronizes inventory without additional fees.
Shopify offers a POS application for iOS and Android, facilitating in-person sales directly through Shopify. For a deeper understanding of Shopify POS, further exploration of its features is recommended.
8. Marketing Features
Effective marketing tools are essential for promoting your online business. Here’s a look at how BigCommerce and Shopify compare in this area.
BigCommerce Marketing:
BigCommerce integrates with leading email platforms like MailChimp and G Suite for effective email marketing. It offers robust SEO tools, including control over URLs, title tags, and metadata. Automatic 301 redirects simplify managing changes to product or page URLs.
Shopify Marketing:
Shopify provides built-in email marketing tools with customizable templates and a unified dashboard for managing marketing efforts. It supports on-page SEO with easy title tag and meta description edits. Automatic 301 redirects are triggered when URLs for pages or products change.
Useful Article: Shopify SEO Tips and Best Practices
9. Security
Security is important for eCommerce sites, especially for protecting sensitive data and ensuring customer privacy. Proper security measures are essential for safeguarding your website’s integrity. Let’s compare Shopify vs BigCommerce to see how they stack up in terms of security.
BigCommerce Security:
BigCommerce provides robust security with PCI DSS Level 1 certification, including firewalls, intrusion detection, and 24/7 monitoring. It offers SSL certificates for encryption, ensuring secure data transmission between users and the site. Enhanced protection includes file integrity scanning and fraud detection.
Shopify Security:
Shopify ensures PCI compliance for all stores, safeguarding payment and business data. It provides SSL certificates for custom domains, encrypting store content and using HTTPS to enhance security. This ensures secure data transmission and protection against breaches.
10. Customer Support
Customer support is essential for maximizing your eCommerce experience and handling any unexpected issues. Let’s explore how BigCommerce vs Shopify compare in providing support.
BigCommerce support:
BigCommerce offers personalized support with a 10-minute call scheduled during your free trial to better understand your business. Enterprise-level customers receive prioritized assistance, including onboarding consultants and dedicated phone support from experienced staff.
Shopify support:
Shopify excels in customer support with a comprehensive help system. Besides standard support, Shopify offers assistance through social media and directs users to relevant resources in the Shopify knowledge center, providing a more integrated support experience compared to BigCommerce.
Shopify or BigCommerce: Which is the Right Platform for Your Business?
After a thorough comparison, it’s evident that both Shopify and BigCommerce are powerful e-commerce platforms equipped with the essential tools for managing online stores.
Shopify stands out for its user-friendly interface, elegant design templates, robust marketing and sales features, comprehensive support network, and strong global presence. Its rapid growth and widespread recognition further bolster its appeal.
However, the ideal choice depends on your business needs and future goals. Shopify excels in simplifying direct-to-consumer sales, while BigCommerce offers robust features for complex B2B transactions. Despite its strengths, BigCommerce lags behind Shopify Plus in terms of integrations, tech partners, and ecosystem development.
Ultimately, the right platform is the one that best aligns with your business objectives and supports your online shop’s success.
Conclusion of Choosing Between Shopify and BigCommerce
Both Shopify and BigCommerce are powerful ecommerce platforms with their own strengths. Shopify is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize ease of use and customization. On the other hand, BigCommerce is better suited for larger enterprises needing advanced features and scalability without worrying about additional transaction fees.