In the ecommerce world, there are dozens of tools and platforms on the market that can assist you with launching your own online store.
But with so many choices, how do you know which is best?
Fear not; you've come to the right place if you're struggling with this question.
Here we're showcasing three of the most prominent players: Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, to help you find the best tool for your business.
More specifically, we'll examine their:
- Features: What functionality do they offer?
- Usability: How easy are they to use?
- Support: What happens when things go wrong?
- Value: Are they worth the money?
However, if you don't have time to read this entire Shopify vs BigCommerce vs WooCommerce comparison, here's a quick rundown of what each platform is best for:
- Shopify: The best all-rounder. It's a self-hosted platform with a wide array of sales features. From small-scale beginners to dropshipping-based businesses to advanced enterprises, Shopify has something for everyone.
- BigCommerce: The best choice for larger and fast-growing brands that want to implement an omnichannel sales strategy.
- WooCommerce: Best for those with an existing WordPress site or who are familiar with WordPress and want to utilize its framework to launch an online store.
But first, before we get into the specifics, let’s give each contestant an introduction…
What is Shopify?
Today, Shopify is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world. Founded in 2006, Shopify hosts over one million e-shops in approximately 150 countries. It even supports household brands like Tesla, Budweiser, Red Bull, and the LA Lakers!
But don’t be put off by these big names; Shopify excels in scalability, making it a favorite for eCommerce businesses of all sizes.
In addition, Shopify's suite of sales features is impressive, and its themes are clean-looking and easy to customize.
All that to say: It’s no surprise that Shopify's the #1 eCommerce tool!
For more information about Shopify, check out our full review here.
What is BigCommerce?
Another huge name in the eCommerce space is BigCommerce. To date, it's generated over $25 billion across 120 countries.
Founded three years after Shopify in 2009, it's attracted some impressive clientele, including Ben & Jerry’s, Skull Candy, & Vodaphone.
Specializing in delivering enterprise-grade functionality, BigCommerce provides an impressive range of built-in tools to help catapult your business to the next level.
To learn more about BigCommerce, check out our full review here.
What is WooCommerce?
With WooCommerce, you can transform any WordPress site into an eCommerce store. However, unlike Shopify and BigCommerce, which are standalone SaaS services, WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, meaning you need a WordPress website first to use WooCommerce.
WooCommerce is packed full of features, and best of all – it’s free (in its most basic form).
Impressively, it powers over 24% of online shops and is THE central player in the WordPress eCommerce world.
For more in-depth info about WooCommerce, check out our full review here.
Features
So now you’ve met the players, let’s dive into the details!
Shopify
Simply put, Shopify has many built-in features, so many, in fact, that we can't list them all here. So instead, we'll just focus on some of Shopify's more standout features.
It's also worth noting that on top of its in-built features, the Shopify app store lists over 8,000 apps. These comprise free plugins and paid-for plugins, so you're bound to find whatever you need to expand upon Shopify's core functionality.
With that said, let's turn our attention back to Shopify's in-built features. Below I've listed some of the highlights you can expect:
- SEO (search engine optimization): Shopify has a wealth of SEO tools, including editable blog URLs, title tags, meta descriptions, and image alt text.
- Social media marketing: Shopify lets you integrate and sync your product catalog with your Instagram and Facebook shops and feature your Shopify products in your social media ads.
- Shopify Email: You can build and send email marketing campaigns that complement your brand and link to products.
- Mobile App: You can download the Shopify app to your iOS and Android devices to manage your store on the go.
- Dropshipping: Shopify seamlessly integrates with popular dropshipping apps, including Spocket and AliExpress.
- Shopping cart: With over 100 payment gateways you can offer customers, Shopify is incredibly flexible, accepting all major credit cards.
It’s also worth saying that you can sell unlimited products on Shopify and that setting product discounts and reviewing your eCommerce website analytics is easy.
Shopify’s features: 8/10
BigCommerce
Where in-built features are concerned, BigCommerce has Shopify beat. However, with just under 1,300 apps, it has fewer add-ons than Shopify in its app store.
Some of BigCommerce's most standout in-built features include:
- Unlimited product listings
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited file storage
- Access to powerful SEO tools (SEO-friendly URLs, out-of-the-box metadata, and robots.txt editing.)
- Easy-to-use discounting and promotional tools
- The ability to manage multiple storefronts from one account
- Access to powerful reporting and analytics features
- You can customize your store using drag-and-drop functionality.
- You can offer shoppers custom product recommendations.
- Benefit from headless commerce APIs
- Access to omnichannel sales features
- Access to B2B sales features like quote management, custom SKU prices for business customers, allow for more complex on-site search criteria, etc.
BigCommerce’s features: 8/10
WooCommerce
One of WooCommerce’s unique selling points is that because it leverages WordPress’s framework, you also have access to the thousands of plugins available to expand the functionality of your store.
The only caveat here is that when scaling your business… add too many extensions, and you can slow down page load time.
Also, as WooCommerce is open source, you own everything – it’s not leased to you by an eCommerce platform.
With that, below, we’ve listed just a few WooCommerce features worthy of note:
- Access to analytics and reporting functionality
- Payment integrations with all major providers, including Stripe, Payfast, and its own payment solution, WooCommerce Payments.
- It’s easy to sell product bundles, discount packages, and gift cards,
- You can set flexible shipping rates.
- Excellent inbuilt SEO
- You can sell physical products, subscriptions, bookings, appointments, downloads, services, accommodations, etc.
- Access to intuitive cart and checkout blocks so you can optimize the checkout process however you wish.
WooCommerce’s features: 8/10
Usability
Suppose your chosen eCommerce platform isn’t easy to use. In that case, you and your team will waste plenty of time navigating the software. So with that said, let’s examine how intuitive these platforms are:
Shopify
Shopify is famous for its ease of use– promising users the ability to get up and running within just an hour!
Shopify offers over 70 themes (a mix of paid-for and free), all of which look great and are easily customizable.
Shopify’s dashboard is also pretty intuitive. You can manage all aspects of your eCommerce store from here. From updating your product discounts and promotions to editing content and listing products, Shopify is easy to navigate.
Shopify’s usability: 9/10
BigCommerce
Like Shopify, BigCommerce also makes it easy to create an eCommerce store without a web developer. All its tools and templates are super beginner-friendly. It even comes with a drag-and-drop web builder, and much like Shopify, you can edit the CSS and HTML if you want to get stuck into the code.
There are over 150 themes available to choose from that you can use to lay the framework of your web design, 12 of which are free.
However, thanks to its sheer array of features, newbies may find BigCommerce’s learning curve somewhat steeper.
BigCommerce’s usability: 8/10
WooCommerce
Out of our three contenders, WooCommerce is the weakest where usability is concerned. It requires a steeper learning curve and some knowledge of WordPress to hit the ground running. However, a little patience goes a very long way, as, WooCommerce is the most customizable option.
However, you may find that as you begin to download and use more extensions, your website load time suffers. You’ll also need to ensure that your chosen theme and plugins are all compatible with one another. Otherwise, you’ll be in for a headache!
WooCommerce’s usability: 7/10
Customer Support
When adding to your tech stack, you want to trust that you'll receive the support you need if things go wrong or a question arises. So, let’s see what Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce offer in the realm of customer support:
Shopify
Shopify’s customer support is second to none. With around-the-clock telephone and live chat support available on all pricing plans and a large variety of online self-help materials, you’re never left stranded!
Shopify’s customer service: 10/10
BigCommerce
BigCommerce’s customer support scales with its pricing plans. For example, the free trial unlocks email, live chat support, and online self-help resources to help you get started.
But it’s not until you upgrade to a paid plan that you can access their 24/7 phone, live chat, and ticketing service. Like Shopify, you’ll also find a wealth of self-help resources on its website.
BigCommerce’s customer service: 10/10
WooCommerce
Historically, as WooCommerce is a free, open-source WordPress plugin, it didn’t offer any kind of live customer support. However, this is no longer the case! WooCommerce now provides live email and chat support across multiple time zones from real-life experts.
There are also plenty of active forums where you’ll find WooCommerce team members and other members of the WordPress community regularly solving queries. WooCommerce is also pretty well documented, so you’ll find many self-help resources and tutorials with a quick Google search.
WooCommerce’s customer service: 9/10
Value for Money
All the bells and whistles are meaningless without knowing whether you can afford the software. So let’s look at the value of these platforms and ask, are they worth the cost?
Shopify
Depending on your chosen pricing plan, Shopify comes in at $39-$399 per month (based on monthly billing). There’s also a $ 2,000-a-month plan for Shopify Plus – their enterprise package.
You might also need to budget for premium themes and plugins, depending on your needs.
Shopify’s value: 8/10
BigCommerce
BigCommerce plans come in at $39-$399/month (based on monthly billing), with an enterprise plan available upon request.
Much like Shopify, there’s a free trial, and paying annually rather than monthly will land you a discount.
At the lower end of its pricing scale, BigCommerce lacks some features that Shopify grants (like in-built abandoned cart recovery functionality); however, its real USP is the ability to run multiple from one account, even on the basic plan!
BigCommerce’s value: 9/10
WooCommerce
At its core, WooCommerce is free, making it arguably the best value for money. However, to get the most out of this platform, you'll want extensions, and that’s where the costs creep in.
Not to mention you have to purchase your own web hosting, manage your website security and SSL certificate, and buy a domain name, all of which add up.
As a result, there’s no one way to value WooCommerce, as it entirely depends on what you want on your site!
WooCommerce’s value: 8/10
Shopify vs BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Which to Choose?
When all is said and done, who wins in this Shopify vs Bigcommerce vs WooCommerce comparison?
Fundamentally that answer comes down to your unique needs:
WooCommerce is great if you want to get the most out of content marketing and if you already use WordPress.
Alternatively, BigCommerce is a brilliant option for B2B companies and mid-level businesses looking to scale their operations.
However, it’s undeniable that the best general-purpose eCommerce platform is Shopify. Shopify is effortless to use and inherently scalable, allowing you to start, grow, and manage a business of any size.
With an impressive suite of in-built tools and an extensive app store, Shopify provides everything you could possibly want from an eCommerce platform.
Shopify is the world’s #1 e-commerce platform, and it’s easy to see why!
So, what do you think about these ecommerce solutions? Have you used one of them or dabbled in other platforms like Wix, Squarespace, Magento, or Weebly? Either way, let us know what you think in the comments below.
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