Are you spending valuable time to find a great platform to automate and streamline processes? We collected all the information needed to come up with the right decision! In this article, you will get a better idea of the benefits and drawbacks of WooCommerce vs Bigcommerce!
So let’s dive into it!
What Is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an open-sourced plugin for WordPress websites that helps you create an online presence and conveniently sell your products. It is user-friendly, it offers limitless customization and it’s flexible because it provides multiple features, unlimited plugins, and built-in security features.
WooCommerce is aimed at medium-sized and above online businesses, wholesale, retail, and manufacturing companies. Furthermore, it is not so suitable for a one-man business due to the fact that it typically needs a developer to help in setting things up after a point.
Benefits of WooCommerce
WooCommerce can help you elevate a simple WordPress website into a fully functional online store. It is considered a perfect solution for businesses at all levels from small to large companies. Let’s see its benefits analytically:
- Limitless Customization: WooCommerce provides a plethora of built-in features than any other eCommerce platform. Furthermore, the user can customize the websites’ themes to a very large extent. To fully harness their potential, some technical skills, such as proficiency in using HTML/CSS editors, may be beneficial.
- Plethora of Plugins: It also offers you the ability to select 3rd party plugins from a wide collection of both WordPress and WooCommerce.
- Access to WordPress SEO tools: WooCommerce operates on a robust WordPress content management system, granting users access to an extensive collection of plugins from both WordPress and WooCommerce stores, as well as other plugin websites. This abundance of plugins empowers users to enhance and expand their online stores with a wide range of additional functionalities
Cons of WooCommerce
- Technical Knowledge is necessary: Due to WordPress functionalities, developers might be needed to help you take advantage of the platform
- Limited Support: As WooCommerce doesn’t provide phone, email, or chat support you’ll need to go through WooCommerce Docs or submit a ticket all by yourself.
What Is BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is an easy-to-implement eCommerce solution that helps you conveniently run your online store. In case you already have a physical store and considering starting an e-shop then BigCommecre is the best start for your company! Furthermore, BigCommerce provides the best built-in features and powerful APIs that make the software easy to set up, customize and elevate your business.
Benefits of BigCommerce
- Enjoy Boundless Scalability: As your business experiences rapid growth, you’ll have robust support to access a wide array of features that facilitate seamless expansion. Benefit from unlimited product variants, automated marketplace integration, and versatile multichannel selling capabilities, including multi-storefront management, multi-currency support, and diverse payment options.
- Seamless Store Setup: BigCommerce offers a seamless store setup process while remaining highly adaptable for customization. Unlike other hosted systems, BigCommerce allows owners to access and modify the underlying code of their stores. This unique capability empowers you to leverage out-of-the-box functions, making it easier to enhance your store as you grow your business.
- Powerful Built-in Capabilities: With its rich set of built-in features and powerful open APIs, BigCommerce excels in customization, enabling users to add additional functionalities tailored to their specific needs. Such flexibility and performance are hard to come by when compared to other platforms.
- Excellent Checkout Process: Experience a high-performance checkout process with BigCommerce, as it provides the freedom to customize every aspect of the checkout flow using a server-to-server checkout API and SDK. This level of control ensures a smooth and efficient checkout experience for your customers.
Cons of BigCommerce
- Pricing: Compared to other options, BigCommerce comes with a higher price tag due to its inclusion of several unique features beyond the standard monthly subscription.
Differences Between WooCommerce vs BigCommerce
1. Pricing
BigCommerce and Woocommerce offer different pricing mechanisms. Specifically, BigCommerce provides several pricing plans both monthly and manually whereas WooCommerce is free to install but accumulates costs for individual components.
BigCommerce Pricing
- Provides a free trial
- Offers 4 pricing plans (standard, plus, pro, and enterprise)
- No transaction fees
WooCommerce Pricing
- It’s free to download
- The domain name, web hosting service, and SSL certificate are charged
- According to WooCommerce, hosting can be as little as $3.95 per month and as high as $5.000.
2. User Friendliness
BigCommerce is a fully hosted platform thus it isn’t required to set up hosting or any software to get started. Even though it provides a straightforward interface sometimes it may provoke a bit of hassle for its users. On the other hand, WooCommerce is more complexed as it requires setting up some initial steps and is more appropriate for users that have acquired a certain level of technical skills.
3. Customization
BigCommerce
- Provides 5 free and 100+ paid themes
- The price range for paid themes is from $140 to $399
WooCommerce
- Provides thousands of free and paid themes
- Its themes are more customizable
4. Inventory Management
For BigCommerce, setting up the inventory management process is straightforward. However, you can only track finished or sellable goods meaning that if you’re a manufacturer, BigCommece won’t provide you with the required features.
On the other hand, WooCommerce offers assistance in managing fundamental responsibilities such as generating inventory reports and modifying various aspects of your products. Nevertheless, overseeing inventory in WooCommerce can prove to be more challenging than it initially appears, particularly when dealing with bulk stock management. This is due to the necessity of navigating through multiple pages and adjusting numerous settings individually for even minor modifications.
Moreover, as your inventory expands each day, WooCommerce may encounter difficulties in efficiently managing a sizable database. To address this issue, a straightforward solution is to incorporate inventory management plugins readily accessible in the WooCommerce store.
If your business opts for real-time product stock availability, bi-directional order, and inventory sync as well as a consistent order management workflow then you should check out Megaventory’s inventory extension to WooCommerce stores. It should be highlighted that the plugin ensures multiple locations connection and extra inventory management operations such as bundling and returns.
Here’s an overview of how the plugin works!
5. Payment Options
BigCommerce Payment Gateways
BigCommerce offers a wide selection of more than 65 pre-integrated payment gateways for you to choose from. You can select from renowned providers like PayPal, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Square, Stripe, and many more. What’s even more advantageous is that BigCommerce does not impose any transaction fees, ensures PCI compliance, and ensures full mobile optimization for seamless functionality.
WooCommerce Payment Gateways
If you choose to go with WooCommerce, you will get access to 100+ payment gateways available on the WooCommerce store. It’s great to know that WooCommerce integrates by default with well-known gateways like PayPal and Stripe.
6. Support
BigCommerce Support
This ecommerce platform provides multiple ways of customer support including phone support, email support, and live chat support. They also offer support from their user community, where you can discuss any issue or interesting topics. It should be highlighted that BigCommerce offers support 24/7, so you can just request your questions any time you want.
WooCommerce Support
When it comes to support, WooCommerce primarily relies on WooCommerce Docs as a resource, with limited personal assistance available. If you require help, you have the option to reach out to their developers through tickets. Notably, WooCommerce boasts a vast community of users and developers, providing an avenue for seeking assistance from them whenever needed.
To Conclude
Now that we have provided you with comprehensive information to aid your decision-making process between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce you can select the platform that meets your requirements. BigCommerce offers ready-to-use eCommerce features that can accelerate your growth. On the other hand, if you prioritize having complete control over your website, WooCommerce can be relied upon to tailor your business according to your specific needs.
Stamatia Manolara is a Digital Marketer and Content Creator for Megaventory. Her passion is staying up to date with the latest digital marketing technologies as well as upgrading her skills and developing new ones.