- Amelia Sabestine
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To capitalize on this massive market, sellers require the best e-commerce platform. An effective business should be run with the aid of e-commerce software. It should also meet your scalability and flexibility requirements.
There are lots of e-commerce platforms out there to assist you in opening your store. Depending on your company’s goals and size, the platforms might alter. Which one, though, is suitable for your specific requirements?
For small businesses, certain e-commerce platforms can be beneficial. Large-scale businesses need a sturdy store platform that manages big inventories with ease.
This article contrasts and compares Bigcommerce vs. Shopify vs. Magento to help you find an e-commerce solution that suits your needs. In the end, a winner will become evident based on what is most important to your growing business.
Overview of Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce
Magento
With Magento, you have complete control and customization capabilities as an open-source e-commerce platform. With Magento, hosting, upkeep, and updates are all under your control. For tech-savvy retailers selling diverse products, Magento is ideal.
Shopify
One well-liked hosted e-commerce option is Shopify. They’ll handle hosting, security updates, and other stuff, so you can focus on your company. Due to its extensive integration network and user-friendly interface, Shopify is a great option for retailers of all sizes, offering a broad selection of products.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce also hosts and maintains its platform. Like Shopify, they’re suitable for any retailer, but Big Commerce’s pricing is a bit lower, which smaller brands may prefer. They offer a robust feature set with lots of integrations to help stores grow.
Learn more about Shopify vs. Big Commerce vs. Magento vs. WooCommerce.
In short, Magento requires technical skills but offers ultimate flexibility. Shopify and BigCommerce are easier to use but less customizable.
Magento vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Discovering Common Reasons
Finding the platform that works best for you both now and in the future is crucial. A platform that will expand with you as you do is what you need instead of tying your brand to one that ultimately hinders its growth.
All three of these platforms can power a successful online store. Magento gives large enterprises the most robust customization options. Shopify makes it easy for small businesses to get up and running quickly. BigCommerce lands right in the middle, making it suitable for mid-market companies.
Similar core features:
All three platforms offer essential e-commerce functionality, like:
- Product listings
- Shopping cart
- Checkout
- Payment processing
- Shipping calculation
- Order management
- Analytics and Reporting
What Is The Difference Between Magento, Bigcommerce, And Shopify?
Examine the following features and distinctive selling propositions while keeping in mind your company’s requirements and the areas in which you require assistance.
Features
Magento outperforms the competition in terms of features. You have total flexibility and control over your store thanks to its open-source software. Everything is adaptable to your requirements. The Shopify plan offers a range of features to suit your business requirements. With the plans, you get unlimited storage, bandwidth, and products. While there are features built into BigCommerce to help you manage your store efficiently,
Security
E-commerce sites can’t afford to be vulnerable to attacks that might compromise consumer data and erode confidence in their brand. You will need to perform varying amounts of security work on e-commerce sites.
As safe as your developers can make it, Magento is. You will have to handle certification and maintenance, even for basic items like SSL. Magento will provide updates for known security flaws (like the SQL site injection vulnerability that endangered 300,000 Magento stores in 2019); nevertheless, maintaining the most recent version of your website is the responsibility of your team.
A SaaS solution’s integrated security is one of its benefits. Shopify offers SSL security on their hosted sites and complies with all six PCI standards.
For every website they host, BigCommerce offers several tiers of robust security as part of their SaaS offering. BigCommerce is level PCI-1 compliant and offers lightning-fast speed, 99.9% uptime, DDOS protection, and SSL security across the entire BigCommerce website development. This enables company owners to concentrate more on innovation and business growth and less on security and performance.
Mobile Friendly
Magento’s responsive themes automatically adapt to mobile devices so your store looks great on any screen size. Shoppers can browse and buy on the go.
While Magento is a powerhouse, its complexity means a steep learning curve. For smaller stores, Shopify or BigCommerce may be easier to set up and manage. But if customization and control are priorities, Magento reigns supreme.
Popularity
When it comes to popularity, Shopify reigns supreme. It powers over 600,000 businesses in approximately 175 countries. Some of the major brands using Shopify include Gymshark, MVMT Watches, Rebecca Minkoff, and Kylie Cosmetics.
Magento comes in second, with over 250,000 merchants and a strong presence in Europe. Brands like Liverpool FC, Perrier, and Olympus use Magento. BigCommerce trails in third place with around 60,000 businesses. It still hosts many big brands.
Control And Customization
When it comes to customizing your store and controlling how it looks and functions, Magento is the clear winner.
Extensive Customization Options
You have complete control over the appearance, design, and operation of your online store with Magento. Magento gives you the flexibility and resources to add new features, integrate with other systems, or completely redesign the user interface.
Though not to the same extent, Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce do provide customization options like themes, apps, and an API. If maximizing control and customization is most important to you, Magento is likely your best choice.
Ease Of Use And Setup
It’s simple to create an online store with Shopify. It handles all the technical aspects of setting up an online store, freeing you up to focus on what matters most—generating sales.
For beginners, Shopify is the easiest to use as compared to BigCommerce and Magento. The intuitive interface and simple setup process mean you can launch your store and start selling in just a few hours. For those without much technical expertise, the easy setup and user experience of Shopify can’t be beaten.
Themes and Templates
Magento is inferior to Shopify and BigCommerce in terms of themes and templates. Magento’s theme selection isn’t as vast. They offer around 50 free core themes but only a handful are fully responsive.
In addition to the thousands of premium themes available in a theme store, Shopify provides more than one hundred professionally designed free themes. Their themes are modern, stylish, and optimized for conversion.
BigCommerce also provides a variety of free and paid themes—over 100 free and 400+ paid—with a focus on responsiveness and mobile-friendliness.
Extensions
With hundreds of free and paid extensions, Magento gives you lots of options to enhance your store’s functionality. Some popular choices include:
- Product reviews: Allow customers to review products and share experiences. Reviews build trust and social proof.
- Google Shopping feed: Create product feeds for Google Shopping to increase visibility and traffic.
- Automated email marketing: Send targeted newsletters, abandoned cart reminders, and win-back campaigns.
- SEO optimization: Improve search rankings with extensions for meta tags, URL redirects, and sitemaps.
- Product options: Give customers more choices with extensions for product customization, bundles, related products, and upsell/cross-sell.
- Checkout improvements: Streamline the checkout process with faster checkout, guest checkout, and saved credit card extensions.
With an open-source platform and a large developer community, the options for extending your Magento store functionality are almost limitless. The key is finding high-quality extensions that meet your specific business needs and enhance your customers’ experiences.
Scalability And Growth Potential
Scalability and growth are crucial for any e-commerce business. Magento is built for unlimited scalability and can handle huge volumes of traffic and transactions. Its open-source, modular architecture means you have full control and flexibility to scale as needed.
Shopify and BigCommerce also provide scalable platforms to support business growth, with enterprise editions to handle high-volume stores. However, their proprietary systems may limit some customization.
For new stores anticipating quick growth, Magento’s open and flexible system is ideal. Existing stores can compare each platform’s ability to scale with their business vision and growth goals. The e-commerce solution that fits today may not suit tomorrow, so plan!
Payment Gateway Options
When selecting an e-commerce platform, payment gateway options are an important consideration. The top three platforms offer integrations with the major gateways.
Shopify comes with Shopify Payments as its default gateway but also integrates with over 100 external gateways like Stripe, Authorize.Net, and PayPal. Shopify Payments offers competitive rates, fast payouts, and a simplified setup. Using an external gateway may incur additional fees.
Magento and BigCommerce also provide lots of flexibility with various payment providers. Magento is open source so you have access to many free and paid gateway extensions. though the setup can be complex. Magento offers tons of payment and shipping options right out of the box. It integrates with major carriers like UPS and USPS and most payment gateways. BigCommerce works with major gateways out-of-the-box and some have exclusive lower rates.
When selecting a gateway, you must consider all factors. The good news is that you can probably find at least one of these platforms that works for you.
Customer Support
An e-commerce platform’s customer support can make or break it. Naturally, problems will come up, and you’ll want a team on hand to assist.
Magento offers 24/7 phone, email, and chat support for all plans. However, response times and issue resolutions can vary. Their large open-source community provides extra help, but quality is hit or miss. Magento’s complex interface means a steep learning curve, so customer support is crucial.
Shopify is known for its top-notch 24/7 support across channels. As an established SaaS, their knowledge base is comprehensive. Shopify experts can also help for an extra fee. Easy to use but less customizable, Shopify requires less hand-holding, though their support is there if you need it.
BigCommerce offers 24/7 support for all plans, with quick response times and in-depth knowledge of their platform. They aim to resolve most issues within 4 hours. BigCommerce University provides helpful resources for getting started and growing. An intuitive interface means less dependence on support, but they excel when needed.
While all three platforms offer round-the-clock assistance, the levels of support and expertise vary. For a balance of usability and customization with best-in-class support, BigCommerce leads the pack. But choose what’s right for your needs and budget. Help is out there, no matter which e-commerce giant you choose!
SEO And Marketing
The major players in SEO and marketing tools for e-commerce stores are Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce.
- With URL redirects, meta tags, alt-image attributes, and other SEO tools, Magento provides a comprehensive toolkit. They also provide marketing features like promotions, newsletters, and product reviews. However, the learning curve can be steep.
- Shopify makes SEO and marketing simple with an intuitive interface. They offer SEO-optimized themes, meta title and description editing, blog marketing, and email marketing. The app store has many third-party marketing integrations. Shopify’s SEO service and marketing tools are easy to use but more basic.
- BigCommerce also provides SEO fundamentals and email marketing, though not quite as robust as the other two. They focus more on enterprise features. Marketing options are expanding but are still limited. BigCommerce is working to improve its SEO and marketing features but still has some catching up to do.
You need to evaluate your technical skills and marketing needs to determine the best fit. Magento is ideal for large businesses that need advanced features. Shopify and BigCommerce are better for smaller companies wanting an easy-to-use platform with room to grow. But with the right apps and integrations, any of these tools can work for most stores. The choice comes down to how much control and customization you need versus ease of use.
Pricing And Value Comparison
Magento is the most costly of the three options in terms of pricing. Enterprise Edition licensing begins at $22,000 annually. The Community Edition is free and open source, but only developers can customize and implement it.
Shopify and BigCommerce provide small to midsize businesses with more cost-effective options.
- BigCommerce offers standard plans starting at $29.95 per month.
- Shopify’s basic packages start at $29 per month. Both offer user-friendly interfaces that allow you to quickly get up and running without the need for a developer.
For larger stores with more advanced needs, Shopify Plus starts at $2,000/month and BigCommerce Enterprise is $499/month. These plans provide additional features like advanced analytics, API access, and dedicated support.
If budget is a concern, Shopify and BigCommerce will likely be more affordable options than Magento. It comes down to how much control and customization you need. Magento is the most customizable but requires significant investment. Shopify and BigCommerce balance flexibility and ease of use at lower price points.
Should I Switch From BigCommerce To Shopify?
Should you make the switch from BigCommerce to Shopify? Here are factors to consider:Â
- Shopify likely has a lower learning curve. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to pick up without technical skills. If BigCommerce’s advanced features overwhelm you, Shopify could be a simpler solution.
- Shopify has a bigger app store. You’ll have plenty of options to improve your store with over 2,000 apps. Because BigCommerce’s app store is smaller, some integrations might be lost.
- Pricing may be lower with Shopify. For many stores, Shopify’s monthly fees are more affordable. BigCommerce can cost more with higher sales volumes.
Enhance The Experience Of Shopping.
You can find that BigCommerce has a drag-and-drop editor when comparing it to Magento. It lacks some of Shopify’s editor’s features when it comes to creating an online store. Shopify’s “sections” feature makes it simple to show, hide, rearrange, and edit sections, giving your customers the best possible online shopping experience.
Permit You To Make A Physical Sale
BigCommerce and Magento integrate with many of the same third-party point-of-sale systems as Shopify. Conversely, Shopify offers a fully integrated point-of-sale (POS) solution that enables you to manage sales from online and offline locations from a single interface. This solution comes with built-in features like tipping and in-store pickup for physical retailers.
Boost Your Store’s Functionality.
The app stores for BigCommerce and Magento are similar in size, but Shopify’s app store is noticeably larger. The Shopify App Store has over 6,000+ apps designed specifically for e-commerce, giving you all the resources you need to grow your company.
Expand Your Horizons.
Users of Magento can only sell goods on their websites. In contrast, you can sell on other websites by using the buy buttons provided by BigCommerce and Shopify. While BigCommerce requires users to install a Buy Button application, Shopify makes it easy to add the Buy Button to any website by simply embedding a code.
Promote Through Well-known Channels
Both BigCommerce and Magento enable you to sell through a variety of Internet sales channels. However, because of its expanding network of integrations and partnerships, Shopify is a more alluring platform. Shopify vendors may advertise their goods on a variety of platforms, including Google, Amazon, Walmart, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Shopify makes running a business easy by tracking orders and inventory on its own.
Get Ready For The Following Day.
Shopify is creating a platform for how customers of the future will interact with storefronts. Shopify already makes it possible to have experiences like augmented reality shopping, curbside pickup, and 3D product views.
However, BigCommerce is better for large catalogs. Its bulk editing and attribute creation tools handle thousands of products more efficiently. While it may struggle with huge product Shopify checklists, BigCommerce also has stronger native features like customer groups, coupon codes, and gift cards. You’d need apps to get those on Shopify. Evaluate what matters for your business. Don’t assume that one platform is inherently better. Compare the specific features, fees, and capabilities that will make a difference to you. With the right choice and optimization, either can power a successful store.
Conclusion
Three major players in the e-commerce platform market are compared in depth: Shopify vs. Magento vs. Bigcommerce. Whatever feels right for your team and business at the end of the day is what you have to do. Magento packs a powerful punch for large enterprises but requires technical resources to implement. Shopify offers beautiful simplicity and an app ecosystem that keeps growing. BigCommerce lands right in the middle, giving you a robust feature set without the huge learning curve.
In the end, it comes down to your willingness to have control over the platform, the size of your catalog and sales volume, and the financial commitment you are willing to make when starting your store. Choosing any platform is not that difficult.
