Big Commerce or Shopify?

I need to switch over a site I've had for 11 years over to a better shopping cart. I hear great things about Big Commerce and Shopify. I've pretty much narrowed it down to those two. Does anybody out there have experience with both that could share their unbiased opinion on which is better?

 

I know Shopify. Here is a very usefull video and walkthrough...

 

To be upfront, I work at Bigcommerce. We can definitely help you get your store(s) up and running.

We recently launched a bunch of new, free themes, as well as a few, out of the box premium themes. You can check out all of our themes for yourself by signing up for a free trial (no credit card needed). Or, by visiting this link. http://www.bigcommerce.com/templates/

In addition, we also make it really easy to start taking orders/collecting payments with our one click payment installs for Stripe and Paypal Express. We also integrate with more than 65 other payment gateways. https://support.bigcommerce.com/questions/1372/All+Available+Payment+Gateways+-+Comprehensive+Table

I know how daunting it can be to setup and migrate a store onto a new platform. So if you have any specific questions or need help with anything, feel free to message me directly. I'm more than happy to help.

 

And when you're ready to get your inventory synced up on other channels -- ie, other webstores and marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, Rakuten, Overstock, etc -- we integrate with BigCommerce and can totally help you out.

Take a look: http://solidcommerce.com/solutions/

Hope this helps! Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to talk about multi-channel selling. You can also give me a jingle at 800.750.7617.

_ Sean B.

 

Can you integrate with other carts ?

If so, Please inbox me Sean,

 

I would say go with Shopify

 

We can, indeed! We integrate with Magento, Volusion, 3dcart, Bigcommerce. Also Amazon, eBay, Rakuten.com (formerly Buy.com), Half.com, and a few others.

And we've got a ton of other integrations on their way very soon. (Huzzah!)

_ Sean B.

 

I've been using Shopify for the past 30 days, coming from a self hosted WordPress ecommerce website. In some cases I wish I would have made the switch sooner and in others I"m feeling some pains. For example, I've found a number of bugs in their free themes and email notifications. I thought I would have ZERO issues with these types of things out of the gate going with a hosted solution. No luck.

That said, I've always received prompt support, and I love the use of their 'APP' marketplace. Just wish I didn't have to pay such a high fee when using Shopify Payments for the payment processor. I can see me sticking around for a long time coming, assuming that support remains responsive.

Just plan on having your ecommerce setup spoon fed to you, especially if you have been maintaining and building your own site for years.

 

What research did you do to come up with these two? I have an Etsy store and have been thinking of opening my own store on my website. I am a little scared to make the jump, but feel that I should.

 

i'm prefer using shopify...

 

That's a solid idea. And I'd recommend giving Bigcommerrce a look. I've heard a lot about how user-friendly and robust that platform is.

If you want, you can also give us a call. We specialize in multi-channel selling, and can get you set up so that you're selling on more than just one or two marketplaces when you're ready.

Hope this helps!

 

Many retailers base their decision on pricing, and here there isn’t a definite winner. Shopify and BigCommerce have largely the same pricing, with plans ranging from $29 to 299$ monthly.
However, Shopify also charges for transactions, and the higher your plan, the less you need to pay in transaction fees. Bigcommerce doesn’t have them at all.
Another thing to consider is the amount of sales per month. Each BigCommerce plan has a sales threshold, so your choice of plan depends on how much you sell. Shopify has nothing of the kind, giving sellers more leeway in choosing pricing options.
So each retailer should take into account the specifics of their own business and then make a decision.

 

Prestashop & Magento are very good alternative solutions. Prestashop is free and Magento comes in free & paid version.
If someone starts an eCommerce store as a single person business, is better to go for the free version to reduce costs until sales are good. After using it for 2 years, then you will know what you need from an eCommerce store and can migrate (move) automatically (almost) to most other e-commerce platforms.
There are 270,000 Prestashop stores, more on Magento and 500.000 on Shopify.
I use Prestashop and its 100% free, fast with an excellent community forum, but is recommended to purchase a professional template and a one-page checkout module.