Best B2B eCommerce platform in 2023
With the growth of digital commerce also comes the increasing number of online businesses. The number of online companies within the last three years has skyrocketed. The business-to-business (B2B) market value is projected to increase rapidly, which will allow more merchants to establish their business online. This will further result in increasing the demand for B2B eCommerce platforms. Today, there are several B2B eCommerce platforms that online merchants use for their business. It can be a daunting task for new eCommerce owners to find a reputable platform that offers everything they need. As for others, they don’t know what to look at in these platforms. In this article, we will explore the best b2b eCommerce platform in 2023. Too busy to read? Listen to this article here: What is B2B eCommerce? B2B eCommerce is an online transaction with both parties involved are businesses. For instance, buying a product from a manufacturer to stock for your online store. In this situation, both parties are not the end-user of the product. The manufacturer sells the product to another company, and once that happens, it is known as B2B. Best B2B eCommerce Platform in 2023 Shopify Plus The Shopify Plus is a powerful online shopping cart system that most online eCommerce stores use. The platform offers the same features and dashboard as Shopify. Nevertheless, it has advanced tools and B2B functionalities that allow you to perform different operations. Nowadays, Shopify Plus is gaining wide recognition because of its compatibility with most systems and the unique features it offers. Today, top brands such as Pepsi Co, Kylie Jenner, Nestle, Hawkers, and so on use Shopify Plus on their website. Pricing: starts from $2,000/month. In order to maximize your productivity with a Shopify store, be sure to give our app Shopify Automation a try! Magento Commerce Magento is another reputable eCommerce platform in the eCommerce industry. It has made waves because of its high scalability and customizability. Today, it is a sensational choice for businesses looking to up their game in the ever-competitive eCommerce industry. Currently, Magento has two editions. The Magento Open Source (this is free but with limited features) and Magento Commerce, which is the premium version. The premium edition has a lot of features and offers a better customer experience. It provides richer functionalities, customizable solutions, security, B2B data, and much more. Pricing: Magento Open Source, as stated above, is free. However, you should expect at least $12,000 for development and maintenance. Magento Commerce: from $22,000/year. Usually plus a minimum of $10,000 for development. Magento Commerce Cloud: from $40,000/year. You won’t have to pay extra for hosting, but development costs will still be there. If you’re using an open-source Magento version but switching to Adobe Commerce is overwhelming in terms of cost, efforts and time, GritGlobal’s B2B Magento platform will be one of the considerable choices for you: You can now convert your Magento store into a B2B format website without effort. BigCommerce Enterprise Hardly can you mention the top three eCommerce platforms without mentioning BigCommerce. It is well-known for excellent support, easy to set up, high functionalities, and customizable features. The platform is suitable for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers. Several big brands utilize BigCommerce Enterprise for their online business, such as Natori, Ben&Jerry’s, and Toyota. Pricing: comes with different plans. From $29.95/month and varies based on features and revenue. While considering BigCommerce, it is essentials to check out our apps: BigCommerce Automation and BigCommerce BackOrder. NuORDER Another unique eCommerce platform that connects over 2,000 brands with a platform to offer their products online. If you want a two-way marketplace with an ordering system that allows brands to connect retailers while retailers look for other brands, then you need NuORDER. It provides storeowners a seamless process that makes searching for a product straightforward. Furthermore, it comes with unique features that include customization, security, and visual assortments. Pricing: customized by quotes. Conclusion Whatever business you want to set up online, you need a good eCommerce platform that provides security, customization, and other features. Today, the growth of an online business is rapidly increasing, and you need to stay ahead of the game by providing a seamless platform for customers. We have looked at some of the best B2B eCommerce platforms in 2023 for your online business. (article updated December 2021)
Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which is better for your SME?
One of the first things you need to pursue when starting a business is to have a webshop, either Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, or others to display your products and services. However, choosing the right platform is never an easy decision, especially when you’re short of budget. In this Shopify and BigCommerce comparison review, we put the two leading eCommerce platforms head to head so that you have sufficient information to determine which is more suitable for your business. What do Shopify and BigCommerce do exactly? In short, Shopify and BigCommerce are Software as a Service (SaaS) tools. They are website builders that allow you to sell your products – both physical and digital – online. The key idea behind this is that you can build your own website without the need to write a single code. You can rather choose a pre-built template, upload your products, fill up your prices and you’re good to go. In order to maintain your presence, you have to pay an ongoing fee – either monthly or annually – to the platform provider. Even though you don’t need to involve a programmer or web designer when building a Shopify and BigCommerce store, it would be a plus point to have a good eye for design and clear images of your products. Now let us go into detail about the differences between these platforms. 1. Pricing Shopify offers a range of 5 plans, compared to 4 of BigCommerce. Shopify ranges from $9 to $299 per month while for BigCommerce, this figure is between $29.95 to $299.95 for the same period. However, the cheapest Shopify Lite doesn’t really provide an online store. The only feature is to embed a Shopify button to add a shopping cart to an existing website. Platform Price per month Shopify Lite Basic Shopify Shopify Advanced Shopify Shopify Plus $9 $29 $79 $299 varies depending on requirements BigCommerce BigCommerce Standard BigCommerce Plus BigCommerce Advanced BigCommerce Entreprise $29.95 $79.95 $299.95 varies depending on requirements Shopify Basic vs BigCommerce Standard One reason why these two plans worth a closer look is that they’re most widely used among first-time users. Both plans allow for an unlimited number of products. However, BigCommerce Standard seems to outweigh its counterpart by having some features that Shopify doesn’t have any equivalent, namely: Professional reporting functionality A built-in ratings and review system A built-in page builder Automatic currency conversion (based on geolocation) Real-time carrier shipping quotes (from third-party carriers) Especially regarding the rating and review system, Shopify does not have this function pre-embedded for any of its plans. You’ll need to use a separate app to handle this. Fortunately, they did provide a free rating app called Product Review. Apart from it, you can install a wide range of third-party apps for rating and reviewing functions, many of which have more advanced features than Shopify’s Product Review. Although BigCommerce generally provides a lot with its $29 plan, Shopify Basic still has 2 important edges over its competitor. First, Shopify doesn’t institute any sales limit, whereas, for BigCommerce, there’s a limit of $50.000 for an account using the Standard plan. Second, Shopify offers an abandoned cart saver system allowing for automatic reminders sent to customers after 1, 6, 10, or 24 hours later. Meanwhile, this is only available for the BigCommerce plan of $79.95 and up. 2. Design BigCommerce theme store Shopify theme store Free themes Regarding the free template, both platforms offer a selection of themes to choose from 9 in the case of Shopify and 12 for BigCommerce. Within these, there are different styles (variants) and elements that you can add to your template. Thus they give you more choices in design than the above number might initially suggest. However, Shopify themes differ from each other in a more significant way. Several BigCommerce templates are variances of the same family whose only difference is in the main color. So instead of 12 themes as claimed, it looks like there are approximately 5 or 6 distinctive templates. Yet the BigCommerce drag-and-drop builder with more free elements makes it easier for users to customize their website. Paid-for templates Apart from the abovementioned free templates, you can always buy premium themes from Shopify and BigCommerce. BigCommerce has a gallery of 150 paid templates whose price ranges from $150 to $300. Occasionally they discount some of its paid themes. So if you’re best of luck, you might get a stunning design at a cheap price. Even though Shopify has a fairly smaller number of paid-for templates, 64 themes compared to that of BigCommerce, their price is more reasonable, ranging from $140 to $180. Also, Shopify imposes a variety of filters allowing users to make a choice based on not only industry type but also design style. But don’t forget: if you’re still unsatisfied with the template, you can always customize it the way you like. 3. Transaction & credit card fee When it comes to the transaction fee, there’re some vivid differences on the floor. One plus point for BigCommerce is that there is no transaction fee applied for any of it plan regardless of your payment gateways. Whereas for Shopify, this number varies from 0.5 to 2% based on the size of the order. The only exception is when you make use of the Shopify payment system. However, this functionality is available in a number of countries, which means that if you’re not based in one of these, you will have to use a local gateway and pay the transaction fee for Shopify. Credit card fee is another key issue to consider. There is always a fee charged by the company providing the system to process your customer’s credit card payment. Fortunately, both Shopify and Bigcommerce offer out-of-the-box ideas for store owners to optimize their budget. The ‘Shopify Payment’ processor charges users differently based on whether you’re selling online or in person, the country you live in, the plan you are
