Magento or Bigcommerce? Not sure which ecommerce platform is right for your
business? With all the information that's out there it can be a pretty tough
decision to make, but don't worry we're here to help.
In today's video we will compare Magento and BigCommerce so that you can make the
right decision for your online store. Hey everyone this is Ashleigh with IWD
Agency - The eCommerce experts - where we help merchants reach their online goals
through design marketing optimizations and store enhancements. We can take care of
everything for you while you focus on your core business customers and
products. If you're new here be sure to hit that subscribe button to IWD's
YouTube channel to stay on top of your e-commerce game and to ensure you receive
industry-leading content. If you're also considering other eCommerce platforms
like Shopify or WooCommerce be sure to watch some of our other videos linked in
the description below. Now let's see if Magento or BigCommerce are the right
eCommerce platform for you and your business. Straight out the box both
Magento and bigcommerce will meet more than your basic ecommerce platform needs
you'll be able to customize your theme create checkout pages manage products
perform email marketing and much more while they overlap in several ways they
each offer their own special capabilities as well so you'll want to
make sure your platform's unique features align with your specific needs
after all you want to give your customers the best shopping experience
possible a fundamental difference between Magento and big commerce is
their software Magento is an open-source PaaS - Platform as-a-service
while big commerce is a SaaS platform software as a service this is a key
distinction that affects what you can do with each platform. PaaS is a development
and deployment environment in the cloud resources are available to deliver
anything from simple cloud-based apps to advanced cloud enabled enterprise
applications SaaS on the other hand is the licensing
of software and a delivery model where this license is on a subscription basis
and is centrally hosted Magento gives merchants an open source framework to
work with which gives you a ton of control over your stalls design and
functionality you'll be able to build your store from the ground up and design
your own apps and extensions which makes Magento perfect if you're in need of
complex high customizable solutions however to take advantage of that
endless creative freedom you'll probably want to hire a team of developers which
can mean a little extra investment and maintenance costs on the flip side big
commerce is a ready-to-use platform not only does it allow you to choose from a
set of pre-built and customizable themes but its core product already includes
features like product reviews digital marketing and loyalty programs yes it's
a closed source platform but it's a low-cost way to get started which may
not require as much assistance from a developer although easier to use do you
keep in mind that there are restrictions on the functionality within big
Commerce's platform compared to Magento if Magento doesn't have a specific built
in feature you can build one yourself this means customization with Magento is
limitless multi store capability Magento offers multi store functionality in the
same installation allowing users to create and access multiple stalls on
different URLs all stores through the multi-store installation share the same
back end making administrative work a lot easier
Magento allows users to customize the whole experience to local customs and
shopper expectations all around the world this includes site design a
product mix and support for local technologies and suppliers users can
integrate most local business and custom systems without breaking the bank
Magento goes above and beyond to support multi currencies multi payment methods
and multi languages big commerce doesn't let complexities slow them down either
they to offer multi currency multi language multi
store and multi-brand solutions along with international options for shipping
and taxes through their platform allowing users to sell to customers
almost anywhere in the world b2b Magento commerce includes everything
you need to manage b2b e-commerce sites for multiple brands channel partners and
key accounts b2b customers can manage their own company accounts by setting up
various levels of buyers who require specific roles and permissions Magento
also allows users to personalize the online experience with the ability to
assign different pricing lists and custom catalogs and target content and
promotion to specific segments customers can view details on previous orders
track their quotes manage their credit view real time inventory levels place
their orders online by entering SKUs or uploading CSV files and more all of this
reducing the need for support from the user
Magento truly offers a seamless experience for their customers the one
downside though this only comes with Magento commerce and not the free
version big commerce is also amongst the best in class for b2b solutions through
built-in integrations and extensions they empower users to build sleek site
designs for large catalogs while offering customer and pricing
segmentation down to the SKU level they also allow users to enable a better b2b
e-commerce experience by utilizing automated customer and pricing
segmentation purchase orders net payment terms user roles and integrations with
major ERP and CRM systems on top of this they also offer advanced b2b shipping
rates through a native integration with shipper HQ and allow one-click pre-built
tools including immediate quote generation user permissions and
reordering bigcommerce has their customer
experience at the forefront of their game hosting security and maintenance
another advantage with big commerce is that they take care of any hosting and
software maintenance after new releases your software is automatically updated
and if any problems arise their team fixes the
issues Magento users on the other hand will need to find and manage their own
hosting after licensing the software if they are using Magento's free version
they'll also be responsible for any maintenance software upgrades and bug
fixes Magento is paid version however is hosted on Amazon's Cloud AWS since
bigcommerce hosts and maintains your platform they also ensure that your
store is PCI compliant as an ecommerce seller you must be PCI compliant to
safeguard your customers payment information as you might have guessed
Magento merchants are responsible for the own website security and need to
meet PCI compliance standards on their own all that extra power and flexibility
comes with a little added responsibility if you need help in this area you know
what to do hit us up plugins and extensions one of the most important
factors you'll want to take into consideration when choosing an ecommerce
platform or any plugins apps and integrations you're going to need
between Magento and BigCommerce both platforms have extensive app
marketplaces that gives sellers the opportunity to customize their store
you'll be able to find specific plugins or apps for shipping cart abandonment
email marketing rewards programs and much more however the commissars app
marketplace is a lot smaller than Magento's naturally because there are
newer platform with fewer developers and users at this time however the disparity
is generally not an issue as both platforms offer most of the basic
plugins your webstore might need perhaps a more important difference is that
bigcommerce and stores its apps directly to your store as soon as you download
them and they take care of any future updates and fixes automatically
meanwhile Magento follows a more manual installation process plus you'll need to
maintain and upgrade your own extensions whenever necessary but the platform also
allows you to build and install your own custom extensions should you need a
custom solution once again big Commerce results in a more limited
yet user-friendly process while with Magento you pay the price of more
responsibility for that extra flexibility pricing and a comparison
wouldn't be complete without looking at pricing so what would it cost to set up
and maintain a store on these two different platforms let's start with
Magento the great thing about Magento is that the platform is initially free if
you're just starting out since it's open source the Magento community licensing
comes at no cost however you will need to consider extra fees for hosting
security and PCI compliance as well as any extra apps or extensions for your
ecommerce store Magento also offers a paid version called Magento commerce
which is targeted more in online stores generating more than a million dollars
in sales a year this comes at a starting price of $22,000 a year in both
instances the most notable costs with Magento is going to be your web
developer or agency fees as it's pretty hard to customize your own store without
their help with big commerce on the other hand they'll have software hosting
and security covered for a monthly subscription fee starting at 2995 a
month you may spend a little extra on a few plugins and could still encounter
agency fees should you need extra customizations beyond your skill level
overall merchants usually report paying less for bigcommerce than Magento
because big commerce is an out-of-the-box solution that doesn't
require as much professional help however some are more than happy to pay
an agency to run their store Magento future the control and flexibility the
platform offers so which platform is right for you at the end of the day it
all comes down to your unique business needs budget and future plans for growth
either platform can get you where you want to go provided you know what you're
looking for if you're an established retailer with a proven customer base for
whom tailored design and customer functionality as a business asset you'll
benefit greatly from a powerful platform like Magento you do however need to be
willing to wear with and budget for an agency to help
build and maintain your website you'll also need to take into account a little
more time to set up your website and go live if on the other hand you're on a
lower budget and looking to go live as soon as possible
with minimal to no IT support then an out-of-the-box solution like the big
commerce may be the best solution for you just
keep in mind that it's affordability and user friendliness could cost you other
limitations down the line when you're ready to scale your business to the next
level that's it for today we hope you've got a basic overview of why you'd want
to work with Magento or BigCommerce of course there is still so much more to be
discussed between them if you still need some help get in touch through the
comments below or pop us an email at high at IWD agency.com our expert
developers at IWD agency know the ins and outs of all these ecommerce
platforms and we'll be more than happy to help you and your business if you
haven't yet don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more content helping you
stay on top of your ecommerce game until next time