Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Weebly vs BigCommerce: Scope and Overview
- Pricing
- Core Features
- E-commerce and Selling Features
- Marketing Tools and Analytics
- AI Capabilities
- Integrations and Apps
- Ease of Use and Customer Support
- Conclusion
- FAQ
Introduction
When choosing an e-commerce platform, the decision can be daunting. Various solutions offer diverse features and cater to different types of businesses. Weebly and BigCommerce are two such platforms; both are highly regarded in the industry but serve quite different purposes. This blog post delves deeply into comparing Weebly and BigCommerce in terms of pricing, features, user experiences, and more, to help you decide which platform is best suited for your online business.
Weebly vs BigCommerce: Scope and Overview
Weebly and BigCommerce, while both offering e-commerce capabilities, are designed for fundamentally different business types and sizes. Weebly suits smaller enterprises and beginners who need an easy-to-use, affordable platform. In contrast, BigCommerce is engineered for larger businesses that need advanced features and scalability.
The following sections will break down different aspects of these platforms, helping you make an informed decision.
Pricing
Weebly
Weebly is known for its affordability. It offers a "free forever" plan that includes basic e-commerce features. The paid plans range from $10 to $26 per month. The entry-level Personal plan includes support for custom domains and unlimited storage, while the Performance plan includes abandoned cart emails and advanced e-commerce insights.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce, on the other hand, does not offer a free plan but provides a 15-day trial. Paid plans start at $39 per month and can go up to $399 per month for the Pro plan. There's also an enterprise plan with custom pricing, catering to big businesses with specialized needs. One standout point is that BigCommerce does not charge transaction fees, although its pricing can be high.
Key Takeaway: Weebly is more budget-friendly and offers basic e-commerce tools, whereas BigCommerce is more costly but provides a more comprehensive feature set.
Core Features
Website Building and Design
Weebly
Weebly offers a range of user-friendly, drag-and-drop design tools. This makes it incredibly easy for beginners to create attractive websites without any coding knowledge. It provides hundreds of templates suited for various industries, though not all are tailored for e-commerce.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce offers more advanced web design capabilities. While it also provides numerous templates, many are specifically designed for e-commerce. Its platform allows for more granular changes, including custom CSS and HTML adjustments, global widgets, and specialized product category sections.
Key Takeaway: Weebly is easier to use for beginners, while BigCommerce is better for those who need more detailed customization and advanced design options.
E-commerce and Selling Features
Weebly
For most small businesses, Weebly’s e-commerce capabilities are sufficient. It supports unlimited products, basic inventory management, automatic tax calculations, and various delivery options. However, higher-tier plans are necessary for advanced features like abandoned cart emails and selling both physical and digital goods.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce excels in e-commerce features. It includes advanced inventory management, omnichannel selling tools, and real-time shipping quotes. It also supports detailed product variants, custom fields, and comprehensive payment options, including PayPal.
Key Takeaway: BigCommerce offers more robust e-commerce tools, making it a better choice for businesses looking to scale or needing extensive selling features.
Marketing Tools and Analytics
Weebly
Weebly offers decent blogging tools for content marketing. Extra features include pop-up notifications, customizable Instagram feeds, and lead capture forms. Its SEO capabilities, however, are somewhat limited.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce shines in marketing and analytics. It provides customizable dashboards, in-depth reporting on inventory and sales, and detailed customer insights. The platform also enables advanced SEO customization and diverse marketing integrations.
Key Takeaway: While Weebly offers basic marketing options and decent blogging capabilities, BigCommerce provides more powerful analytics and marketing tools, making it more suitable for businesses with ambitious growth plans.
AI Capabilities
Weebly
Weebly currently lacks native AI capabilities. However, it does allow integrations with third-party AI-powered tools through its marketplace.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is leading the way with its AI toolkit, "BigAI," which includes AI content generation, predictive analytics, and personalized product recommendations. These features enhance the shopping experience and operational efficiency.
Key Takeaway: BigCommerce excels in integrating AI capabilities, providing advanced tools that significantly enhance user experience and business operations.
Integrations and Apps
Weebly
Weebly offers around 100 applications in its App Center. These apps support various functions, such as marketing, social media, and basic analytics.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce features a robust app marketplace with over 850 applications. The apps cover a wide range of functionalities, from point-of-sale to fulfillment and marketing. The platform also supports open APIs for creating custom workflows.
Key Takeaway: BigCommerce provides more extensive integration options, thus offering higher flexibility and functionality.
Ease of Use and Customer Support
Weebly
Weebly is renowned for its user-friendliness. Its intuitive drag-and-drop editor makes it simple to build and manage a website. However, its customer support is limited mainly to forum, chat, and email for the most basic plans.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce has a steeper learning curve due to its advanced features. However, its customer support is excellent, offering 24/7 chat, email, and phone support on all plans. It also has detailed educational resources and a supportive community.
Key Takeaway: Weebly is more user-friendly for beginners, while BigCommerce offers better customer support and educational resources.
Conclusion
Both Weebly and BigCommerce have their strengths and weaknesses. If you're a small business looking for an affordable, simple-to-use platform, Weebly is likely the better fit. It offers fundamental e-commerce tools and an easy-to-navigate design interface.
On the other hand, if you're running a larger business or have ambitions to scale, BigCommerce provides a more comprehensive set of tools. Its advanced features, robust integrations, and superior customer support make it a strong choice for businesses ready to leverage sophisticated e-commerce capabilities.
FAQ
What are the main differences between Weebly and BigCommerce?
Weebly is more affordable and user-friendly, making it ideal for small businesses. BigCommerce offers more advanced features and better scalability, catering to larger enterprises.
Can I use Weebly for a large-scale online store?
While you can start with Weebly, you might eventually need to migrate to a more advanced platform like BigCommerce as your business grows.
Do these platforms offer customer support?
Yes, both platforms offer 24/7 customer support. BigCommerce provides more comprehensive support options, including phone support on all plans, while Weebly offers chat and email support for most plans.
