Shopify and BigCommerce are two powerful players in the e-commerce industry with robust features, mobile-friendly designs, and supportive customer service. Both platforms have a lot to offer businesses that sell more than $1 million in revenue per year. In today’s blog, we’ll compare the functionality of both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise to help you determine which one to use. Read on to find out!
Note: The prices quoted here can change.
Overview
Overview
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is Shopify’s well-established SaaS e-commerce platform designed for high-volume, enterprise-level brands. It perfectly handles your online business so you can take care of more important things. Shopify Plus is particularly compelling when it comes to fashion and lifestyle brands thanks to its simplicity and ease of use. Shopify Plus has been trusted by many well-known, high-volume businesses, such as Decathlon, Kylie Cosmetics, Steve Madden, and many more.
BigCommerce Enterprise
BigCommerce Enterprise (BC Enterprise) is also the platform for high-volume brands with more complex needs and use-cases. The platform comes with out-of-the-box functionalities and integrations to ensure the highest conversion rate for your store. Retailers using BC Enterprise will have 99.99% uptime, which ensures that your site will not crash even on your busiest days. Some real high-end brands using this platform are Toyota, Gibson, Skullcandy, etc.
Feature comparison
Ease of use
The dashboards for Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise are identical to those that use the basic Shopify and BC plans. Both programs are so easy to use, compared to the rest of the market. With Shopify Plus, you can easily find everything you are looking for in the sidebar to the left.
BigCommerce comes with loads of unique features and using them can be fairly simple. If you are already familiar with WordPress or even Facebook, you will be able to use most of BigCommerce’s Admin.
Overall: Ease of use is equal for these two competitors.
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Product management
When running an online store, retailers have to sell various combinations of a product (i.e. a small, purple shirt or a large, brown pair of trousers). For that reason, they place caps on the number of variants possible. Shopify Plus can be a great choice for brands with a small and simple catalog. Shopify Plus has the same catalog limits as Shopify:
- 3 option per product (size, color, material)
- A 100 SKU variant cap (you can’t go over 100 possible option combinations)
At the same time, BC Enterprise allows merchants to add variants that tie to an SKU and support inventory tracking. Business owners can easily keep track of their inventory as well as make customized modifications to a product. BC Enterprise’s product catalog limits are as follows:
- 600 SKUs on product variants
- 200 custom fields on a product
- 250 values within a product option
Overall: BC Enterprise is the winner in this category.
Payment processing
Both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise function well with leading third-party payment processors such as PayPal, Authorize.Net, and Sage Payment Solutions. While Shopify Plus connects with more than 100 payment gateways, BC Enterprise is integrated with over 60.
Merchants have to pay payment processing costs to a payment gateway, whether they use Shopify Payments or other third-party processors. For example, in the UK, payment processing costs will be 1.6% + 20p per transaction. If you are not using Shopify Payments, you will have to pay an extra 0.15% on top of your credit card processing fees. However, Shopify Payments users can also qualify for lower rates on their Shopify Plus license fee once they move beyond the standard of $2,000 per month.
BC Enterprise requires no transaction fees to use leading payment gateways. Plus, BigCommerce has an arrangement with PayPal (powered by Braintree) that lowers retailers’ credit card transaction fees if they use PayPal. The credit card rates from PayPal would then be 2.2% + $0.30¢ or lower per transaction.
Overall: BigCommerce Enterprise has an edge in this category.
Multi-store management
Shopify’s multi-store management feature allows users to add locations to the control panel. Merchants can choose to fulfill an order from another location as part of the order management process.
On the other hand, BC Enterprise has not released the integration to support managing data across different stores. However, there are several integrations like Linnworks that can support multi-store management.
Overall: In this category, Shopify Plus has outweighed BC Enterprise.
Integrations & add-ons
There is an overwhelming amount of add-ons available in the Shopify Apps Store for Shopify Plus users. These range from marketing, accounting to reporting and so much more. There is also a list of Shopify Plus Certified Apps with 40+ high-quality apps selected by Shopify. If you can’t find what you need among all of those apps, it’s easy for developers to build a new app or a new connection using Shopify Plus’s REST API.
With over 600 apps, users are sure to attain great outcomes with BC Enterprise. BigCommerce uses open-source documentation, and with BC Enterprise, merchants’ developers can use unlimited API calls. As a result, they can easily sync and integrate a variety of apps without any problems.
Overall: Both platforms are equal here.
Pricing
Since Shopify Plus’ and BigCommerce Enterprise’s detailed pricing is not publicly available on their website, you will need to get in touch with them for the information. However, according to Merchant Maverick, the pricing for Shopify Plus might begin at $2,000/month and BC Enterprise’s around $1,000/month.
Fortunately, both platforms offer free trials with no credit cards required. You can give it a try and find the more preferable one.
Overall: The pricing for BC Enterprise seems to be lower than Shopify Plus.
Support
One of the best aspects of an Enterprise solution is the priority customer service that they provide. With a Shopify plan, you will be supported 24/7 via multiple channels such as email, phone, live chat, knowledgebase, etc. Along with that, Shopify Plus clients are designated a Merchant Success Manager. This individual knows the ins and outs of your business, advocates on your behalf for new features, and assists you with optimizing your website.
BC Enterprise also provides priority routed support, which helps you reach a support rep faster. Like Shopify Plus, BC Enterprise offers a community board and 24/7 live chat available. Furthermore, BigCommerce University features videos to answer frequently asked questions. There is also a Strategic Account Manager for BC Enterprise users with extra expense.
Overall: Shopify Plus has scored a point over BC Enterprise in this category.
Final words
Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise both offer capable solutions to power your e-commerce business. While BigCommerce Enterprise has taken a bit more categories in these comparisons, Shopify Plus is still an excellent option for ambitious businesses. We hope that this article will be the perfect ally that contributes to your decision on which platform to use.
ConnectPOS is a leading POS system in the ecosystem. Our system is smoothly compatible with both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise, allowing retailers to maximize their profits. Contact us now for further consultation!