Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Weebly and BigCommerce At A Glance
- Pricing and Fees
- Core Features Comparison
- Ease of Use and Customer Support
- Final Verdict
- FAQs
Introduction
Selecting the right ecommerce platform for your business is a critical decision that can greatly impact your online success. With numerous options available, it's essential to evaluate each platform's features, pricing, and usability to determine which best aligns with your business needs. Two popular choices are Weebly and BigCommerce—each catering to different user bases and business requirements. In this detailed comparison, we'll dissect Weebly and BigCommerce to help you make an informed choice that suits your unique needs.
Weebly and BigCommerce At A Glance
Originating as a user-friendly website builder, Weebly is geared toward small businesses and solopreneurs looking for a cost-effective and straightforward way to set up online shops. Conversely, BigCommerce is aimed at larger enterprises seeking advanced ecommerce functionalities and tools capable of supporting extensive growth and scalability.
Pricing and Fees
Weebly Pricing
Weebly offers a variety of plans to accommodate different budgets:
- Free Plan: Includes a shopping cart and allows selling unlimited items but displays Weebly ads.
- Personal Plan: At around $10/month, this plan supports a custom domain and unlimited storage but includes transaction fees.
- Professional Plan: Costs approximately $12/month, removes ads, and provides superior customer support.
- Performance Plan: Priced around $26/month, this plan includes advanced ecommerce insights, abandoned cart emails, and zero transaction fees.
BigCommerce Pricing
BigCommerce does not offer a free plan, but users can trial the platform for 15 days without charge. Paid plans include:
- Standard Plan: $39/month. Includes all essential ecommerce tools without transaction fees but limits sales to $50k/year.
- Plus Plan: $79/month. Adds advanced marketing tools and increases sales limits.
- Pro Plan: $299.95/month. Comes with comprehensive features for high-volume businesses with sales up to $400k/year.
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing. Designed for large-scale businesses with specialized needs.
While BigCommerce's plans are more expensive, they offer considerable value, especially for larger businesses looking to scale.
Core Features Comparison
Website Building and Design
Weebly’s strong suit is its ease of use, featuring an intuitive drag-and-drop editor that requires no coding knowledge. Users can choose from numerous responsive themes suitable for various industries, and customization is generally straightforward.
BigCommerce, while offering a more robust design toolkit, has a steeper learning curve. It provides deeper customization options through HTML and CSS, making it ideal for businesses that need highly specialized functionality and appearance.
Ecommerce and Selling Features
Weebly provides solid ecommerce functionality, including product management, tax calculations, and delivery options. However, advanced features like abandoned cart emails and selling digital goods require a higher-tier plan.
BigCommerce stands out with advanced ecommerce tools such as omnichannel selling, comprehensive inventory management, and extensive payment integrations, including discounted PayPal rates. Its capabilities extend to physical, digital, and service-based products, making it a versatile platform.
Marketing Tools and Analytics
When it comes to marketing, Weebly offers decent blogging capabilities and basic SEO tools, although it lacks the depth needed for fully optimized search engine performance. It includes pop-up notifications, social media integrations, and email marketing, but these features are relatively basic.
BigCommerce excels with advanced SEO tools, promotional features like gift cards, and customizable product reviews. Its analytics and reporting are also more sophisticated, providing detailed insights into customer behavior and sales performance, crucial for data-driven decision-making.
AI Capabilities
BigCommerce is continually enhancing its AI capabilities, offering tools for AI-powered content generation, predictive analytics, and personalized recommendations. These features can significantly enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.
Weebly, on the other hand, lacks native AI functionality but can integrate with third-party AI tools via its marketplace.
Integrations and Apps
BigCommerce boasts a rich app ecosystem with over 850 integrations, covering everything from marketing automation to dropshipping. This extensive range of apps can simplify and enhance various aspects of online selling.
Weebly offers around 100 apps in its App Center, focused more on fundamental needs like marketing and site functionality. While adequate for small businesses, it can't match BigCommerce's breadth for larger enterprises.
Ease of Use and Customer Support
Weebly
Weebly is renowned for its user-friendly interface, making it a great choice for users with limited technical knowledge. Its customer support includes tutorials, guides, and 24/7 email and chat support, although more comprehensive assistance is reserved for higher-tier plans.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce’s user experience has improved with more intuitive tools and AI enhancements, but it is still more complex than Weebly. However, its customer support is robust, offering 24/7 email, chat, and phone support on all plans, alongside a rich repository of tutorials and an active online community.
Final Verdict
Choosing between Weebly and BigCommerce depends on your business needs and future growth ambitions.
- Weebly is ideal for small businesses or individuals needing a cost-effective, easy-to-use platform with essential ecommerce features.
- BigCommerce should be your go-to if you're looking for a scalable solution with advanced ecommerce capabilities, strong SEO performance, and extensive customization options.
Ultimately, your choice should align with your business goals, whether that’s simplicity and cost-efficiency or advanced functionality and scalability.
FAQs
Which platform is cheaper, Weebly or BigCommerce?
Weebly is generally cheaper with its free plan and low-cost paid options. BigCommerce, while more expensive, offers more advanced ecommerce tools and capabilities.
Can I scale my business with Weebly?
Weebly is excellent for small businesses but may fall short as your business grows. BigCommerce offers more scalability with advanced inventory and sales management features.
Does BigCommerce support omnichannel selling?
Yes, BigCommerce provides robust omnichannel selling tools, including social media and marketplace integrations, making it a powerful platform for extensive online presence.
Are there transaction fees on BigCommerce?
No, BigCommerce does not charge transaction fees, positioning it favorably for higher sales volumes compared to Weebly's lower-tier plans, which do include transaction fees.
Which platform offers better customer support?
BigCommerce offers superior customer support with 24/7 availability across email, chat, and phone on all plans. Weebly also offers strong support, but more comprehensive options are reserved for higher plans.
