Why WooCommerce is the best bigcommerce alternative

It can be overwhelming to choose a platform for your online shop when you first start out. There are many options available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Even if your eCommerce business has been in operation for many years, you may be wondering if the right platform is right for you.

We are here to show you how WooCommerce compares with BigCommerce.

What is WooCommerce and BigCommerce?

WooCommerce, the most popular content management system, is an open-source eCommerce plugin that can be used with WordPress. The software can be installed by you choosing your hosting provider.

BigCommerce is an open-source, paid, standalone eCommerce platform. Every feature, from hosting to commerce functionality, is included in any plan you choose.

See how WooCommerce compares to other solutions. Compare WooCommerce to Shopify and Etsy.

WooCommerce is a better choice than BigCommerce

WooCommerce was specifically designed for WordPress

WordPress, a content management system originally designed for blogs, now powers 41%. WordPress’s emphasis on content creation is why so many websites, from hobby blogs to eCommerce shops to major news networks and service providers, use it.

BigCommerce is a platform for eCommerce stores. However, it doesn’t focus on website management and blogging — which are two vital aspects of an online store.

Although BigCommerce is able to integrate with WordPress sites using a plugin, there is still a significant disconnect. You will need to log in to your BigCommerce account to add products or manage your store. This is known as your dashboard. This adds many extra steps, which can really add up.

WooCommerce, however, was created specifically for WordPress by Automattic, who are the developers of WordPress.com. They have experts who know WordPress inside and out and can help with any problem or scenario. WordPress’s content and design tools combined with WooCommerce’s flexible eCommerce functionality make it a powerful and complete platform for online shops of any size.

WooCommerce allows you to add products, manage orders and update shop settings. All this from the same place where you create blogs, pages and respond to comments. You can monitor charges, resolve disputes, track deposits, and even add the WooCommerce payments extension to your site. It’s seamless — you don’t need to log into multiple accounts or switch between dashboards.

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WooCommerce is cheaper

Every dollar matters, no matter if you’re just starting out or selling large quantities of products. WooCommerce is a better choice than BigCommerce because you can save money and not compromise on quality.

Basis price

WordPress and WooCommerce both are completely free, open-source software. They are passionate about publishing and making the web accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or level of skill. No matter how many products you sell, whether you make $500 per month or $5,000,000, the price will not change.

You will need to buy a hosting plan. This stores all your files and makes them available to site visitors. Hosting costs approximately $120 per year, while domain names cost about $15 per year depending on which plan you choose.

BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform that charges a monthly fee. The plans start from $29.95 per month, and can go up to $299 per month depending on your business size. You pay more for more sales and more functionality. Hosting is included in the plans. However, you will still need to buy a domain name.

Themes

Your website’s design is affected by the theme you choose, including layout and colors. You can choose from a wide range of WooCommerce and WordPress themes, all completely free. The Storefront theme, which is intuitive and powerful but also highly customizable, is a great example.

There are hundreds of premium themes that offer more specific designs and sophisticated functionality. These premium themes can be purchased from the WooCommerce marketplace or third-party sellers. This is actually one of WordPress’ greatest benefits: anyone can create a high quality theme. The price range for premium themes is between $20 and $100 per year.

BigCommerce offers a limited number of free and premium themes. Some are also available on third-party websites. Premium themes that offer more functionality and are tailored to specific industries can be purchased for as little as $150 or even $300.

Additional functionality

You may only need the basics when you open your first store. As your store grows, you’ll need to be able to add functionality as needed.

WooCommerce provides all the core functionality that you require at no charge. BigCommerce offers more functionality than WooCommerce. You will need to pay for a higher-tiered plan. BigCommerce and WooCommerce both offer premium extensions and additional features for customers who are looking for more specialized functionality.

Here are some comparisons:

• BigCommerce offers a $299/mo plan that allows you to enable product filtering in your store. This will allow customers to find the right fit for them quickly and easily. This is however included free of charge with WooCommerce.
• BigCommerce offers a $79.95/mo plan that allows customers to save their credit cards for faster checkout. This is possible with the WooCommerce payments extension.
• You will need the minimum $79.95/mo BigCommerce plan to send automatic emails to abandoned cart customers. There are many extensions that can be used to do this in WooCommerce. These extensions are free or available for $59 per year.

WooCommerce can be customized to meet your specific needs. You can either pay for the exact features you need or nothing at all. BigCommerce may require you to upgrade your plan or pay extra for functionality that isn’t necessary for your store.

WooCommerce makes it easier to scale with ease

You might have to adjust settings and features to adapt to the increasing number of visitors to your site. You don’t want your website to crash during peak hours.

WooCommerce makes it easy to do just that. You can upgrade your hosting plan, switch providers, add load balancing or speed features, integrate your CDN, and even buy a dedicated hosting package just for your store.

BigCommerce hosting is included so you cannot switch providers or make independent decisions. Upgrade plans can be purchased, but extra features that you don’t need will cost you more.

BigCommerce limits how many sales you can make per year for each plan. You will need to upgrade if you go over that limit. As you grow, your monthly costs will increase even if you don’t use any extra functionality or tools.

WooCommerce allows you to grow as big as you like, with unlimited customers, sales, and products. It’s completely free!

WooCommerce gives you complete control and flexibility

WooCommerce flexibility has been addressed a lot, particularly in terms of pricing and growth. It’s a great advantage to be able to mix and match functionality and features to create the right combination for your store. You are in complete control of everything.

Payment gateways

You can accept payments through your website, transfer money to your bank account and protect your customers’ credit cards information. This is an essential component of your online shop that can impact everything, from security to conversion rates.

BigCommerce and WooCommerce both offer similar integrations to major payment providers, such as Stripe and PayPal. They also offer international options and digital wallets like Amazon Pay and Apple Pay. But, WooCommerce is a step ahead with WooCommerce payments.

WooCommerce Payments allows you to manage your charges, disputes, deposits and recurring income directly from your WordPress dashboard. You don’t need to log in to a third-party gateway. Increase conversion rates by keeping customers on the site during checkout and offering Apple Pay options. Instant payments are available, which means that your money will be in your account in minutes and not days. You only need to pay 2.9% + $0.30 per transfer — this is the standard rate for most payment gateways.

Backups

Online stores can save their lives by having backups. Your online store could be affected by a hacker, crash, or misplaced code. You may lose customer information, order information, product listings, and other important data. Automated backups that occur at least every day are an important part of protecting your hard work.

You will need to backup your BigCommerce website using a paid tool such Rewind. This tool scales in price depending on how many orders you take per month. You pay more for more orders. It only backups some information on your website: reviews, products, orders, customers, pages and blog posts. You cannot back up BigCommerce software and your database. If that happens, BigCommerce will restore it.

There are many free backup tools for WooCommerce that can save everything on your site from products and orders to your database files and WordPress files. Jetpack backup offers even more features, including real-time backups which copy your site whenever a change is made to it or an order is placed. Pricing is predictable. You only pay for what you use, and not how many sales you make.

Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO), helps customers searching online find your store. Because you know that the people who click on your link are searching for what you have, it’s a great way to market your shop.

BigCommerce allows you to edit SEO data such as page titles, meta descriptions and URLs. You can also use the SSL certificate, and speed optimization.

With WordPress and WooCommerce, there are no limits! You can control every aspect of SEO. You can edit your SEO data using a plugin, edit site code, or both (whichever one you prefer). You can go as technical as you like. You have the option to purchase any SSL certificate through your hosting provider. This will allow you to optimize speed.

WordPress’s emphasis on content is the greatest benefit. SEO is all about consistent, high-quality content. It shows Google that your company is an expert in your field. WooCommerce is the only content platform specifically designed for WordPress. This makes it much easier to create blogs and information-rich pages which will improve your search engine rankings.

Join the unrivaled WordPress community for support and friendship

Online store ownership comes with many benefits but also challenges. You want to surround yourself by people who understand what you are going through.

Although BigCommerce offers forums and support groups for customers, the WordPress community is unrivaled. It is made up of people who truly care about helping website and store owners succeed online. They are also passionate about open-source web and give their time to improve and support the software.

Talk to like-minded entrepreneurs, get help from WordPress developers and make the most out of your store. Join the community by:

• Meetups around the world, both virtual and physically WooCommerce as well WordPress
• Annual WordCamp conferences that are based on your region
• Regular WooCommerceLive shows are designed to assist merchants in succeeding
• Official WooCommerce Facebook group
• WooCommerce, WordPress Support forums
• The WooCommerce Community Twitter channel

It doesn’t really matter how inexperienced or experienced you are! It doesn’t matter how experienced or inexperienced you are, there will be others at the same stage of development and business that you can learn from.

How to migrate from BigCommerce into WooCommerce

BigCommerce can be overwhelming if you already have a store. There are many ways to migrate your store data. One of these requires almost no effort on your part!

First, select a hosting plan and install WordPress. Next, set up WooCommerce. This 5-step guide will show you how to do it. You’ve already completed the first two steps if you have a WordPress site.

Important to remember that migration does not recreate your website’s design or content. There are many premium and free themes that can help you create any kind of website you desire. A variety of themes are available in the WooCommerce Marketplace. You can also hire one of our recommended designers to design your website.

Here are some ways you can safely and securely migrate your store data from BigCommerce into WooCommerce.

1. Manual import. You can export your data from BigCommerce and then use the product importer to transfer product information to your new shop. The Customer/Order/Coupon CSV Import Suite extension will take care of other important data.
2. Hiring an expert. Hiring a professional to manage the process is advisable. You can select from a complete database of high-quality options!
3. Use Car2Cart extension. This powerful tool can migrate all your store data in three simple steps. It doesn’t require any technical knowledge and all data is encrypted and secure.

WooCommerce is open for business

WooCommerce is a powerful and free tool that will help you grow your business. WooCommerce is your trusted partner with all the tools to help you grow your business. You will enjoy complete customization and a strong, passionate community.