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What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a premium hosted eCommerce solution platform that enables businesses to create an eStore. It also allows for the customization and the introduction of service-based products. BigCommerce services enable the management of stores from any location so long as you are hooked on to the internet. Moreover, setting up an online store with BigCommerce doesn’t require web hosting or installation of apps.

BigCommerce Pricing Plan

When starting up on BigCommerce but not sure whether you want to commit, there is a 15-day free trial where you can test if it’s the right ecommerce platform for you. If it is to your liking, select one of the following premium plans:

Note: You can save up to 10% when you pay annually. Offer available for Plus and Pro plans.

• Standard plan – Includes basic features required to launch and run an online store costing $29.95/month.
• Plus plan – In addition to the basic features, there is addition of customer segmentation, email support for abandoned cart and cross-platform cart items transfers. Moreover, this plan saves credit card details for returning customers. It costs $79.95/month.
• Pro plan – The Pro plan allows for customer reviews and advanced product filtering. It costs $299.95/month
• Enterprise plan – Good for B2Bs where they can create multiple storefronts, customize their prices and enjoy a dedicated customer service team. It’s the most expensive plan and allows for the most advanced features.

BigCommerce price plans are generous only restricting some features and functionalities. However, it does have an annual sales limit, upon which forces you’ll be required to upgrade your plan.

BigCommerce vs Shopify: Differences

Both BigCommerce and Shopify do have their strong claims in superiority over the other. Moreover, they are ideal for certain types of businesses as we shall see. Here are some of the important distinguishing features of both eCommerce platforms.

• Customer support

To get the best out of eCommerce businesses, the most important aspect to consider is customer support. Having tech support can significantly make it easier to solve issues arising and make operations seamless. Let us take a closer look at how customer support fares between the two.

The free trial BigCommerce sign up grants you an appointment for a direct call from their support team. From that they’ll be able to get more info about your business and you’ll receive advice on the premium services to settle on. Moreover, the level of customer support increases as you go up the premium tier.

Shopify on the other hand, slightly outmatches BigCommerce’s support center. Not only is the support center categorized but also extended to social media. When you contact Shopify with an issue, they redirect you to a knowledge center from which you can access relevant solutions. In addition, they respond to social media support requests, which BigCommerce can learn to adopt.

• Ease of use

Whether you are a beginner learning to fly or a veteran soaring through the eye of the storm, an eCommerce platform’s ease of use is important.

BigCommerce’s ease of use may appear less ideal for beginners thanks to its technical terminology. However, it is nothing to fret about or get an education on. A simple search will get you through the operations and together with its robust in-built features, a fine level of customization is achieved.

Shopify boasts a user-friendly editor making it also easy to use. Moreover, there is a terminal where you can access everything with a single click as well as a wizard to guide you to listing products.

• Payment Gateways

Both eCommerce platforms support payment gateways through integration. However, there is a tiny difference between the two.

BigCommerce has integrated third-party apps to facilitate payment services and thus stores will need to link to their choice of payment. Shopify on the other hand, has an in-built payment processor. Fortunately, both instances do not charge transaction fees.

Is BigCommerce Better than Shopify?

BigCommerce is one of the big players in eCommerce and despite not being as popular as Shopify, it has a competitive advantage when it comes to B2B and initial customer support. Moreover, the products are better if your online store needs more features and analytics right out of the bat!

Why BigCommerce?

In eCommerce, security is an essential aspect that cannot be ignored and for a number of reasons. Data protection and privacy is not only an ethical but also a legal aspect. Moreover, safeguarding financial transactions to prevent fraudulent activities significantly upholds your reputation as an online business.

BigCommerce’s security is top notch with several layers on all sites hosted. Moreover, all their servers are PCI DSS certified which protects against credit card data breaches. In addition, there is double layer firewall protection, file integrity checks, and intrusion detection software..

Is BigCommerce Suitable for You?

BigCommerce is a software solution for almost everyone if not all. Not only is it excellent for small businesses but also corporate giants. Moreover, the user experience is great and doesn’t require one to have deep technical skills to operate.

To be precise, BigCommerce is most suitable if you:

• Need powerful tools and features to propel your business to greater heights.
• Run a B2B business and are seeking enterprise-level functionalities.

However, these options are not set in stone as any business type can be supported by BigCommerce as it is flexible.

All these, together with the aforementioned features, BigCommerce should be an ideal platform to start or continue your eCommerce journey.

Are you planning to start an eCommerce business or want to migrate your existing online store to Bigcommerce? Talk to our experts for the best advice.