BigCommerce vs. BigCommerce Comparison Shopify: Which is Better?

Choosing the right ecommerce platform is an important decision for small business owners looking to expand their online presence. With so many options available, it is important to consider factors such as features, ease of use, price, and scalability.

If you are looking for an ecommerce platform and wondering whether to choose Shopify or BigCommerce, this blog post will come in handy. Continue reading for a detailed breakdown of the platforms and explore alternative options if none of them work for you.

Shopify vs BigCommerce: Website Builders

You may already have a business website built using a platform like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. But what if you don’t? Let’s explore whether you can create an ecommerce website from scratch using this ecommerce platform.

• Shopify: Shopify provides a drag and drop website builder. This is great for beginners, but customization can feel limiting without advanced coding skills or themes from the Shopify Theme Store.
• Big Trade: BigCommerce delivers an intuitive website builder with more default tools for customization and scalability. It’s ideal for those who want flexibility without relying on third party application.

BigCommerce vs Shopify: Online Store Features

Now, let’s answer the most crucial question in the BigCommerce vs. BigCommerce debate. Shopify: how do their online store features complement each other?

Default Feature

Default features refer to tools and functions that are available directly within the platform, without the need to install third party application or integration.

Important tools for online stores, such as payments, discounts, or tax calculations, are often built-in. However, availability may vary between platforms depending on the package chosen.

The main consideration is how many features to rely on third party services, which may result in additional charges. With this in mind, let’s compare Shopify versus BigCommerce.

• Shopify: Shopify Offers multi-channel sales and inventory tracking capabilities across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. It also provides access to a wide range of third party applications to expand the functionality of your store.
• Big Trade: BigCommerce includes powerful native features like product filtering, abandoned cart recovery, and advanced SEO tools. These features are default, reducing dependence on paid applications.

Design Theme

When creating an online store, you usually have two options: use has been designed beforehand templates (often referred to as design themes) or working with developers to design custom sites.

Most ecommerce platforms provide a variety of customizable site templates, making it easy for beginners or teams without developers to create looks professional shop.

Let’s dive into the design theme comparison: Shopify vs. Shopify BigCommerce.

• Shopify: Offers hundreds of themes, with 23 free and 246 paid, with prices $100-$500. These themes are mobile responsive and polished, but can be expensive.
• Big Trade: Comes with 12 free themes and 200+ paid themes ranging from $195 to $500. These themes are suitable for both B2C and B2B stores.

Integration

Integration means allowing your store to connect with other apps or tools. This is important because it allows automation and streamlining of tasks, saving you time and effort.

Speaking of integrations, here’s an overview of BigCommerce vs. Shopify:

• Shopify: Shopify expands functionality with its 8,000+ apps, from shipping calculators to email automation. However, many of these apps incur additional subscription fees.
• Big Trade: Includes many features natively, but still offers 1,200 apps for additional integration.

B2B Solutions: BigCommerce vs. Shopify Plus

If you run a B2B store, you need to consider factors such as custom pricing, bulk orders, and customer groups.

BigCommerce and Shopify offer solutions for B2B businesses through their custom plans. Let’s compare Shopify Plus vs. BigCommerce Enterprise:

• Shopify Plus: Can be used for B2B, as it includes wholesale solutions, custom customer groups, and advanced payment customization.
• Large Trading Company: Offers comprehensive B2B solutions through a special B2B Edition. This includes advanced tools for sales agents, a buyer portal for B2B customers, and an invoice management portal.

Shopify versus BigCommerce: Pricing

Price can be a major factor when deciding on an ecommerce platform, especially for businesses just starting out.

Let’s see which platform offers the most affordable prices, Shopify or BigCommerce.

Shopify:

• Basic — $32/month
• Grow — $92/month
• Advanced — starts at $399/month
• Plus — starting at $2,300/month
• Additional fees for transaction fees (ranging from a low of 0.2% on Plus to a high of 2% on Basic)
• 3 days free trial (not available for Plus plan).

Big Trade:

• Standard — $39/month
• Plus — $105/month
• Pro — $399/month with less than $400k in online sales, + $150/mo for every additional $200k in online sales.
• Enterprise — custom pricing based on your online sales.
• 15 days free trials on Standard, Plus, and Pro plans.

BigCommerce vs. Shopify: Ease of Use

Ease of use is important for both novice sellers managing everything themselves and established businesses training their online store teams.

Let’s see what BigCommerce vs Shopify reviews have to say about user friendliness from the platform.

• Shopify: Rated 4.5 for ease of use by Software Advice, a review platform.
• Big Trade: Yields 4.2 ease of use ratings from Software Advice.

Alternative solution: Ecwid

Ecwid by Lightspeed is a user friendly ecommerce platform that is a popular alternative to Shopify and Bigcommerce, thanks to its affordability and flexibility.

Ecwid is an ecommerce platform that allows business owners to sell online easily. Ecwid is designed to be a simple online ecommerce platform, so no experience is required. Additionally, with integration with online sales channels (including social media and marketplaces), Ecwid users can sell products anywhere.

Here’s why Ecwid is a great and more affordable alternative to Shopify or BigCommerce:

• User friendliness: Rated 4.6 for ease of use Software Suggestions, Ecwid outperforms Shopify and BigCommerce.
• Free theme: Ecwid has 70+ site templates available at no additional cost on all plans. The themes are tailored to different niches and are fully customizable. You can also add an online store to your existing website.
• Core features: Plans include essential online store features like customizable checkouts, automatic taxes, discounts, marketing automation, and a multilingual store, so you don’t have to rely on third parties.
• Integration: Supports over 100 major payment providers and integrates with popular CMS platforms like WordPress and Wix, social platforms like Meta and TikTok, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, and hundreds of accounting, marketing, and customer support tools.
• Price: Starting at just $5/month, there’s much more feature rich plans for $30/month, $55/month, and $130/month. While Ecwid doesn’t offer a free trial, its free themes, cost effective pricing plans, and minimal dependency on third party app makes it a more affordable option over time.
• There are no transaction fees: Transparent options, no additional costs across all plans.

In short, Ecwid by Lightspeed is great user friendly and have no need to bother setup process. This is the easiest and most affordable option, with no additional transaction fees.

Set Up Your Online Store

Now that you have the information about BigCommerce vs. Shopify, as well as Ecwid, now it’s time to choose your platform and start your e-commerce journey.

Whether you’re a small business owner looking to expand your reach or an entrepreneur taking your first steps in selling online, you can make it happen with just a few clicks.

Choose the platform that best suits your needs and budget, and get ready to see your business grow.