Evaluating ecommerce platforms for your business? Here's a high-level overview of some of the similarities and differences between BigCommerce and WooCommerce!
Company Size & Scalability
It's important to take the size of your company into account when choosing an ecommerce platform. However, your company may not be the same size in 2 years as it is today; the way you plan to scale and grow your business should shape your ecommerce platform decision as well. The solution you choose should meet your needs today and in the near future.
WooCommerce
This e-commerce solution is great for small to mid-size companies. While there are options related to scalability, more effort is required to add extensions and integrations that provide extra features. The apps can also occasionally interfere with each other, and the cost for each app starts to add up. If you are working to scale your business, remember that you will outgrow WooCommerce once you hit the $10-$20 million annual revenue mark. So if you are approaching that growth milestone or already a larger enterprise, you will want a more robust ecommerce platform.
BigCommerce
A great fit for mid-size companies to large enterprises, BigCommerce is sold in a tiered structure with increasing features & pricing available at each level. A mid-size company looking to scale its operations could start with a BigCommerce Essentials plan and move up a tier every year or couple of years, scaling its ecommerce presence with its business growth. On the other hand, a large enterprise could dive straight into a BigCommerce Enterprise plan and still have room for growth within the ecommerce platform with new feature releases, apps, integrations, and extensions!
Software Compatibility
The software you are already using to support your business operations will have a great impact on the ecommerce solution you select. If your dream ecommerce solution would require a full ERP implementation, and your number 2 option works with your current technology stack, you will likely want to go with the number 2 option. But make sure that you aren't choosing short-term savings over long-term success... it could be time for an ERP implementation anyway.
WooCommerce
If you want to implement WooCommerce, you must either be using WordPress or be willing to switch from your current program to WordPress. However, since WooCommerce is an extension of WordPress, many WordPress integrations work well with WooCommerce to more effectively manage your e-commerce operations. When these customizations are no longer enough, branching out into third-party apps becomes cumbersome unless you leverage a connector platform to help you integrate WooCommerce with your many third-party software solutions.
BigCommerce
Like WooCommerce, BigCommerce can be connected to third-party software solutions with a thorough connector platform. However, since BigCommerce is more robust than WooCommerce, your integration with your other software may be more complex. For example, you can connect BigCommerce to your NetSuite ERP system with a connector or a custom integration. A connector is more of a plug-and-play connection, giving you less freedom to customize the connection to meet your business's unique needs. On the other hand, a custom BigCommerce Implementation and NetSuite Integration would give you more freedom to make the data that your business uses in your ERP system, including custom records and fields, interact with your ecommerce web store how you need it to.
Partner Networks & Support
Don't overlook the availability of help and support resources when you are choosing an ecommerce platform. Having experts that can help guide you through your initial implementation and offer ongoing support can help you make sure that things are done well the first time around, with the benefits of reduced long-term costs and more peace of mind.
WooCommerce
No support is dedicated specifically to WooCommerce, since this is a free WordPress plugin. However, there is a strong WooCommerce community and a documentation library that can help you find the answers you need. WooCommerce also provides resources for developers looking to customize the WooCommerce experience, which would be good to reference if you are looking to make changes yourself.
While support services may not be your top concern now, they will be once you implement your e-commerce platform. Knowing what support resources are available and whether these resources are free or paid is very important as you work to choose your e-commerce platform.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce has an extensive Partner network that can support you as you work to implement and customize BigCommerce for your business. Working with a BigCommerce Certified Partner can help your implementation smoothly and reduce the overall cost of customizing BigCommerce and connecting it to third-party solutions. Suppose you plan to connect BigCommerce to an ERP system like NetSuite with a high-quality integration. In that case, you will want to find an integration partner like Anchor Group that specializes in working with both solutions.
Shopify vs WooCommerce vs BigCommerce
Now that you have learned just a bit about when WooCommerce vs BigCommerce may be a good first for a business, you may be wondering how Shopify compares. We often see people asking about BigCommerce vs Shopify vs WooCommerce as they look to find the ecommerce solution that is right for their business. While we don't have an article that outlines all three side-by-side, we do have an article on Shopify vs BigCommerce that you can check out! Hopefully that article, in connection with this one, can help you understand how Shopify compares to WooCommerce and BigCommerce!
BigCommerce Certified Partner, Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner
As both a BigCommerce Certified Partner and an Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner, Anchor Group is ready to handle BigCommerce and NetSuite projects alike! Whether you already have one platform and are looking to integrate the other, are considering a full-scale implementation of both platforms, or simply need support with ongoing customizations, our team is ready to help answer any questions you might have! Contact Our Team!
