Are you looking to create an online store? Do you want to choose a platform between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce? This blog will answer these questions. Both BigCommerce and WooCommerce have been the top eCommerce solutions in the last couple of years. As a hosted eCommerce platform, BigCommerce has made it easy for you to create and manage your online store.
On the other hand, WoCommerce is the best eCommerce plugin for WordPress, which gives you the ability to create the best eCommerce websites from scratch. The competition between these two is tough, so we will break down all of their functionalities, accessibilities, security, and more, so you can choose one.
WooCommerce
Being the most popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress, Wocommerce can help you transform any WordPress blog or website into an eCommerce store with ease. Developed by WooThemes developers, WooCommerce is an open-source plugin for WordPress.
You can easily turn an existing WordPress website into a completely functional web store with WooCommerce. If you want to start a WooCommerce store, then you have to install WordPress and different marketing tools, buy and set up web hosting. It looks a little complicated but once you start, all those assumptions will be erased.
How to design an online store on WooCommerce?
Having an online store along with a physical store has great importance these days. People tend to shop online now. You can reach a global audience with eCommerce solutions for your business. It isn’t quite easy to develop an online store when you do not know anything about it.
But the good news is that you do not have to pay a lot of money to make a custom website. You can easily create your online store with simple knowledge of these platforms. You can always get the help and support of our WooCommerce website development services to create the best website for your business.
Choose the right tools
You can also develop a website by coding and programming. It will give a good result. But you can use website builder platforms to create your online store. There are many reasons why you should choose WooCommerce.
- This tool hosts your website on the internet.
- It helps you buy a domain name.
- It makes sure that your website runs smoothly.
If you are confused about choosing the right platform, then you can check with our Woocommerce website development company in Dubai. Our Number9 team will make it easier for you to find the right platform.
Test the tool
You should test the tool before the development process. This way, you can find out variance if there is any. This step is paramount for a successful online store. Test whether it is easy to customize and modify the features or not. Also, make sure that the templates suit your business.
Buy the right plan
After testing and finalizing your website’s development platforms, you have to choose a plan for the development process. There are many free, paid versions for individuals, and paid versions for company plans for these tools. Choose the right plan according to the needs of your online store. The Number 9 team of Woocommerce website development Dubai can help you find the right plan for your website.
Register your website’s domain name
The domain is a part of the URL that has the name of your business. A good domain name always builds trust with your consumer. You can buy great domain names for your websites at cheap prices. You can also use your existing domain name by linking it with your online store.
Select a template
Make your site appealing by using a good-looking template. You can design and develop your site too if you want, but it requires coding. So, using a template is a better option.
Customize template
WooCommerce lets you customize your chosen template. Go to the store’s admin panel for customization. You can change the text color, font, and size. You can also change the color of themes, use of images, and product position.
Add products
Now is the time to add products to your website. Add these details to your product to allure more customers.
- Price
- Category
- Name and brand
- Weight ( for physical things )
- File ( for eBooks )
Payment methods
How can an online store work without a payment method? It is one of the most important steps to convert your consumer into a buyer. WooCommerce makes payment methods easy on your site. The consumer can easily use PayPal, Apple and Google Pay, Credit Card, or other payment methods. They also give the Cash on delivery option.
Test and publish
Before publishing your website, you should test it to make sure that every section of your online store works perfectly. If your site has an issue, then it can lessen the user experience and sales of your site. Publish your website after making sure everything works perfectly.
BigCommerce
Want a whole package of services including hosting, design, content, payments, SEO, and marketing features for your online store? Use BigCommerce. It comes with BigCommerce plugins that allow you to run a completely functional BigCommerce online store with your existing WordPress website. Released in 2009, BigCommerce has helped more than 100,000 people build their online store. Maintain your web store operation by paying a monthly fee.
How to design an online store on BigCommerce?
Create intuitive and beautiful eCommerce websites by enhancing your brand and engaging the shoppers with BigCommerce. Design your own online store with basic knowledge of the platform. The Number9 team will take you through all BigCommerce services.
Make a business plan
Find out your focus area by researching eCommerce niches. Choose the plan for your online store. Find the industry gaps by doing targeted research. Research on what your customers want, try to think of a business that can allure the consumers.
Choose a domain name
The next step is to think of the domain name. It works as an identifier for your website visitors. A good domain name can help your website grow and attract more audiences. Make sure to use a unique and short name. Do not use a complex name.
Design the interface of your online store
Bigcommerce has a large variety of themes for your website. Choose an interface that suits your business as well as interacts with the audience. The design should attract visitors towards itself.
Add your products
Making categories of products can make your online store look amazing. Your product description plays a big role in making the viewers want to buy your product. Take good pictures of your product. Hire a photographer if you can afford it.
Shipping
You can not sell a product online without shipping it. Delivering a product to the right address is crucial. Your shipping policy must be set to the good expectations of the customers.
Advertise your online store
Do a pre-launch promotion to make sure that your store has a lot of visitors. Use BigCommerce SEO to get organic traffic on your website. SEO only requires up-front. You make autopilot sales with no recurring expense after you rank.
Publish your online store
The last step is to publish your online store. Make sure that everything works fine on the website. Even a single problem can result in negative growth of the business. So, it is recommended to take a test before publishing.
WooCommerce vs BigCommerce
It is so hard to choose from WooCommerce or BigCommerce as both are top eCommerce platforms in the market. Being more popular, WooCommerce covers 21% of the eCommerce market. On the other hand, BigCommerce is the fifth most popular platform used by 3% of the eCommerce websites. Both have their pros and cons. We will illustrate both of these based on different features and characteristics.
Ease of use
You can easily develop and maintain an online store using BigCommerce. No need to install any software or set up hosting. There are no security, backup, and performance issues as well. Simply sign up with the trial plan and set up your online store in three steps. Enter your credentials and some details of your store and you are good to open your online store. The BigCommerce setup only takes a few minutes. When the setup is complete, you can preview, edit, and customize your products.
On the other hand, WooCommerce is not a hosted platform. You have to install this WordPress eCommerce plugin to work. You also have to buy a domain name and hosting if you want to start a new store.
Pricing Plan
BigCommerce has different pricing plans as it is a subscription-based eCommerce platform. It has three main price plans. The standard plan costs $29.95 per month. You can launch your online store with a BigCommerce subdomain with this pricing. BigCommerce automatically upgrades your store to a bigger plan if you make more sales. If you are using the essential plan “Pro”, then they will cut an additional $150 per month for each $200k in online sales. All of the BigCommerce plans include unlimited products, no transaction fees, and unlimited staff accounts. It does have thresholds for your total sales though.
BigCommerce pricing plan
On the other hand, WooCommerce is an open-source plugin that can be downloaded and used for free on various sites. Although, you have to get other paid services to set up a WooCommerce online store. At first, you will have to get a domain name, an SSL certificate, and a website hosting account. A domain name costs about $14.99 per year. The total cost adds up to be very expensive for small-budget startups. Fortunately, there are some hosting companies that provide specialized WooCommerce hosting services at a reasonable price.
Payment methods
BigCommerce allows you to use a variety of payment options to accept payments. The debit and credit card processing fee starts at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. It decreases with the increase in growth of BigCommerce. It also has built-in integration with popular digital wallets that include PayPal, Masterpass, Apple Pay, and Amazon Pay. Improve your mobile conversion by adding these trusted wallets to your store.
Meanwhile, WooCommerce offers Stripe and PayPal by default. Through extensions and add-ons, it supports all major payment gateways. Many regional and less popular payment services have also built an integration for WooCommerce because it is an open-source platform. Which platform has better payment methods? Woocommerce or Bigcommerce? Both platforms have great payment methods, so we can call it a tie.
Scalability
You do not have to worry about storage, backup, security, or updates of BigCommerce as it is a completely hosted solution. You only have to upgrade your plans with the growth of your business. BigCommerce takes care of the rest. You get a trouble-free solution to scale up your business with BigCommerce. On the other hand, you have to be responsible for backups, updates, securities, and resources of your website as WooCommerce is a self-hosted platform. The confusing steps for upgrading your website can be complicated for you.
Infographic: WooCommerce vs Bigcommerce
Both WooCommerce and BigCommerce are great platforms to start an online store. But while doing a comparison between Bigcommerce Vs Woocommerce, you have to choose one. Being an all-in-one solution, BigCommerce is a lot easier. No need to set up anything, just get started and make your website. It leaves you hassle-free as you do not have to care about anything. With all those pros, it also has some cons. It gives you limited control over your store. You get fixed pricing plans, limited themes, and integration apps.
BigCommerce does not allow you to use any took outside BigCommerce. WooCommerce gives you full control over your website as it is a self-hosted platform. You can freely compare prices for different services and start with the best-priced plans. This means that you can start your WooCommerce store at a lower investment than BigCommerce.
The goal should not be to compare both of these platforms. You shouldn’t choose a platform which is better than the other one. Choose the platform that fits your business more. Our Number9 team can help you choose the best platform for your online store.