Does your online store bring in more than $400,000 annually? Is the sales volume of your brand outpacing the capabilities of your current service model?
If the volume of your eCommerce business is increasing, you need an enterprise-level solution. Although BigCommerce and Shopify both initially found success by assisting small eCommerce business owners, they have significantly increased their service offerings to keep up with the demands of their customers. Both platforms have solid reputations for being dependable and simple to use. BigCommerce and Shopify have continuously developed eCommerce solutions to stay competitive as their customer bases have grown.
The solutions for enterprise-level eCommerce enterprises’ demands are BigCommerce Enterprise and Shopify Plus. But which one should you pick if your company is considering an upgrade?
As specialists in eCommerce solutions, we have developed a comprehensive list of ratings and comparisons so you can see the benefits and drawbacks of both platforms.
1. Prominent Brands
Which business brands indeed use Shopify and BigCommerce? Both platforms appear to have a solid user base. If companies with million-dollar revenue are using these platforms, you can be sure that your company will also be in capable hands.
Clients of BigCommerce Enterprise:
- Toyota
- Kodak
- Paul Mitchell
- Martha Stewart
Clients of Shopify Plus:
- Budweiser
- Nestle
- 2 Chainz
- Kylie Cosmetics
BigCommerce rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐
2. Business Attention
With over 600,000 websites it supports, Shopify is undoubtedly the first and best eCommerce platform. The business has little issue producing impressive data that can wow potential customers. It’s essential to keep in mind, though, that Shopify fell victim to a “Get-Rich-Quick Scheme” in 2017. Despite Shopify’s hasty defense of its business strategy, the episode exposed the firm’s focus on customer service. Only 2,500 of Shopify’s clients were Shopify Plus merchants, while most of the remaining accounts belonged to micro businesses. Shopify’s confusing resource allocation and overblown marketing promises have undoubtedly disguised the company’s core competencies.
On the other side, BigCommerce reiterates a target market: quickly expanding internet retailers. Although the platform only supports about 55,000 websites, it places a lot of emphasis on improving its enterprise features. BigCommerce Enterprise was only released in 2015, yet it has already drawn well-known firms with yearly sales of at least $1 million.
The BigCommerce rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify rating: ⭐⭐⭐
3. Usability
BigCommerce and Shopify both offer intuitive user interfaces. The same dashboards are used by BigCommerce Enterprise and Shopify Plus for their premium plans, making it simple for people to utilize even with extensive capabilities.
BigCommerce rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Product Directory
With a comprehensive catalog feature that supports up to 600 product variants and 250 option values, BigCommerce Enterprise stands out from the competition. Customers may filter and search for specific products by color, sizing, price range, and other criteria using BigCommerce Enterprise due to its catalog’s intricacy and built-in faceted search feature. Up to 10% more conversions may be achieved using the search function and built-in product filters.
Only 100 product variants and three alternatives per product are supported by the significantly more constrained catalog functionality offered by Shopify Plus. Users must rely on third-party applications to enhance Shopify’s faceted search and catalog.
BigCommerce rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify Rating:⭐⭐⭐
5. Integration & Third-Party Apps
Nearly 1,000 applications and integrations, including those for marketing and accountancy, are included with Shopify Plus. In contrast, BigCommerce Enterprise’s app store offers fewer plugins and add-ons. However, BigCommerce Enterprise’s native apps are adaptable enough to handle most needs, and more apps will soon integrate with BigCommerce.
BigCommerce rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Transport
Merchants who use BigCommerce Enterprise greatly benefit from ShipperHQ, the built-in shipping rate engine. The ability to customize current shipping costs and carriers based on many criteria, such as customer group, destination, quantity, etc., is available to business owners. Customers may view the shipping cost immediately in their shopping basket, avoiding any unpleasant surprises while paying.
Discounted prices are available to Shopify Plus merchants who order shipping labels from Shopify directly. Additionally, they can modify delivery costs and impose restrictions on particular carriers and zones using Shopify’s Script Editor. If you want to personalize based on the dimensions of your goods, you’ll have to use third-party software.
BigCommerce rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Purchase
A large number of business-level retailers have a wholesale/B2B channel. BigCommerce Enterprise does an outstanding job of meeting wholesale demands. You can specify quantity discounts, variant-level pricing, and separate access under the same domain for your wholesale clients. With its simple pricing lists, BigCommerce Enterprise makes it simple to set up retail and wholesale.
You will need to build a second wholesale channel with Shopify Plus, which will be located under a subdomain. There may be a difference in the shopping experiences between retail and wholesale clients due to the limitations that come with limited flexibility and functionality.
BigCommerce rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
8. Performance
Both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise are designed to handle a lot of traffic and transactions. They offer limitless bandwidth and dependable hosting, ensuring outstanding website performance even during the busy times of the year. BigCommerce touts a 99.99 percent uptime average and has had flawless uptime every year during Cyber Week. With an average uptime of 99.98 percent, Shopify Plus also produces a competitive result.
BigCommerce rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Since organic search continues to be the primary source of new sales, SEO is a way of life for online retailers. Both BigCommerce and Shopify produce tidy, search engine-friendly URLs.
However, the ability to personalize URLs sets the two apart from one another. Users of BigCommerce can completely tailor their URLs in accordance with their finest SEO techniques. Unfortunately, Shopify has a very rigid URL format. Shopify sellers cannot remove a subcategory from their URLs, such as “/products/” or “pages/.” The rigid URL format has continued to be a massive issue for Shopify retailers and hasn’t been fixed.
BigCommerce rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. The checkout procedure
The final stage in giving customers the impression of the ideal online purchasing experience is the checkout page. You can design a streamlined, branded checkout process for your consumers with BigCommerce Enterprise’s one-page checkout. Additionally, there is a reduced fee for PayPal credit card transactions on the site.
Shopify Payments, the company’s payment gateway, is used by Shopify Plus. This multi-step checkout offers minimal customization options. For Shopify retailers, it also offers lower transaction fees. Although Shopify Payments is, in theory, designed to increase conversions, many users still look for ways to improve the checkout process using third-party apps and hacks.
BigCommerce rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
11. Cost
The monthly cost of BigCommerce Enterprise starts at roughly $1,000 and varies depending on the average order value and volume. Based on the size of your business, you can use BigCommerce’s Total Cost of Ownership Calculator to see how much an enterprise plan will cost.
The plan’s cost is not disclosed in any available information about Shopify Plus. A Shopify platform charge, payment processing costs, app fees, and maintenance fees make up its hazy pricing structure. Absent any variable circumstances; the Shopify platform charge has a minimum monthly cost of $2,000 and a maximum monthly cost of $40,000. You need to speak directly with a Shopify Plus representative if you want further information.
Remember that both enterprise options are designed for companies with big sales volumes. Paying several thousand dollars monthly to handle eCommerce operations may not be a great bargain for small businesses.
BigCommerce rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shopify rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
BigCommerce Enterprise leverages native capabilities and relies less on third-party apps while offering more flexible customization options. Its target market is a company already established or rapidly expanding, which enables the platform to better adapt to specific enterprise demands in the future.
Shopify Plus excels in attempting to include all eCommerce retail services, such as payment processing and shipping. It also has a thriving community for integrations and third-party apps.
Both of these corporate SaaS eCommerce solutions benefit serious retailers. Nevertheless, with the best interests of our customers in mind, we confidently selected BigCommerce and Shopify Plus as our exclusive partners. We also want to see our eCommerce clients flourish online; BigCommerce and Shopify Plus ultimately give business owners a competitive advantage.
In a nutshell, taking Your Business to the next step can only come to reality if you have the right expertise to deliver outstanding solutions. At Seibert Consulting Group, we specialize in providing modern solutions to businesses that aim at taking full advantage of the eCommerce platform. We always customize our solutions to align with Your Business’ requirements and goals. Let’s start talking about your project and find out how we can help Your Business grow. Get in touch with us via our chatbot or email at SCG Team, hello@seibertconsulting.com and via our direct line at 760-205-5440.
