Choosing an eCommerce platform is a crucial decision that influences many aspects of your online business, from payment processing and inventory management to shipping logistics, tax calculations, and customer interactions. Among the many options available, both stand out as two of the most popular e-commerce website builders. But which one is more cost-effective? This article provides an in-depth comparison of BigCommerce and Shopify to help you make an informed choice.
A quick comparison between Bigcommerce and Shopify
Shopify is known for its enormous user base and easy design, following the “start small, add later” philosophy. It provides a stable foundation that allows businesses to expand using its extensive app store. In contrast, BigCommerce adopts an “everything but the kitchen sink” strategy, packing extra functionality into its core platform to meet more complex demands, such as managing multiple stores simultaneously.
Pricing & cost—BigCommerce wins
Arguably, the most essential factor for many merchants is that pricing structures for e-commerce platforms are subscription-based and surprisingly similar. Both offer three pricing plans and discounts of up to 10% for annual payments.
Shopify‘s pricing involves a fixed monthly subscription fee plus transaction fees. Here’s a breakdown:
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Basic Plan—$39. The transaction cost is $0.30 + 2.9%. Two employee accounts, an online store, round-the-clock assistance, and blogging features.
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Shopify Plan – $105. Transaction fees are 2.7% + $0.30.
Additional services include up to 5 staff accounts, reduced credit card rates, and professional reports. -
Advanced Plan—$399. Transaction fees are 2.5% + $0.30. With the ability to create 15 staff accounts, the most sophisticated report builder, and the lowest card rates.
BigCommerce also uses a flat-rate monthly subscription fee model but does not charge transaction fees. It offers a 15-day free trial. However, BigCommerce automatically upgrades you to the next plan if you exceed specific annual sales levels.
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BigCommerce Standard—$39. $50,000 is the annual revenue threshold.
Create your store to list products with a template design, check real-time reports and shipping quotes, and offer gift cards. -
BigCommerce Plus—$105. Annual revenue threshold of $150,000.
Extra features support store establishment, expansion, maintenance, and marketing. These include recovering abandoned carts and limited consumer segmentation. -
BigCommerce Pro—$399. Annual revenue threshold of $400,000.
Additional features for installing SSL certificates, product screening apps, and analyzing the marketing progress. -
BigCommerce enterprise solutions are personalized under consultation.
Gateways for payments: BigCommerce wins.
Both platforms integrate with nearly all third-party gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Square. However, BigCommerce stands out due to Shopify’s limitations in payment processors. BigCommerce allows merchants to connect third-party applications with more features.
Shopify payments
It collects money from customers and sends it directly to business owners. Furthermore, it has a fraud analysis tool to detect any suspicious activity and ensure a rapid, seamless, and safe transaction between both sides. Aside from that, it supports over 100 third-party payment gateways, depending on the store’s location. The key nations are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
BigCommerce payments
It has 65+ payment gateway integrations (plus 250 local payment options) in over 100 countries. Examples include Amazon Pay, PayPal, Square, Stripe, Authorize.net, Bolt, and others. All include amazing characteristics, such as no transaction fees for third-party providers and PCI compliance.
Another impressive addition to BigCommerce’s portfolio is its multi-currency operation, which positions it as a leading open SaaS platform. This functionality lets you use pricing lists to adjust pricing at a deeper SKU level, which other market leaders do not provide.
Transaction fees
Transaction fees, the percentage an e-commerce platform takes from each sale, significantly impact profitability.
Shopify credit card fees for merchants operating in the United States and utilizing Shopify Payments will range between 2.4% and 2.9%.
Using another payment gateway incurs the following costs:
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Basic: 2%
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Medium: 1%
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Advanced: 0.5%
BigCommerce doesn’t charge any transaction fees, regardless of the plan. However, processing fees for debit and credit cards starting from 2.59% plus $0.49 per transaction can apply.
Customer support—BigCommerce wins
If you want to get the most out of your e-commerce store-building experience, go beyond price plans and consider aspects like access to tech assistance.
BigCommerce Customer Support
We’ve had a good experience with BigCommerce support because when you sign up for a free trial, you’ll be scheduled for a 10-minute conversation with this platform. This allows BigCommerce to have a deeper understanding of your business and so provide better advice.
Furthermore, BigCommerce prioritizes clients that choose the enterprise-level package. You will get access to onboarding experts and phone calls from highly skilled BigCommerce professionals. For a better customer support experience, you can do shopify to bigcommerce migration
Is Shopify better than Wix and Core Commerce?
CoreCommerce was bought by ShopVisible, and it is no longer available as a separate platform for new customers. So, all company owners have switched from corecommerce to shopify Now, let us analyze whether we should move from wix to shopify by comparing all elements briefly.
Shopify is the winner because it is recognized as an e-commerce platform built specifically for online sales, whereas Wix is a website builder that also offers e-commerce features.
Shopify wins in terms of scalability. Making it suitable for businesses of all sizes, including large enterprises that can utilize Shopify Plus. On the other hand, Wix is scalable for small to medium-sized businesses but is not as well-suited for large or complex operations.
Regarding pricing and transaction fees, Shopify offers multiple plans with varying monthly fees, and includes transaction fees unless a user opts to use Shopify Payments. Conversely, Wix also provides multiple plans but does not impose transaction fees, making Wix the winner in this category.
Wrapping Up My Thoughts
If you’re still doubting your options, here are a few final considerations to help you decide.
BigCommerce is best for smaller businesses trying to increase their reach. Good built-in sales and marketing options, as well as payment channels.
Shopify is best for large enterprises with substantial inventories. It excels with simplicity, themes, and dropshipping functionality.
Both are tied in pricing, security, and customer support.
