Ashad Rehman
Do you own a business and you believe it’s high time you should get your own online website to market your products? If that’s the case, then what you require is an e-commerce platform to build your online experience. While there are plenty of options in the market, there’s only a handful of them which offers you all the benefits of running an online presence and selling your product online. However, the two most popular e-commerce platforms are none other but, BigCommerce & WooCommerce.
They are the two most widely used online platforms for building online retail stores.
Choosing the best one can be quite overwhelming. That’s why I have done my research on which is the best option for you. Based on different factors, here’s where I think both platforms stand in the online world.
What to Check Before Starting with an E-commerce Platform?
Before you choose a particular e-commerce platform for your online experience, you must address a few things. These may include some important things such as,
- Budget – Before starting an online store, check the average budget you’re going to invest.
- Ease of Use – Whichever platform you choose, does it provide ease of access to handle issues.
- Payment Gateways – Check how many different payment gateways the platform supports.
- Scalability – Does the platform meet the requirement of scaling up when it needs to grow?
Here are some of the important things which you must consider before starting your online store. Also, at the same time, you must also check if your e-commerce platform provides you with additional features to manage invoices, taxes, inventory management, shipping, SEO, etc. Just like every other thing, these additional features are important to make your e-commerce website a thorough success. If the platform you select won’t provide you with these features, then you’ve to add them separately.
Now let’s compare both BigCommerce & WooCommerce to see which one is the best option.
Ease of Use
When it comes to BigCommerce, you get an easy-to-use platform where you don’t have to worry about hosting or installing any web applications. Also, you don’t have to worry about setting up back-ups & security features that the platform itself handles. You will barely find any performance issues.
For those who are just starting out with a new retail store website, you get a separate custom domain with BigCommerce. If you already have an existing WordPress website, then you can use the BigCommerce WordPress plugin which allows you to sell your products through BigCommerce and operate your blog from WordPress at the same time. All you have to do is integrate BigCommerce into your WordPress.
On the other hand, WooCommerce unlike BigCommerce isn’t a fully hosted platform. WooCommerce is a plugin which you will need to install manually at the back end of your WordPress website. It’s also very easy to set up if you have an existing WordPress website.
While setting up your online retail store is one thing, adding different features and extensions is another. After setting up your online store on WooCommerce, it will require a bit of work to choose a complementary theme & add additional features to make the store attractive. And you must take care of your security, backups, caching, etc. WooCommerce requires a bit of an effort to set up but it offers more flexibility than BigCommerce.
Costing
BigCommerce comes with three subscription plans
If you want to purchase a domain name, then you add an extra cost of $12 per year. You can easily find a domain on Namecheap or GoDaddy. Check the availability and then make the purchase. In case you want to set up a premium theme on BigCommerce, you have to further purchase it for $170.
On the other hand, when you’re using WooCommerce, the costs are bare minimum. Since WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin and you can access it directly from your WordPress dashboard, the only expenses that you have to pay are for the domain, the hosting, and the theme for the website.
WooCommerce brings a list of themes and plugins where some of them are free and others paid.
If you go for the paid ones, your expenditures will go up.
Otherwise, WordPress for WooCommerce is quite a cost-effective option.
Payment Gateways
Payment Gateways are important for retail stores that are operating on an international level. There are several places in the world where some payment gateways are accessible and others are not. Hence, when you’re choosing a platform, it is necessary to choose one with multiple options.
Here, both platforms have several payment gateway options, including PayPal powered by Braintree, Square, Adyen, Stripe, Authorize.net, and CyberSource. While WooCommerce offers Paypal & Stripe by default, to add other payment gateways, you can do that using the add-ons & extensions.
Scalability
Addressing scalability is just as important as any other factor in the online world because, as your customers grow, so does the fact that your online website needs to expand. As far as whether BigCommerce is more scalable or WooCommerce, let’s check both platforms & see for ourselves.
BigCommerce is a fully hosted platform where you don’t have to concern yourself with the technicalities. Hence, when it comes to scalability, BigCommerce brings a hassle-free solution to the table. If your website traffic grows, you only have to choose a different subscription plan. Let BigCommerce handle everything at the back end to provide the best customer experience to everyone.
With WooCommerce, you get a self-hosted platform where you have to scale the platform manually. Here, you will be required to contact your hosting company and upgrade your server plan accordingly.
Although both platforms are scalable, BigCommerce earns an edge here with its ease of access.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Which E-Commerce Platform is the Best Choice?
Choosing the right e-commerce platform for your digital business can be a daunting task and it all comes down to your technical skills, personal preferences, and estimated budget. If you’re searching for an all-in-one digital e-commerce platform where you don’t have to get involved in setting up hassles and you have enough budget to purchase, BigCommerce is your best option. However, the downside of launching your online presence on BigCommerce is you get limited control and pay a hefty price.
With WooCommerce, you get the ultimate customizability and a variety of options. Although the platform is cost-effective, it surely does fall behind when it comes to ease of access and automated solutions. When it comes to security, backup, and performance, you have to optimize WooCommerce all by yourself. That’s why Branex, a custom web design agency, is always willing to assist you in setting up your online store. Whether you want one on BigCommerce or WooCommerce, we can help you create a remarkable online experience. Now, how about we set up an online store just for you.
Ashad Rehman
