Imagine E-commerce is a big ring, where companies fight all the time for the title. To your left, there is a super popular and strong BigCommerce, with confidence and power, whereas to your right, another fan favorite Shopify is present, with its good looks and simple spirit. Now, the big showdown between Bigcommerce and Shopify will begin.
Before starting this comparison, let’s understand why choosing the right platform benefits your business. As we all know, E-commerce has a big future with bigger competition, meaning that the correct beginning is necessary. So choosing the right platform will determine your winnings and losses.
Now let’s start with the comparison of the giants.
Understanding BigCommerce and Shopify
BigCommerce is one of the leading E-commerce platforms designed to help businesses of all sizes create, manage, and grow their online stores. It’s designed to be easy to use, so even if you are not a tech expert, you can still build a great-looking online shop. BigCommerce offers a range of features like customizable store designs, easy product management, and tools to handle orders and marketing. This makes it a great choice for anyone looking to start selling online.
One of the best features BigCommerce has is that it can grow with your business. It has tools for everyone, starting from beginners to absolute pros in E-commerce. It lets you sell on multiple channels, offers SEO tools to help your store get found online, and provides detailed analytics to track your performance. Plus, it works with popular payment and shipping services, making it easy to run your store smoothly. With BigCommerce, you can focus on selling your products and connecting with your customers.
On the other hand, Shopify is a well-known online platform that helps people create and run their online stores. It’s designed to be user-friendly, so you don’t need to be a tech genius to get started. With Shopify, you can easily set up a store, choose from a variety of stylish templates, and start selling your products quickly. It offers tools to manage your inventory, process orders, and even handle marketing, making it a great choice for anyone wanting to sell online.
The great thing about Shopify is its flexibility. It can support businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large companies. Shopify also offers features like multi-channel selling, meaning you can sell on your website, social media, and other platforms all from one place. Plus, it integrates with many popular payment gateways and shipping services, making it easy to provide a smooth shopping experience for your customers. With Shopify, you can focus on growing your business and connecting with your customers, without worrying about the technical side of things.
Now, that you understand what BigCommerce and Shopify are, we can dive deeper into the comparison.
Responsive and Customizable Themes
As we all know, first impressions matter. Most users judge your website based on its looks, so choosing the right theme is crucial for your success.
Both tools understand this and offer their users a huge variety of customizable themes.
BigCommerce themes are pre-made and help your website look more professional and appealing, without needing to know how to code. You can choose from many different styles and layouts to match your brand. These themes are easy to customize, so you can change colors, fonts, and images to fit your style. Plus, they work well on both computers and mobile devices, making sure your store looks great everywhere.
When it comes to Shopify themes, they are also pre-made. You can pick from a variety of themes to suit your brand’s style. These themes are easy to personalize, you can adjust colors, fonts, and images to make them your own. They also look great on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring a smooth shopping experience for your customers. We have a blog about the top 10 Shopify themes you can check out.
Product management systems
BigCommerce’s product management system makes it easy to add, organize, and manage your products. You can quickly add product details like descriptions, prices, and images. It also lets you set up product options like sizes and colors, and manage your inventory with ease. The system supports bulk editing, so you can make changes to many products at once. Plus, it has features for setting up product categories, managing stock levels, and offering discounts or promotions.
On the other hand, Shopify’s product management system is user-friendly and efficient. It also allows you to add product details, images, and variants like different sizes or colors. You can easily organize products into categories and manage inventory to keep track of stock levels. Shopify also supports bulk editing for making quick changes to multiple products. Additionally, it has built-in tools for creating discounts, running promotions, and even tracking product performance through detailed analytics.
SEO Capabilities
Search engine optimizer is the way for you to show up in the search results, so having great SEO tools is a must.
BigCommerce helps your store get found online with easy-to-use SEO tools. You can customize titles, descriptions, and URLs for better search results. It also supports faster mobile pages and creates SEO-friendly sitemaps to improve your search rankings.
Shopify makes boosting your store’s search visibility simple. You can edit titles, descriptions, and URLs, and it automatically generates sitemaps. Shopify also speeds up your site and helps optimize images, making your store more attractive to search engines.
Built-In Marketing Tools
BigCommerce comes with handy marketing tools to help promote your store. You can create email campaigns, run promotions, and manage social media ads right from the platform. It also offers features for SEO and integrates with various marketing apps to boost your store’s visibility.
Shopify also provides built-in marketing tools to help you reach more customers. You can create and send email campaigns, run discounts, and manage social media ads. Shopify’s tools make it easy to track your marketing efforts and see what’s working best for your store.
Shopify
Now we’ve gone through some details that Shopify and BigCommerce have in common, but Shopify does have more features, such as:
- Shopify has a more user-friendly interface, it’s so easy that someone from the last century could build a website there.
- It also comes with a drag-and-drop feature and some eye-catching themes, you can build and run a website faster than blink of an eye.
- Shopify does have a huge app store and integration options. If you can imagine anything, like a new payment method or new SEO tool, the Shopify app store has it all.
- It also supports Point-of-Sale, meaning if you decide to try physical retail, you can with the help of Shopify POS.
- Mobile commerce is present and future, so your website needs to be mobile-friendly. Luckily, Shopify automatically adjusts your site to mobiles.
Prices and Plans
In E-commerce, every penny matters. You have a budget and you have to make every dollar worth it. Let’s see the price structure Shopify and BigCommerce have.
BigCommerce Plans
BigCommerce has four plans, each of which offers you different and upgraded options.
- Standard Plan ($29/month) – Includes essential features like unlimited products, sales channels, and basic reporting.
- Plus Plan ($79/month) – Adds advanced features like customer groups, segmented discounts, and more detailed reporting tools.
- Pro Plan ($299/month) – Designed for larger businesses with more complex needs, this plan includes advanced reporting, dedicated support, and additional customization options.
- BigCommerce Enterprise – Tailored for very large businesses, it offers custom solutions, advanced security, and a dedicated account manager for personalized support.
Shopify Plans
Shopify also offers four plans, each plan is better than the last and offers you many upgrades.
- Basic Shopify ($25/month) – This plan covers the essentials like setting up your online store, selling across different channels, and basic reporting tools.
- Shopify ($65/month) – This plan includes everything in Basic, plus more advanced reporting features and better options for shipping and payments.
- Advanced Shopify ($399/month) – This plan offers even more advanced reporting, lower transaction fees, and detailed shipping options.
- Shopify Plus ($2000/month) – Pricing varies. Aimed at large businesses, this plan includes custom features, dedicated support, and tailored solutions.
Design and Customization
In my opinion, most of the users judge your website based on your looks, it happens so fast and unconsciously, that even users do not realize it, so your site’s aesthetics matter. This is why both platforms offer a wide variety of customizable designs and themes.
Design Options and Themes on BigCommerce
BigCommerce offers a wide range of design options and themes to help you create a unique online store. You can choose from various professionally designed themes, which are easy to customize without needing any coding skills.
Whether you want a sleek, modern look or something more classic, BigCommerce’s themes can be tailored to fit your brand’s style. Plus, they’re designed to look great on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring a smooth shopping experience for your customers.
Design Flexibility and Customization of Shopify
Shopify provides excellent design flexibility and customization options for your online store. You can choose from a variety of stylish themes and easily personalize them using a simple drag-and-drop editor. This allows you to adjust colors, fonts, and layout elements to match your brand.
For those with coding skills, Shopify also offers advanced customization options, so you can tweak your store’s design even further. Plus, Shopify themes are designed to be mobile-friendly, ensuring your store looks great on any device.
Customer Support
BigCommerce offers strong customer support with 24/7 access through phone, chat, and email. They also provide a comprehensive help center with guides, tutorials, and community forums. For those needing more personalized help, BigCommerce offers dedicated account managers and advanced support options with higher-tier plans.
Shopify also provides excellent customer support available 24/7 via phone, chat, and email. Their help center is filled with detailed guides, FAQs, and tutorials. Shopify has a large community of experts and developers who can assist with more specialized needs, and their support is generally praised for being responsive and helpful.
Payment Options
BigCommerce supports a wide range of payment options to make it easy for customers to pay. It integrates with major payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.Net, and also supports credit card payments directly through its system. You can offer various payment methods, including digital wallets and buy now, pay later options, ensuring a flexible checkout experience for your customers.
Shopify provides diverse payment options, including its payment gateway, Shopify Payments, which accepts major credit cards and integrates with various payment providers like PayPal, Stripe, and Apple Pay. Shopify also supports alternative payment methods such as digital wallets and cryptocurrency, allowing you to cater to different customer preferences and make the checkout process as smooth as possible.
Security and Reliability
BigCommerce prioritizes security and reliability with features like SSL certificates to keep your data safe, PCI compliance for secure payment processing, and regular security updates. It also offers reliable performance with high uptime guarantees, ensuring your store remains accessible to customers at all times.
Shopify also focuses heavily on security and reliability. It provides SSL encryption to protect sensitive data, complies with PCI standards for secure transactions, and has robust security measures in place to guard against fraud and breaches. Shopify’s infrastructure is built for high performance and reliability, with a strong uptime record to keep your store running smoothly.
Multilingual and Multi-currency Support
BigCommerce offers multilingual and multi-currency support to help you reach a global audience. You can create multiple store versions in different languages and currencies, allowing customers to shop in their preferred language and currency. This flexibility helps improve the shopping experience and can boost international sales.
Shopify also supports multiple languages and currencies. You can use various apps and features to create a multilingual store and offer prices in different currencies. Shopify Payments handles currency conversions automatically, and customers can see prices in their local currency, making it easier to sell internationally.
Which One is Best For You
I’m not here to tell you which platform is best for you, you need to choose the one that suits you best on your own. Analyze your needs and preferences, your budget and target, and decide on your own.
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