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BigCommerce vs Shopify Which e-Commerce platform is right for you?

By Aman Bhati

8 min

May 13, 2024

The selection of an appropriate online store is essential to building a customized and result-driven online store. It is a top-of-mind option for business owners globally. The internet is filled with over 200 eCommerce store builders, but BigCommerce and Shopify are the preferred options, and they stand out with their features and impeccable services.

The point is that while the two seem similar on the surface, how can you know which one is your best partner?

Choosing the right platform to kick-start your online business is crucial to your success. To save you time and effort in evaluating each, we’ve unpacked the functions and features side by side, then headed to an all-encompassing BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison. However, the ecommerce platform comparison is a challenge for business owners.

This article will help you arrive at your own choice for your perfect platform. This blog post will take you through the intricacies of the BigCommerce vs Shopify debate with:

What is Shopify?
What is BigCommerce?
Ecommerce Platform Comparison
BigCommerce Features:
Shopify Features:
The bottom line

So, let’s dive deep to clarify our doubts about the BigCommerce vs Shopify faceoff.

What is Shopify?

In the dynamic world of the eCommerce landscape, every merchant knows what it is and what it is capable of. This platform is one of the most preferred online stores.

Shopify is a one-stop-solution eCommerce platform. It helps businesses build and manage their online store with no need for coding expertise. Shopify is a feature-filled platform that includes sales and marketing, payment, shipping, front-store design, and more.

Shopify is known for its value-adding services. It stands out with a wide range of third-party apps and integration options. It has a user-friendly interface and a simple store-building process that make it a top-of-mind choice for building and scaling online businesses. The following section will help you find your answer to what Shopify is.

Shopify has emerged as a household name in the e-commerce realm. Shopify powers millions of online store businesses across 175 countries, highlighting its widespread adoption among entrepreneurs.

User-Friendly Interface: Shopify is known for its customer-friendly interface. A study by Nielsen Norman reveals that users prefer the design with the highest usability metrics 70% of the time, making Shopify an attractive option for novice users.
App Ecosystem: Shopify has a thriving app ecosystem. It offers a wide range of third-party integrations to enhance the store’s functionality. Shopify’s store caters to the varying needs of all sorts of online stores.
Mobile Optimization: According to a study by Adobe Analytics, more than 50% of online transactions are done by mobile phones globally. This shows the significance of mobile optimization for any online store. Shopify understands this and prioritizes mobile responsiveness to deliver a seamless browsing and shopping experience across devices.

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a powerful eCommerce platform that provides a comprehensive set of features that help you control your online store, including selling, marketing, managing product inventory, etc. Keep reading to learn what BigCommerce is.

BigCommerce, like Shopify, has an easy-to-use interface and is a versatile one-stop solution for e-commerce merchants. It stands out in a myriad of online stores with its comprehensive range of tools and features that make a store more advanced and help businesses with dynamic business needs.

Scalability: BigCommerce helps businesses scale to the next level. It has supported multiple startups and seasoned enterprises. This platform scales effortlessly to accommodate the varying business needs.
Customization: According to a study by McKinsey and Company, 70% of customers expect personalized marketing experiences. The same study also reveals that 76% of those same customers experience frustration with the brand when those personalization efforts are not accurate or relevant. BigCommerce understands this and offers an ocean of customization options to allow businesses to create a tailored store that resonates with their brand identity.
Multi-channel Selling: The diversification of sales channels is crucial to succeeding in this omnichannel world. BigCommerce accommodates seamless integration with different channels, including online marketplaces and social media platforms, to enable you to expand your reach and maximize sales potential.

Ecommerce Platform Comparison

Now that we’ve explored the key features of BigCommerce and Shopify individually, let’s conduct a comprehensive ecommerce platform comparison between these giants to help you make an informed decision.

BigCommerce vs Shopify is a never-ending debate, as these beasts boast the same features for eCommerce merchants and communities.

Selling capability is the first and foremost feature that online business merchants look for in an eCommerce platform.

Features

Both platforms provide significant eCommerce features to suit the varying needs of online stores. It includes a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate, the ability to sell products, and more. BigCommerce offers more built-in features, whereas Shopify provides a plethora of more than 8,000 free and paid third-party apps in its app store.

Let’s delve deep to learn more about the features of both platforms:

BigCommerce Features:

Both platforms provide a range of built-in features that cover all facets of selling products. However, the significant differences between both of these platforms can be summed up as:

BigCommerce offers a comprehensive range of features and a diverse and broad product portfolio. It has more variants, an advanced product filter, and unlimited staff accounts.

If you are looking forward to selling specialized and niche-based products with different types and variants, BigCommerce is your go-to option.

Shopify Features:

Shopify makes it easy to incorporate any app into your online store, as it has more than 8,000 apps in its app store. Therefore, your business would be easily customized, with more functionalities needed for expansion and growth. So, if you are expanding your business, go with Shopify, as it would help your business better.

Shopify has a POS tool to seamlessly integrate your store with a brick-and-mortar shop, which is not a built-in feature in BigCommerce. Hence, Shopify wins this round.

BigCommerce vs Shopify: So, once we have gone through the key features of BigCommerce and Shopify, it’s time to begin the BigCommerce vs Shopify game by comparing both eCommerce giants.

Pricing

Both platforms offer three tiers of pricing plans. In the battle of BigCommerce vs Shopify, pricing is a crucial factor to consider. Both of these platforms provide three tiers of pricing plans, with need-based custom plans personalized for businesses.

Let’s begin with the pricing plans:

Shopify Pricing:

Shopify Basic: The Shopify Basic plan is available at $39 and 2.9% of transaction fees. Along with this, you need to pay 30 cents to the platform. In this plan, the store offers one store, two staff accounts, round-the-clock support, and blogging capabilities.
Shopify: The Shopify plan starts at $105. A transaction fee of 2.7% and 30 cents also needs to be paid to the store for every transaction. This plan offers more features, including professional reports, lower credit card rates, and up to five staff accounts.
Shopify advanced plan: The Shopify advanced plan is available for $300 per month. This plan costs an additional 2.4% of the transaction and 30 cents.

BigCommerce Pricing:

BigCommerce pricing also offers a flat-rate monthly subscription fee. It charges no transaction fees and provides a free 15-day trial.

BigCommerce Standard: This is the most economical plan for BigCommerce. It charges $39 per month. It offers a template design, professional reporting, real-time shipping quotes, and other gift cards.
BigCommerce Plus: This plan is available at $105 with an annual revenue threshold of $150,000. If you achieve the business revenue threshold, your plan will be upgraded to the next BigCommerce pricing plan.

Additional features to help with store management, growth, creation, and marketing. Includes limited customer segmentation and abandoned cart recovery.

BigCommerce Pro: This Plan is available at a monthly price of $399 and an annual revenue threshold of $400,000. This plan offers extra functionality to analyze and track marketing progress, product filter applications, and install third-party secure socket layer (SSL) certificates.

So, on the pricing front, it is not easy to declare one winner, as it depends on your business’s needs and demands.

Ease of Use

Both platforms are easy to use, have user-friendly dashboards, and have an intuitive process. However, BigCommerce is good to go for newbies. It has a massive and comprehensive scope interface that offers ease to build an online store with no hassle.

On the contrary, Shopify is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a simple flow that guides you through every stage of the building process.

However, if you are new to the eCommerce world, BigCommerce could be overwhelming at first due to its massive and wide-scope interface, as well as several technical terms you may encounter during the building process.

Design and Customization

BigCommerce has a drag-and-drop dashboard to get meaningful insights, which Shopify doesn’t. However, it has fewer themes than Shopify. Customizing the front store requires technical expertise.

On the other hand, Shopify has more themes than BigCommerce. It offers a wide range of theme options to suit your business needs. With a sleek and simple editor for a seamless experience, it makes your store look visually appealing and captivating. It also supports AR and 3D models, making it a clear winner in this category.

SEO Performance and Marketing Tools

Both platforms offer built-in marketing tools. You can effortlessly integrate other third-party apps to optimize your revenue.

Shopify has a built-in email marketing system to support marketing flows, including upsells, purchases, onboarding, abandoned cart reminders, and more.

BigCommerce, on the contrary, doesn’t include email marketing as a built-in feature. However, it seamlessly integrates with popular marketing tools like Mailchimp, Google Ads, Constant Contact, Omnisend, Facebook Ads, and more.

One feature that sets BigCommerce apart is that the platform enables Google customer reviews, which is beneficial for enhancing credibility and trust.

Bottom line

All the features compared in the BigCommerce vs Shopify faceoff may be beneficial for you in making an informed decision while picking up one online store builder. This blog shed light on shopify features, bigcommerce features, and comparison between BigCommerce and Shopify.

It is hard to decide who wins the BigCommerce vs Shopify standoff because both offer a wide range of features and capabilities to help businesses grow. The choice depends on your particular needs, budget, and business goals.

So, In this detailed guide of ecommerce platform comparison, before making your selection between BigCommerce and Shopify, carefully evaluate your requirements and consider factors such as scalability, pricing, and available integrations.

If you are looking forward to building an online store with extensive inventory and a complex store, BigCommerce may suit your needs.

However, if you are a newcomer seeking a streamlined flow for building and managing stores, Shopify can be your go-to eCommerce store builder due to its simplicity.

In case you need an expert to help you select the appropriate player from the BigCommerce vs Shopify faceoff, don’t hesitate to connect with an expert at TRooInbound.

Switch From Conversion Funnel To Flywheel

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What is Shopify?
What is BigCommerce?
Ecommerce Platform Comparison
Features
Pricing
Ease of Use
Design and Customization
SEO Performance and Marketing Tools
Bottom line

Switch From Conversion Funnel To Flywheel

Public Relations As Inbound Marketing

Aman Bhati

Aman Bhati is a Digital Marketing Manager, possesses a diverse range of skills and knowledge to effectively tackle a broad spectrum of digital marketing challenges. His expertise extends from the development of project strategies and timelines to the optimization of website design and content, conducting comprehensive market research, and efficiently setting up and managing paid advertising campaigns.

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BigCommerce vs Shopify Which e-Commerce platform is right for you?

What is Shopify?

What is BigCommerce?

Ecommerce Platform Comparison