eWay Corp Shopify and BigCommerce are considered major players in the eCommerce industry. Although there are other shopping cart software, such as Magento, WooCommerce, etc., Shopify and BigCommerce have proven to be phenomenally successful for online store owners. In fact, the debate between Shopify vs BigCommerce shows that these two platforms have subtle but significant differences between them.
At the same time, businesses can get the best out of these two platforms, i.e., Shopify vs BigCommerce, provided they know about these platforms and check whether these platforms meet their needs.
Businesses Greatly Depend on BigCommerce or Shopify Platforms
To run an eCommerce store successfully and ensure steady growth, platforms that can handle a vast number of products and transactions flawlessly must be chosen.
Plus, the platform should be able to handle a high amount of traffic at any point in time. To be more specific, only the right eCommerce platform can integrate with the business solutions and fuel the growth of the business house.
While platforms like BigCommerce or Shopify are suitable for running an online store, there are still some key differences between them. Even though businesses might find some major differences in Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing, both are still preferred by the business houses. There is a valid reason for that.
Building an online store is easier with Shopify and BigCommerce. These website builders allow building brand new online stores almost instantly and that too with a limited budget. Even if Shopify vs BigCommerce review shows some key differences, these website builders do not require any code for building an effective online store.
In fact, businesses can construct an online store on their own by taking a DIY approach. All one needs is to pick a template, upload the products, set prices, and you are set to go.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: Choosing the Right One is a Bit of a Challenge
In today’s competitive age, running an eCommerce business is exciting and challenging.
Why is it so? This is because any online business needs to be at par with the latest technology updates and switch to the right eCommerce platforms that are best for their business. While news feeds or articles on whether Shopify or BigCommerce is better might offer some hints regarding the best platform for running an eCommerce store, self-evaluation about the platforms is important.
The self-evaluation will take one through the similarities and dissimilarities of these website builders, making it easier to pick the platform for the business. For instance, both Shopify and BigCommerce are SaaS platforms and can run on web browsers.
However, the platforms differ greatly in some key areas. For instance, in terms of Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing, one gets to see a major difference. Similarly, in terms of payment integration, Shopify integrates with over 100 payment gateways, whereas BigCommerce integrates with around 65 popular payment gateways.
In certain scenarios, the Shopify platform proves to be helpful for online businesses. For instance, for new beginners, Shopify seems to be the best option since it is easy to operate. Unlike BigCommerce, Shopify comes with a user-friendly design that makes it easy to understand and operate.
BigCommerce or Shopify for Businesses
We know that a growing number of eCommerce businesses from small to mid-scale and enterprises rely on popular shopping cart software like Magento, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.
These platforms have proven their worth in aiding businesses to launch a new online store or in making a transition from one eCommerce platform to another. While each of the eCommerce platforms offers a great deal of support to small and large-scale businesses alike, they differ a lot in terms of their features.
For instance, from the Shopify vs BigCommerce review, one gets to see that BigCommerce does not need to rely on third-party applications for addressing the core functionality of online businesses. However, this is not the case with Shopify. Shopify software needs to rely on third-party apps for ensuring certain functionality of the online store.
Hence, it will not be wrong to say that shopping cart software, such as BigCommerce, Shopify, WooCommerce, or Magento might be created with the same aim of helping online businesses. But each software differs greatly.
To get the most out of the platform, it is important to consider the business goals and needs. Only then can the right platform be judged.
But before picking any one platform for your business, make sure to have a proper idea of these platforms. So, without further ado, let us dig into the platform details.
BigCommerce or Shopify: Knowing about These Two Platforms
BigCommerce and Shopify are versatile and powerful eCommerce site builders. They are ideal options for online stores.
However, one should know about these two platforms in detail and the key difference between Shopify and BigCommerce. Only then will one be able to decide which platform will be the right choice for their eCommerce store.
1. BigCommerce – An Outline
BigCommerce is a SaaS eCommerce platform that is used by more than 50,000 websites. It has been supporting 2000+ mid-market businesses and 30 Fortune 1000 companies. Being an eCommerce platform, BigCommerce offers web hosting and security. For instance, the clientele of BigCommerce includes Toyota, DressUp, etc.
Also, it offers easy access to eCommerce software after paying a minimal price. This platform comes with powerful features, such as professional web hosting services, marketing tools, payment integration, and security features.
2. Shopify – An Outline
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce platform designed for all types of businesses, from small to mid-sized ones. It is also ideal for those who are planning to launch and grow their online business in a convenient way. It has been powering more than 1 million merchants from all over the world. Brands such as Red Bull GmbH, Lindt, Heinz, and Gymshark are using Shopify to promote their business.
Shopify allows all sorts of integrations that help businesses with proper growth. Startups to large organizations are depending on this platform to establish an online store. The best part about using the Shopify platform is that it comes up with an admin panel for storing data, adding or deleting products, and helping to process orders.
This is a basic outline of these two popular eCommerce platforms; however, they still differ greatly in certain aspects.
In the remainder of this blog post, we will guide you through the significant difference between Shopify and BigCommerce.
Hopefully, by the end of the Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison, it will become easy for you to decide on the right platform for your online business.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which Is Better?
Which is better – Shopify or BigCommerce? Before kicking off this question, it must be kept in mind that both BigCommerce and Shopify are online website builders that allow businesses to sell digital or physical products.
Both Shopify and BigCommerce are hosted solutions. This means it can run on any web browser and there is not any need to install any software. Hence, there will not be any need to buy any hosting provider for using the platform.
Also, Shopify and BigCommerce platforms make it easy to manage and access the stores from anywhere.
You can use any of these platforms to create a bespoke website. At the same time, the ‘Enterprise’ versions of these platforms are available, making them highly suitable for use within a corporate environment.
Last but not least, both are SaaS platforms. So, one just needs to pay a monthly fee for accessing the software.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: How They Differ
Before taking a closer look into Shopify vs BigCommerce differences, one should keep in mind that both platforms offer some common eCommerce features, such as secure sockets layers (SSL) certificates, shipping tools, and the ability to sell products across multiple social media platforms.
However, BigCommerce has an extra edge over Shopify due to some in-built features. Similarly, using Shopify does not require any technical skills. Hence, it can be used by those who are new to the eCommerce segment.
Wondering which is better – Shopify or BigCommerce? For that, you will need to go through the remainder of this post.
| Comparison Points | Shopify | BigCommerce |
| Pricing | Basic Plan Starts – $29/month Comes with 4 other plans | Basic Plan Starts – $29.95/month Comes with 3 other plans |
| Ease of Use | Ideal for Beginners | Needs Technical Knowledge |
| Theme and Flexibility | 93 paid themes, which range from around $200 to $350; Free Themes available | 217 paid themes that cost around $150 to $399; Free Themes available |
| Product Presentation | Limited options to present the product | Flexibility in presenting the product |
| Payment Processing | 100 gateways; Preferred Gateway – Shopify Payments | 65 gateways; Preferred Gateway – PayPal and others |
| Customer Login and Checkouts | Easy login; Checkout has a difference | Easy login; Checkout has a difference |
| Multilingual Capabilities | Multilingual themes require a fee | No fee involved |
| Multicurrency Capabilities | Makes Shopify a highly scalable platform | Not the same with BigCommerce |
| Page Speed | Enable AMP requires an app | No app for enabling AMP |
| Customer Support | Shopify Lite offers 24×7 live support, email, and phone support | 24X7 live support, email, and phone support for all plans |
| Security | SSL Certificate is available | SSL Certificate is available |
| SEO | Gives control over SEO settings; Not very easy | Gives control over SEO settings; Very easy |
| Mobile Apps | Yes, Shopify App Store offers 6000 apps | Yes, BigCommerce App Store offers 850 apps |
| GDPR | Follows it | Follows it but has an extra edge over Shopify |
This blog post will carefully consider the head-to-head comparison of these two platforms, i.e., Shopify vs BigCommerce. Our goal is to make it easy for business houses to make an informed choice.
1. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Pricing
When it comes to eCommerce website builders, pricing plays a key role in picking software. So let us get started with the detailed Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing of these platforms.
While both platforms offer almost similar pricing, they have a lot of hidden costs. For instance, additional costs like credit card fees and transaction fees should be considered. Plus, the shortfall of any core features can be compensated with a paid app whose cost needs to be considered. This might increase the pricing of the software.
From the Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing plan comparison, one gets to see that Shopify has 5 pricing plans, whereas BigCommerce offers 4 pricing plans.
1.1. Shopify Pricing Plans
- The Starter Plan starts at $5 per month.
- The Basic Plan starts from $29 per month.
- Shopify starts from $79 per month.
- The Advanced Plan starts from $299 per month.
The Shopify Plus pricing varies depending on the requirements.
Shopify plans also offer significant discounts provided one chooses to pay upfront for a Shopify plan. Based on the territory, paying upfront will entitle one to get 10 – 50% off on the plan. After that, on paying upfront for 2 to 3 years in advance one might avail 20 % or 25% discount.
| Basic | Shopify | Advanced |
| $29/month | $79/month | $299/month |
Just like BigCommerce, Shopify also offers a free trial. Now with the launch of the Starter plan, startups in small business houses can start selling products online at a cheaper rate.
However, the Starter plan comes with a big ‘BUT’. Yes, the Starter plan might not offer you a fully functional online store or it will not allow you to take payment at POS. Instead, it allows businesses to:
Make use of their Facebook page or other social media channels to sell products.
Make proper use of the ‘Shopify Button’ – an embedded widget to be added to the existing website or online presence.
Plus, an additional plan is offered by Shopify known as Shopify Lite, but it does not offer an eCommerce website. The plan starts at $9 per month and allows merchants easy access to the sales channels of Shopify. This means, merchants get the chance to sell online because of the ‘Buy Button’ that is embedded on the existing website and also across the social media platforms.
1.2. BigCommerce Pricing Plans
- BigCommerce Standard plan starts from $29.95 per month.
- BigCommerce Plus starts from $79.95 per month.
- BigCommerce Pro plan starts from $299.95 per month.
- BigCommerce Enterprise plan pricing varies depending on the requirements.
If one pays upfront for a year, one not only gets a 10% discount on the Plus and Pro plans but also gets a free trial.
| Standard | Plus | Pro | Enterprise |
| $29.95/month | $79.95/month | $299.95/month | Contact Sales Team |
The cheapest 3 plans of BigCommerce come under the ‘Essentials’ range and are marketed in a different manner from its Enterprise plan. The Enterprise level plan is presented under the Essentials tab on the BigCommerce website.
2. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Transaction Fees
From Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing comparison, Shopify charges for any kind of transaction. But this is not the case with BigCommerce.
Shopify has its own payment gateway known as Shopify Payments. When one is using Shopify Payments, the processing fee is almost the same as the fee levied by the best third-party payment gateway of BigCommerce.
Often the transaction costs associated with Shopify might change one’s decision regarding the eCommerce platform.
3. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Ease of Use
If the Shopify vs BigCommerce review is set aside, one gets to see that the company claims to offer an easy set-up process for inexperienced users. However, this is partially true. Users typically find Shopify easier to use than BigCommerce. There is a reason for that. BigCommerce’s features are more scalable, hence less suited for beginners. On the contrary, Shopify, being a less powerful platform, is perfectly apt for beginners.
So, going by the basics, both BigCommerce and Shopify allow straightforward CMS that comes with a modern dashboard and simple website editor. For Shopify, adding products is as simple as filling out a form, but for BigCommerce, one needs to have a deep learning of this platform.
It must be kept in mind that BigCommerce is designed for online store owners with limited knowledge of website design. However, it is versatile for experienced entrepreneurs and users who want to modify the CSS and the HTML for their online store. Plus, the out-of-box function of BigCommerce easily helps online business to grow.
On the other hand, Shopify is suitable for all those who are new to online business or have a small business model. Plus, Shopify’s dashboard is easy to navigate. This makes it easy to set up a new Shopify store. Also, Shopify comes with in-app instruction that helps with the editing task without getting involved with the technical aspect of the platform.
For BigCommerce, technical knowledge is necessary. Overall, Shopify scores high when one needs to decide which is better, Shopify or BigCommerce.
4. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Theme and Flexibility
There is no denying that themes and templates help to determine the look and feel of the online store. However, the Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison can tell which platform offers a better theme and flexibility option.
When closely considering the difference between Shopify and BigCommerce, one gets to see that both platforms provide options for free and paid themes. However, the themes can be easily customized so as to give the store its desired look.
4.1. Themes
The Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing needs to be considered when considering the themes. For instance, Shopify offers more than 10 free themes with a total of 22 variations, whereas BigCommerce offers 5 themes with a total of 12 variations. However, merchants are able to opt for paid themes also.
Apart from the free themes/templates, one can also buy premium themes from Shopify and BigCommerce.
Currently, Shopify offers 93 paid themes, which range from around $200 to $350 in price. On the other hand, BigCommerce provides 217 paid themes that cost around $150 to $399.
Even if the battle between Shopify vs BigCommerce continues, both platforms offer the option of customization. In short, they can be easily customized to offer a professional look.
4.1.1. Theme Customization
Both Shopify and BigCommerce offer the option to edit themes. But which platform makes the process easier? Well, both platforms offer Drag and Drop Page Editors that allow changing the layout, color scheme, and even the fonts. Also, one can add or remove various page elements and widgets.
However, for Shopify, only the themes that are built on the new Online Store 2.0 framework remains compatible with the editor.
4.2. Flexibility
In terms of design flexibility, BigCommerce has made some recent changes. It has added the Drag and Drop Builder, which outshines Shopify.
Shopify remains the clear winner under the themes category in the Shopify vs BigCommerce battle; however, when it comes to flexibility, BigCommerce stands to win.
5. Shopify vs BigCommerce Product Presentation
Once the storefront is finalized, you will need to add your products. In the Shopify vs BigCommerce battle for product presentation, let us see which platform is better.
5.1. Product Options
Considering the kinds of products that can be added to the online store, BigCommerce is the winner.
In the battle between Shopify vs BigCommerce, BigCommerce offers a greater level of flexibility. This is because with BigCommerce, one gets around 250 options for each product. However, this is not the case with Shopify as its options are limited to 3 only.
For instance, when adding options for a product, Shopify offers only 3 options for each product. However, with BigCommerce, 250 options for each product are available. The limited option issue is easy to resolve through an app known as Infinite Options. But with BigCommerce there is no need to add such extra apps or functionalities.
5.2. Product Categorization
The Shopify vs BigCommerce review shows you that both these platforms allow product organization in a bit of a unique way. For instance, Shopify makes use of Collections for grouping related products. On the other hand, BigCommerce uses Categories.
If you are wondering which is better Shopify or BigCommerce for assigning the products under Collection or Categories, Shopify is a clear winner.
While both platforms permit assigning the products individually, the job becomes tedious. To help businesses, Shopify has come up with an ‘Automated Collection’ that allows products to be assigned automatically to a certain collection depending on the properties.
For instance, bike stores can automatically assign products with the keyword ‘Brake’ in the name under the ‘Bike Brakes’ collection.
For BigCommerce, it is easy to add multiple products to various categories through the ‘Bulk Edit’ tool. However, the tool is not efficient as Shopify’s ‘Automated Collection’ feature.
6. Shopify vs BigCommerce Payment Processing
As discussed above in the Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing, payment processing is a part of these two website builders. Both Shopify and BigCommerce offer multiple options to their customers so that they do not need to struggle to pay money.
However, the Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison shows clearly that the options offered by these two platforms are vastly different.
To process the payments through credit and debit cards, there is a need to use a payment gateway. A payment gateway is a kind of software that approves the card payment from customers to merchants.
Hundreds of payment gateways are present in this market and among them, PayPal, Square, Braintree, Stripe, etc., are highly popular. One must remember that all payment gateways charge a processing fee. However, the fee varies depending on the gateway being used and the country where it is going to be used.
In this regard, Shopify allows connecting to more than 100 distinct payment gateways, whereas BigCommerce offers just 65 payment gateways.
Now, let us look at the preferred payment gateways of these two platforms and the charges associated with them.
6.1. Payment Gateway & Processing Fee
As you might know, Shopify’s preferred payment gateway is their own Shopify Payments. This payment gateway is super easy to set up and can be activated with a single click from the store settings. Plus, the processing fee is a competitive one. Similarly, BigCommerce’s preferred payment gateway is PayPal. This gateway is also easy to set up and comes with competitive pricing.
However, in the event you are not using Shopify Payments, you will not only need to pay for the third-party payment gateway, but Shopify will also charge you a transaction fee. But BigCommerce does not charge any transaction fees, irrespective of the payment gateway one chose.
For instance, if you are not using Shopify Payments and using a third-party payment gateway, the fee varies depending on the plan. For the Basic Shopify plan, you will be charged a 2% transaction fee. Similarly, for Shopify Regular and Shopify Advanced, you will be charged 1% and 0.5% respectively.
This brings about a significant difference in the fees one pays for each transaction. Hence, business owners will try to avoid it. Before reaching any conclusion, one must ensure that they qualify for the use of Shopify Payments. But since BigCommerce does not charge you any transaction fee, it makes BigCommerce a real winner.
7. Shopify vs BigCommerce Customer Login and Checkouts
In terms of Customer Login and Checkouts for Shopify and BigCommerce, there are some similarities and dissimilarities.
Both Shopify and BigCommerce allow complete control over whether customers are needed to create accounts for completing their purchases. One can sign in as a customer or as a guest.
But when it comes to checkout options, there are subtle Shopify vs BigCommerce differences.
7.1. Upsells
Both Shopify and BigCommerce need paid apps to get the most sales. However, Shopify only has an app for upsells. The app Zipify enables powerful ‘one-click upsells.’
7.2. Abandoned Cart Emails
The abandoned carts email tool is a powerful marketing tool that permits sending reminder emails to those customers who have added items but have not finished their purchase.
Studies have shown that the average abandonment rate is around 70%. Most of these abandoned cart emails offer a success rate of 15%. Hence, businesses can make some quick money with this feature.
While both Shopify and BigCommerce are offering this feature, BigCommerce is a more powerful tool that allows sending 3 emails to a customer.
8. Shopify vs BigCommerce Shipping
For any eCommerce store, shipping is a prime factor. In fact, both platforms allow setting up a wide range of shipping rates and rules, including:
- Free Shipping Rates
- Price-Based Rates
- Flat Rates
- Weight-Based Rates
- Real-time Shipping Rates
8.1. Shipping Label Option
Once a customer makes a purchase, you will need to pack it and add the shipping labels before sending them out. But writing labels does not mean you will need to write them out by hand.
For Shopify Shipping, one can buy and print shipping labels for various carriers without depending on any app. In an equivalent manner, if you are using BigCommerce Shipping in the US, you will be able to buy and print the shipping labels for the USPS without depending on an app.
However, if you do not fall under any criteria, you will need to depend on apps like ShipStation for printing the shipping labels.
8.2. Shipping Rate Option
In this Shopify vs BigCommerce battle for Real-time Shipping Rate, BigCommerce is a winner. This functionality is available across all plans.
However, for Shopify this plan is available only after:
Paying for another Shopify plan on an annual basis;
Paying monthly for an ‘Advanced Shopify’ or ‘Shopify Plus’ plan;
Paying an add-on monthly fee for unlocking the real-time shipping rate.
8.3. Fulfillment Option
Order fulfillment is usually the process of sending out the stock to the customers. Hence, it includes short-term storage, picking, packaging, and even delivery of the placed orders.
If you cannot fulfill the delivery of the orders, third-party services are available. All one needs to do is send the inventory to the warehouses of the third party. The latter will take care of delivering the orders.
In fact, both Shopify and BigCommerce offer integrations with third-party fulfillment services via apps. But Shopify is the only platform that has its own fulfillment services, i.e., Shopify Fulfillment Network.
However, those who are based in Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, the US, or the UK can work with a carrier service that is partnered with Shopify. Check out the table below:
| Location Options | Shopify Shipping |
| Australia | Sendle |
| France | Chronopost Mondial Relay Colissimo |
| Italy | Poste Italiane |
| Spain | Correos |
| Canada | Canada Post |
| United States | USPS UPS DHL Express |
| United Kingdom | DPD Evri |
8.4. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a business model that allows one to sell products without directly owning them or having them in stock. Basically, this means you can just take orders and market the products. But the sole right to own the products is with others.
In simple words, drop shippers can source the required products from suppliers, add them to their stores, and automate the selling and shipping process. Even though Shopify and BigCommerce have apps for sourcing the products and setting up the shipping process through assigned suppliers, Shopify is more consistent in this process. Shopify has more Dropshipping apps than BigCommerce.
9. Shopify vs BigCommerce Multilingual Capabilities
When you are opening an online business, it is meant for a global audience. You do not want to miss some important customers because of their language. Let us see how these two platforms deal with this issue.
Both Shopify and BigCommerce allow selling in multiple languages. However, the Shopify vs BigCommerce review makes it clear that while Shopify comes with built-in functionality for selling a product in multiple languages, this is not the case with BigCommerce.
BigCommerce needs to rely on third-party apps like Weglot for doing this task. However, the Shopify vs BigCommerce pricing goes up when one needs to rely on Weglot, especially when there is a need to translate several sites.
Shopify allows translating a site into 20 languages free of cost, provided you are on the Starter plan. By enabling multilingual selling on Shopify, a language folder gets added to the domain.
Alternatively, for those who are on a higher Shopify plan, it is easy for them to host a translated store across the international domain. However, Wegelot can also work with Shopify.
In short, multilingual themes comes with a price for Shopify store owners. But for BigCommerce, the code can be edited, and the website can be manually translated to various languages without a fee.
10. Shopify vs BigCommerce Multicurrency Capabilities
The Shopify vs BigCommerce debate continues with multicurrency capabilities.
For enabling multicurrency in Shopify, one needs to use the ‘Shopify Markets’ feature. This feature allows defining the selling areas, i.e., deciding the market depending on the country or group of countries. After that, one can manage the currencies, local domains, language, and payment process.
With this feature from Shopify, everything gets configured neatly. Also, this multicurrency feature offers a glimpse into the areas from where bulk sales are being carried out.
BigCommerce’s approach to multicurrency is a bit different. It does not allow for creating ‘Markets’; rather, it adds the currencies in which you want to sell the products. Also, BigCommerce allows visitors to change the currency by themselves.
Another difference between Shopify and BigCommerce’s approach toward currency conversion is that it allows setting the currency conversion rates. For the former, one cannot set the currency conversion rate manually unless they are on the Shopify Plus or Advanced Plan. But for BigCommerce, the currency conversion rate can be manually set.
11. Shopify vs BigCommerce Page Speed
It is a known fact that Page Speed plays a crucial role in SEO ranking. At the same time, page speed is essential for user experience. No one loves to visit a slow-loading site as it impacts their shopping experience. So, it is important to see how Shopify and BigCommerce deal with this problem.
To improve the page speed, accelerated mobile pages (AMP) format can be enabled for all products and pages on the BigCommerce templates. This helps to create pages with fast-loading time. However, this cannot be said for Shopify.
While for BigCommerce, enabling AMP does not require any app. On the contrary, AMP is enabled on Shopify through paid apps, such as FireAmp or Shop Sheriff.
If you are unable to understand which is better, Shopify or BigCommerce, use Google Page Speed Insights. It will give you accurate results about the mobile and desktop performance of Shopify and BigCommerce stores.
12. Shopify vs BigCommerce Customer Support
In terms of Customer Support, there is no major difference between Shopify and BigCommerce. This is because both platforms offer almost similar support options, such as live chat, email support, phone support, FAQs, and more.
For Shopify Lite customers get 24/7 live chat and email support. Other Shopify plans provide 24/7 live chat, email, and phone support. However, for BigCommerce all plans come with 24/7 live chat, email, and phone support.
13. Shopify vs BigCommerce: Security
Site security is very crucial for any eCommerce platform. This becomes true when there is a greater need to protect the privacy and sensitive data of the customers or to safeguard the online business’ finances.
Moreover, when a site is properly secured, it can prevent fraud and financial scams. With proper security in place, users can carry out online transactions with complete peace of mind.
As a SaaS platform, BigCommerce offers multiple layers of security for all hosted sites. In fact, all servers at Level 1 are PCI DSS certified so that it remains protected against credit card data breaches. Other security measures offered by BigCommerce are server-specific firewalls, intrusion detection software, fraudulent transaction protection, file integrity scanners, and 24×7 human monitoring.
However, for BigCommerce stores, SSL certificates are issued by third parties for a subdomain or a specific domain. This, in turn, verifies that all information transferred between a user and the site is completely private.
It will not be wrong to say that BigCommerce leaves no stone unturned to offer an important level of security.
13.1. What Way Is Security Different for Shopify?
In an equivalent manner, Shopify stores are PCI compliant. This helps to keep the business data and payment information of the customers safe and secure.
Shopify offers SSL certification for stores after adding a custom domain. To improve security, SSL certificates encrypt the store’s content and publish the content securely using HTTPS.
Now that you are aware of the major difference between Shopify and BigCommerce, just sign up for the platform that meets your business goals with complete confidence.
But we are not done yet! There are some basic differences between Shopify and BigCommerce that should not be overlooked. Read on.
Shopify or BigCommerce: Other Factors to Consider (H2)
The other factors to consider when comparing Shopify vs BigCommerce are:
14. SEO
When thinking about which is better, Shopify or BigCommerce, the SEO aspect should not be overlooked.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for higher ranking across SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
BigCommerce comes bundled with a lot of SEO features, like optimized URLs, embedded microdata into product pages, unique URLs, URL rewrites, and many more things. On the contrary, Shopify simply allows the users to add keywords or modify the meta titles and descriptions and allows editing the URLs for blog posts.
Similarly, when checking the Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison, one gets to see that Shopify offers standard reporting tools with the mid-tier plan and advanced reporting tools only for the pricey plans. However, this is not the case with BigCommerce. Rather, the latter offers professional reporting tools with each plan.
Likewise, it takes just one click to add breadcrumbs to a BigCommerce store, but with Shopify, you need to work with codes or use apps like Category Breadcrumbs.
15. Mobile Apps
While reviewing the difference between Shopify vs BigCommerce, it shows that both Shopify and BigCommerce have their own app stores. One can easily download third-party applications and proprietary apps for extending the functionality of the eCommerce store. For instance, third-party apps for popups or live chat can be integrated with the platforms.
The Shopify app store houses more than 6000 apps and integrations, whereas the BigCommerce app store contains around 850 apps. This number clearly shows that the Shopify platform has a wider market and user base. For this reason, third-party app developers are more likely to develop tools for Shopify rather than BigCommerce.
There is no definite answer on whether the Shopify or BigCommerce platform is better. Each platform has its own set of pros and cons. So, depending on one’s business needs and preferences, the website builder or the eCommerce platform should be picked.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Compliance
From 2018, store owners are required to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) – a set of strict rules on privacy issues.
Store owners might face hefty penalties for not following the rules. It does not matter whether your business is in the EU or not; still, one will need to obey the regulations where site visits from the EU are concerned.
The key priorities that need to be met as per the GDPR are:
- Process and store data accurately
- Provide adequate privacy and cookie notices
- Get proper consent from the people signing up for mailing lists
While Shopify and BigCommerce both meet these priorities, tweaking data capture forms for GDPR compliance needs time.
In terms of cookie consent between Shopify vs BigCommerce, the latter has an extra edge. For ensuring GDPR compliance in an area, one is required to properly display a cookie banner that:
- Logs the consent to run cookies
- Allows users to revoke consent later
- Allows users to pick cookies that they want to run on the website
For BigCommerce, it is easy to add third-party scripts and ensure the cookie is run only when consent is offered. But for Shopify, although there are a lot of apps to deal with the issue, they fail to solve the problem. for this reason, BigCommerce is a winner.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: Important Facts
The debate between Shopify vs BigCommerce will continue. However, both platforms present some interesting facts that should not be overlooked. They are:
1. For Shopify
- Till September 2021, Shopify had the highest market share within the US eCommerce platform market. It had around 29% market share.
- The number of Shopify stores significantly increased by 201.53% between March 2020 and January 2022.
2. For BigCommerce
- BigCommerce has an extra edge when it comes to integrating multi-currency payments.
- BigCommerce platform comes with readily accessible tools for marketing.
Professional Assistance on Which Is Better: Shopify or BigCommerce
If you are still on Magento or on WooCommerce and contemplating shifting your online store to Shopify or BigCommerce, then the Shopify vs BigCommerce review will be extremely helpful for you. Before making any hasty decision, consider each point very carefully. Only after that can we reach a sound conclusion. If you need any help on this matter, ask for professional help.
Concluding Thoughts
Shopify and BigCommerce are the two major eCommerce platforms on the market. Both make it easy to create and grow an online business very easily. While both platforms are user-friendly and responsive, each comes with some strengths and weaknesses. So, depending on the business goals, an eCommerce platform must be chosen by business houses.
The head-to-head comparison of Shopify vs BigCommerce shows some of the major differences between these two platforms. But at the same time, it cannot be denied that these platforms offer online storefronts, points of sale, customer support, and more features.
Although there might be some stark differences between Shopify and BigCommerce platforms, both these platforms help online store owners to produce bespoke websites. In fact, the custom features offered by these platforms make it easy to distinguish your online store from others.
Do you want to take your online business to the next level? Make sure to choose the right eCommerce platform for your business. If you have any queries or doubts about which is better, Shopify or BigCommerce, you can contact eWay Corp.
Our professionals will help you to clarify your doubts. Moreover, we will help our clients to decide on the right eCommerce platform for their business. With our professional expertise, you can surely take your business to the next level.
