Shopify and BigCommerce Integration with WordPress: A Detailed Comparison

BigCommerce and Shopify are two of the most popular eCommerce platforms, but they cater to slightly different types of businesses and have distinct features. Below is a comparison of BigCommerce vs Shopify, focusing on various aspects of both platforms.

1. Ease of Use

Shopify: Shopify is known for its simplicity and ease of use. The platform is highly intuitive, making it a great choice for beginners with no technical expertise. Setting up a store on Shopify is a quick process, and it includes an easy drag-and-drop interface for managing products and store settings.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce is also user-friendly but offers more advanced features aimed at medium to large-sized businesses. While it’s relatively easy to use, it can be slightly more complex compared to Shopify, especially when it comes to customization and scaling.

2. Pricing (2024)

Shopify: Shopify offers several pricing tiers, starting from $39/month (Basic Shopify) to $399/month (Advanced Shopify). Shopify also charges transaction fees (unless you use Shopify Payments) and additional fees for third-party apps and themes.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce’s pricing starts at $39.95/month for the Standard plan and goes up to $299.95/month for the Pro plan. BigCommerce has no additional transaction fees, even if you use third-party payment gateways, making it a cost-effective solution for some businesses.

3. Customization & Design

Shopify: Shopify offers a range of free and paid themes in its theme store. While it provides customization options, the level of customization can be limited without coding knowledge. However, Shopify also has an extensive app marketplace that allows users to add features.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce offers a good selection of responsive, customizable templates, but its design options are slightly more limited than Shopify’s. However, it provides more flexibility for businesses that need advanced customizations, such as custom APIs, which may appeal to larger businesses.

4. Product Management

Shopify: Shopify supports an unlimited number of products on all plans and offers robust tools for managing inventory. It also supports digital and physical product types, with features like bulk editing and inventory tracking.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce offers unlimited product management similar to Shopify. It also offers more advanced product catalog management features like custom product options, product variants, and bulk pricing, making it ideal for larger stores with complex product catalogs.

5. Payment Processing

Shopify: Shopify has its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, but it also supports a variety of third-party payment providers (e.g., PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net). Shopify charges transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify Payments.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce also offers its own integrated payment gateway, and it supports various third-party gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and others. Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce does not charge any additional transaction fees, even when using third-party payment processors.

6. Scalability

Shopify: Shopify can handle stores of all sizes, from small businesses to enterprise-level companies. However, Shopify Plus, which is designed for enterprise-level stores, comes with a much higher price tag and additional fees.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce is a great choice for stores that are growing quickly or already large, with more robust built-in features to support scalability, including advanced product options, multi-channel selling, and large catalogs. BigCommerce’s enterprise solutions are available at a lower cost than Shopify Plus.

7. Built-In Features

Shopify: Shopify offers an impressive range of features, including sales channels (social media, marketplaces, etc.), customer management, discount codes, reporting, and shipping integrations. However, some advanced features (such as abandoned cart recovery) are only available on higher-tier plans.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce offers a more feature-rich experience at the base level. It includes built-in tools for handling product reviews, advanced shipping options, multi-currency support, built-in tax calculations, and more. BigCommerce is designed to scale without needing too many third-party apps or plugins.

8. SEO & Marketing

Shopify: Shopify has solid SEO capabilities, including customizable URL structures, meta tags, alt text for images, and mobile optimization. Shopify also includes marketing features like discount codes, gift cards, email marketing integration, and automated campaigns.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce offers strong SEO features, such as customizable URLs, schema markup, and automated sitemaps. It also provides better multi-channel selling support (e.g., eBay, Amazon, and social media) and built-in integration with Google Shopping and product reviews, which can be beneficial for driving traffic and improving SEO.

9. Support

Shopify: Shopify offers 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone. It also has a comprehensive help center, an active community forum, and a wide range of third-party support resources.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce also offers 24/7 support through live chat, email, and phone. It has an extensive knowledge base and community forum. BigCommerce tends to provide more in-depth support for businesses looking to scale and implement advanced features.

10. App Ecosystem

Shopify: Shopify has a massive app marketplace with over 7,000 apps for almost every feature imaginable. From accounting to customer support, you can find an app for almost anything. However, some apps require additional costs, which can add up quickly.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce has fewer apps in comparison (around 1,000+ apps), but the apps they do offer are well-integrated and offer comprehensive functionalities. BigCommerce’s built-in features often reduce the need for third-party apps.

11. International Selling

Shopify: Shopify supports multiple languages, currencies, and taxation systems, making it a great option for businesses with an international customer base. It also integrates with global payment gateways for accepting international payments.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce also supports multiple languages, currencies, and tax settings, along with additional multi-currency features and international shipping options. It is particularly strong when it comes to selling on multiple platforms (e.g., eBay, Amazon, Facebook, etc.).

Conclusion: Shopify vs BigCommerce

Best for Beginners: Shopify is generally the best option for smaller businesses or users with no technical experience. It is intuitive, easy to set up, and supports a wide range of integrations.

Best for Growing or Large Businesses: BigCommerce is better suited for businesses that require more advanced features, scalability, and customization without the reliance on third-party apps. It is especially beneficial for businesses with large product catalogs, international customers, or multi-channel selling.