If you're in the eCommerce game or looking to get into the eCommerce game, You are most likely to come across these Big name brands Shopify, Magento, Bigcommerce, and Woocommerce. All of these are brands that have established and saved a place for themselves in the eCommerce domain. However, this read will analyze and compare these platforms in-depth for you to narrow down your choices and choose the ultimate platform that can elevate your business to the next level.
Let's first see what makes these eCommerce giants the go-to options for eCommerce businesses, and let's see how these brands address your issues and make things easier for you.
Table of contents
- Public demand in the market
- Personalization
- Ease of use
- Payment gateway choices
- Inventory management
- Overall performance
- Built-in PWA Mobile app
- 99% availability & hosted on AWS cloud
- Provides complete quotation and order management
- Customer-specific pricing options
- In-built support & field service
- Zero transaction fees
- Sales rep app
- Product catalog and filter management
Comparison of eCommerce Giants
Let's first compare all four eCommerce giants, Shopify, Bigcommerce, Magento, and Woocommerce, individually to get an essence of what they bring to the eCommerce domain:
1. Shopify
Probably the most popular eCommerce platform that rings a bell for all eCommerce businesses. Shopify is a web app that helps you to instantly set up an online with an array of available templates. You can personalize those templates to best fit your needs or even design the look of your store on your own. Shopify web development company also gives you the ability to take care of and manage your eCommerce functionalities from the convenience of your mobile on the Shopify mobile app.
Pros
- Shopify allows integrations with social media websites, WordPress, and blogs.
- The usability and the convenience of setting up the platform are far superior to its competitors. This also includes purchasing a custom domain name.
- Own Apps Store with various applications.
- 24/7 customer support
- A solid platform for SEO.
Cons
- A transaction fee is obtained for every sale, Which is standard for every platform.
- Caters primarily for small-sized businesses
Price
Plans start at $29 per month for Shopify Basic.
2. Magento Commerce (Adobe Commerce)
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Magento is an open-source eCommerce content management solution initially developed by Varien Inc and presently supported by Adobe. The Magento Open Source version is for merchants comfortable with technology; Magento is available as a free download. It is supported with free upgrades from the Magento Community. As it is an open-source version, users will enjoy the ability to customize the code. This version still presents a competent eCommerce presence with multiple, mobile-accessible sites, SEO optimization, targeted promotions, the ability to alter themes and change the layout, taxes and shipping management, and more.
Pros
- As it is open-source, users have access to customize the backend.
- You have access to third-party apps and add-ons.
Cons
- While Magento provides patches and upgrades, it doesn't auto-update, and you will have to do it manually.
- You'll need a developer and an agency to manage the build and maintenance no matter the version of Magento you choose to work with.
- Magento has an extremely extensive setup, which demands high expenses to complete the builds.
Price
Pricing based on annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and Average Order Value (AOV)
3. Bigcommerce
Bigcommerce is definitely one of the most popular eCommerce solutions available. As a flexible open SaaS platform, BigCommerce gives merchants the ability to build, innovate, customize and develop their businesses online with simplicity and ease of use.
Pros
- The faster loading time of the site on all platforms and devices
- Easy management of inventory
- New Variations tools are much faster for loading data
- Fully accessible metadata for categories, stock, pages, and posts for optimization
- A convenient built-in blog for adding content.
Cons
- Need to be able to add tracking information to customer order
Price
The Bigcommerce Essentials at $29.95.
4. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is free of cost WordPress platform that gives merchants the space to turn their WordPress websites into online stores without any charges and offers added features and integrations options for a cost to centralize the functionality of the shopping cart. Woocommerce is an open-source platform that is ideal for small-sized brands with WordPress development resources as it will be easy to personalize.
Pros
- Woocommerce has a big-time support community as it is widespread among the eCommerce domain.
- Holds home to a wide range of themes and plugins.
- Excellent for SEO as it is a part of WordPress, which is perfect for SEO.
Cons
- At times WooCommerce plugin does not sync with WordPress updates. This can cause specific issues.
- Woocommece is a self-hosted solution, So site maintenance is the store owner's responsibility.
- Requires some code on occasion to facilitate customization.
Price
Woocommerce is open-source software and is free
How do Shopify, Woocommerce, Magento, and Bigcommerce fair against each other?
When it comes to comparing and faring each of these solutions, one factor alone can't be the deciding factor in working with an eCommerce solution. There are various attributes that contribute to the deciding factor, and we'll analyze them in detail so that you can identify the eCommerce platform that serves your needs and requirement.
1. Public demand in the market
Shopify, Magento, Bigcommerce, and Woocommerce are some of the most established big players in the eCommerce domain and have the constant attraction of customers in need of their service. About 240,000 officially registered websites are backed up by Shopify, around 160,00- Magento backs up registered websites, BigCommerce holds close to 25,000 registered websites, and Woocommerce powers close to 10,000 websites of its own. However, the type of websites that gravitate towards each of these platforms differ, and the size of the companies vary too.
As marketed by Shopify's team, small-scaled companies generally tend to head towards Shopify for their ease of use. On the other hand, the mid-sized companies are inclined more towards Bigcommerce and Magento, while Woocommerce is a mix of everything.
2. Personalization
Magento and Woocommerce are self-hosted platforms. They give you complete control over your preference of servers and hosting choices. Both the platforms are open-source platforms, which means they facilitate endless personalization abilities for the design and functioning of your store. You have the power to personalize and upgrade your store at any time without any restrictions.
Unlike the above platforms, Shopify is a hosted solution where personalization and access to source code aren't feasible. But, the limitations justify it as you don't really require the trouble of going through configuration and hosting hassles as it is all preset in-app for. Shopify is a platform for beginners in development expertise.
Like Shopify, BigCommerce is also a hosted eCommerce solution that doesn't facilitate personalization. However, the purpose of a hosted platform is that the eCommerce platform will take care of all the work related to hosting. Therefore, you wouldn't have to stress about anything related to hosting and personalization.
3. Ease of use
This is an aspect where Shopify scores big-time. Shopify is marketed and branded as a platform that is top-notch in ease of use. Beginners wouldn't have the trouble to modify attributes with Shopify's easy-to-use tools and a drag-and-drop interface.
BigCommerce is also following the same path as Shopify. Setting up and launching your eCommerce store is done effortlessly with Bigcommerce, but keep in mind that you wouldn't have the leeway to personalize.
As self-hosted platforms, Magento's and Woocommerce's learning curve is a bit longer, but keep in mind that this gives merchants the space to work with a wide range of personalization options.
Magento does compromise its user-friendliness for its flexibility. But again, if you're an expert, you will find your way around. Otherwise, as a beginner, you can always work with simple eCommerce solutions first and then get a grip to head towards powerful ones.
4. Payment gateway choices
You need to provide multiple payment gateway options to scale and cater to a broader range of audiences. Giving the customer multiple payment options is key to retaining them. You never want a customer to abandon because of a lack of payment options. Shopify does require the integration of a custom solution to facilitate popular payment options.
Magento, Woocommerce, and BigCommerce inherently provide multiple payment options like PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, and other payment gateways like Sage pay, Adyen, and more.
5. Inventory management
If you're a large business with a complicated inventory model, Shopify probably isn't most suited towards your business. Shopify has a clear and straightforward interface to manage and control inventory. Of course, you can bring in a few extensions to promote advanced features, but as a platform on its own, Shopify doesn't cater to complicated inventory functions.
BigCommerce has its fair share of limitations when it comes to functionality, and it can only take care of small-mid-sized business inventory with its performance capabilities. In addition, Bigcommerce has a limited hosting infrastructure, which is why it isn't compatible with more prominent companies with complicated inventories.
Magento's inventory management system is pretty similar to Shopify's, but it excels in its ability to provide advanced features, unlike Shopify.
WooCommerce inventory management is a bit tricky. You can track and control your stock, but it is designed only to track the inventory of finished products. Certain businesses can make use of a 3rd party app like "material requirements planning software" to combat this issue. But you are likely to face the problems as you develop and grow.
In terms of raw material management and production planning, they are typically taken care of with the help of Excel spreadsheets. But, do note that Excel spreadsheets are error-prone.
6. Overall performance
Let's look at the critical component of every eCommerce solution now. No matter what type of integrations and functions you provide, the essential element is the overall performance.
Users have never complained about Shopify's ability to provide eCommerce stores with pure performance and speed as a hosted solution.
Similarly, BigCommerce is also a hosted platform like Shopify and has similar performance capabilities. Again, retaining customers for the long run as they develop into more prominent companies can be challenging. But, the purpose of Bigcommerce is to cater more towards small-mid-sized companies, and they will have the utmost performance benefit from Bigcommerce. Customization and flexibility issues can arise, but that is a part of joining hands with a hosted platform.
Magento and Woocommerce are both self-hosted platforms known for pure performance and possess the ability to make performance-oriented alterations. Thanks to their self-hosted platform, you have the ability to choose your server and make all the necessary personalizations to increase the numbers in terms of performance.
How does Growmax Stack up to these Players?
Being a relatively fresh eCommerce platform in the market, Growmax is essentially built for B2B companies with great features. Growmax provides B2B, B2B2B, and B2B2C functionalities with headless Commerce from the business plan. You get a complete B2B platform that is feature-filled at a reasonable price point when compared to its competitors and established players.
Here are some of the critical features that come along with Growmax eCommerce, that make it a competitive platform when compared with the big players:
1. Built-in PWA Mobile app
With the progressive web app (PWA), the business owners and the customers can install Growmax on desktop or mobile devices just like native apps. In addition, you can install the app directly from the website without app store distribution or approval.
2. 99% availability & hosted on AWS cloud
Growmax ensures that the platform will run at all times without any form of downfall. You don't have to worry about server downtime. The eCommerce platform is available for its customers and functional for its vendors and visitors.
3. Provides complete quotation and order management
Avoid any form of unwanted dependencies. Enable your customers to select items they prefer and place orders instantly without any external help or hassles. In addition, customers have the opportunity to reorder the previously ordered item in their account history via a single click.
4. Customer-specific pricing options
With Growmax, you can configure your catalog to create customer groups and offer different prices specific to each group.
5. In-built support & field service
Reduce downtime, respond to customers faster and set up appointments to deliver exceptional field service experiences.
6. Zero transaction fees
Customers will not be charged any form of fee for any transaction. All transactions are without any charge.
7. Sales rep app
Enable your reps to facilitate a smooth sales process and deliver excellent customer experiences with the efficiency of an innovative sales rep app. Sales reps can take orders online and quickly check the availability of products on their mobile phones while visiting customers. Sales reps can leverage the sales rep app to keep track and monitor every activity and procedure related to retail execution from a single point, And many more functionalities.
8. Product catalog and filter management
Personalize the catalog with specific customers in mind. With Growmax, you can configure your record to create customer groups and offer different prices particular to each group.
Leverage the product catalog to create product variant filters flexibly. For example, filter a set of products based on attributes like color, size, and more to help customers pick the exact product variant they require.
The feature to price range ratio makes Growmax a worth it Go-to option for consumers.
Summing it up
Well, you probably guessed it, but yea, there isn't one single platform that can cater to all business requirements and models. Shopify, Bigcommerce, Magento, and Woocommerce are all giants in the eCommerce domain, and all cater to different needs and business models. Every platform has a solid aspect to focus on, and you as a business owner have to identify your business type and what features matter the most to you. Once you have that figured out, finding the best platform for your business becomes automatic. Good luck!
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