Ecommerce Platforms Comparison: Shopify vs. Builderfly vs. Wix vs. BigCommerce in 2020
Digitization and technological advancements have significantly changed the ways of business conduction. Nowadays, retailers, as well as manufacturers, are turning to the online platforms to take their business to the next level.
E-commerce platforms and online website builders play a vital role in making this journey easier for business owners. Builderfly vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce is an intense battle, as all of these are leading e-commerce solution providers. Whereas, Wix is a website builder solution extended in the e-commerce segment. When the basic store functionalities remain the same for ecommerce platforms, the business additive features mark the difference between them. An online store builder is for all those who are only looking from the perspective of getting a store.
In the Builderfly vs. Shopify vs. Wix vs. BigCommerce blog, we will give you the comparative analysis of their features & pricing plan that can help you decide the e-commerce platform you must opt for your business.
Before you dive into the details, we believe that the below comparison chart can be helpful to give you an overview of the features and functionalities of these ecommerce solution providers.
FeaturesBuilderflyShopifyWixBigCommerceThemesAll Free themesLimited free themesLimited free themesLimited free themesNative M-commerce appInbuilt AI-driven native mobile appNot availableNot availableNot availableSSL certificateYesYesYesYesCustom SSLFor pro userFor pro userNoFor pro userProduct ListingsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedBlogYesYesNoYesTransaction feeZEROYes; Varies as per plansZEROZEROCredit card payment fee2.0 %2.9% — 2.4% (depending upon plan)Varies from card to card2.9% — 2.2% (depending upon plan)Multi-channel SellingYesYesNoYesStaff AccountsUnlimitedThe count varies as per planNoUnlimitedAbandoned Cart RecoveryYesYesNoFor Advance customers onlyGift CardsAvailable for all plansAvailable for higher plansNoAvailable for all plansMobile appNoNoNoYesThird-party calculated shipping ratesYesFor advance customers onlyNoYesThird-party app integrationYesYesNoYesCustomer ManagementYesYesNoFor Advance customers onlyProfessional ReportsYesYesNoYes24/7 Live SupportYesYesNoYesPremium account servicesFor Pro plan users onlyFor Pro plan users onlyChat & telephonic supportFor custom plan users only
Now, let us explain the individual differentiating features of Builderfly, Shopify, Wix, and BigCommerce in detail:
1. Pricing Plans:
All three e-commerce platforms, namely Builderfly, Shopify, and BigCommerce, have competitive pricing plans for businesses of all classes. In contrast, Wix offers a single pricing plan to build your ecommerce store. They all provide the 14-days free trial period to understand the functionality of the dashboard before paying for the plan.
Builderfly has this exclusive plan for startup businesses, namely Builderfly Startup plan with which you can create and design your e-commerce store for FREE for LIFETIME. Besides this, Builderfly’s basic plan is available at $35/month, whereas advance and pro plans will cost you $75 and $195 respectively on a monthly basis. Along with e-commerce store builder, Builderfly facilitates the functionality of mobile app designing under the same plan. This implies you will be able to launch your native ecommerce app along with your ecommerce store to target a larger user base.
Shopify opens the gateway to its online store builder at $25/month. As per your business needs, you can later upgrade to a moderate level and advanced plan @ $79 and $299/ month. To personalize your business, you can take the help of third-party applications like logo makers, review rating apps, etc. Mostly you will find such apps in the Shopify app store. They may add the extra amount in your pocket.
Wix allows you to build your store @INR29/month, excluding taxes. Yes, it’s so less. But you will be able to create your store only. Since it is an ecommerce store builder, you will not get access to advanced functionalities that can help you manage and streamline your business.
BigCommerce lets you build your store for a monthly rent of $29.95. If you want to use more of the e-commerce features that can support and boost your conversion rate, you need to opt for Plus, and Pro plans available @$79.95/month and $249.95/month. BigCommerce has all necessary features already integrated into the platform.
Low budget startups may get attracted to Wix, but if you need more than a site builder, Wix may not be able to do justice. BigCommerce & Shopify lets you build your online store at similar rates. But, if you are just getting started, Builderfly’s Startup plan is surely an amazing deal to take your business online. If you are opting for the pro plans, you can save $49 with BigCommerce and $100 with Builderfly in comparison to that of the Shopify plan. Shopify does charge the transaction fees on your sales through the store. BigCommerce, Wix, and Builderfly won’t do that. When BigCommerce & Shopify lets you build your e-commerce store, Builderfly lets you build and launch your m-commerce app at the same price. So, Builderfly has an upper-hand here.
2. Free Themes & Templates :
Builderfly grants you access to unlimited, professionally designed free themes for varying business niches. All of their store themes are fully functional, and it only takes your effort to edit their content as per your choice. You can look into the theme store to select the most suitable theme for your e-commerce business. Also, you can use the internal content template to arrange the content of different sections of your chosen theme.
Shopify has a sound collection of free as well as paid themes exclusively designed for e-commerce businesses. While looking for the free ones, they have 10 themes, out of which you can have 22 variants. If you want to explore contemporary style themes, you have to select from the Shopify theme store. The range of the paid themes starts from $145. You will be adding more amounts in your cart based on your choice of themes and functionalities.
Wix started its journey as a complimentary website builder tool. It grants you access to numerous responsive free themes for different niches. You can select the theme as per your requirement and start editing it anytime. You can sign up, choose the theme, and edit your store. Later, you can upgrade your account with the paid plan, and connect your domain.
When it comes to free themes, BigCommerce has way too little count. They have 12 themes with which you can try your hands on the 3–4 variants. There are no templates for internal content setup in BigCommerce themes. If you want to reform your store with something awe-inspiring, you need to count on their paid versions. The paid themes range from $145 to $235.
3. Store Personalization :
To add a personal touch to your web-store and offer a customized experience to your customers, you need to personalize your e-commerce store distinctly.
Builderfly arms you with easy-to-use store editors to alter and upgrade your store’s look and feel without any single pinch of coding. Besides, they offer you access to an HTML/CSS editor that makes it easier for you to add some functionalities if you want to. In addition to the internal content templates, you will get access to mega menu options. If you have a huge product category base, a mega menu can make navigation a lot easier for your potential buyers.
Shopify theme editor lets you edit free as well as paid themes as per your choice. However, you can make necessary edits like theme color, content variation, or drag and drop content. But, if you want to make some variations in the code or core functionality, you need to look for help from Shopify professionals.
Wix uses the typical drag and drops editor, which is not at all critical to use. You will be given a few templates for different web pages; you can use them as per your choice. Wix enables the usage of Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to improve the store design as per your requirement. You can’t make any core editings on your store.
BigCommerce also enables easy theme editing with WYSIWYG editor, henceforth makes the store editing feature a bit easier to access and update. It lets you add the custom fields in addition to the basic edits. However, you need to opt for professional help because of the complicated designing interface.
4. Product details & variants :
Like the physical stores, your customers can’t touch the product to check its quality unless they purchase it. But, they can’t make a purchase without being assured of quality. So, detailed product pages play a vital role in turning their buying decision.
Builderfly lets you create the detailed product pages and category pages to distinguish and display your product variations and ranges in a more organized manner. They don’t have any restrictions on the count of product variations. So, you can add as many attributes and variations as you want.
As a Shopify merchant, you can add up to 3 dropdown menu options for product variations and can list up to 100 possible variations only. This may result in the copied product listing that can be confusing for your customers. As extended support, they allow the app integration for the bulk uploads, but that will add a few more dollars for sure.
Wix allows you to list unlimited products, but you can’t manage SEO and different attributes then the basic ones. There is no such option to customize and add attributes as per your choice.
With BigCommerce, you won’t face any issue in adding the product variations. You can list up to 600 variants for the products with over 250 values for each SKU.
If you’re not one of the enterprise-grade businesses, I believe BigCommerce’s limit of product variations is fine. Else, for unlimited listings and unlimited variations, Builderfly can be your amigo.
