Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce – Choosing the Best Enterprise Platform in 2024

Running a high-revenue online store demands an enterprise-grade eCommerce platform. Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise, both SaaS-based, are popular choices. This article offers a detailed comparison of Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce in features, cost, support, security, automation, and scalability. Let’s dive in!

Shopify Plus and BigCommerce: At A Glance

Shopify Plus was introduced in 2014 to address this growing demand. Shopify Plus serves as the enterprise-level counterpart to Shopify, offering enhanced features, integrations, code access, and comprehensive support beyond standard Shopify plans.

BigCommerce focuses mainly on the SMB market, offering built-in features and integrations guaranteeing 99.99% uptime. It smoothly manages heavy traffic, helping your store achieve the best conversion rate.

Shopify Plus and BigCommerce: Pros & Cons

Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of Shopify Plus and BigCommerce will help you make an informed decision when choosing the right eCommerce platform for your business.

Shopify Plus

Pros 

• Abundance of resources and functions
• Strong integration network
• Agency and technological partner ecosystem
• Ease of use

Cons

• Lack of multi-store architecture
• Lack of control over SEO
• Not suitable for managing multiple stores

BigCommerce

Pros 

• SEO benefits
• Many product options and variants available
• Plenty of established customers
• Considerably faster API speeds
• More suitable for businesses with complex products

Cons

• Limited availability of add-ons
• Complex system of prices
• Less established internationally compared to some competitors
• Smaller selection of apps available
• Not as user-friendly as other platforms

BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus: A Quick Comparison 

Here is a quick comparison of BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus:

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BigCommerce vs Shopify: Our Expert Reviews

Wix vs BigCommerce: Which is Best For You?

Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce: A Detailed Comparison 

Let’s explore the details of Shopify Plus and BigCommerce to understand how they stack up against each other. 

Pricing

Understanding the pricing structure of Shopify Plus and BigCommerce is crucial for selecting the right platform for your business needs. Let’s delve into each platform’s pricing plans and considerations to help you make an informed decision.

Shopify Plus

For Shopify Plus, if I want to know the exact price for my business, I’ll need to contact Shopify directly. The base rate for Shopify Plus is $2500 per month, with an upper price of $40000. Once I earn more than $800k per month, the pricing model becomes revenue-based.

I also benefit from Shopify Plus’ lower credit card processing fee compared to BigCommerce. For domestic transactions on Visa and Mastercard, I pay around 2.15% plus $0.30. However, it gets more complicated for transactions involving other cards.

BigCommerce

When it comes to BigCommerce, I need to reach out to them directly to get custom pricing. However, their base rate is around $1000 a month. My fees are calculated based on my sales, potentially reaching up to $15000 a month, depending on the services I use and my revenue.

Additionally, I’ll encounter a credit card processing fee starting at about 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction if I use the standard payment option. I also have the option to purchase premade themes, which cost between $145 and $235, plus a development fee if I want to customize my theme.

The Verdict

I prefer BigCommerce due to the more affordable pricing options it offers, along with its transparent fee structure. Additionally, BigCommerce provides a range of flexible pricing plans that cater to different business needs, allowing for scalability as my business grows.

Ease of Use

Navigating the ease of use for Shopify Plus and BigCommerce is essential to determine which platform best suits your business needs. Let’s explore the user experience of each platform to help you make an informed decision.

Shopify Plus

As someone who has used Shopify Plus, I find it to be exceptionally user-friendly. Shopify is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simpler to use than BigCommerce. Even if you’ve never built a website before, Shopify makes it effortless to get started.

Setting up a website with Shopify is as easy as filling out forms. While you can extend its capabilities further with tools like the mobile SDK to create your own features and mobile app, this isn’t necessary for most users.

BigCommerce

I find it to be a more sophisticated platform than Shopify. BigCommerce offers a drag-and-drop feature, allowing me to customize my online store layout exactly how I want it. This level of customization sets BigCommerce apart and gives me more control over the design and functionality of my website.

Additionally, BigCommerce comes with a wide range of features, reducing the need for additional add-ons. Features like single-page checkouts, product ratings, personalized URL structures, and associated product lists are readily available for download, making it easier for me to create a comprehensive and feature-rich online store experience.

The Verdict

After carefully assessing the usability of both platforms, I have concluded that Shopify offers a more intuitive and user-friendly experience. Shopify’s intuitive design makes the process seamless, even for users with limited technical expertise.

Product & Catalog Management

Let’s delve into the intricacies of managing products and catalogs on both platforms to determine which best meets your needs.

Shopify Plus

I’ve found that Shopify Plus excels in managing relatively small and straightforward catalogs, typically containing less than 20,000 SKUs (stock-keeping units) and products with minimal variations. However, when dealing with larger catalogs exceeding 20,000 SKUs and extensive product inventories, Shopify Plus faces challenges.

One of the limitations of Shopify Plus is its similarity to Shopify in catalog thresholds. It shares the same constraints, such as a maximum of 3 option types (size, color, and material) and a cap of 100 SKUs for variants (limited to 100 possible option combinations).

Additionally, Shopify Plus only offers product display options in drop-down menus or rectangles. Customization is required for alternative product display methods, leading many users to seek solutions from the app marketplace or website developers to expand their catalogs over time.

BigCommerce

With BigCommerce, I can create fields, choose the scope, and define a set of predefined choices for each attribute. Additionally, the platform allows me to build choice sets, enabling me to apply various values to different groups of items.

BigCommerce Enterprise offers support for various types of product options display, including drop-down menus, radio buttons, checkbox options, swatch options, text/number fields, date fields, file uploads, and product pick lists.

Furthermore, I appreciate that BigCommerce allows me to diversify the display of products on both the frontend and backend by adding custom fields. This feature enables me to filter products, edit price lists, and create rules around product options.

One standout feature of BigCommerce Enterprise is its updated “Add a product” functionality, which allows me to simultaneously support inventory tracking with variants such as size or color while also personalizing products with different modifications.

Moreover, the thresholds of BigCommerce Enterprise far exceed those of Shopify Plus: supporting up to 600 SKUs on product variants, 200 custom fields on a product, and 250 values within one product option.

The Verdict

BigCommerce is my preferred choice. Unlike Shopify Plus, which may encounter limitations in handling larger SKU volumes and complex product variations, BigCommerce Enterprise offers a more robust infrastructure and flexibility to accommodate diverse catalog sizes.

Integrations & Apps

Exploring the diverse ecosystem of integrations and applications available for Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise.

Shopify Plus

As I explore the ecosystem of integrations and applications available for Shopify Plus, I find a wide array of options. Shopify Plus boasts one of the largest integration ecosystems in the industry, with numerous systems partnering solely with Shopify Plus agencies. 

This expansive integration ecosystem includes essential systems like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Order Management Software (OMS), Automated Manifest System (AMS), and more. Moreover, Shopify Plus offers an intuitive app marketplace, with over 3500 different apps catering to various business needs, including warehouse management, marketing, logistics, and more.

BigCommerce

Delving into the integrations and apps available for BigCommerce Enterprise, I discover a growing ecosystem. While BigCommerce is catching up regarding integrations, it still offers a robust selection of options. 

BigCommerce Enterprise provides an intuitive integrations and apps library, offering tools ranging from marketplace tools to multichannel apps and accounting systems. Additionally, BigCommerce boasts faster API speeds, enabling quicker data updates than Shopify Plus.

The Verdict

Shopify Plus offers a more extensive ecosystem compared to BigCommerce Enterprise. With over 3500 different apps in its marketplace, Shopify Plus provides a vast array of solutions catering to various business needs, including marketing, logistics, warehouse management, and more. 

SEO features

Exploring the search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities offered by Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus offers a basic set of SEO options. I can configure some settings at the server level and edit meta tags to optimize my inventory and product pages. Additionally, the platform automatically generates redirects when I change a page’s URL name.

However, I’ve noticed limitations when making certain technical SEO changes, such as modifying URL structures and caching headers. Unfortunately, Shopify Plus does not allow me to build a store on a sub-directory, which restricts flexibility in SEO optimization.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers many more possibilities to optimize my store’s SEO. With BigCommerce, I have full control over URLs, allowing me to change the URL structure for different pages without any forced directories. I can also edit the robots.txt page and use directories in URLs.

Additionally, it’s straightforward to handle tasks like canonical URL logic, hreflang implementation, and structured data with BigCommerce. The platform also supports accelerated mobile page and redirect management, making SEO optimization easier.

The Verdict

BigCommerce Enterprise offers a more comprehensive set of tools and functionalities for optimizing online stores. With BigCommerce, users have greater control over URL structures, allowing for more flexibility in crafting SEO-friendly URLs for different pages.

B2B Functionality 

As a large business, you’ll likely have customers purchasing in bulk for resale. This requires a separate storefront, tailored content, and specialized pricing. Therefore, selecting the right B2B eCommerce strategy is vital for your company’s expansion. Exploring the B2B functionality offered by Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus offers B2B functionality, albeit with some limitations. It provides an exclusive wholesale channel that allows retailers to establish a separate B2B store using a subdomain and existing products and inventory. This channel includes B2B services inaccessible for regular products and orders.

There are three options available on Shopify Plus for managing a B2B storefront:

• Shopify Wholesale Channel: 

This channel operates on your main store and shares the same information. It facilitates customers’ enrollment into the wholesale channel and groups them accordingly. Within the wholesale channel area, you can independently manage pricing, stock visibility, and order limits. 

• Customizing the theme for groups of tagged customers:

You can create different customer groups using Shopify’s customer tags and customize pricing, availability, and discounts for different items based on these groups.

• Building a separate Shopify store:

Another option is to create a distinct shop offering a completely different customer experience. However, managing multiple aspects of two separate stores may pose logistical challenges.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers an enhanced buyer experience with convenient one-click tools for immediate quote generation, user permissions management, and easy re-ordering. These pre-built features ensure a top-notch B2B customer experience.

With BigCommerce, you can customize shipping options to suit your B2B customers’ needs, saving costs by leveraging our seamless integration with ShipperHQ, a leading shipping rate rules engine.

Syncing data with third-party tools is effortless with BigCommerce’s open and flexible platform. Easily integrate with any tool in your ecosystem to streamline your operations and enhance efficiency.

BigCommerce Enterprise boasts a range of B2B-specific functionalities, including:

• Customized pricing via individual customer price lists.
• Efficient Quote and CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) management.
• Customer-specific volume-based or tiered pricing.
• Purchase order and credit term management.
• Tailored catalogs for customers, including shipping, availability, payment options, and content.
• Enhanced customer segmentation capabilities.
• Advanced shipping features through ShipperHQ integration.
• Sophisticated product management with attribute sets, custom fields, and variant management.
• Streamlined bulk purchasing with quick order functionality.

The Verdict

BigCommerce Enterprise excels over Shopify Plus in the field of B2B functionality. With its comprehensive array of B2B-specific features, customizable options, and seamless integrations, BigCommerce Enterprise offers a more robust platform tailored to meet the diverse needs of B2B businesses. 

Payment Processing 

Comparing the payment processing features and functionalities of Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus strongly recommends using its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments. If you opt out, you’ll miss out on specific payment features and face transaction fees. Shopify Payments allows customers to use Shopify Pay for faster checkout, letting customers save their credit card details for use across any Shopify store with this feature. 

For Shopify Plus merchants, the transaction fee is just 0.15%, lower than the 0.5% to 2% charged in other plans. This fee helps cover security measures and ensures data protection, maintaining PCI compliance.

BigCommerce

In BigCommerce Enterprise, a payment gateway is a service the platform provides to facilitate credit card or direct payment processing for merchants. Unlike some other platforms, there are no transaction fees associated with using BigCommerce Enterprise. 

With over 65 payment gateway integrations available out-of-the-box, serving over 100 countries and supporting more than 250 local payment methods, BigCommerce offers extensive payment options. Integrations with popular digital and mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and Venmo are also available.

The Verdict

BigCommerce emerges as the winner in the payment processing category. While Shopify’s brand recognition may be advantageous for small businesses, it tends to emphasize Shopify’s brand over the merchant’s. This emphasis on Shopify’s brand can be a disadvantage for Enterprise brands. Therefore, BigCommerce is the preferred choice for businesses looking to prioritize their brand identity and reputation in payment processing.

Promotions & Discounts

Diving into the promotional capabilities and discount offerings provided by Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise to help you strategize your marketing campaigns effectively and maximize your sales potential.

Shopify Plus

I’ve found that Shopify has made significant progress in promotions and discounts. As a merchant, I can use the control panel to create a variety of voucher codes and instant discounts. With Shopify Plus, I can access Shopify Scripts, which allows me to create personalized discounts.

I have the ability to modify my style, line object, and shipping scripts, as well as add simple promotions. One useful function is that I can monitor which scripts are allowed during an event and even whether a new script is enabled after the event has ended.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers a wide range of options when it comes to offering discounts. As a user, I’ve found that there are more than 70 different kinds of sales and incentives available, including discounts based on demographics, customers, products, or labels. I can choose to add discounts automatically (i.e., at checkout) or apply them through the use of a coupon code.

The Verdict

In terms of promotions and discounts, BigCommerce emerges as the winner. Its versatility allows merchants to tailor their discount strategies to suit various customer segments and product categories. Additionally, BigCommerce offers the flexibility to apply discounts automatically or through coupon codes, catering to different promotional needs. 

Customer Reviews

Understanding the role of customer reviews in shaping the reputation and success of eCommerce platforms like Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise. We’ll delve into how each platform handles customer feedback and its significance in influencing purchasing decisions and brand perception.

Shopify Plus

According to Capterra reviews:

• Rating: 4.8/5
• Total reviews: 98 

“Scalability, a range of advanced features, Dedicated Support, Security and Reliability- It’s important to note that Shopify Plus is primarily geared towards larger businesses with more complex needs and higher transaction volumes.” – Eric L. – CEO, Design, Self-employed.

“Ease of use and cost. We went from a commerce solution that required 3-4 developers, took weeks to months to deploy simple features. We now have one we developer that can deploy key features in a matter of hours or days at a quarter of the cost of the previous platform. The thousand of apps also provide additional features that can be rolled out quickly and effectively, creating a robust website in a manner of weeks from the beginning of the engagement.” – Greg H. Head Of WorldWide Ecommerce Environmental Services.

BigCommerce

According to TrustRadius reviews:

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Total reviews: 660

“It’s a great e-commerce store that integrates well with our fulfillment platform. Its API also is able to interact with other data sources/data warehouses so we can analyze performance. The options/features within the platform make the product flexible for our 3 business needs (we own 3 different storefronts with BigCommerce).” – Christine Sako, Head of Internal Ops and BI XY Labs.

“I’ve built custom e-commerce sites for almost two decades, so I’m used to advanced features and customization that are hard to get with basic e-commerce providers. I specifically needed international shipping and advanced sales tax features, as well as customization for products with multiple features. I researched several e-commerce providers before finding that BigCommerce fit all my needs. My client uses multiple shipping providers, including USPS, UPS and FedEx. Plus, she needed more advanced tools for sales tax collection, since she ships all over the United States.” Michelle Brauer Nicolson, Owner Black Cat Communications.

The Verdict

In terms of customer reviews, both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce have garnered positive feedback from users. Customers appreciate various aspects of each platform, such as their user-friendly interfaces, robust features, and reliable support.

Customer Support 

When it comes to running an online business, having reliable customer support is paramount. Let’s explore the customer support offerings of Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise to determine which platform offers the best assistance to merchants.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus provides comprehensive 24/7 support through various channels including email, telephone, and live chat. In addition to addressing technical issues, their support team is available to assist with broader concerns such as brand strategy, conversion optimization, and business management.

BigCommerce

For users subscribed to a BigCommerce plan, the company offers round-the-clock “live agent” customer support accessible via phone, email, or chat. This dedicated support service ensures that users can receive assistance and guidance whenever they encounter issues or have questions about their BigCommerce platform. 

Whether it’s troubleshooting technical problems, seeking advice on optimizing store performance, or navigating through various features and functionalities, users can rely on BigCommerce’s responsive and knowledgeable support team to provide timely assistance and ensure a seamless user experience.

The Verdict

This is a tie for the round. Both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise offer robust customer support options, with 24/7 availability and various channels for assistance. Therefore, it’s challenging to declare a clear winner in this category, as both platforms prioritize providing reliable support to their users. Ultimately, the choice between Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise may depend on other factors such as pricing, features, and specific business needs.

Who is Best For: BigCommerce or Shopify Plus

You choose BigCommerce if:

• You have a large product catalog and need robust product management capabilities.
• You prioritize flexibility and customization options.
• Your business focuses on B2B sales and requires advanced features tailored to this market.
• You prefer a platform without transaction fees and a wide range of payment gateway integrations.

You choose Shopify Plus if:

• You prioritize ease of use and a user-friendly interface.
• Your business values a large ecosystem of apps and integrations for scalability.
• You require extensive customer support options, including assistance with brand strategy and business management.
• You prefer a platform with a reputation for reliability and stability, backed by a well-known brand.

Wrapping Up

BigCommerce and Shopify Plus offer robust ecommerce solutions tailored to the needs of businesses of all sizes. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, making it important for merchants to carefully evaluate their specific requirements before making a decision.

BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus: FAQs