BigCommerce Vs Shopify: Which Ecommerce Platform Should You Choose?

If you’re planning to launch an ecommerce store, you might face a dilemma: BigCommerce vs Shopify – which is better? Or are you already on BigCommerce and thinking about migrating to a new platform, wondering if Shopify is the best option? 

To help you determine which is the right fit, we’re comparing BigCommerce vs Shopify, highlighting the key differences between the platforms. Here, we look at the ease of use, flexibility, features, scalability, pricing, plans and support (to name a few). 

So, let’s take a look…

Bigcommerce Vs Shopify – An Overview

1. Ease of Use

Of course, you want an ecommerce platform that you and your team will find easy to manage. Both Shopify and BigCommerce have drag-and-drop editors, which makes updating and changing content simple. However, Shopify comes with a handy ‘sections’ functionality, which gives you the flexibility to edit, show, hide and rearrange sections so you can create a unique shopping experience aligned with your brand, without having to rely on designers or developers to make changes. In contrast, although BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, it’s ‌considered more time-intensive to manage and requires a hefty amount of developer resources to maintain regularly.

2. Speed

When it comes to ecommerce sales, speed plays an integral part in the conversion puzzle. Also, page speed matters for SEO. Google has been vocal about the fact that page speed is a signal used by its algorithm to rank pages. So if users are abandoning your site as soon as they land on it, Google will penalise you because it performs poorly. Fortunately, with Shopify, speed isn’t a problem. The platform has been built with high performance in mind, making sure your store loads quickly by compressing images to the WebP format and providing you with a transparent speed report so you can identify opportunities to make it even faster. The same, however, can not be said for BigCommerce.

3. Scalability

One of the great things about Shopify is that the platform grows with your business. It comes with a whole host of handy tools, so you can scale from a small business to a multinational empire. For this reason, many more of the world’s biggest names and brands are on Shopify compared to BigCommerce. 

4. App Ecosystem

Shopify has a significantly larger app ecosystem than BigCommerce (3,000+ of which are free), giving you the freedom to customise your store to suit the unique needs of your business, meet your customers’ needs and optimise conversions. From loyalty programs and reviews to product discovery and recommendations, the options of apps are endless.

5. Payments

BigCommerce has over 65 payment gateways. In contrast, Shopify has over 100, giving shoppers more choices when it comes to the way they pay for products. This is advantageous given that consumers admit they’ll abandon a cart if their preferred payment option isn’t available.

What’s more, Shopify has its own payment gateway: Shopify Payments, which has no transaction fees, is available in over seventeen different countries across the globe and allows you to offer all major payment methods. On top of that, Shopify comes with Shop Pay, a one-click checkout solution that prefills customer information, making the checkout process 4x faster. In fact, research suggests that Shop Pay is significantly more popular amongst Shopify merchants than other payment methods such as PayPal, and conversions tend to be 11% higher than alternative options. In contrast, BigCommerce simple doesn’t offer this kind of inbuilt functionality out of the box.

6. SEO Optimised

As an ambitious ecommerce business knows all too well, search engine optimisation (SEO) is essential for sustainable growth. Building authority in key search engines like Google will help get your brand seen by more potential customers and ultimately increase your sales. Both BigCommerce and Shopify give merchants the ability to maintain SEO, including editing alt tags, meta descriptions, header tags, etc. However, Shopify is far less complicated when it comes to making these changes. Plus, its blogging CMS allows your marketing team to update content with ease. 

7. Customer Support

Both Shopify and BigCommerce offer 24/7 customer support via phone, chat or email. But with BigCommerce before you can access an email address or phone, you’ll be encouraged to fill out a form and review any DIY suggestions that BigCommerce offer, so if your query is urgent good luck with getting help quickly. 

Another reason many merchants choose Shopify over BigCommerce, is because Shopify has a wide range of forums, expert resources, tools, partners and third-party groups they can access at any time to help them overcome any challenges they might encounter.

8. Security

Making sure your business’s and your client’s data is protected is paramount. A data breach can severely damage your reputation, impacting customer trust and costing you sales. Luckily, both Shopify and BigCommerce come with SSL, also known as Secure Sockets Layer certificate, which is a common security signal that shoppers look for. On top of an SSL certificate, however, Shopify comes with a built-in fraud analysis tool, which BigCommerce doesn’t offer. The tool helps merchants identify fraudulent orders to avoid chargeback. Tools like this are useful during high-traffic periods, like BFCM. 

9. Future-proofed

Arguably BigCommerce and Shopify are great choices for any modern direct-to-consumer brand. But it’s Shopify that has the edge. It’s always one step ahead when it comes to innovation and building for the future of commerce. 

When COVID-19 hit, the world of retail almost changed overnight, but it was Shopify that reacted quickly and launched a whole host of new features and functionalities to support its merchants during this time, including 3D and AR on product pages and curbside pickup.

10. Checkout

Shopify’s checkout is unmatched when compared to other ecommerce platforms like BigCommerce. Using data from its 2 million merchants, Shopify has designed, refined, and optimised its checkout to be the highest-converting on the planet. Not to mention, tools like Shop Pay, Shopify Scripts, and Checkout Extensibility have been created to increase AOV, and reduce cart abandonment.

BigCommerce Vs Shopify pricing plan

See how BigCommerce Vs Shopify’s pricing plans compare: 

Shopify

• Basic Plan: $19.00
• Shopify Plan: $49.00
• Shopify Advanced: $259.00

Big Commerce 

• Standard Plan: $29.95
• Plus Plan: $79.95
• Pro Plan: $299.95

Shopify’s pricing plans are cheaper than BigCommerce. When you consider all the additional free features that come with Shopify, it’s easy to see why so many merchants choose the platform over BigCommerce, particularly in the current economic climate. 

Who is better Shopify or BigCommerce?

There’s a reason why so many direct-to-consumer brands choose Shopify over BigCommerce, time and time again, and why we’ve spoken to many merchants wanting to move away from BigCommerce. But ultimately, everyone’s business needs are different and you need to make the right decision for you. 

When deciding between BigCommerce vs Shopify, we recommend you ask yourself the following questions: 

• What aspects of your business need bespoke features and functionalities? And how flexible do you need your ecommerce platform to be?
• What currencies do you need now, and in the future, and how do you handle this at the moment?
• What are your business goals, specifically what are your revenue aspirations?
• If you want to grow (what brand doesn’t), where will this growth come from, and what do you expect from your ecommerce platform to achieve that growth?
• How much time is your in-house team currently spending on managing your ecommerce platform? Do they have limited technical knowledge and expertise?
• Is your current store content heavy (we’re not just talking about products)? How much is this affecting performance?

Based on your answers to the above should help steer things about which platform makes more sense for your business.

Is BigCommerce good for small businesses?

Small businesses that are technically experienced might find BigCommerce a good fit for them. But if you’re looking for a flexible ecommerce platform that grows with your business, and is easy to use yet powerful, then Shopify is the best option for you.

Your ecommerce experts 

Hopefully, after reading this article, you’re feeling more confident about which platform is right for your business. But if you’re still unsure and need some advice, get in touch with our ecommerce specialists for an open and honest chat. Alternatively, if you’ve decided that Shopify is the platform for you, reach out to our Shopify experts, and we’ll help you make the move.