As you're shopping around to decide where your ecommerce store should be hosted, you'll probably notice BigCommerce. BigCommerce is a popular ecommerce platform that's been around since 2009; it does offer quite a robust suite of features, but some might find it lacking in certain areas - and it may not be the best fit for you. But never fear - from Fourthwall and Shopify to Prestashop, Volusion, Wix, and WooCommerce, we've got other ecommerce solutions!
BigCommerce starts with a free plan (you can try it for 15 days before upgrading to a paid plan; paid plans start at $29 per month), and BigCommerce's pricing plans may not fit within the budget of new content creators, smaller businesses or startups. Since BigCommerce uses revenue tiers for how much in online sales you can generate per year on each plan, you may find yourself needing a more expensive BigCommerce plan sooner than you anticipate. Alternative ecommerce platforms may offer more cost-effective solutions.
While comprehensive, BigCommerce may not have all the specific features or integrations a business needs to operate efficiently. Their ecommerce platform does offer a drag and drop visual website builder and mobile optimization; but BigCommerce offers no dedicated mobile shopping app, unlike what you might find on a site like Fourthwall, which includes a customized mobile app for free with all of their websites. BigCommerce is also said to not be particularly user-intuitive, and some features are paywalled.
As businesses grow, their needs can change. Some might find BigCommerce less adaptable to their evolving requirements; their basic shipping features can be lacking, requiring you to have to find and use a plug-in. Customer service/tech support for shop owners can also reportedly be quite slow.
Businesses looking for extensive store customization options might find BigCommerce's offerings restrictive; the initial store setup is said to be confusing, especially if you're new to ecommerce. Editing your themes has been called "tricky," and the store templates/customization options seem to be fairly limited unless you're willing to shell out quite a bit of extra money.
Here are six well-known ecommerce platforms that content creators and businesses can consider as alternatives to BigCommerce, each with their own unique features, pricing structures, integrations, and customization options:
Fourthwall is an ecommerce platform designed for content creators and small businesses. It offers an easy-to-use host of tools, including its own website builder, for creating customizable websites and membership offerings, plus seamless integration with social media and livestreaming platforms. Fourthwall also has special features enabling direct live sales from platforms like Twitch, and integrates with TikTok Shop and YouTube, making it even more ideal for influencers and content creators.
Pros:
Wix provides a drag and drop website builder with plenty of customization options, making it easy enough for small businesses to put together visually appealing online stores. Wix features a wide range of templates and an app market for additional functionalities. Founded in 2006, Wix is also known for its affordable pricing plans, although the smallest Wix plans can be limited in features.
Pros:
Cons:
WooCommerce is an open source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, offering high customization with a large selection of plugins and themes. It's a flexible platform that allows businesses to create tailored ecommerce solutions for selling online. While WooCommerce requires some technical knowledge to manage, WooCommerce benefits from strong community support and extensive documentation.
Pros:
Cons:
Shopify is an ecommerce platform known for supporting a wide range of businesses of varying sizes and types, including dropshipping. Shopify also offers powerful inventory management and analytics tools. Shopify also offers a big variety of free and premium Shopify store themes in its website builder so you can design your store to mostly suit your needs, although some Shopify store pages are unable to be customized at all without using other programs.
Pros:
Cons:
Volusion caters to small to mid-sized businesses who are selling online. Its cloud-based ecommerce platform offers built-in SEO tools, marketing features, and a website builder for your store. Volusion provides a selection of design templates and customization options. It can be good for newer businesses looking for easy store expansions, and for those who have some web design knowledge and don't need a lot of assistance.
Pros:
Cons:
Prestashop is an open source ecommerce platform that stands out because of the simplicity of its daily operations in the running of your ecommerce store. Creating product listings and managing your store are relatively easy, once you get it rolling; the catch is that you'll need some skills in CSS or HTML to customize your store. Prestashop also has some unusual methods of payment and delivery, including the usual credit card/PayPal options, plus PDF invoicing and a choice of shipping or pickup/local delivery.
Pros:
Cons:
Some of the potential disadvantages of BigCommerce include higher pricing plans, limited customization for advanced users, and scalability issues for rapidly growing businesses.
It depends on your needs. Fourthwall is excellent for content creators and small businesses looking for a user-friendly platform with robust ecommerce tools and creative features. BigCommerce might be more suitable for very large, more traditional businesses needing advanced business features.
There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. The best alternative to BigCommerce depends on your specific requirements, such as budget, free plan benefits vs. paid plan, desired features, and scalability. Shopify and WooCommerce are popular alternatives for more classic business models; Wix and Volusion for those who have time to embark upon a steeper learning curve; and Fourthwall is a top drawer choice for more creative, diverse creators who want lots of options for their store to reflect their brand, without a lot of financial investment.
Exploring alternative ecommerce platforms can open up new opportunities for businesses to find ecommerce solutions that better fit their needs. Among all of them, Fourthwall stands out as an impressively comprehensive platform, especially for content creators and businesses looking for a creatively customizable way to professionally and effectively monetize their online presence.
With its user-friendly interface, fully branded websites, robust ecommerce tools, dedicated support, and a long list of bonus features, Fourthwall offers a compelling alternative to BigCommerce - make the change and get started on Fourthwall today!