Shopify or BigCommerce?
- Thread starter HC-Samuel
- Start date
Why just those two?
There are loads of alternatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software (there are more than this).
There are loads of alternatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software (there are more than this).
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OK.....
I used both and found them to be very restrictive. Things I wanted to be able to do I couldn't because their business models didn't support certain functionality and you will struggle to add filters.
Which is why I keep coming back to woocommerce. It does need some care when setting up but it outperforms all managed platforms - mainly because it's so flexible. And you have control. And it's free.
But if you are intent on handing over you business to someone else - use shopify.
I used both and found them to be very restrictive. Things I wanted to be able to do I couldn't because their business models didn't support certain functionality and you will struggle to add filters.
Which is why I keep coming back to woocommerce. It does need some care when setting up but it outperforms all managed platforms - mainly because it's so flexible. And you have control. And it's free.
But if you are intent on handing over you business to someone else - use shopify.
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- Original Poster
- #9
One where I do not need to worry about the following things.
1. The hosting and the potential for server upgrades to break the site.
2. The need to have to continually update the site to the latest core version application.
3. That when we do update the core version that the 3rd party developers have done their job to update the extensions to support that new core version quickly.
4. When both the core version and the extensions are updated that the changes required to both still work with our template/design.
Don't get me wrong I can see the benefit of self hosted applications such as the ability to customise and the ability to add features that otherwise the SAAS platforms don't offer or can't support. I could get a company to manage all of this for me BUT when you start looking at the costs for that it starts to add up and is it worth it in the end?
I am a cloud hosting technician by day so I have a very technical mindset and background and I can troubleshoot PHP, mySQL errors etc. Go in and update PHP scripts to add functionality and what not, but the problem is I am find I am doing more and more maintenance now rather than concentrating on the business itself and pushing that forward.
Thats what has ultimately brought me to this crossroads.
1. The hosting and the potential for server upgrades to break the site.
2. The need to have to continually update the site to the latest core version application.
3. That when we do update the core version that the 3rd party developers have done their job to update the extensions to support that new core version quickly.
4. When both the core version and the extensions are updated that the changes required to both still work with our template/design.
Don't get me wrong I can see the benefit of self hosted applications such as the ability to customise and the ability to add features that otherwise the SAAS platforms don't offer or can't support. I could get a company to manage all of this for me BUT when you start looking at the costs for that it starts to add up and is it worth it in the end?
I am a cloud hosting technician by day so I have a very technical mindset and background and I can troubleshoot PHP, mySQL errors etc. Go in and update PHP scripts to add functionality and what not, but the problem is I am find I am doing more and more maintenance now rather than concentrating on the business itself and pushing that forward.
Thats what has ultimately brought me to this crossroads.
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I've used both and became increasingly frustrated with both.
If your worry is about all the updates - pay someone to look after it for you. It's what I do for my clients and we have never had a crash, collapse or other breakdown.
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Yesbut the question was more one of Shopify or BigCommerce and if anyone has used both and what their experiences where etc with each.
I've used both and can't remember why but I didn't like BigCommerce. Been using Shopify for multiple sites for maybe 5 years or so and can't really fault it.
Have you had a play around on the free trial for both?
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The main reason is with Bigcommerce, your sales are limited to $50,000 on the 'Standard' plan, $150,000 on the 'Plus' plan and $400,000 on the 'Pro' plan. All these limits are calculated on a trailing 12-month basis. There is no such limit for Shopify. Alex
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- Original Poster
- #18
Yeah I saw that but I guess Shopify offsets that with the fact that it seems that for simple features it needs an app which for us seems to be really pushing the cost up and up, BigCommerce seems to have a lot of functionality built in.
How I am looking at it right now is that the rates for payments on Shopify are inherently higher if your on their cheaper plan 2.2% + 20p vs 1.85% + £0.18 on the cheapest BigCommerce plan.
Of course if I wish I can use my own payment provider if BigCommerce supports it without any further transaction fees but with Shopify there is an additional 2.0% on their lowest plan.
I think for us its basic things like Options and Variants. For example some products we sell only have a Euro plug so we need to be able to offer a UK plug to UK customers and Shopify makes things like that hard since it needs a separate app meaning its a double screen to add a product.
Not made our mind up yet BUT we're at a stage where we are looking as possibly looking to take on a company to manage our Magento OR BigCommerce. I think the app centric approach that Shopify has put me off.
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Then I agree magento is totally overkill.
Shopify isn't going to deliver what you want so bin them off the list. Bigcommerce might do the job but as I said before, I found it very restrictive.
I'll point back to woocommerce again. For a low number of SKUs it's ideal and setting up variants is a doddle. If you want someone to look after it for you to keep it all updated there are plenty of providers. All you have to do is manage the orders.
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Hi, we started with shopify a couple of years ago but moved over to Bigcommerce in the new year because as mentioned elsewhere, EVERYTHING with shopify needed an app, plus numerous other issues that we seemed to be battling every week.
Also another reason was the shopify payments which take a few days to deposit, we use square with Bigcommerce and funds are available the next working day, or instant if you want to give them an extra 1%.
Also another reason was the shopify payments which take a few days to deposit, we use square with Bigcommerce and funds are available the next working day, or instant if you want to give them an extra 1%.
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I prefer BigCommerce to Shopify. Their supportive service is much better than Shopify. I also totally agree with @fisicx, WooCommerce is very suitable for startups (< 10k SKUs) and much better in CMS, SEO, you can fully control your store too.
There's a shopping cart migration service named Next-Cart, you can ask them which eCommerce platform their customers usually choose to move to. I assume it's WooCommerce.
There's a shopping cart migration service named Next-Cart, you can ask them which eCommerce platform their customers usually choose to move to. I assume it's WooCommerce.
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There are millions of different considerations when it comes to choosing the right eCommerce platform for your brand’s online store. How can I drive conversion? Which platform is the most customisable? What about SEO? How much is it going to cost? To help you out, I’ve put together a brief guide to choosing the best eCommerce platform for your business.
1. Shopify
The best website builder for small businesses, Shopify is a great place to start for ambitious brands launching to market. It’s easy and it’s fast, which is one of its main benefits. They’re also something of a favourite with Millennial targeting brands – Kylie Cosmetics, Skinny Dip and Bootea are all sailing the Shopify ship. You can choose from over 100 free, fully responsive store themes with the potential colours, imagery, and fonts with ease. No design skills required. It’s a great option for brands at the beginning of their journey without loads of time or budget to allocate to design. It offers a comprehensive dashboard to help you make sense of your data. They also put out a huge amount of helpful content in the form of advice and guides to making the most out of your online Shopify store.
2. BigCommerce
It is a great customisable eCommerce solution that allows you to create a fully functional online store. Low-cost is one of the advantages of BigCommerce, where pricing starts at $14.00 per month. If it goes to payment gateway options, BigCommerce is way ahead of its competitors with more than 60 plugins available. You can also choose from a wide range of free templates that can be easily customised. The main features of BigCommerce include abandoned cart saver, integration with eBay and third-party blogging tools, as well as buying domains directly.
To conclude, Shopify is a great option if you’re just launching on the market, with its easy backend that doesn’t require a lot of customisation and development work. Saying that, we are restricted on what we can do and what we can customise in Shopify. BigCommerce is also a reasonable solution for a quick setup, offering more customisable eCommerce, where several items can be modified. Depending on your requirements and what you expect from your online store, there are a lot of eCommerce solutions that can be found on the market.
1. Shopify
The best website builder for small businesses, Shopify is a great place to start for ambitious brands launching to market. It’s easy and it’s fast, which is one of its main benefits. They’re also something of a favourite with Millennial targeting brands – Kylie Cosmetics, Skinny Dip and Bootea are all sailing the Shopify ship. You can choose from over 100 free, fully responsive store themes with the potential colours, imagery, and fonts with ease. No design skills required. It’s a great option for brands at the beginning of their journey without loads of time or budget to allocate to design. It offers a comprehensive dashboard to help you make sense of your data. They also put out a huge amount of helpful content in the form of advice and guides to making the most out of your online Shopify store.
2. BigCommerce
It is a great customisable eCommerce solution that allows you to create a fully functional online store. Low-cost is one of the advantages of BigCommerce, where pricing starts at $14.00 per month. If it goes to payment gateway options, BigCommerce is way ahead of its competitors with more than 60 plugins available. You can also choose from a wide range of free templates that can be easily customised. The main features of BigCommerce include abandoned cart saver, integration with eBay and third-party blogging tools, as well as buying domains directly.
To conclude, Shopify is a great option if you’re just launching on the market, with its easy backend that doesn’t require a lot of customisation and development work. Saying that, we are restricted on what we can do and what we can customise in Shopify. BigCommerce is also a reasonable solution for a quick setup, offering more customisable eCommerce, where several items can be modified. Depending on your requirements and what you expect from your online store, there are a lot of eCommerce solutions that can be found on the market.
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We are currently using both.
Shopify store: www.rsrmoto.de
Big Commerce store: www.rsrmoto.com
Shopify is better, I don't get why the guy upthread thinks Big Commece support is better. It is not. Big Commece staff are slower to respond and faster to send you links to guides that don't answer your questions. Shopify guys will stay with you, and send you personal video instructions.
Also we have had problems on mobile on Big Commerce. Both themes are inhouse themes, so the finger points at Big Commerce. You might still notice the issues if you check both sites out on mobile. We also had a theme update issue with Big Commerce. I think they sent us an email telling us how much better the theme will work after the update. The email did noy say it would delete all the custom work you did. And we are not web tecchies, like the guy with the clangers avatar, always telling everyone to go Woocommerce. If you are busy answering enquiries, packing boxes, ordering stock and supplies, managing channel listings, avoiding nasty feedback, managing returns, doing accounts, driving to the courier, checking stock in, cleaning the warehouse, etc, the last thing you want to have on your plate is web development. Both Big Commerce and Shopify are easy to use, the same in that context. Woocommerce is not. Either you need to roll your sleeves up and learn it or you will be paying consultants all the time for structural or design changes. Certainly there are limitations to both Big Commerce and Shopify. But you will get nice functioning website on either of them much faster than if you go Woocommerce but don't know how to use it. We would nee dot be turning over double, maybe 1.5 million to consider Woocommerce, because I would not do it without a staff member that was responsible for managing it. And I cant afford that extra staff member when Shopify only costs about 100 a month and I can manage it myself.
One big thing about Shopify, if your country cannot use Shopify payments, like ours could not in Germany until last year, then they are going to take 1% of your sale if you use outside payment providers. Not sure what the situation is now worldwide. But now we use Shopify Payments, which works well
Shopify store: www.rsrmoto.de
Big Commerce store: www.rsrmoto.com
Shopify is better, I don't get why the guy upthread thinks Big Commece support is better. It is not. Big Commece staff are slower to respond and faster to send you links to guides that don't answer your questions. Shopify guys will stay with you, and send you personal video instructions.
Also we have had problems on mobile on Big Commerce. Both themes are inhouse themes, so the finger points at Big Commerce. You might still notice the issues if you check both sites out on mobile. We also had a theme update issue with Big Commerce. I think they sent us an email telling us how much better the theme will work after the update. The email did noy say it would delete all the custom work you did. And we are not web tecchies, like the guy with the clangers avatar, always telling everyone to go Woocommerce. If you are busy answering enquiries, packing boxes, ordering stock and supplies, managing channel listings, avoiding nasty feedback, managing returns, doing accounts, driving to the courier, checking stock in, cleaning the warehouse, etc, the last thing you want to have on your plate is web development. Both Big Commerce and Shopify are easy to use, the same in that context. Woocommerce is not. Either you need to roll your sleeves up and learn it or you will be paying consultants all the time for structural or design changes. Certainly there are limitations to both Big Commerce and Shopify. But you will get nice functioning website on either of them much faster than if you go Woocommerce but don't know how to use it. We would nee dot be turning over double, maybe 1.5 million to consider Woocommerce, because I would not do it without a staff member that was responsible for managing it. And I cant afford that extra staff member when Shopify only costs about 100 a month and I can manage it myself.
One big thing about Shopify, if your country cannot use Shopify payments, like ours could not in Germany until last year, then they are going to take 1% of your sale if you use outside payment providers. Not sure what the situation is now worldwide. But now we use Shopify Payments, which works well
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But Shopify imposes massive limits, there are loads of things you just physically can't do with it because the core code is all locked down. It might be alright if what you need isn't very custom but if it is then you're better off with something open source. Paul.
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