BigCommerce is an Australian success story, having developed into one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the world. Let’s dive in deeper and see how they match up.
The entry level plan for BigCommerce is the Standard plan which comes in at $29.95 per month if you pay annually. It’s a competitive price and there are no transaction fees which is nice.
BigCommerce is based on a growth pattern, where if you start making more money, they expect you to upgrade and unlock more sophisticated features.
BigCommerce has a large selection of well-designed templates for pretty much any store you can think of. As with other store builders they offer both free and premium designs which incur a one-off cost.
Many of BigCommerce’s templates are designed by the same third-party designers that also sell templates on Shopify, so the two platforms are comparable when it comes to design, as they are in several other areas. As is expected these days, they are all responsive, so they’ll look just as good on a mobile.
Usability is very strong with BigCommerce. The interface has a lot going on and could be a bit overwhelming for a first time online store owner. When you first sign up though, they do provide you with a bunch of sample products which makes it easier to see how everything is supposed to look. That seems to make the setting up a lot easier than having to start from a blank canvas.
Finally, the inventory section is well designed and easy to manage both online and through the dedicated Squarespace mobile app. If you are on the higher plans, your site visitors will be able to log in and access their cart at any time. There’s also a great waitlist option where users can sign up for a notification when a desired item is back in stock.
For payments, you have almost unlimited options. There are the standard Credit Card options through Stripe and PayPal, as well as Google Pay, Apple Pay, Afterpay, pretty much anything that ends in “pay”! There are also a host of offline options like being able to accept Bank Deposits which could be a useful option to have.
If you’re in need of a multi-currency offering to sell overseas then BigCommerce needs to be strongly considered. Foreign exchange costs are kept to a minimum because they settle transactions in the currency of origin, rather than converting it back to your home currency.
Apps and integrations options are impressive at BigCommerce, but no where near as many as you’ll find in Shopify which is an enormous ecosystem.
As an example BigCommerce don’t seem to have a dedicated dropshipping app, whereas Shopify’s most popular app is just that – Oberlo.
BigCommerce do have more features included with the base packages that you buy. So whereas Shopify kind of focuses on apps, BigCommerce tries to give you everything all in one.
This is another really nice feature that BigCommerce gives you out of the box.
The BigCommerce Channel Manager allows you to connect to existing channels or add new ones with just a few clicks. No matter where a sale originates, you can process, fulfill and track it from your BigCommerce dashboard. Channel Manager currently works with eBay, Amazon, Facebook and Pinterest.
BigCommerce don’t skimp on support. They have the full compliment, with a robust Knowledge base to find the answers yourself, but equally as accessible are their live chat, email and phone support which is available 24/7.
