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Bigcommerce vs Shopify vs Squareup

Bigcommerce vs Shopify vs Squareup

Bigcommerce vs Shopify vs Squareup: Uncovering the Top E-commerce Platform

In today’s competitive e-commerce landscape, choosing the right platform is crucial for the success of your online store. Among the top contenders are BigCommerce, Shopify, and SquareUp, each with its unique features and capabilities, making it challenging to choose the best fit for your business.

After thoroughly researching and comparing these platforms, we found that each has its strengths and weaknesses. BigCommerce offers a well-rounded ecommerce solution with robust built-in features, while Shopify stands out with its extensive app ecosystem, supporting businesses in virtually any industry. On the other hand, SquareUp, rebranded as Square Online, offers a free plan with unlimited products and easy integration with other Square payment and POS solutions, making it attractive for small businesses.

Ultimately, the best platform for your business will depend on your individual needs, budget, and goals. As you continue reading this article, keep in mind key factors such as ease of use, pricing, customization options, and scalability to help you make an informed decision.

Bigcommerce vs Shopify vs Squareup: An Overview

In this section, we will provide a brief overview of three popular ecommerce platforms: Bigcommerce, Shopify, and Squareup. Each platform offers unique features and advantages for businesses looking to establish an online presence.

Bigcommerce

Bigcommerce is a robust ecommerce solution that offers a near-overwhelming set of features designed to set up small business owners for success. Among the most noteworthy features are:

  • A user-friendly website builder
  • Responsive themes for various industries
  • Integration with popular payment gateways

Bigcommerce offers a Standard plan at $29.95 per month, with transaction fees varying depending on the payment gateway. With the Standard plan, you can achieve up to $50,000 in sales per year.

Shopify

Shopify is another popular ecommerce platform known for its flexibility and ease of use. Some of the key features of this platform include:

  • Responsive themes and design customization
  • User-friendly cart abandonment tool available on all plans
  • A wide range of third-party app integrations

Shopify offers a variety of pricing options to fit various business sizes. The Basic plan starts at $29 per month, and pricing scales up with additional features, higher sales volume, and lower transaction fees.

Squareup

Squraeup, often just called “Square,” focuses on providing ecommerce solutions for small businesses, emphasizing ease of use and seamless integration with their popular payment processing system. Square’s features include:

  • A simple, intuitive setup process
  • Mobile-responsive designs
  • In-person payment processing for brick-and-mortar stores

Pricing for Squareup depends on the specific services you choose, but they offer a free basic plan for ecommerce stores. Additional features, subscriptions, and payment processing fees may apply depending on your business needs.

These three platforms provide different options for businesses looking to establish an online store. Evaluating each one based on features, pricing, and specific business needs will help determine the best fit for your ecommerce journey.

Pricing and Plans

Pricing and Plans​ shopify

In this section, we will discuss the pricing and plans for Bigcommerce, Shopify, and Squareup.

Bigcommerce Pricing

Bigcommerce offers four subscription plans for its users:

The main differences among these plans are the annual sales limits and availability of premium features, such as stored credit cards, Google customer reviews, and unlimited API calls.

Shopify Pricing

Shopify provides a range of plan options to accommodate different business needs:

  • Shopify Lite: $9 per month (for selling on social media, adding products to an existing website, or using the point of sale)
  • Basic Shopify: $39 per month
  • Shopify: $105 per month
  • Advanced Shopify: $399 per month

These plans come with varying features, such as different numbers of staff accounts and shipping discounts. Shopify does not charge transaction fees for its plans when using Shopify Payments. However, additional fees apply when using external payment gateways.

Squareup Pricing

Squareup offers a more straightforward pricing structure:

  • Free Plan: No monthly fees; 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for online sales
  • Premium Plan: Custom pricing with lower transaction rates

The free plan includes essential features such as a website builder and basic e-commerce functions. The premium plan, designed for larger businesses, offers more advanced features and custom rates for transactions.

By comparing these pricing plans, you can determine which e-commerce platform best suits your business requirements and budget. Remember to consider any additional fees, such as transaction fees or costs for using specific features, when making your decision.

Features and Integrations

Bigcommerce Features

Bigcommerce is a versatile e-commerce platform, offering a range of features that cater to various business needs. Some of the main features include:

Shopify Features

Shopify is another popular e-commerce platform that focuses on scalability and ease-of-use. Here are some prominent features that distinguish Shopify:

Squareup Features

Squareup (also known as Square) is renowned for its simplicity, making it suitable for small businesses just venturing into the e-commerce space. Here are some key features of Squareup:

Each platform comes with its unique strengths and features that cater to different business requirements. By evaluating these features, you can make an informed decision about which platform best suits your online store’s needs.

Ease of Use and Customization

When comparing Bigcommerce, Shopify, and Squareup, we found differences in their ease of use and customization options. Here we will discuss various aspects such as user-friendliness, store customization, staff accounts, mobile-friendliness, and the need for coding experience.

Bigcommerce and Shopify offer user-friendly interfaces for setting up and managing online stores. Both platforms have intuitive dashboards and a wide range of design templates to choose from. Bigcommerce offers over 170 themes (12 free themes, 158 paid themes) while Shopify provides more than 100 themes, both free and paid. Squareup also has user-friendly tools, but it’s generally seen as less feature-rich compared to the other two platforms.

In terms of store customization, the three platforms accommodate various levels of design flexibility:

  • Bigcommerce: Offers advanced built-in features and design options to help you create your unique store, even without coding experience.
  • Shopify: Provides a large app store with over 8,000 paid and free third-party apps to extend the functionality and customization of your store.
  • Squareup: Gives basic design options, but it’s not as robust as Bigcommerce or Shopify.

When considering staff accounts, both Bigcommerce and Shopify offer different plans with increasing numbers of staff accounts allowed. Squareup also provides options for managing staff accounts, but it might not be as sophisticated as the other two platforms.

Mobile-friendliness is a significant factor for eCommerce websites, and all three platforms offer responsive themes ensuring your online store looks great on any device.

Regarding coding, while you can create fully functional stores on all three platforms without any coding experience, it’s worth noting that:

  • Bigcommerce: Allows for custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript coding, which gives you full control over your store’s design and functionality.
  • Shopify: Uses its template language, Liquid, which may require some learning but offers customization that goes beyond basic theme options.
  • Squareup: Does not have many options for coding customization, making it a more suitable choice for those who prefer simpler store designs.

In summary, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses in terms of ease of use and customization. Choose the one that best aligns with your specific needs and level of experience.

Payment Processing and Gateways

payment gateways

When comparing BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup, it’s essential to look at how they handle payment processing and gateways. This can have a significant impact on your decision, as different platforms offer varying levels of support and integration, which can affect your customer experience and overall sales performance.

One advantage of Shopify is the integration of its own payment gateway, called Shopify Payments. This makes it easy to offer all major payment methods to your customers right out of the box. Using Shopify Payments means you won’t have to deal with transaction fees, and you can enable Shop Pay, Shopify’s accelerated checkout process that can make online checkouts faster.

On the other hand, BigCommerce provides the option to choose your payment platform without any additional transaction fees. This could be an advantage for certain businesses that want more flexibility in choosing their payment processor. BigCommerce also offers exclusive PayPal discounts, connects with over 65 gateways, and supports multiple currencies.

Squareup, primarily known for its in-person payment processing, is also an option for e-commerce businesses. While details on Squareup’s e-commerce integration are less readily available in the search results, it’s worth noting that, similar to Shopify, Squareup offers both online and in-store payment processing.

Here’s a quick summary of the key features each platform offers regarding payment processing and gateways:

Shopify:

  • Integrated payment gateway (Shopify Payments)
  • No transaction fees when using Shopify Payments
  • Shop Pay for accelerated checkout

BigCommerce:

  • Flexible payment platform selection
  • No transaction fees for third-party processors
  • Over 65 gateways supported
  • Exclusive PayPal discounts
  • Multi-currency support

Squareup:

  • Online and in-store payment processing

As you consider your options between BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup, take a closer look at the payment processing features and gateway integration provided by each platform. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, so it’s essential to choose the platform that best aligns with your specific business needs and requirements.

Sales and Marketing Tools

When it comes to sales and marketing tools, BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup all offer a variety of options to help you grow your business. In this section, we’ll explore some key features of each platform, including sales channels, social media integration, email marketing, abandoned cart recovery, and more.

All three platforms support multiple sales channels, allowing you to sell on various online marketplaces, like Amazon and eBay, as well as through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. This lets you reach a wider audience and tap into different customer segments.

Social media integration is essential for e-commerce businesses, and each platform offers easy ways to connect with popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can create shoppable posts, showcase your products, and boost your online presence to attract potential customers.

Email marketing plays a crucial role in driving sales and building relationships with customers. BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup all provide various email marketing tools that can help you create targeted campaigns and track their performance. You can send personalized newsletters, promotional emails, and follow-up messages to your customers with ease.

Abandoned cart recovery is an essential feature for any e-commerce platform. Both BigCommerce and Shopify offer abandoned cart recovery tools, with Shopify providing a user-friendly option on all its plans, making it easier and cheaper to capture lost revenue source. BigCommerce, on the other hand, requires a $79.95+/month subscription for scheduling automated emails source.

The buy button feature allows you to embed your products on other websites, blogs, or even email campaigns, enabling customers to purchase without leaving the current page. Shopify and BigCommerce both offer options for creating buy buttons, helping to streamline the purchasing process and increase conversion rates.

In summary, these platforms provide a range of marketing and sales tools to support your e-commerce growth. Each platform has its strengths and unique features, making it crucial for you to assess your business needs and priorities when choosing between BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup.

Customer Support and Resources

When comparing BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup, one important aspect to consider is the customer support and resources available to users. All three platforms offer distinct types of assistance to their customers.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce provides various support channels to help users with their queries and issues. They offer 24/7 live chat and email support for prompt assistance.

Additionally, the BigCommerce community forum helps users connect with peers, share ideas, and discuss any issues they may be facing. They also have a comprehensive help center with articles and guides to assist with technical and operational questions.

The BigCommerce University provides video tutorials and step-by-step instructions for various topics related to setting up and managing an online store.

Shopify

Shopify takes their customer support very seriously, and it is reflected in the wide range of help channels they provide.

They offer 24/7 live chat, phone, and email support, ensuring that users can always find the help they need, no matter the time or day.

The Shopify Help Center contains numerous articles, guides, and tutorials to address common concerns and questions.

Moreover, the active and engaged Shopify Community is a fantastic resource to seek advice, learn from other users, and share experiences.

Squareup

Squareup also provides robust customer support options for their users. While they do not offer 24/7 support, their customer service is available during business hours through phone, email, and live chat. The Square Support Center contains a vast library of articles and guides to help users troubleshoot issues and learn more about the platform’s features. Additionally, users can participate in the Square Seller Community to ask questions, share insights, and learn from other Squareup users.

In conclusion, all three platforms—BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup—provide valuable customer support and resources to help their users succeed. Each platform offers a range of support channels and extensive learning resources to assist users in their e-commerce journey.

Security and Reliability

When it comes to security and reliability, all three platforms – BigCommerce, Shopify, and SquareUp – have robust features in place to ensure your online store remains safe and operational.

We must consider the SSL certificate, which is essential for protecting customers’ sensitive information during transactions. All three platforms offer built-in SSL certificates, ensuring that customer data is encrypted and secure. This also helps to build trust with your customers, as they can feel confident in the safety of their information.

In addition to SSL certificates, these e-commerce platforms also prioritize fraud protection. Shopify provides a feature called Shopify Fraud Protect, which automatically detects and flags potentially fraudulent orders. BigCommerce comes with built-in fraud protection tools as well, but also offers integration with third-party fraud detection solutions to further enhance security.

SquareUp is known for its comprehensive security measures, including secure payment processing and fraud prevention. Square monitors transactions in real-time to detect signs of fraudulent activities, and has a team of experts dedicated to addressing any security concerns.

Besides security measures, the reliability of these platforms is crucial for maintaining smooth operations. Shopify has a proven track record of providing 99.9% uptime, ensuring that your store remains accessible to customers at all times. BigCommerce also boasts high uptime rates and has partnerships with top-tier hosting providers to guarantee your online store’s stability.

As part of their offering, SquareUp focuses on maintaining the reliability of their point-of-sale (POS) system, ensuring that your offline and online operations are seamlessly connected. This helps to avoid service disruptions and keeps your store running smoothly.

In conclusion, all three platforms – BigCommerce, Shopify, and SquareUp – place a strong emphasis on security and reliability to protect your online store and maintain a positive customer experience.

Scalability

When considering the scalability of BigCommerce, Shopify, and Squareup, it’s essential to examine the range of plans and features each platform offers to accommodate growing businesses.

BigCommerce provides a variety of plans, including Standard ($29.95/month), Plus ($79.95/month), and Pro ($299.95/month) 1. As businesses grow, they can upgrade their plans to access more features and higher capacity. Notably, BigCommerce does not charge extra transaction fees and allows for unlimited products across all plans, making it an ideal candidate for businesses with large inventories or those that experience rapid growth.

Shopify, on the other hand, offers plans such as Basic Shopify ($29/month), Shopify ($79/month), and Advanced Shopify ($299/month) 2. While their pricing structure is similar to BigCommerce, they provide lower transaction fees for higher plans. Additionally, Shopify excels in its app ecosystem, allowing businesses to extend their platform’s functionality and adapt to their unique needs as they grow.

Squareup is primarily a payment processing solution, but they also offer their customizable e-commerce platform called Square Online 3. Their plans range from Free to Premium ($72/month), making it an affordable option for small businesses. As businesses grow, they can add and customize features such as email marketing and loyalty programs for an additional cost 4. While this platform’s scalability might be limited compared to BigCommerce and Shopify, it’s a suitable choice for businesses that focus on in-person sales and want to explore e-commerce alongside their existing point of sale system.

To summarize, each platform caters to different scalability needs:

  • BigCommerce: Ideal for businesses with large inventories or rapid growth due to unlimited products and no extra transaction fees.
  • Shopify: Best for businesses that require a strong app ecosystem and customization options as they grow; lower transaction fees for higher plans.
  • Squareup: Suitable for businesses that focus on in-person sales and want a simple, affordable e-commerce solution to complement their existing POS system.

Additional Services and Apps

When comparing BigCommerce, Shopify, and SquareUp, it’s essential to consider the variety of additional services and apps they offer to enhance the functionality of your online store. In this section, we’ll discuss the apps and services available on each platform.

BigCommerce has a robust app store filled with both free and paid apps designed to help your business grow. Their marketplace features a wide range of third-party apps catering to various aspects of e-commerce, including marketing, order management, and customer engagement. Some popular apps on BigCommerce include ShipStation, QuickBooks Online, and Yotpo.

Shopify takes pride in offering over 6,000 apps in their app store, addressing the diverse needs of businesses across different industries. The Shopify platform provides seamless integration with apps like Oberlo for dropshipping, Privy for email marketing, and Smile.io for loyalty programs. Shopify also offers free trials for many of their apps, allowing you to test the functionality and compatibility with your store before committing.

SquareUp, meanwhile, focuses on providing a seamless point-of-sale (POS) experience for businesses. Although they offer fewer apps in comparison to BigCommerce and Shopify, SquareUp has a selection of valuable add-ons that address various business needs such as loyalty programs, inventory management, and email marketing. Some popular Square add-ons are Square Loyalty, Square Marketing, and Square for Retail.

In conclusion:

  • BigCommerce offers a vast app store featuring both free and paid apps catering to diverse business needs.
  • Shopify has an even larger app store with over 6,000 apps and offers free trials for many of them.
  • SquareUp focuses on providing a seamless POS experience, with a smaller selection of apps compared to the other platforms, but still includes valuable add-ons for various business needs.

Pros and Cons

BigCommerce Pros and Cons

Pros

BigCommerce offers a range of benefits for businesses looking to build and manage their online stores. Some positives include:

  • Better value for money compared to Shopify, with more features offered in basic plans source
  • In-built professional reporting tools across all plans source
  • No transaction fees

Cons

Despite its advantages, there are some drawbacks to using BigCommerce:

  • The standard plan doesn’t include automatic notifications for abandoned carts source
  • Some users may find the platform’s interface less intuitive compared to Shopify

Shopify Pros and Cons

Pros

Shopify stands out as a reliable eCommerce platform for online stores due to:

  • User-friendly interface and ease of use
  • A vast ecosystem of apps and integrations
  • Abandoned cart recovery feature available on basic plan source

Cons

There are a few disadvantages to consider with Shopify:

  • Standard reporting tools only available in mid-tier and higher plans source
  • Transaction fees depending on the user’s choice of payment gateway

SquareUp Pros and Cons

Pros

SquareUp offers several benefits, particularly for small businesses already using or considering the Square point-of-sale system:

  • Seamless integration with the Square ecosystem
  • No monthly subscription fees for basic features
  • Flexibility in choosing add-on services based on the user’s needs source

Cons

Nonetheless, some drawbacks exist when comparing SquareUp to BigCommerce and Shopify:

  • Limited eCommerce features when compared to specialized platforms like BigCommerce or Shopify
  • Add-on charges for services, such as email marketing and loyalty programs source

As each platform has unique features, businesses should evaluate their specific requirements to determine which platform best suits their needs.

Conclusion

In our assessment of BigCommerce, Shopify, and SquareUp, we’ve noticed several key differences and factors that may sway your decision. To effectively compare these e-commerce platforms, we’ve broken down their differences into several categories.

When it comes to pricing, both BigCommerce and Shopify have similar price points, while SquareUp caters to a more budget-conscious clientele. However, BigCommerce provides more built-in features compared to Shopify, which relies on its extensive app store for additional functionality.

From the perspective of the user base, Shopify powers over 1 million merchants across the globe, while BigCommerce supports around 60,000 stores and more than 2000 mid-market businesses. SquareUp is more focused on small businesses and offers a point of sale system as its key differentiator.

In terms of the community and available support, Shopify has a massive ecosystem, which can be beneficial for business owners seeking third-party solutions and support. On the other hand, BigCommerce offers a lower entry barrier for developers and more customization possibilities. SquareUp provides simplistic designs and easy integration of its payment platform, making it a suitable option for businesses starting out.

To sum up, considering the diverse range of features, pricing, and user base, we believe that:

  • BigCommerce may be an excellent choice for businesses seeking built-in features and customization possibilities with a more mid-market focus.
  • Shopify could be a better fit for businesses that require a vast ecosystem of apps and support, catering to a wide range of merchant sizes.
  • SquareUp might be the ideal solution for small businesses in need of a simple, budget-friendly platform with integrated payment processing.

Ultimately, the best e-commerce platform for your business depends on your unique requirements, budget, and goals. Each platform offers advantages specific to certain needs, and we encourage you to thoroughly assess which solution aligns with your business objectives.

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