Shopify is a great platform for e-commerce business owners who want to sell their products online. It offers many features that help businesses run smoothly. In addition, it provides a wide range of tools that make running an online store easier than ever before. But if you’re looking for something different, BigCommerce might be what you need.
What Are the Differences Between BigCommerce and Shopify?
Both Shopify and BigCommerce offer similar functionality. Both platforms have built-in payment processing systems, order management, inventory tracking, and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. However, they differ in several ways. Here are some of the differences between these two platforms:
Pricing
Shopify starts at $29 per month, while BigCommerce costs $99 per month. You can get discounts on both platforms, but Shopify gives you access to additional services such as marketing and analytics.
Customer Support
While Shopify offers 24/7 customer support, BigCommerce doesn’t provide any customer service. If you have questions about your account, you’ll have to contact them yourself.
Features
Shopify offers more advanced features than BigCommerce. These include custom themes, mobile apps, and API integration.
Security
Shopify uses SSL encryption to protect customers’ data. On the other hand, BigCommerce does not use SSL encryption.
Pros and Cons of BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a cloud-based e-commerce platform designed specifically for small businesses. It's user-friendly, scalable, and customizable. You get everything you need to start selling online right out of the box. No technical skills are necessary! BigCommerce offers a free 14-day trial period. After that, you pay $15 per month for the basic plan and $25 per month for the advanced plan.
Pros
BigCommerce offers a lot of features that make it easier to manage your store. You can easily add products, edit product information, create coupons, and much more.
Very user-friendly. There are many tutorials online to help you get started.
Great customer service. If you have any questions about how to use their platform, they are always willing to answer them.
Has a wide variety of themes to choose from. You can customize your theme to fit your business’s style.
Provides free technical support.
Integrates well with popular e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, and Magento.
Includes a built-in inventory management system.
Supports multiple languages.
Comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Does not charge monthly fees.
Gives you access to over 100,000 apps.
Lets you sell physical goods.
Makes it easy to accept payments.
Cons
BigCommerce is not free.
BigCommerce is a commercial e-commerce platform offering many features, including online store management, inventory control, shipping, customer service, and more. However, if you want to use their services, you must pay a monthly fee. You can get 10% off your first month's payment with promo code BIGCOMM10.
No customization options
You cannot customize anything about your website. If you want to change the color scheme, add a logo, or make any changes at all, you'll need to hire someone else to do it for you.
No SEO tools
There are no SEO tools included in BigCommerce. Some third-party plugins offer basic SEO functionality but are not enough to optimize your site for search engines.
Limited templates
The only template option is the standard theme. You cannot choose a different design.
No mobile app
If you want to sell products on your phone, you'll need to build your own app.
No social media integration
Social media marketing is a great way to promote your business. BigCommerce does not integrate with popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
No analytics
Analytics help you understand how customers interact with your website. BigCommerce doesn't provide any analytics.
Pros and Cons of Shopify
Shopify is a platform that allows entrepreneurs to sell their products online. There are many pros to using Shopify, including being able to start selling right away, no inventory costs, and a simple interface. Here are some additional advantages of using Shopify.
Pros
No Inventory Costs
When starting out, you don't have any inventory costs. You only pay for what you sell. When you use Shopify, you can set your own prices and decide how much you want to charge per product. If you choose not to price-match competitors, you won't lose money if someone else sells the same item at a lower price.
Simple Interface
The Shopify interface is very user-friendly. You can easily create beautiful pages and add text, images, videos, and links. You can also customize your store's look and feel to fit your brand.
Start Selling Right Away
You can start selling right away. Once you sign up, you can begin building your store immediately. You can even test different designs before launching your site.
Easy Payment Options
You can accept payments via credit card, PayPal, Google Checkout, and Apple Pay. You can also integrate Stripe into your Shopify account to accept payments directly from customers.
Customer Support
Customer support is available 24/7. You can contact them via email, live chat, phone, and social media.
Mobile Friendly
Your website can be viewed on mobile devices. Customers can browse your products while they're on the go.
SEO Optimized
Cons
No control over your product name
You may think that having a unique product name is great, but if you're using Shopify's default product names, you'll find yourself stuck with something generic like 'Cannabis Flower' or 'CBD Oil'. If you want to use a different name, you'll need to pay extra for custom domain names.
Your products don't look professional.
Shopify makes it really easy to create beautiful designs for your products. But if you choose to go with their standard templates, they won't look nearly as good as what you could make yourself.
Products aren't searchable.
If you sell CBD oil, you might not want people searching for 'CBD oil' to end up at your store instead of someone else's. That's where SEO comes in.
You can't customize your checkout page.
The checkout page on Shopify is pretty basic. There isn't much customization possible, and you'll only get one choice of payment method (Paypal).
You can't add images to your product pages.
When you upload images to your product pages, they appear in the same place on each product page. So if you have five products, you'll have five copies of the image on your product page.
You can't change your theme.
Shopify offers hundreds of themes to choose from. But once you've chosen one, you can't change it.
You can't set up email marketing campaigns.
Email marketing is a huge way to promote your business. But with Shopify, you can't send emails without paying extra.
Which Platform Should I Choose?
If you’re just starting out, Shopify may be a good choice. It’s less expensive and offers everything you need to start selling online. Plus, you don’t have to worry about customer support or security issues.
0 Comments