Nowadays, getting set up with an e-commerce channel is essential to success. In this article, we’re going to look into WooCommerce vs BigCommerce so you can see which is the best for your skill level and your business.
For manufacturers who’re looking to get started with an e-commerce store or want to switch to a new platform, there’s going to be two pieces of software they’ll be looking to use:
WooCommerce vs BigCommerce
In this article, we’re going to look at the two platforms side-by-side to give you the necessary information to make an informed choice when deciding which one to choose. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
BigCommerce is a fully-hosted SaaS e-commerce website builder that allows you to quickly and easily build an e-commerce store.
What is an e-commerce website builder? It’s a piece of software that supports manufacturers to create and manage an online sales channel. BigCommerce goes above and beyond this task, giving users access to tons of native features that will help you design, launch, and scale your e-commerce store.
Using BigCommerce, you won’t have to study to become an IT expert, as BigCommerce gives you all the necessary tools and services, including hosting, design, content, SEO, payments, and other essential marketing features.
When it comes to WooCommerce vs BigCommerce, here are the advantages of using the latter:
All this sounds great, but great useability and accessibility comes at the cost of complete flexibility. Here are the disadvantages of using BigCommerce:
Though don’t let that discourage you, head over to BigCommerce and see for yourself what they have to offer and if it’s perfect for your business.
WooCommerce is an open-source plugin that allows manufacturers to use the massively popular CMS WordPress to add selling functionalities to their website or blog.
WooCommerce is the favorite choice of e-commerce software among WordPress users. To get set up with WooCommerce, all you need is to set up web hosting, install WordPress and WooCommerce, and choose the marketing plugins you want to use in your business. WooCommerce and WordPress are customizable platforms, so you can keep branding and messaging consistent across your business.
Best of all, WordPress and WooCommerce are completely free to use.
But, when it comes to WooCommerce vs BigCommerce, you might think having this high level of customizability is a good thing, but you need to be tech-savvy to get the most out of it.
Which is a good segue to talking about the advantages of using WooCommerce, such as:
But these advantages also come at a disadvantage too:
If you’re confident that you can set up WordPress or find someone to lend you a hand, then feel free to head over to WooCommerce and get started for free.
So, now you know the differences between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce, there’s something else you need to know.
If you have WordPress, it doesn’t mean that WooCommerce has to be your final choice. As already mentioned, WordPress is one of the biggest CMS software available on the market, and there exists a plugin between BigCommerce and WordPress. This allows you to run a management a fully functional BigCommerce store with your WordPress site.
A valuable combination if you’re not a coding wizkid.
Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of WooCommerce vs BigCommerce (and WordPress), it’s time for the main event — we’re going to look at them side-by-side to help you better understand which is best for your business.
BigCommerce WordPress or WooCommerce WordPress or other combinations of sites and e-commerce platforms —here is a breakdown of how user-friendly this software is:
WordPress will be challenging for someone who isn’t tech-savvy, but if your stick it out — or hire someone who can get you set up, it will provide you with total control over your business.
However, once you’re set up on WordPress, the WooCommerce plugin is surprisingly easy to use, especially if you’re using a web host that has the options to get this set up for you. Either way, WooCommerce has a friendly onboarding process with its setup wizard, which allows you to easily set up payments, shipping, tax options, currency, create pages, and more. But, it’s important to remember that WooCommerce is a plugin, which will only provide e-commerce functionality, and you’ll need to source your own domain, hosting, and security certificates.
But ultimately, how your WordPress and WooCommerce performs is all dependent on how you set up the store and plugins.
BigCommerce is easier to use than WooCommerce and doesn’t require building yourself website.
There’s a slight learning curve to overcome with BigCommerce, but this mostly involves learning about the terminology. But, once you’re done some good ol’ Google searching to learn the definitions of these terms, you’ll have all the tools and support you need to help you build your store. Best of all, you won’t have to do any coding to achieve all this.
To get started with your BigCommerce account is quick and easy, and all you have to do is sign up for the free trial and:
Once you’re set up, you can manage your entire online store from the BigCommerce dashboard, allowing you to preview your store, add products, and customize the site’s layout.
You can learn more about setting up your BigCommerce inventory with our article BigCommerce inventory management guide for manufacturers, which looks into how manufacturers can use inventory tracking on the platform.
First impressions are everything, so when trying to choose between WooCommerce vs BigCommerce, here’s what you can expect to find when setting up the look of your e-commerce site.
WooCommerce offers around 20 themes in total and about 14 storefront themes — three of these themes are free, while the rest will cost between $39 to $129.
The themes provided are simple to navigate, clear to read, and can easily be used across multiple industries while being cheaper than the ones offered by BigCommerce. But, the real beauty of using WordPress and WooCommerce is just how customizable those themes and storefronts are. It’s easier to edit the WooCommerce side of things, but with WordPress, the more you know about the computers, the more you can do with your website.
But, many of your needs can be easily addressed as there are 1000s of WooCommerce plugins available on the market.
BigCommerce boasts an impressive 12 free themes and around 130 premium one-off themes to buy, costing around $150 to $300.
However, the tradeoff is that whatever you purchase or use will be rigid. And a lot of users complain that the differentiation between themes is difficult to tell apart. But, the customization is far more straightforward, and without any coding knowledge, you can edit:
It has to be said, though, for BigCommerce vs WooCommerce. It’s a draw as both BigCommerce and WooCommerce themes are mobile responsive.
As you have probably already identified, there’s a pattern between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce that:
WooCommerce — more flexible but more complicated to use
BigCommerce — less flexible but easier to use
So, do the prices reflect the usability and design offered by WooCommerce vs BigCommerce?
There’s no need to beat around the bush with WooCommerce and no real way to set this up other than saying that WooCommerce is absolutely free.
You might be doing backflips reading that, but here’s the catch. WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress which is open-source. So, you’ll need to set up everything else which comes with its own costs, for example, costs could be:
BigCommerce, on the other hand, isn’t free past the initial free trial period but makes setting up a store straightforward and easy and offers different packages where you get:
Standard $29.95 per month
Plus $79.95 per month
Pro $299.95 per month
Enterprise
Before comparing BigCommerce vs WooCommerce in the inventory management department, it’s worth mentioning that both are built for those looking to sell products online. It lacks features needed for handling different inventory types. If you’re looking for these solutions, skip to the next chapter — plugins and addons for manufacturers.
With WooCommerce, you track inventory by selecting Enable Stock Management under the Products Inventory Settings.
WooCommerce also allows you to set reorder points for products known as the Low Product Threshold. If these products come in different versions, you can also set up variants for these. But, once you’ve set up your product, they will need to be saved under one of these categories:
BigCommerce has almost all the same features as WooCommerce, including inventory tracking at product or variant level.
If you want to track products at a variant level, you must add all your different variations. When you’re initially adding your products to BigCommerce, you can set your current stock levels and reorder points. Finally, you can add an option to your products called Modifier, which means customers can customize their orders.
Finally, as BigCommerce has inventory and selling features built into the native software, you can also:
Pro tip: Are you a BigCommerce manufacturer needing more oomph from your software? Many turn to BigCommerce order management software integrations to help them take their sales, production, and accounting to the next level.
In this BigCommerce vs WooCommerce article, we’ve explored what each platform has to offer for manufacturing, looking to tap into the potential of reaching an online audience.
However, as already mentioned, there are limitations to both when managing the manufacturing aspect of a business. Fortunately, there are many BigCommerce and WooCommerce integrations available that can help users take their businesses to the next level. But what’s the best tool available if you’re looking to integrate manufacturing software with your e-commerce store?
Katana Cloud Manufacturing is a WooCommerce and BigCommerce ERP integration that gives users the tools to get complete control of their manufacturing, inventory, and online sales, all from one easy-to-use platform.
Katana ERP is the missing puzzle for upgrading your WooCommerce or BigCommerce accounts. Katana ERP provides users with the tools to manage their raw material inventory, save their bill of materials, automatically schedule and allocate resources to production. It also comes equipped with a ton of other features essential for managing your production lines, including:
So, there you have it, everything you need to know about setting up your own e-commerce store on either BigCommerce or WooCommerce.
If you’ve already decided on which e-commerce tool you’re going to use, then get a demo with Katana and see how we can help. We hope that you found this article and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. And until next time, happy manufacturing.
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