Shopify vs. BigCommerce
Commerce is bigger with Shopify
Between strong conversion, cost efficiency, and first to market innovation, the data all points to one conclusion: Shopify is leading the commerce race.
Join the movement from big to better
Make the switch to the world's best-converting checkout and commerce tools—only available on Shopify's unified commerce platform.
Industry leader
Shopify has become the standard
From a vast partner ecosystem to far-reaching investments in global commerce, Shopify is leading the commerce race.
Investment for the future
Commerce that’s built to last
Businesses powered by Shopify trust in our long-term sustainability, massive ecosystem, and investment in the future of commerce. Shopify is the market leader, offering unparalleled support and growth for brands across the globe.
Partner ecosystem*
Our network of partners is second to none.
App ecosystem*
We help our customers do more, go bigger, and sell wider.
Employees†
We have the power to fuel commerce for years to come.
Merchants†
More merchants around the world trust Shopify.
*App and partner count as of April 24 2024. Sources are based on BigCommerce partner and app directory, and Shopify app and partner directory (including Plus Partners and non-Plus Service Partners).
†Employee and merchant count as of April 24 2024. Sources are based on BigCommerce and Shopify websites.
Economic forefront
The numbers speak for themselves
With millions of customers and steady market growth, Shopify comes out on top in market share.
73% Shopify’s global market share of the top 800 DTC brands
Shopify isn’t just a platform. It is a trusted partner on Lull's journey to take the lead in the mattress market, and a transformation that continues to drive cost savings and growth.
- Mark Nagelmann — Director of Web Operations
- Read case study
We weren’t confident in our previous ecommerce platform’s ability to support us as we scaled. While it was risky to replatform during a period of intense sales demand, the risk paid off, and today we’re optimized for incredible international growth.
- Srdjan Popovic — Chief Marketing Officer
- Read case study
Shopify’s vast app ecosystem also makes it easy to add functionality like product upsells and subscriptions, allowing 4ocean to drive incremental revenue seamlessly. Compare that with BigCommerce, where testing into new channels and functionality like that would require a lengthy (and costly) custom build.
- Alex Schulze — Cofounder and CEO
- Read case study
Superior developer ecosystem
Engineering with the experts
Extending your commerce platform’s capabilities is crucial; our leading tech and app ecosystem makes it easier for brands to achieve that. Choosing Shopify means gaining access to a network of world-class engineers dedicated to building for your business’ unique needs, renowned for both its size and experience.
8,000 apps to help you build
Shopify features almost 6 times the number of apps, providing brands with more options as they expand beyond the native functionality. Additionally, Shopify was first to market over BigCommerce when it came to new app and channel integrations such as TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube Selling, Microsoft Advertising, and more.
International selling
Don’t just go big—go global
Shopify helps large businesses effortlessly expand their reach in over 150 countries with Markets Pro. This is a native feature with Shopify, helping you sell internationally with capabilities to cover processes like shipping, collecting duties, local payment methods, and fraud protection. An equivalent functionality on BigCommerce requires third-party apps.
Higher revenue
Shopify converts better than BigCommerce
Shopify's checkout has a 12% higher conversion rate compared to BigCommerce's, on average. But it’s our customer outcomes that tell the real story—like Crossrope. They reported a conversion rate increase of 24% after switching from BigCommerce to Shopify. Lull, also formerly with BigCommerce, reported a 14% conversion lift during Black Friday Cyber Monday alone.
Shopify converts 12% better than BigCommerce
Checkout conversion
Shopify’s checkout checks out
Brands that switch to Shopify from BigCommerce have the opportunity to create a customizable, one-click checkout experience. And with the world's quickest checkout that converts 12% more than BigCommerce does, making the switch to Shopify is a no-brainer.
Revenue acceleration
Shopify accelerates your revenue growth
Shopify is built to help you grow faster than ever. Shopify natively includes advanced growth tools for revenue acceleration like Shop Pay, the Shop App, and Shopify Audiences, which are only available exclusively on Shopify’s platform.
20%
YoY growth for Grace and Lace after migrating from BigCommerce to Shopify
90%
Increase in revenue for Crossrope after switching to Shopify
When there’s Shop Pay, customers pay
Shop Pay can also boost conversion by up to 50% over guest checkout. In fact, 2 out of 3 buyers choose Shop Pay at checkout. And inconveniently—it’s not available with BigCommerce.
Cut acquisition costs in half
Shopify Audiences helps brands craft hyper-targeted ad campaigns, increase return on ad spend, and slash acquisition costs by up to 50%.
Revenue expansion
With Shopify, there’s always a new revenue stream to unlock—seamlessly
Shopify’s commerce solutions lets you do it all from a unified platform. So no matter how you choose to sell to your customer base—B2B, physical retail, social selling, and other sales channels—Shopify has you all covered.
550%
Quarter-over-quarter sales growth for Laird Superfood
$50K+
Annual B2B savings for Laird Superfood after switching to Shopify
Unify your D2C, retail, and B2B selling
Shopify POS and Shopify B2B seamlessly combine online, physical retail, and wholesale—so you can access customer records, and keep inventory up to date in real time—no matter where you’re selling from. In contrast, BigCommerce relies on apps and third-party systems for B2B and POS, potentially leading to challenges in back-end management and fragmented user experience.
Shop Pay’s installment plan alone led to a 25% reduction in processing fees. Shop Pay now makes up more than 80% of our express checkout mix.
- Mark Nagelmann — Director of Web Operations
- Read case study
You'll drive more revenue on Shopify, and be able to do it faster and with a more simplistic approach.
- Alex Schulze — Cofounder and CEO
- Read case study
Just two months after our migration to Shopify, we tripled our conversion rate, achieving a conversion lift of 14% during Black Friday and Cyber Monday of 2023 alone.
- Mark Nagelmann — Director of Web Operations
- Read case study
Better TCO
Get more value with Shopify
Shopify’s total cost of ownership (TCO) is 31% better than BigCommerce’s, on average. From robust native enterprise capabilities to the front-end and back-end simplicity of our platform, Shopify is the platform of choice for businesses looking to improve their operational efficiency.
See your TCO savings with Shopify
Use our TCO calculator to get a detailed view of your costs compared to Shopify’s.
Shopify's TCO is 31% better than BigCommerce
Compared to Shopify, BigCommerce has:
88%
Higher implementation and setup costs, on average
32%
Higher platform fees and ecommerce stack costs, on average
21%
Higher operational and support costs, on average
More out-of-the-box capabilities
Spend less to meet business requirements
Our customers have essential features readily available to them like promotions, merchandising, and analytics. This means that with Shopify, you don’t have to worry about customizations that require additional developer support. What’s more, you won’t need to pay more for third-party applications, plugins, or integrations to keep your business running.
Seamless implementation
Get the most out of your commerce instance
When it comes to implementation, having an available, skilled team is crucial to saving time and money. Shopify customers benefit from a developer-friendly back-end system and access to a large developer talent pool to meet their unique needs. This is a primary reason why setting up a new storefront is 36% faster on Shopify than on BigCommerce, and also why implementation costs are better on Shopify on average.
Convert more
Capture more revenue
Shopify's conversion rate is 12% higher than BigCommerce, on average. This is value you could be missing out on by choosing BigCommerce instead of Shopify.
We started on Shopify but got to a point where people told us we were too big for Shopify, so we moved to BigCommerce and our business absolutely plummeted. Everything we were able to do ourselves on Shopify, even simple stuff, we now had to run through developers. We had to hire a huge development team.
- Alex Schulze — Cofounder and CEO
- Read case study
While we're just scratching the surface of its conversion and revenue potential, our early success lies in a different ingredient: cost efficiency. Implementing Shopify led to a 25% reduction in software costs and 10-15% savings on internal tech expenses.
- Mark Nagelmann — Director of Web Operations
- Read case study
On Shopify the marketing team can just do what they need to do. If they want to change a banner or run a new promotion they can do that in a matter of a few clicks and get data back quickly, versus relying on multiple people and external vendors to drive the business.
- Alex Schulze — Cofounder and CEO
- Read case study
Constant innovation
Shopify's pace of innovation is unmatched
If you want to innovate, you’ll need to be on the world’s most flexible—and best-performing—commerce platform. You’ll get first access to the most innovative commerce products in the world when you build on Shopify.
1st
To market with original products, features, and integrations
200+
Product enhancements and updates
All-in-one commerce
A commerce focus with massive scale
Scale matters to growing brands, and Shopify’s agile platform covers ecommerce sales, worldwide. With Shopify's checkout handling 40,000 checkouts per minute flawlessly, your store can effortlessly manage any surge in customer traffic.
Shopify’s investment in R&D
We’re standing by our mission of making commerce better for everyone. Shopify has invested billions on research and development (R&D), while BigCommerce has spent millions. Our commitment to innovation is why large companies place their trust in Shopify.
Shopify Plus has really become a unicorn. We've found it's very easy to add on, and it integrates with every single relevant platform, which is incredible. This has provided quick wins, but actually allowed us to refocus on our development roadmap. Shopify Plus is really stretching us as a business.
- Vince Lebon — Founder, Designer, and CEO
- Read case study
I’m excited for upcoming initiatives and launches. In the past, product launches and new payment gateways would take us months to a year to roll out. With Shopify, we can launch a new product in a single day, and add new payment gateways with a click of a button.
- Mark Nagelmann — Director of Web Operations
- Read case study
Billions vs. millions
Shopify invested billions in R&D to improve our customer-focused platform, whereas BigCommerce only invested millions.
Rate of iteration
Shopify is changing the pace of innovation
Shopify Editions
Shopify ships innovative updates at a rapid pace
With hundreds of new product updates annually—from tools to reach and retain customers to new opportunities to sell your products on multiple social channels—we’re here to help you succeed. You can check out our comprehensive list of everything we’ve built in Shopify through Shopify Editions.
Get to market faster using native growth tools
Shopify is quick to innovate with native products that live on the platform like Shop Pay, the Shop app, Shopify Audiences, SPI, Collabs, and features like buy now, pay later—all designed with the goal of improving conversion rates and generating more revenue for your business.
On Shopify, products are always being improved
Improvement is the name of the game at Shopify, thanks to thousands of engineers optimizing existing features. Since 2020, Shopify has released more than 800 significant features and improvements—all of which are documented in the developer changelog.
Intuitively designed
Powerful automations and workflows at your fingertips
Shopify empowers your users with the tools to optimize your business’s back end through Shopify Flow and Shopify Launchpad. These tools are designed to automate workflows tailored to your unique needs and easily schedule sales campaigns, product releases, or sales.
Analyze it all without the red tape
Shopify’s advanced analytics lets you see your analytics in real time. This includes a built-in query tool within the admin controls that helps developers build out custom queries, which can be used by your team to fulfill data-driven tasks. Tracking is made simple with prebuilt reports from ShopifyQL Notebooks or Google Analytics, right on the Shopify dashboard.
Analyst validation
The experts have spoken—and they choose Shopify
73%
Shopify’s market share of the top 800 global DTC brands
83%
Number of rising apparel brands on Shopify, according to 2PM
GARTNER® MAGIC QUADRANT™
Shopify named as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™
In 2023, Shopify was named a Leader in Gartner® Magic Quadrant™, with the highest ability to execute of any platform. We believe this is a testament to our innovation and unique vision for commerce.
August 21, 2023
2PM
2PM reports a surge of brands using Shopify vs. BigCommerce
The news outlet 2PM recently audited the technology of more than 60 rising apparel brands from around the world. They found that 55 of those brands—or 83%—are on Shopify, while none of those brands are BigCommerce customers.
November 2023
IDC
Shopify named a Leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide B2C Digital Commerce Platforms for Mid-market Growth 2023-2024 Vendor Assessment
This is an evaluation of commerce solutions for retailers from $100 million to $500 million and beyond. The report noted that “Shopify will be particularly attractive to buyers looking for a multitenant SaaS digital commerce platform with a proven track record in DTC, a vast 3P ecosystem, low TCO, and built-in payments.”
January 31, 2024
PROMINENT VOICES
Rick Watson says the future of ecommerce is between Shopify and Commercetools
On the Your Basket Is Empty podcast, Rick Watson predicts that Shopify will be a major ecommerce player going forward.
October 4, 2023
Migration partners
The migration support you need from the largest partner ecosystem around
Looking to migrate from BigCommerce? Shopify Partners can help. We have more global partners than any competitor—many of them specialize in helping BigCommerce customers make the switch to Shopify.
10,000+
App and technology partners
100+
Shopify Plus Certified App Partners
Featured BigCommerce migration partners
Shopify vs. BigCommerce
Want bigger results? Switch to Shopify.
From higher revenue to constant innovation, customers and analysts agree that Shopify’s the leading choice.