In the digital age, eCommerce is the key to helping businesses quickly and effectively reach global customers. Shopify, a renowned SaaS platform supporting online business, has launched the Shopify Markets solution to assist businesses in expanding into global markets. So, what is Shopify Markets? What benefits and challenges does this solution bring to your business when implementing international eCommerce? Let’s explore in the article below.

1. What is Shopify Markets?

Shopify Markets is a new solution from the Shopify platform, designed to help you easily and efficiently expand your business into global markets. This tool allows you to manage multiple stores from a single dashboard, customizing each market with specific settings for language, currency, taxes, and payment methods. Moreover, Shopify Markets integrates with international shipping and logistics services, enabling you to optimize your operations and meet the demands of global customers.

Previously, multi-store setups have been done by using Shopify Plus, allowing merchants to establish and operate separate Shopify stores for each target market. This approach gave merchants full control over individual stores, such as running market-specific marketing campaigns, promotions, and inventory management.

However, this approach had several drawbacks. First, operating multiple standalone stores meant discrepancies in inventory levels, requiring data synchronization between stores. This process was time-consuming and prone to errors. Many merchants addressed this issue by integrating systems like PIM or ERP. Second, the workload increased due to the need to update content for each store individually. Third, many merchants complained about having to pay for the same app or integration across multiple stores, leading to inefficiencies in financial management.

Thus, the advent of Shopify Markets serves as a remedy for these three issues. Now, you can apply multi-language, multi-currency, international pricing, domain or subdirectory, and Geolocation features for the stores, all managed efficiently from a single dashboard.

2. Top features of Shopify Markets

2.1 Multi-language

When deploying international eCommerce, the importance of multi-language support cannot be overstated. According to CSA Research, 76% of online shoppers prefer to purchase products with information displayed in their native language. Meanwhile, 40% will never buy from eCommerce websites in a different language.

By using Shopify Markets and the built-ịn Translate & Adapt app, your website can be automatically translated into the languages of your target markets. Beyond mere translation, Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app can customize store content to better connect with local customers. This ensures that your eCommerce website maintains cultural, regional, and seasonal relevance—even when markets share the same language—the app can adjust for variations in vocabulary, spelling, and messaging.

2.2 Multi-currency

Global customers want to see product prices in their own currency when shopping on eCommerce websites. A PayPal report supports this, showing that 76% of survey participants prefer to pay in their local currency. Shopify Markets can automatically convert product prices into over 130 different currencies to cater to your target customers. From product pages to shopping carts, and from checkout to refunds, Shopify Markets can create a seamless multi-currency shopping experience for customers, which will boost conversion rates and sales.

2.3 Localized domain & subdirectories

Shopify Markets can help create localized domains linked to specific languages and countries. For example, “myshop.com” could be the main site operating in the US, “myshop.ca” for the Canadian market, and “myshop.co.uk” for the UK. This not only increases credibility and optimizes SEO but also enhances brand recognition in each market.

Shopify Markets allows the setup of subdirectories for each language or region under the same main domain, such as “myshop.com/en” for English, “myshop.com/fr” for French, and “myshop.com/de” for German. Using subdirectories helps easily manage local versions of the store, improve user experience, and optimize costs related to maintaining multiple domains.

2.4 Localized payment methods

Payment methods significantly influence purchasing decisions. According to a Worldpay report, 27% of users will abandon the checkout process if they cannot find their preferred payment method.

With Shopify Markets, you can offer your customers a variety of local payment options, alongside familiar choices like credit/debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Some examples of local payment method integrations include:

• China: AliPay, WeChat
• Singapore: PayNow
• Australia: Klarna, Afterpay
• Vietnam: ZaloPay, VNPay

2.5 Estimate & collect duties and tax

When selling in international markets, pricing can be affected by duties and import tax. In many cases, unexpected costs for customers can lead to a negative shopping experience.

The Shopify Markets solution can help address this issue. This tool can calculate taxes based on the shipping address and the legal regulations of each country, including value-added tax (VAT), sales tax, and other import duties. When customers proceed to checkout, the system clearly displays these taxes, helping them understand the total shopping cost and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Shopify Markets also collects and remits these taxes to the appropriate tax authorities, saving your time and effort in handling tax procedures. This feature also integrates with shipping services to ensure all tax-related costs are accurately reflected, allowing you to plan expenses more effectively. Therefore, you can comply with legal regulations, enhance the customer shopping experience, and optimize your operations.

3. Shopify Markets and the plans

Shopify Markets is included in all Shopify plans, but the features available to merchants vary by plan. Here are the core features that all Shopify merchants can use when embracing Shopify Markets:

• Support for selling in 136 currencies and 20 languages
• Customize domains and subdirectories to optimize search engine performance for each market
• Integrate with a variety of local payment options

For the higher-tier plans, Advanced and Plus, merchants can access exclusive features. This is particularly beneficial for larger enterprises looking to establish and maintain a strong, competitive presence in international markets:

• Automatic tax calculation
• Calculate and collect import tax at checkout
• Manage fulfillments in each market

4. Shopify Markets Pro

Shopify Markets Pro is the upgraded version of Shopify Markets, designed to offer more advanced features. This solution aims to support large-scale merchants in efficiently and flexibly managing complex international operations. The “Pro” version helps sell in over 150 different markets, providing powerful tools to optimize operations, manage taxes and costs, and enhance the international customer experience.

Some special features exclusive to the Pro version include:

• Exclusive discounts on international shipping, order tracking, and expedited delivery worldwide within 1-5 days.
• AllowShopify to handle compliance with legal and tax procedures.
• Recommend top payment methods for each market.
• Suggest to remove products that are prohibited for import in each market.
• Protect fraud for international orders.
• Ensure stable exchange rates to avoid financial risks associated with currency fluctuations or refund variations.

5. Benefits of using Shopify Markets

• Quickly set up and optimize international stores
• Manage all target stores from a single dashboard
• Simplify currency localization by displaying product prices in the target market’s currency
• Localize language and web content to optimize SEO
• Offer local payment options without restrictions
• Localize the website interface to create a familiar and engaging shopping experience
• Localization boosts conversion rates, sales, and customer satisfaction
• Automate tax estimation and collection to optimize budget plans

6. Limits of using Shopify Markets

• You need to use the Shopify Markets Pro version to access more advanced features.
• The Shopify website does not support translations of language variants. For example, Simplified/Traditional Chinese and Brazilian/European Portuguese.
• Currency conversion fees are quite high: 1.5% per transaction for the standard version and 2.5% per transaction for the Pro version.

Final Words

Shopify Markets is truly a robust solution for going globally and manage target stores efficiently and flexibly. However, alongside its strengths, this solution also has several notable limitations.

Depending on the scale, number of target stores, and the need to create a customized shopping experience, you can weigh the standard version against the Pro version. Nevertheless, you must carefully consider cost factors and management capabilities to ensure these solutions align with your strategies.

Need more advice? Contact SECOMM today!

eCommerce in Singapore is continuously evolving with the emergence of new technological solutions. As a result, the options for eCommerce platforms are becoming increasingly abundant and diverse. This presents both opportunities and challenges for every merchant, as selecting the right platform to build an eCommerce website is a crucial first step.

Here are the five most commonly used eCommerce platforms in the Lion City.

1. Shopify

Shopify is a popular SaaS eCommerce platform with over 4.8 million active websites. In Australia alone, over 8 thousands live stores are operating on the Shopify platform.

Recently, the premium version of Shopify, ‘Plus,’ has garnered attention from businesses across various sectors in Singapore. These merchants may have previously deployed different eCommerce platforms and later switched to Shopify Plus to seek a superior solution. Some merchants initially launched websites with standard Shopify packages and later upgraded to ‘Plus’ to optimize their operations.

Key features:

• Point-Of-Sale (POS)
• Email Marketing
• Blogging
• SEO
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Headless Commerce
• Automation (for Shopify Plus merchants)
• Composable Commerce (for Shopify Plus merchants)
• Omnichannel (for Shopify Plus merchants)

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Provides drag-and-drop builder
• High scalability and customizability, especially with the ‘Plus’ package
• Diverse range of unique themes suitable for various industries
• Extensive app store
• Supports multiple local payment gateways
• 24/7 customer support
• Rich learning resources
• Large user community

Cons:

• On-going costs increase over time
• Limited customizability and scalability in core Shopify plans
• The eCommerce system relies on Shopify

Pricing:

Shopify Pricing

2. Magento

Magento is a globally popular open-source platform, and its prevalence extends to Australia as well.  According to BuiltWith, there are currently about 661 e-commerce websites operating on the Magento platform in the Lion Island.

With its high flexibility, merchants can effortlessly tailor features and scale the system according to their unique business requirements.

Presently, Magento provides two versions: Open Source (Free) and Adobe Commerce (Paid).

Key features:

• Multi-brand solution
• Inventory management
• Headless Commerce implementation
• Loyalty program development
• Advanced search
• High-security measures
• Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
• Enhanced SEO

Pros:

• Best for large businesses with complex customization needs and high-budget investments.
• High customization and scalability capabilities.
• Rich built-in features and advanced functionalities compared to SaaS platforms.
• No limit on sales volume.
• Diverse range of extensions available.
• Large user community.

Cons:

• Requires a high level of technical expertise.
• Deployment time is relatively long.
• Initial costs are high.

Pricing:

• The cost to implement Magento Open Source is approximately $20,000 – $50,000 per project in the first year and the time to go live ranges from 3 to 6 months depending on the project’s complexity.
• The estimated cost to implement Adobe Commerce is around $100,000 – $150,000 per project in the first year, with the time to go live ranging from 6 months to 1 year depending on the project’s complexity.

3. WooCommerce

WooCommerce, a free and open-source WordPress plugin, enables brands to integrate eCommerce functionality into their existing WordPress websites. With just a few clicks, the WooCommerce plugin helps convert a standard WordPress site into a fully-featured eCommerce platform, complete with essential features and easy customization. At the time of writing, there are over 13,000 WooCommerce eCommerce websites operating effectively in Singapore.

Key features:

• Multi-marketplace selling
• Selling a diverse range of products
• Remote operation with a mobile app
• Customization and expansion
• Blogging
• SEO

Pros:

• Free and open-source
• Seamless integration with WordPress
• User-friendly interface
• Large user community
• In-depth analytics and reporting
• Support for various products and payment methods

Cons:

• Lack of support for technical and security issues
• Some integrations demand advanced technical skills
• Relies on the WordPress system
• Multilingual deployment may sometimes have limitations.
• Potential costs may accrue over time

Pricing: Free to use. However, some integrations with other plugins may incur charges.

4. Open Cart

OpenCart is a globally popular open-source eCommerce platform, powering over 900 thousand active websites worldwide. In Singapore, it has gained popularity with more than 1,600 live OpenCart sites, establishing itself as a favored open-source platform in the country, following Magento.

Founded by Daniel Kerr in 1998, OpenCart operates as open-source software, utilizing the PHP programming language. It currently offers two versions: Free (Free-to-use version) and Cloud Store (Paid version).

Key features:

• Diverse payment and delivery methods
• Multilingual capabilities
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Seamless management of products, orders, and inventory
• Headless Commerce deployment
• Blogging
• SEO

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Extensive library of themes and apps
• Flexible customizability and scalability
• No transaction fees

Cons:

• Requires strong technical skills
• Lacks advanced extension features
• Many hidden costs

Pricing:

Free for the Free version. For the Cloud Store version, the specific costs are as follows:

The ‘Cloud Store’ version pricing plan

5. PrestaShop

Another open-source platform that is equally popular in Singapore is PrestaShop, with over 270 eCommerce websites currently in operation. The strength of PrestaShop lies in its flexibility and high customization capabilities, allowing users to easily adjust functionalities and interfaces to meet their specific needs. Additionally, with a vibrant developer community and thousands of available modules and themes, PrestaShop not only provides a comprehensive eCommerce solution but also continuous support to ensure that websites run smoothly and efficiently.

Key features:

• Flexible module approach
• Advanced product management
• Advanced order and customer management
• Multi-language and multi-currency support
• SEO integration
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• High customization and scalability
• Free license
• Large user community
• Multilingual customer support services

Cons:

• Costs may arise during deployment
• Require technical skills for optimization and customization
• Performance and page load speed issues may occur with increased traffic if not well-optimized
• Official support from the provider is limited

Pricing: Free to use, but charges apply for complex requirements

Choosing The Right eCommerce Platform

These are the five popular eCommerce platforms in Singapore that many merchants choose to build their eCommerce websites. Depending on specific implementation needs, businesses can consider the most suitable platform.

Need more advice? Contact SECOMM today!

Shopify Editions Winter ’24 is the latest update with a host of new features and notable improvements. Especially, the SaaS platform has dedicated research efforts to bring about some groundbreaking updates that could be highly beneficial for large-scale eCommerce enterprises.

Let’s go through the 5 most important updates that large brands should pay attention to.

B2B On Shopify

Best for: All the ‘Plus’ plan B2B merchants 

Bobby Morrison, Shopify’s Chief Revenue Officer, confidently states that B2B is the next big opportunity for businesses of all sizes in 2024 and beyond. 

Since the launch of the B2B solution, the platform has consistently rolled out updates to enhance this solution. In this particular update, Shopify focuses on upgrading the flexible infrastructure to help businesses optimize operations and deliver a unique customer experience.

• Go headless with B2B: Build a unique eCommerce experience by using your favourite tech stack with a Headless B2B storefront.  
• Sales Rep permissions: Your sales reps can only place orders and view customer information for their own accounts.
• B2B discount: Create promotional discounts just for your B2B customers using third-party or custom apps powered by Shopify Functions.
• B2B digital products: Beyond physical products, ‘Plus’ merchants now can offer non-physical products, like digital downloads, warranties, and services

Shopify POS

Best for: All retail merchants, including merchants not on Shopify

In Editions Winter ’24, the POS solution has been fine-tuned and improved, addressing some minor issues and simplifying the experience for sellers. Among these enhancements, two new top-notch features are POS Terminal and POS Ship From Store.

The Australian eCommerce world is continually evolving alongside the constant emergence of technological solutions. As a result, there is an increasing and diverse range of choices for eCommerce platforms. 

This presents both an advantage and a challenge for businesses, as selecting the right platform for building an eCommerce website is a crucial first step.

Below are the top 5 leading eCommerce platforms in Australia.

Learn more: Top 10 most-visited eCommerce websites in Australia

Magento

Magento is a globally popular open-source platform, and its prevalence extends to Australia as well.  According to BuiltWith, there are currently more than 4000 live websites in Australia utilizing the platform.

With its high flexibility, businesses can effortlessly tailor features and scale the system according to their unique business requirements.

Presently, Magento provides businesses with two versions: Open Source (Free) and Adobe Commerce (Paid).

Pros:

• Best for large businesses with complex customization needs and high-budget investments.
• High customization and scalability capabilities.
• Rich built-in features and advanced functionalities compared to SaaS platforms.
• No limit on sales volume.
• Diverse range of extensions available.
• Large user community.

Cons:

• Requires a high level of technical expertise.
• Deployment time is relatively long.
• Initial costs are high.

Core feature:

• Multi-brand solution
• Inventory management
• Headless Commerce implementation
• Loyalty program development
• Advanced search
• High-security measures
• Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
• Advanced SEO

Pricing:

• The cost to implement Magento Open Source is approximately $20,000 – $50,000 per project in the first year and the time to go live ranges from 3 to 6 months depending on the project’s complexity.
• The estimated cost to implement Adobe Commerce is around $100,000 – $150,000 per project in the first year, with the time to go live ranging from 6 months to 1 year depending on the project’s complexity.

Learn more: Top Magento eCommerce websites in Australia

Shopify

Shopify is a popular SaaS platform with over 4.8 million active websites. In Australia alone, over 150 thousand online stores are operating on the platform.

Recently, the premium version of Shopify, ‘Plus,’ has garnered attention from businesses across various sectors in Australia.

These businesses may have previously deployed different eCommerce platforms and later switched to the Plus to seek a superior solution. Some businesses initially launched websites with core plans and later upgraded to ‘Plus’ to optimize their operations.

Learn more: Top eCommerce websites upgrade to Shopify Plus 

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Provides drag-and-drop builder
• High scalability and customizability, especially with the ‘Plus’ package
• Diverse range of unique themes suitable for various industries
• Extensive app store 
• Supports multiple local payment gateways
• 24/7 customer support
• Rich learning resources
• Large user community

Cons:

• On-going costs increase over time 
• Limited customizability and scalability in core Shopify plans
• The eCommerce system relies on Shopify

Core feature:

• Point-Of-Sale (POS)
• Email Marketing
• Blogging
• SEO
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Automation (for Plus merchants)
• Headless Commerce (for Plus merchants)
• Composable Commerce (for Plus merchants)
• Omnichannel (for Plus merchants)

Pricing

Here are Shopify pricing plans:

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is another popular SaaS platform worldwide, with over 43 thousand active websites. In Australia, there are more than 2 thousand active BigCommerce websites.

The standout feature of this SaaS platform is its integrated features, enabling businesses of all sizes and technical expertise to deploy eCommerce websites quickly. In addition to standard solution packages, BigCommerce offers an ‘Enterprise’ version tailored for large businesses with custom pricing.

Learn more: Top 10 eCommerce websites using BigCommerce 

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Best for businesses of all sizes
• Rich integrated features
• 24/7 customer support
• Diverse affordable pricing plans
• No transaction fee
• More than 65 popular payment gateways
• Variety of themes and extensions

Cons:

• Limited online sales volumes
• On-going costs increase over time
• Limited customizability
• The eCommerce system relies on BigCommerce

Core feature:

• Point-Of-Sales (POS)
• Blogging
• SEO
• In-depth analytics and reporting
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Headless Commerce (Best for ‘Enterprise’ businesses)
• Automation (Best for ‘Enterprise’ businesses)
• Omnichannel (Best for ‘Enterprise’ businesses)

Pricing

Here are BigCommerce pricing plans:

WooCommerce

WooCommerce, a free and open-source WordPress plugin, enables brands to integrate eCommerce functionality into their existing WordPress websites.

With just a few clicks, the WooCommerce plugin helps convert a standard WordPress site into a fully-featured eCommerce platform, complete with essential features and easy customization.

Learn more: 20 websites using WooCommerce

Pros:

• Free and open-source
• Seamless integration with WordPress
• User-friendly interface
• Large user community
• In-depth analytics and reporting
• Support for various products and payment methods

Cons:

• Lack of support for technical and security issues
• Some integrations demand advanced technical skills
• Relies on the WordPress system
• Multilingual deployment may sometimes have limitations.
• Potential costs may accrue over time

Core feature:

• Multi-marketplace selling
• Selling a diverse range of products
• Remote operation with a mobile app
• Customization and expansion
• Blogging
• SEO

Pricing: Free to use. However, some integrations with other plugins may incur charges.

OpenCart

OpenCart is a globally popular open-source platform, powering over 900 thousand active websites worldwide. In Australia, it has gained popularity with more than 2 thousand active OpenCart websites, establishing itself as a favored open-source platform in the country, following Magento.

Founded by Daniel Kerr in 1998, OpenCart operates as open-source software, utilizing the PHP programming language. It currently offers two versions: Free (Free-to-use version) and Cloud Store (Paid version).

Learn more: Top OpenCart websites

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Extensive library of themes and apps
• Flexible customizability and scalability
• No transaction fees

Cons:

• Requires strong technical skills
• Lacks advanced extension features
• Many hidden costs

Core feature:

• Diverse payment and delivery methods
• Multilingual capabilities
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Seamless management of products, orders, and inventory
• Headless Commerce deployment
• Blogging
• SEO

Pricing:

Free for the Free version. For the Cloud Store version, the specific costs are as follows:

On Final Words

Above are 10 eCommerce platforms preferred by businesses in Australia when establishing their online stores. Each business will make its decision based on factors like scale, business model, and specific deployment requirements. 

With over 10 years of experience collaborating with various Australian businesses such as Laybyland, RodShop, Trentham Estate, Jasnor, etc., to build eCommerce websites, SECOMM now possesses a team of highly skilled technical experts and a deep understanding of the Australian market.

For personalized advice on the best-suited platforms for your business, contact us or call the hotline (+84)28 7108 9908 today!

The jewelry world always holds mystical and captivating beauty. Capitalizing the eCommerce development, many jewelry brands have embraced the opportunity to connect with users worldwide and establish a distinctive presence through their eCommerce websites.

Shopify, renowned for its versatility, is a favored platform for crafting unique and dynamic interfaces and user experiences, captivating millions of jewelry enthusiasts across the globe.

Below is a list of the top 10 most prominent Shopify eCommerce jewelry websites, where creativity meets technological solutions to create unique art pieces that have won the hearts of jewelry enthusiasts everywhere.

Learn more: What opportunities are open to Jewelry eCommerce?

ANA LUISA (USA)

Originating from New York, USA, ANA LUISA is a prominent jewelry brand with a beauty-centric vision, offering unique and elegant jewelry pieces. ANA LUISA carefully selects premium materials such as 14k gold, 925 silver, lab-grown diamonds, and cultured pearls to craft diverse jewelry collections suitable for every style and personality. 

By leveraging Shopify, the ANA LUISA jewelry website has streamlined its development process, swiftly bringing products to market.

The website features a simple and elegant design with a white color scheme, well-suited to the accessories and jewelry industry. ANNA LUISA focuses on developing advanced features to provide the best online shopping experience for customers.

Notable features include Order Tracking by order number and zip code; Quick View of products; Pre-order with notification alerts; Product recommendations based on viewing history, and displaying the quantity of products sold in the last 24 hours.

• Website: https://www.analuisa.com/
• Traffic: 766.5K/month
• Ranking: 16,224 (USA) & 63,302 (Worldwide)

PD Paola (Spain)

PD Paola is a famous jewelry brand from Spain, drawing inspiration from the blend of modern and refined designs with classical lines. PD Paola often presents diverse jewelry collections, including necklaces, rings, earrings, and more.

The brand is committed to ensuring sustainability in the production process, making its products beautiful and environmentally friendly.

According to Grand View Research, the global jewelry eCommerce market is predicted to reach USD 117.8 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 12.2% from 2022 to 2027. According to Research and Markets, the United States is the largest jewelry eCommerce market in the world, with expected revenue of USD 45.6 billion by 2027. Other regions, including China, India, and Southeast Asia, are also experiencing rapid growth.

Several jewelry brands have successfully implemented eCommerce early on and achieved unexpected success, such as Cartier, Tiffany & Co., PNJ, ANA LUISA, Missoma, etc. The common characteristic of these brands lies in comprehensive eCommerce websites that cater to customers’ needs for purchasing jewelry and gemstones.

For more information:

• What opportunities are open to the jewelry eCommerce?
• 10 Jewelry eCommerce websites in Vietnam and worldwide

With nearly 10 years of experience in eCommerce, SECOMM has outlined the common journey of building jewelry eCommerce websites in Vietnamese businesses.

Phase 1: Building the basic jewelry eCommerce website

Determining Objectives

Firstly, businesses in the jewelry industry need to clearly define their goals and prioritize each of these goals when planning the development of an eCommerce website.

In the long-term vision, businesses may be interested in building and strengthening their brand presence in the online market, exploring the potential of online customers, and optimizing business operations from online to offline.

For short-term objectives, businesses may prioritize monitoring and analyzing customer behaviour on the website, assessing the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns to improve sales performance.

When setting objectives, the timeframe is also a crucial factor. Businesses may choose to deploy quickly to penetrate the eCommerce market or even opt for a gradual deployment to have time for testing, evaluation, and adaptation to this large and competitive market.

Choosing an eCommerce Platform

Currently, two popular types of platforms support the development of eCommerce websites: SaaS (Software as a Service) and open source.

Read more:

• What is Shopify? Pros and Cons of using Shopify in 2023
• BigCommerce 2023: Pricing, Features, Pros and Cons
• What is Magento? The superior pros and cons of Magento
• WooCommerce 2022: Its benefits and downsides to consider
• What is OpenCart? Pros and Cons of using OpenCart

Typically, new businesses entering the eCommerce market will choose SaaS platforms to save time and costs during the initial stage of building an eCommerce website. Subsequently, businesses may transition to open-source platforms for the development of more advanced eCommerce websites.

However, businesses can also choose an open-source platform right from the start to build a basic eCommerce website and later upgrade the system over time on the same platform to avoid the need for platform migration in later stages.

Design website interface

When designing the website interface, businesses need to meet basic criteria such as UI/UX standards, reflecting the brand’s characteristics, presenting products consistently, providing complete usage instructions, etc.

Currently, there are three ways to design the interface, including:

• Use ready-made themes: Optimize interface design costs but may limit the brand positioning due to the risk of theme duplication with other websites.
• Customize themes according to needs: Save costs while adding some brand identity elements such as colours, fonts, layout, etc. However, effective theme customization requires a specialized and experienced team.
• Design a custom theme: Businesses will have a website tailored to their brand. However, this approach requires more investment in design costs and time.

In this stage, businesses often choose ready-made themes to save costs, but some financially stronger businesses may opt for the other two methods to better position their brand.

Build features for the website

In this stage, businesses can prioritize the development of basic functions to meet the most fundamental needs when operating a jewelry eCommerce website. Some essential functions that should be included in a jewelry eCommerce website are:

• Category Management: Control data, product functions, categories, prices, inventory quantities, and images/videos for smooth operation and optimized business.
• Store Management: Manage inventory quantities, and control business operations, and personnel for each branch.
• Cart & Checkout: Manage the shopping cart and customer checkout information.
• Customer Management: Manage customer information to improve marketing efficiency, shopping experience, and overall customer satisfaction.
• Marketing Management: Optimize SEO and implement marketing programs using supportive tools to boost sales for the business.
• Sales Management: Establish and operate sales processes, orders, payments, and shipping.
• Content Management: Develop and optimize all content-related aspects for CMS pages, image storage, theme customization, and website design.
• System Management: Assign administrator roles for system operation, and review the best methods for security, maintenance, and overall system care.
• Analysis & Reporting: Support track, measure the performance of the eCommerce system, and plan for future strategies.

Complete Legal Procedures

After successfully completing the features, testing, and launching of the website, the business needs to fulfil legal procedures related to eCommerce operations. According to Decree 52/2013/ND-CP issued by the Government of Vietnam, individuals or organizations owning eCommerce websites for sales are required to notify or register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade through the Public Service Portal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Note: Websites that operate for an extended period or fail to register/notify the competent management authority within the specified time frame may be subject to administrative penalties as stipulated by the regulations.

Phase 2: Building an Advanced eCommerce Jewelry Website

Reevaluate Objectives

When a business is in the development phase and the market is undergoing significant changes, adjusting objectives becomes necessary. This is particularly crucial when leadership needs to review the business strategy and make decisions regarding investing in an eCommerce website, including both time and budget considerations.

In this phase, businesses often focus on setting short-term and long-term goals for the online jewelry business system. For long-term objectives, businesses may consider expanding the brand presence in the market, building a loyal customer program, and promoting the purchasing habits of jewelry and gemstone customers in the middle and upper classes. These goals lay the foundation for sustainable development and prosperity in the future.

Regarding short-term goals, businesses may concentrate on attracting additional potential customers, increasing revenue, and supporting the eCommerce marketing strategy. Tools such as Influencer Marketing may be prioritized to drive rapid growth and create immediate business opportunities.

Overall, establishing specific goals and adjusting them based on market conditions and business development is a crucial part of managing and succeeding in the eCommerce jewelry industry.

Platform Selection for Transition

When basic SaaS platforms are no longer sufficient to support the expansion of the website system, businesses will need to transition to more specialized platforms such as Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce Enterprise to develop a more advanced eCommerce jewelry website.

Read more: 

• Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise: Full Comparison 2024
• Top 5 eCommerce Platforms for Building Jewelry Websites

Of course, when switching platforms, businesses will face challenges such as conversion costs, time required for staff training on the new platform, and potential data loss during the platform migration.

Choosing development resources

To build a professional and complex eCommerce website, businesses need to choose suitable resources to implement the project. Generally, there are two main options: building an in-house team or partnering with a professional development partner. Regardless of the choice, specialized knowledge and experience in the chosen field are crucial.

When deciding to build an in-house team, businesses need to recruit and train IT and eCommerce personnel with knowledge and practical experience on the chosen platform. This may require a significant amount of time and financial resources to build a suitable workforce. However, this approach allows the business to have better control over resources and the ability to make adjustments, developing the website system according to specific requirements.

Another option is to collaborate with a professional development partner. In this case, businesses should seek a partner with extensive experience in eCommerce, a professional team, clear work processes, and the ability to handle complex projects. Collaborating with specialized units helps businesses learn and accumulate more experience while developing an eCommerce website that suits the specific characteristics of the jewelry industry.

Therefore, the choice between building an in-house resource and collaborating with a development partner depends on the goals, resources, and specific requirements of the business.

Redesigning the website interface

During the platform transition process, businesses may decide to keep the current website interface if the brand believes it still aligns with the strategy and the new platform. However, many businesses often choose to redesign the interface to ensure that the eCommerce website reflects the brand’s business strategy and the new platform accurately.

Similar to the previous stage, businesses have several options when designing the eCommerce website interface: using ready-made themes available on the market, customizing themes, and designing a unique interface.

In the jewelry industry, customizing or designing a unique interface is often prioritized to showcase the uniqueness and sophistication of the products. However, the final decision should be based on the business strategy and resources available.

Platform Conversion and Data Migration

After choosing a suitable conversion platform, the redesign of the system and platform conversion is crucial. This requires a high level of expertise from solution architects to design a system that can address the challenges the business is facing and align with the long-term development journey and business model of the enterprise.

In addition, the process of migrating data also needs to be carried out carefully to limit the risk of data loss or errors for the business. Typically, data conversion is automated as much as possible to avoid potential errors.

The platform conversion process includes the following steps:

• Current State Analysis: Detailed evaluation of the existing system, including the database, interface design, integrations, and any custom options implemented.
• Modeling: Detailed data modelling, determining source and target systems, data formats, and data structures to visualize how data will move and plan the most appropriate conversion.
• Conversion Planning: Develop a detailed plan for the conversion process, including timelines, resources, and participants.
• Integration and Data Transfer: Extract data from the old system and record it in the new system, including information about products, orders, customers, and other relevant data. Common conversion methods include data file import/export, manual conversion, and automated conversion.
• Testing and Quality Assurance: Conduct comprehensive testing to identify and fix errors to ensure that the conversion is carried out according to the plan, the system operates smoothly and securely, and that the data has been fully and accurately migrated.

Upgrade System Functions

In addition to basic functions, at this stage, businesses should focus on building more sophisticated system functions, including advanced and industry-specific features for the jewelry sector.

• Virtual Try-On: Integrate augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) tools to allow customers to visualize how jewelry items will look when worn.
• Wishlist: Enable customers to save favourite items for future reference, encouraging revisits and conversions.
• Product Recommendations: Utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to deploy product recommendation tools based on customer behaviour and preferences.
• Loyalty Program: Establish a loyalty program to reward frequent customers with discounts, exclusive offers for new collections, and other incentives.

Furthermore, businesses need to continuously innovate and update to develop user-friendly functions and keep up with market trends.

Operations & System Maintenance

Operating an eCommerce system is an ongoing process that businesses must carry out to ensure the system operates smoothly and efficiently. This process includes the following crucial tasks:

• Resource Management: This involves monitoring and managing fundamental resources such as server hardware, application software, data, and IT personnel. This ensures that the system is provided with sufficient resources to operate smoothly.
• Process Management: Ensuring that all system operation processes are carried out efficiently. This may include processes for new development, deployment, daily operations, and regular maintenance.
• Incident Management: For any system, incidents can occur. The incident management process involves identifying the cause of the incident, swiftly and effectively addressing it, and establishing preventive measures to avoid similar incidents in the future.
• Change Management: When there are changes in the system, change management ensures that the impacts of these changes are carefully assessed. Implementing changes must be done safely and effectively to avoid unintended incidents.

Additionally, continuous care, maintenance, updates, and upgrades of the website system are essential for businesses to sustain sustainable growth and adapt quickly to changes in the eCommerce market, especially in the jewelry and gemstone product sector.

Implementing Growth Strategies

After a period of operation, businesses should shift their focus to eCommerce marketing strategies or omnichannel strategies to boost the sales of jewelry products.

Implementing omnichannel involves setting up a seamless sales, marketing, and management system through various channels such as the website, social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Zalo, TikTok Shop), and eCommerce platforms (Shopee, Tiki, Lazada, Sendo) to optimize the customer experience and enhance business efficiency.

Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan based on key eCommerce marketing channels such as Content Marketing, SEO/SEM, Email Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing is essential for rapid business growth.

In conclusion, the journey of building an eCommerce website for the jewelry market in Vietnam is not an easy one. This journey requires businesses to invest a significant amount of time and budget to research the most suitable eCommerce strategy for each stage of their development.

Understanding the difficulties and challenges that businesses face when building an eCommerce jewelry website, SECOMM is ready to provide free consultations and detailed solutions for the development of an eCommerce system tailored to the specific needs of each business.

Contact SECOMM today or call directly at the hotline (028 7108 9908) for a free and detailed consultation.

eCommerce is increasingly thriving and becoming a popular sales channel, especially in the jewelry industry, with global eCommerce jewelry sales reaching $100 billion in 2022 and projected to reach $150 billion in 2025.

To harness the immense potential of this market, choosing the right eCommerce platform is a crucial part of the success of your jewelry business in this billion-dollar market

Read more: What opportunities are open to jewelry eCommerce?

Criteria for Choosing an eCommerce Platform for Jewelry

Professional Interface

A professional interface is one of the crucial criteria to consider when building an eCommerce website for jewelry. This criterion helps businesses create a positive impression on customers, increase conversion rates, and boost sales.

Here are some factors to note when designing the website interface:

• Aesthetic Appeal: The interface should be beautifully designed, visually appealing, and aligned with the jewelry industry and brand identity.
• User-Friendly: Ensure user-friendly elements, making it easy for customers to navigate and shop for products.
• High-Quality Images/Videos: Businesses should use high-quality, clear, and high-resolution images/videos to assist customers in detailed product examination.
• Compatibility: The interface should be compatible with various devices, especially mobile devices, to capitalize on the Mobile Commerce trend, making shopping more convenient for customers.

Specialized Functional System

When building a jewelry website, in addition to basic eCommerce functions, businesses need to focus on developing advanced features that address industry-specific needs:

• Virtual Try-On: Integrate augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) tools to allow customers to visualize how jewelry will look when worn.
• Wishlist: Enable customers to save favourite items for future reference, encouraging return visits and conversions.
• Product Recommendations: Utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to deploy product recommendation tools based on customer behaviour and preferences.
• Loyalty Program: Establish a loyalty program to reward frequent customers with discounts, exclusive offers for new collections, and other incentives.

High Scalability

An eCommerce jewelry website needs to have high scalability to meet the evolving needs of the business in the future. Here are some factors to consider when evaluating scalability:

• Scalability in Size: As the business grows and requires the deployment of large-scale marketing campaigns, the website system needs to handle high traffic and large datasets.
• Scalability in Functionality: As behaviours and markets change, businesses need to develop new features or integrate with third-party modules and applications to meet the evolving needs of the business.
• Scalability in Design: After a period of online business, jewelry website administrators may want to customize or redesign the website interface to align with the new brand identity as well as the market and user preferences.

High Security

Jewelry is a high-value item, so an eCommerce jewelry website needs to have high security to ensure the safety of customer information and prevent fraudulent activities and theft online.  

As eCommerce jewelry websites often require customers to provide personal information such as name, address, phone number, email, credit card details, bank account numbers, etc., for ordering and payment purposes, ensuring the security of this information is crucial. If this information is compromised, customers may fall victim to scams, lose money, or have their privacy violated.

Top 5 eCommerce Platforms for Building Jewelry Websites

Shopify

Shopify is a SaaS eCommerce platform founded in 2006. Over the years, Shopify has rapidly become a leading platform in the eCommerce industry, supporting numerous businesses worldwide in establishing and growing their online presence.

The costs associated with using the Shopify platform vary and include:

• Basic: $19/month, suitable for personal or small businesses.
• Shopify: $79/month, suitable for small businesses.
• Advanced: $299/month, suitable for large businesses.
• Starter: $5/month, with features for social media payment and messaging apps for businesses.
• Retail: $89/month, includes employee management, inventory, and loyalty program features for retail stores.
• Commerce Components: Customized quotes, offering third-party modules for integration into the business’s eCommerce website.
• Shopify Plus: Customized quotes, designed for large enterprises.
• Shopify Hydrogen & Oxygen: Customized quotes, tailored for businesses with Headless Commerce deployment needs.

Read more: Top 5 benefits when applying Headless Commerce in 2023

Evaluating the suitability of Shopify for the jewelry industry:

• Website Interface: Shopify provides a variety of visually appealing and professional website interface templates for the Basic, Shopify, and Advanced versions. Additionally, businesses can use Shopify Plus or Shopify Hydrogen to customise the website interface or design a unique look to align with their brand and business needs.
• Functionality: Shopify supports many essential features for online businesses, but specialized features for the jewelry industry may require significant time and budget investment. However, these features operate with exceptionally high performance.
• Scalability: Being a SaaS platform, Shopify’s scalability has some limitations, especially in terms of customization compared to open-source platforms.
• Security: Shopify employs advanced security technologies to safeguard customer information, including customer data encryption to prevent unauthorized access, two-factor authentication to enhance customer account security, and secure payment technologies to prevent fraud.

Several jewelry businesses currently utilizing Shopify for their eCommerce websites include Made by Mary, MISSOMA, Pura Vida Bracelets, and J&CO.

Shopaccino

Shopaccino is a SaaS platform established in 2014 in India, specializing in assisting both B2C and B2B businesses in building eCommerce websites across various industries, including the jewelry sector.

Shopaccino currently offers three main solutions:

• Starter: $200/year, suitable for newly starting eCommerce businesses.
• Basic: $400/year, suitable for small businesses.
• Professional: $600/year, suitable for medium-sized businesses.
• Advanced: $1000/year, suitable for large enterprises.

Evaluating the suitability of Shopaccino for the jewelry industry:

• Website Interface: Currently, Shopaccino provides 9 free themes for building eCommerce jewelry websites. However, businesses may find it challenging to customize these existing themes or request bespoke designs, as it may impact the entire system of this SaaS platform.
• Functionality: Although Shopaccino has features that support building jewelry eCommerce websites, customization or integration of third-party services according to specific needs may be limited.
• Scalability: Similar to Shopify and other SaaS platforms, the scalability of the Shopaccino platform is not highly rated.
• Security: Shopaccino’s operational principle is to secure the existing data on the server system, relieving businesses from concerns about security issues.

Some jewelry businesses currently using Shopaccino include Navratan, KOSH, Bibelot Jewels, Greytone, Hiranya Store, Lavie Jewelz, and Euro Gems S.R.L.

Shift4Shop 

Shift4Shop is an eCommerce platform developed by Shift4 Payments, a technology payment company. Shift4Shop provides a comprehensive eCommerce solution for businesses of all sizes and industries, including jewelry businesses.

Currently, Shift4Shop only offers services in the U.S. market with four solutions ranging from free to fee-based:

• End-to-End eCommerce: Free, available only when processing credit card payments through Shift4Shop in the U.S.
• Basic Store: $29/month, suitable for businesses with limited revenue up to $100,000/year.
• Plus Store: $79/month, suitable for businesses with limited revenue up to $250,000/year.
• Pro Store: $229/month, suitable for businesses with limited revenue up to $1,000,000/year.
• Enterprise Store: $1,999/month, suitable for businesses with revenue over $10,000,000/year.

Evaluating the suitability of Shift4Shop for the jewelry industry:

• Website Interface: Shift4Shop provides 5 free themes for the jewelry industry and supports customization of these templates, but it does not support custom-designed interfaces.
• Functionality: Shift4Shop offers all the necessary functions for basic eCommerce websites and the jewelry industry. However, customization of functions and integration of third-party services may not be straightforward.
• Scalability: Similar to other SaaS platforms, the scalability of the Shift4Shop platform is not highly rated.
• Security: Shift4Shop employs advanced security technologies to protect customer information, ensuring the safety of customer personal and payment information.

Some brands currently using Shift4Shop include Jewelry Supply, Too Cute Beads, Sasha’s Gemstone Jewelry, Alara Jewelry, Diamond Jewelry NY, and Just Mens Rings.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin developed for the WordPress platform, one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) worldwide. WooCommerce allows businesses to turn their WordPress websites into online stores or integrate eCommerce features into existing websites.3

The cost of using WooCommerce depends on the complexity of each project, averaging $1,000 for a basic eCommerce website and $10,000 for a deeply customized eCommerce website.

Evaluating the suitability of WooCommerce for the jewelry industry:

• Website Interface: WooCommerce provides numerous free and premium themes and plugins to help businesses create beautiful and professional-looking jewelry eCommerce websites. Additionally, businesses can customize or design their interfaces to align with their brand.
• Functionality: WooCommerce offers all the necessary features for online jewelry businesses. Being open-source, businesses can customize functions or integrate function-extending plugins as needed.
• Scalability: WooCommerce’s scalability in terms of design and functionality is relatively good. However, its ability to handle high traffic during peak sales seasons is not highly rated.
• Security: WooCommerce is designed with robust security features to protect customer data and payments, including integrated SSL for customer data encryption, two-factor authentication, and regular security updates.

Some businesses using WooCommerce to build jewelry websites include April Soderstrom, NEWTWIST, Waufen, Hyo Silver, Alkemistry, Oxétte, Arden Jewelers, and Binenbaum Antiques & Jewelry.

Adobe Commerce (Magento)

Adobe Commerce, formerly known as Magento Commerce, is a professional and popular eCommerce system. Adobe Commerce is part of the Adobe Experience Cloud product line and is designed to help businesses build eCommerce websites.

Currently, Adobe Commerce offers two main versions:

• Adobe Commerce (Magento Commerce): This is the premium version of Magento designed for large enterprises, with development costs ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 per project.
• Magento Open Source: Formerly known as Magento Community Edition, this is the open-source, free version of Magento, with development costs ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per project.

Read more: Magento Open Source vs Magento Commerce Real Comparison 

Evaluating the suitability of Adobe Commerce for the jewelry industry:

• Website Interface: Adobe Commerce does not support ready-made themes like other platforms, but businesses can find templates on the marketplace or from the developer community. Additionally, businesses have the freedom to customize or design their interfaces for their website.
• Functionality: Adobe Commerce possesses all the features needed for a complete eCommerce website. Furthermore, Adobe Commerce has a global technical support community with experienced experts and professional development units to meet any business functionality requirements.
• Scalability: A notable feature of the Adobe Commerce platform is its high scalability, allowing businesses to add additional features and integrate external applications as needed.
• Security: All versions of Adobe Commerce have high-security standards, including built-in SSL integration for encrypting customer and payment data, security keys to help businesses create secure URLs, two-factor authentication, protection against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and safeguarding website APIs from unauthorized access.

Some businesses using Adobe Commerce to build jewelry websites include True Facet, Hannoush, Judaica, Mikimoto, Charles and Colvard, J.R.DUNN, and EraGem.

Above are some eCommerce platforms suitable for the jewelry eCommerce industry. This list is just a few examples for businesses to consider, as there are many other eCommerce platforms that businesses can explore based on specific needs and available resources.

Understanding the challenges and difficulties that businesses may face when building a jewelry eCommerce website, SECOMM is ready to provide free consultations on detailed eCommerce system development solutions for businesses.

Contact SECOMM today or call directly at the hotline number (028 7108 9908) for free and detailed advice.

Today, with the growing demand for flexible and scalable eCommerce system development, large-sized businesses turn their attention to solutions like Headless, Microservices, and Composable Commerce. The Composable approach will allow you to integrate independent components to tailor and enhance the eCommerce experience. 

Knowing this insight, Shopify has unveiled the Commerce Components solution, offering you — as a large-sized business — the most straightforward approach to deploying Composable Commerce. 

Learn more: What is Composable Commerce?

What are Commerce Components?

Commerce Components is an innovative tech stack designed for large businesses. Rather than introducing new features, the company has transformed its infrastructure into modular components that can be combined to build and customize adaptable eCommerce websites. This means you can select components based on your deployment needs and seamlessly integrate them into your existing tech stack using flexible and unlimited API connections, ensuring a smooth customer experience across all devices.

“We’ve always approached innovation by anticipating what retailers need and then providing those solutions,” said Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify. “Commerce Components opens our infrastructure so enterprise retailers don’t have to waste time, engineering power and money building critical foundations it has already perfected, and instead frees them up to customize, differentiate and scale”

Commerce Components by Category

The solution offers six main categories including over 30 components, allowing you to build a tailored solution that aligns with your needs.

• Storefront: Build custom storefronts using any framework, API, and hosting.
• Cart & Checkout: Optimize the shopping cart and checkout process using APIs and additional utilities.
• Core Commerce: Create products with various data models through APIs.
• Data & Compliance: Provide solutions for leveraging customer insights to boost sales while managing and securing customer privacy data.
• Shipping & Logistics: Offer OMS and IMS solutions to streamline logistics processes.
• Omnichannel: Manage and sell across multiple channels, from POS and eCommerce platforms to social media and chat applications.

What is the difference between Commerce Components and Shopify Plus?

Although both ‘Plus’ and Components are enterprise eCommerce solutions, they differ in several aspects:

• Operations: ‘Plus’ is an all-in-one eCommerce platform, providing numerous advanced features and seamless integrations with third parties. On the other hand, the new tech stack is a collection of components for you to integrate into your existing technology stack, aiming to create and deliver a customized and seamless experience for customers.
• License fee: While ‘Plus’ charges a platform fee starting at $2000 per month, along with transaction and credit card fees, Components charges based on the level of usage of the components, with fees decreasing as more components are utilized.
• Features: ‘Plus’ offers many features and regularly provides updates and feature enhancements, with the latest being Shopify Edition ’23. In contrast, Components, as a new tech stack, provides unlimited API connections, increased product attribute limits, integration with new third-party technology solutions, and enhanced transaction processing capability of up to 40,000 payments per minute per store.
• Customer support: ‘Plus’ businesses can seek guidance and support during deployment through the Merchant Success Program. Components, on the other hand, provides businesses with access to Shopify Professional Services.  

Benefits of using Commerce Components

• Flexible Modular Architecture

If you don’t prefer to deploy pre-packaged eCommerce platforms. Composable architecture is the ideal choice. It allows you to select and purchase components based on your needs, integrate them into your existing systems, and customize them. 

With its modular architecture, the tech stack provides unlimited API connections, meaning there is no limit to the number of components and add-ons that you can use to build your tech stack.

Moreover, since components are entirely independent, you can add, remove, and modify components without affecting the entire system.

• Cost Optimization

Commerce Components employs a pricing model structured around the level and quantity of components used. This means you only pay for the components you require. Furthermore, as you acquire and utilize more components, you’ll benefit from increasingly significant discounts.

Additionally, the annual payment structure of Components helps you facilitate precise cost predictions.

Brands using Commerce Components

Since its inception, the platform has proudly highlighted the trust and adoption of its solution by major global businesses. Notable among these are Glossier, JB Hi-Fi, Coty, Steve Madden, Spanx, and Staples.

Leading U.S. toy brand Mattel is one of the first enterprises to successfully implement this technology solution. Sven Gerjets, Mattel’s CTO, said in a statement.

“We first worked with Shopify on a project called Mattel Creations, a platform for creators to reimagine the most iconic toys in the world. Creations empowered Mattel to move quickly, meet our customers where they are, and most importantly leverage its infrastructure to scale globally. It was hugely successful, and we’re excited to transform our brand offerings using Commerce Components.”

The trust placed by Mattel and other industry leaders forms a solid basis for expecting the ongoing success of this new solution, extending its impact not only within the U.S. market but also on a global scale.

Final Thoughts

In the past, large businesses often favored open-source platforms like Magento or Salesforce due to their customizable and flexible expansion capabilities. However, in today’s landscape, SaaS platforms, particularly Shopify, offer innovative solutions for developing Composable or Headless Commerce.

In 2021, the company launched the Hydrogen + Oxygen solution to enhance Headless Commerce development. Continuing this trend into early 2023, they once again surprise the industry with Commerce Components, designed for deploying Composable Commerce.

This move highlights its commitment to anticipating and responding to customer needs, earning the trust of large enterprises in the face of competitive rivals.

Reach out or call the SECOMM hotline at 028 7108 9908 for a more in-depth understanding of Commerce Components by Shopify and to explore the implementation of Headless Commerce or Composable Commerce.

In today’s eCommerce landscape, it isn’t just open-source platforms that can meet the complex development and customization needs of large-scale enterprises, but SaaS platforms are also steadily rising with significant improvements. Among them, two SaaS platforms designed specifically for large enterprises are Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise.

However, these two platforms have many key differences. This article aims to clarify the pros and cons of each platform and compare the differences between the two platforms to help you — as a business leader — make well-informed decisions. 

Learn more: Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which platform is right for you?

Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise: Pros and Cons

Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise: Quick Comparison

Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise: Detailed Comparison

Ease of Use

Both platforms are recognized for their user-friendliness compared to open-source platforms. Their intuitive dashboard and user-friendly navigation, along with features like drag-and-drop editing, extensive documentation, and 24/7 support, make them accessible for users of varying technical expertise.

However, Shopify, known for its inherent user-friendly design, ensures that users, whether using the Plus version or the regular ones, can easily explore and set up their eCommerce website with efficiency.

Both these two premium solution platforms — which are Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise — cater to the deployment needs of large enterprises, these platforms offer advanced features and technologies that require some learning.

For example, the ‘Plus’ users need to grasp the Liquid template language, while those opting for the ‘Enterprise’ may benefit from understanding the Google Cloud Platform for optimizing website performance.

BigCommerce, renowned for its built-in features, continues this trend with the ‘Enterprise’ version. Some features may suit specific businesses but might be unnecessary for others. While BigCommerce allows flexibility for customizing and configuring these advanced features, it can introduce complexity and intricacy into the setup process.

Pricing

Similarly to other premium solutions on SaaS platforms, the license fee will depend on the deployment requirements and the current scale of the business. BigCommerce doesn’t disclose the fee publicly, requiring businesses to directly contact the platform for tailored consultation and pricing.

On the other hand, Shopify Plus has a license fee starting at $2000 per month. Once you reach a monthly revenue threshold of $800,000, the platform fee becomes revenue-based, amounting to 0.25% of monthly revenue, capped at $40,000 per month or $480,000 per year. 

Considering transaction fees is also important. While BigCommerce doesn’t charge transaction fees, Shopify Plus charges a 0.15% transaction fee for not using Shopify Payments. 

To estimate deployment costs effectively, you should partner with development agencies and engage in detailed consultations with BigCommerce or Shopify for comprehensive guidance.

Features

• Multi-store management

For large enterprises, the multi-store management feature is crucial and a primary consideration when selecting an eCommerce platform to sell globally. To engage in sales across various markets worldwide, your eCommerce website needs to be crafted to suit the preferences of each target audience in different markets.

This involves addressing issues related to language conversion, currency units, and payment methods with flexibility. Moreover, stores should be administered efficiently in a centralized manner rather than separately.

Shopify Plus allows you to create up to 9 additional storefronts alongside the main storefront at 1000 different inventory locations and 20 additional inventory locations. All these storefronts can be centrally managed through a single dashboard. 

Plus, the Shopify Market feature will help you select the markets you want to sell in. The system will then automatically convert and manage multiple languages, currency units, shipping options, and payment methods based on the user’s IP address. Currently, Shopify Plus supports a range of local payment gateways, and you can refer to the provided list.

BigCommerce Enterprise doesn’t provide many solutions or features for global selling. Instead, it allows you to deploy multiple stores within the platform and then integrate with 3rd-party PIM solutions to manage data across these stores.

Another option is to leverage the BigCommerce Stencil framework to tailor content language for each local market. Also, the Enterprise version supports multi-currency payments through more than 250 local payment gateways.

• Headless Commerce

The demand for adopting Headless eCommerce is on the rise, especially among large enterprises seeking to deliver a seamless and optimized experience for their customers. Both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise offer effective solutions for going Headless.

BigCommerce Enterprise allows you to integrate with various frameworks (Next.js, Gatsby.js, Nuxt.js), APIs (REST, GraphQL), and your preferred or previously used tools.

When using Shopify Plus, there are three approaches. You can use the Storefront API to connect and develop with your preferred frameworks, hosting solutions, and tools. Or, you can leverage Shopify Hydrogen framework and Oxygen hosting to facilitate a headless eCommerce website flexibly.

• POS (Point of Sale)

Just like their regular pricing plans, both the ‘Enterprise’ and the ‘Plus’ include Point of Sale (POS) features for eCommerce transactions, catering to both online and offline stores, as well as Omnichannel operations.

POS can be configured on various devices like mobile devices (tablets, smartphones), and other hardware like cash registers and barcode scanners. 

BigCommerce Enterprise offers smooth integration with third-party POS systems like Square, Vend, Clover, and Heartland Retail. It’s good for those who already using POS software from these third-party providers.

For Shopify Plus, beyond the option to integrate with third-party POS systems like BigCommerce Enterprise (Clover, Square, Zend), Shopify offers its own Shopify POS solution, available in two plans:

• ‘POS Lite’ plan, providing basic integration
• ‘POS Pro’ plan,  priced at +$86/month for the first 20 locations for Shopify Plus businesses.

• Automation

Both ‘Plus’ and ‘Enterprise’ offer tools and solutions to help you automate your eCommerce website operations.

Shopify Plus offers an exclusive solution, Shopify Flow, and LaunchPad, allowing you to automate routine tasks and set up automated workflows for tasks like email marketing campaigns or new product launches. 

On the other hand, BigCommerce Enterprise takes a different automation approach which enables you to smoothly integrate with 3rd-party apps. Some of them are HubSpot, Avalara, ShipStation, etc.

• SEO 

SEO plays a crucial role in improving the search visibility of an eCommerce site and attracting potential customers. Both platforms offer features to enhance SEO efforts. 

The ‘Plus’ stands out for its user-friendly interface and an integrated app ecosystem that can enhance SEO, incorporating tools such as Google Search Console and Analytics. However, it comes with limitations in URL control and customization.

The ‘Enterprise’, on the other hand, provides more versatile SEO capabilities, including complete control over URLs and integration with applications like Google Search Console and Analytics. It makes the process more intricate compared to Shopify Plus, involving additional setup operations.

Themes & Add-ons

• Themes

Shopify Plus offers businesses approximately 12 free themes and 147 paid themes, with prices ranging from $150 to $380 per theme. On the other hand, BigCommerce Enterprise provides around 12 free themes and 185 paid themes, with prices ranging from $150 to $400 per theme.

Both platforms offer a wide range of visually appealing and mobile-friendly theme options. While the ‘Enterprise’ themes are characterized by elegant, tidy, and modern designs with highly customizable features, the ‘Plus’ themes can meet higher requirements for user experience, making navigation easier.

• Add-ons

To facilitate efficient eCommerce deployment, the two provide vast app stores and extensions, tailored for ‘Plus’ and ‘Enterprise’ businesses. While both platforms offer free versions, access to comprehensive features requires a modest monthly fee.

Shopify Plus boasts over 6,000 apps and extensions, while BigCommerce Enterprise has around 1,000. This can be explained by Shopify’s widespread popularity among businesses and developers globally, providing them with ample documentation and resources for app and extension development, including the Shopify Plus Certified App Program.

Customer Support

For businesses that are ready to deploy the ‘Plus’ or the ‘Enterprise’ solutions, the demand for technical support and efficient eCommerce website operations is significant.

Both platforms receive high praise for their customer service. They offer 24/7 support via hotline, email, and video available in multiple languages. However, if you need specialized and complex technical support, Shopify Plus may be the preferable choice.

Final Thoughts

In the competitive business landscape, selecting the right platform for launching an eCommerce website is an important decision. Both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise offer distinct advantages and cater to various business models.

Regardless of the platform chosen, you should prioritize the development and delivery of an exceptional shopping experience for your customers. eCommerce platforms serve as tools, and the ultimate key to success lies in an effective deployment strategy and great collaboration with a proficient team.

With extensive experience helping numerous businesses deploy diverse eCommerce development projects on both Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise, SECOMM boasts a team of seasoned experts capable of collaborating to create exceptional eCommerce experiences and help you enhance your brand positioning. 

Reach out or directly call the hotline at 028 7108 9908 to explore how SECOMM can contribute to optimizing the potential of Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise for enduring your business success.

Baby eCommerce is a promising market experiencing a steady annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 9.86%, projected to reach a market value of approximately USD 129.40 billion by 2027. 

To tap into this market, you’ll need to develop a professional and efficient eCommerce website. Here are 10 steps to create an eCommerce website tailored for maternity and baby products.

Identify objectives

The first step is to identify your business goals and prioritize them, forming a plan tailored to develop an effective Baby eCommerce website.

Concerning long-term goals, you may focus on objectives like establishing a strong brand presence, reaching potential customers, and enhancing the efficiency of both online and offline operations.

For short-term goals, businesses can give priority to activities like monitoring, analyzing customer behavior, assessing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and boosting revenue.

When it comes to timeline, you can decide to deploy quickly to enter the market or proceed gradually to test and adapt to this eCommerce world.

As for the budget, it depends on your business strategy and financial capacity for this Baby eCommerce development project.

Select eCommerce platform

Currently, there are two types of eCommerce platforms to help you build your first Baby website: SaaS (Software as a Service) and Open-Source platform. 

Some popular SaaS eCommerce platforms include Shopify, BigCommerce, Squarespace, and Wix.

In addition, there are premium versions of these SaaS platforms such as Shopify Plus, BigCommerce Enterprise, and Goflow.

Some open-source platforms are widely used: Adobe Commerce (Magento), WooCommerce, OpenCart, and PrestaShop.

Typically, some new businesses choose basic SaaS platforms to save time and budget in the initial phase of the Baby eCommerce website development. After a while, they may switch to a premium SaaS or an open-source platform to develop their baby websites more advanced.

In another case, some businesses opt for open-source platforms to build a basic eCommerce website and then gradually upgrade the system over time to minimize the need for platform switching in later phases.

In-house team or development agency?

Typically, most eCommerce businesses decide to initially partner with a professional development agency and gradually build their in-house team.

For establishing an in-house team, you’ll need to recruit and train IT and eCommerce professionals for expertise on the chosen platform. It’ll take you significant time and budget but allow you to have full control over your resources. You can develop and adjust your Baby eCommerce website according to your needs and wants.

When it comes to partnering with an agency, here are some criteria you need to evaluate:

• eCommerce experience
• High-performing development team
• Clear processes
• Deadline meet 

Partnering with a professional development agency gains you specialized eCommerce knowledge, enhances your technical skills, and above all, you’ll facilitate the eCommerce website exactly what you need, tailoring it to the unique features of the maternity and baby industry.

Design UI/UX

When it comes to UI/UX design, it’s important to showcase the brand image, products, user guide, etc. There are three popular ways to make your design:

• Using ready-made themes: Optimizing interface design costs may limit the brand positioning as ready-made themes can be similar to other websites.
• Customizing themes: Balancing cost savings and adding some brand identity elements such as color, font, layout, etc. However, you’ll need a specialized team to customize themes effectively.
• Designing unique themes: The design will tailored to your brand, but it’ll take your time and budget.

Develop core features

Some essential features that a Baby eCommerce website should have include

• Catalog Management: Control product data, features, categories, prices, inventory quantities, and images/videos for smooth operations and optimal business performance.
• Store Management: Handle product inventory, control the business activities, and manage personnel for each branch.
• Cart & Checkout: Manage the shopping cart and customer checkout information.
• Customer Management: Manage customer information to improve marketing effectiveness, shopping experience, and overall customer satisfaction.
• Marketing Management: Optimize SEO and implement marketing programs using supporting tools to boost sales for the business.
• Sales Management: Establish and operate sales processes, orders, payments, and shipping.
• Content Management: Develop and optimize all content-related aspects for CMS pages, image storage, theme customization, and website design.
• System Management: Administer user roles, and explore best practices in terms of security, maintenance, and system care for the website.
• Analysis & Reporting: Support track, and measure the performance of the eCommerce system and plan for future strategies.

Some advanced features for the baby eCommerce industry:

• Fast delivery: Provides quick delivery services within 2 hours in major cities.
• Personalized Gift Packaging: Gift packages can be designed based on the preferences and needs of each recipient, such as packages for newborns, packages for children, and packages for mothers.
• Buy Now Pay Later: Shop for essential products/services for children without having to pay the full amount immediately, supporting those who may not have the ability to pay a large sum at once.
• Loyalty Program: Allow customers to earn points for each purchase. These points can be used to redeem benefits such as discounts, gifts, or free services.

Fulfill Legal Procedures

After developing features and ensuring a successful testing and website launch, you’ll need to complete the legal procedures associated with eCommerce operations. 

According to Decree 52/2013/ND-CP by the Government of Vietnam, any individual or organization owning an eCommerce website for sales is required to notify or register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade through the online public service portal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. 

Note: Websites that operate beyond the specified period or fail to register/notify the authorized management agency within the designated timeframe may be subject to administrative penalties as per regulations.

QC/Testing

When QC/testing your eCommerce website, you can leverage either the Waterfall or Agile model to test the entire system.

Using these models helps you review and test your entire eCommerce system, functions, and features within a specified timeframe, ensuring optimal order processing speed and overall website stability. In case of any issues, your in-house team or development partner will help you to address them before officially going live.

Go-live

When the QC/testing process is done, your baby eCommerce website is ready to launch. To ensure a smooth go-live process, here are three steps you should prepare:

• Define the go-live objectives: The aims could be system stability, data backup and recovery capabilities, and customer shopping experience.
• Perform testing and error resolution: Conduct comprehensive system testing to identify and rectify functional errors, security issues, and performance issues.
• Create backup plans: Despite conducting testing and resolving errors, unforeseen issues may still arise during the go-live process. To address these issues, backup plans are a must.

Operate the eCommerce system

Running a baby website is an ongoing effort aimed at ensuring the steady and effective functioning of the system. This involves various activities, including:

• Resource management: Managing the system’s resources, including hardware, software, data, and personnel.
• Process management: Managing all processes within the system, including development, deployment, operation, and maintenance processes.
• Error management: Identifying the causes of errors, quickly and effectively resolving issues, and implementing preventive measures to avoid recurrence.
• Modification management: Assessing the impact of changes on the system and executing modifications safely and efficiently.

Furthermore, you should regularly maintain, update, and upgrade the website system to achieve sustainable growth, adapting quickly to shifts in the eCommerce world or the maternity and baby products market.

Boost eCommerce growth

After a period of operation, you should shift your focus toward eCommerce marketing strategies or Omnichannel to expand your online presence in the market of maternity and baby products

businesses should redirect their focus toward implementing eCommerce marketing strategies or embracing Omnichannel approaches to expand their online presence in the market of mother and baby products.

Implementing Omnichannel involves setting up a seamless sales, marketing, and management system across channels such as the website, social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Zalo, TikTok Shop), and online marketplaces (Shopee, Tiki, Lazada, Sendo) to optimize the customer experience and boost business efficiency.

Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy, centered around key eCommerce marketing channels like Content Marketing, SEO/SEM, Email Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing, becomes crucial for achieving rapid sales growth.

The Bottom Line

In general, the journey of building a baby eCommerce website for the Vietnamese market isn’t an easy task. It requires you to invest a significant amount of time and budget in researching the most fitting strategies tailored to each phase of your eCommerce development. 

Understanding the difficulties and challenges that businesses may encounter when building a baby eCommerce website, SECOMM is ready to provide free consultation on detailed eCommerce solutions.

Reach out or call the SECOMM hotline at 028 7108 9908 to get started!

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmaceutical industry has proven the potential of transitioning from offline to online pharmacy. In the United States, the number of remote health consultations surged by 2,600% in March 2020 (during the peak of COVID-19 in the U.S.) compared to the same month in 2019. According to Statista, the global pharmaceutical eCommerce sector is projected to reach 32 billion USD by the end of 2023.

Several brands have successfully embraced eCommerce early on, achieving unexpected successes. Examples include Apollo Pharmacy (India), FPT Long Châu (Vietnam), CVS Health (USA), and Droga Raia (Brazil). The common thread among these brands lies in their comprehensive eCommerce platforms, catering to the shopping needs of customers for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and medical products. 

With nearly 10 years of experience in the eCommerce sector, SECOMM has outlined the journey of building pharmaceutical eCommerce websites for the Vietnamese market.

Phase 1: Building a basic online pharmacy

Identify objectives

The first thing to do is identify and prioritize goals to plan the pharmacy eCommerce website development for each phase. 

In the long run, businesses can consider goals like branding, generating potential customers, and optimizing online and offline operations. 

For short-term goals, businesses should prioritize objectives like monitoring and analyzing customer behavior, evaluating marketing campaigns, and revenue growth. 

In the first phase, businesses can decide to deploy quickly to enter the market or proceed gradually to test and adapt to this eCommerce world.

Select eCommerce platform

There are two types of platforms to help businesses facilitate pharmacy eCommerce websites: SaaS (Software as a Service) and open source.

Some popular SaaS eCommerce platforms include

• Haravan: Founded in 2014 based on Shopify, Haravan has become popular in the Vietnamese eCommerce community for B2C businesses or those dealing with low-involvement products. It offers quick deployment with reasonable fees.
• Shopify: It is a widely used eCommerce platform allowing businesses to build, develop, and manage their online stores. Shopify offers an intuitive interface, making it easy for users with limited technical skills to operate eCommerce efficiently.
• BigCommerce: Designed to be easy to use, BigCommerce empowers businesses of all sizes and technical skills to start their journey to build a professional eCommerce website.

Some outstanding open-source eCommerce platforms include

• Adobe Commerce (Magento): Adobe Commerce is an open-source eCommerce platform designed specifically for businesses ranging from medium to large scale, with high growth and extensive customization and expansion needs. It includes two main versions: Magento Open Source (free) and Adobe Commerce (paid).
• WooCommerce: WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows brands to set up eCommerce websites by adding eCommerce functionality to an existing WordPress website.
• OpenCart: OpenCart is an open-source eCommerce platform based on the PHP programming language, developed by Daniel Kerr in 1998, with two versions: Free (Open Source) and Cloud Store (Paid).

Typically, new eCommerce businesses will choose SaaS platforms to save time and budget in the initial phase of building a basic eCommerce website or an online pharmacy. Then, businesses will re-platform to an open-source platform to develop more advanced eCommerce systems.

However, some businesses decide to build their eCommerce websites in the basic phase on an open-source platform and then upgrade the system over time to remove the re-platforming step in the later phase.

Design UI/UX

When designing the interface, businesses need to meet basic criteria such as UI/UX standards, showcasing the brand’s characteristics, maintaining consistent product presentation, providing sufficient user guidance, etc.

When it comes to UI/UX design, it’s important to showcase the brand image, products, user guide, etc. 

There are three ways to design UI/UX:

• Using ready-made themes: This way helps businesses optimize design costs but may limit brand positioning as it can lead to theme duplication with other websites
• Customizing themes: Balancing cost savings and adding some brand identity elements such as color, font, layout, etc. However, to customize themes effectively, a specialized and experienced team is required.
• Designing a custom theme: Businesses will have a website tailored to their brand. However, this approach requires more investment in design costs and time.

In this phase, businesses often choose ready-made themes to minimize costs, but some financially robust businesses may opt for the other two methods to better position their brand.

Develop core features

In the basic development phase, businesses should prioritize developing core features for an online pharmacy.

Some essential features that a pharmacy eCommerce website should have include

• Catalog Management: Control product data, features, categories, prices, inventory quantities, and images/videos for smooth operations and optimal business performance.
• Store Management: Handle product inventory, control the business activities, and manage personnel for each branch.
• Cart & Checkout: Manage the shopping cart and customer checkout information.
• Customer Management: Manage customer information to improve marketing effectiveness, shopping experience, and overall customer satisfaction.
• Marketing Management: Optimize SEO and implement marketing programs using supporting tools to boost sales for the business.
• Sales Management: Establish and operate sales processes, orders, payments, and shipping.
• Content Management: Develop and optimize all content-related aspects for CMS pages, image storage, theme customization, and website design.
• System Management: Administer user roles, and explore best practices in terms of security, maintenance, and system care for the website.
• Analysis & Reporting: Support to track, and measure the performance of the eCommerce system, and plan for future strategies

Fulfill legal procedures

After developing features and ensuring a successful testing and website launch, businesses are obligated to complete the legal procedures associated with eCommerce operations. 

According to Decree 52/2013/ND-CP by the Government of Vietnam, any individual or organization owning an e-commerce website for sales is required to notify or register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade through the online public service portal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. 

Note: Websites that operate beyond the specified period or fail to register/notify the authorized management agency within the designated timeframe may be subject to administrative penalties as per regulations.

Phase 2: Developing an advanced online pharmacy

Redefine objectives

In the process of business development and amidst significant market changes, it’s important to realign goals to suit the evolving landscape. This time for business leaders to redefine objectives regarding the overall strategy, timeline, and budget for investing in the pharmacy eCommerce website.

During this phase, businesses often focus on short-term and long-term goals related to expanding the online pharmacy

For long-term goals, businesses may consider goals such as expanding market segments, establishing a loyalty program, and cultivating shopping habits for healthcare products, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.

For long-term goals, businesses may prioritize goals related to tapping into new potential customers, revenue growth, and supporting eCommerce marketing strategies such as livestreaming, gamification, affiliate marketing, and influencer marketing.

Select a platform for switching

When SaaS platforms can’t support businesses to expand the system anymore, re-platforming to another robust platform is a top choice. Platforms like Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, and BigCommerce Enterprise can help businesses facilitate a deeply custom pharmacy eCommerce website.

When re-platforming, businesses have challenges such as switching costs, time to train personnel, and data loss throughout the platform migration process.

Select development resources

To build a high-complexity online pharmacy on a professional platform, businesses need resources to facilitate it effectively. 

Businesses can decide to build an in-house team or seek a development agency. Regardless of the choice, it requires businesses to have practical experience on the selected platform. 

For building an in-house team, businesses need to recruit and train IT and eCommerce personnel to develop on the selected platform. This option may take time and budget to establish a high-performing team but it allows the business to have better control over resources and actively adjust or develop the website system. 

In case businesses hire a development agency, here are some criteria to consider:

• Deep Experience in eCommerce: Number of years of experience; Quantity and quality of completed projects; Complexity level of the finished projects.
• Professional Team: Solution consulting specialists; eCommerce specialists; IT personnel; and Customer support.
• Straightforward Process: Analysis; Proposal of solutions; Development timeline; Testing and system maintenance.
• Handling Capabilities: Prompt support; Commitment to warranty and maintenance.

Partnering with a professional development agency will help businesses gain specialized knowledge, enhance experience, and create an online pharmacy tailored to the specific needs of the industry.

Redesign UI/UX

During the platform migration process, businesses can keep the current website design without making any changes. However, some businesses tend to redesign their websites to align with new strategies and the new platform. 

Similar to the previous phase, businesses have three options to design their pharmacy eCommerce websites: using ready-made themes, customizing themes, or designing a unique interface.

However, in phase 2, businesses often decide to customize themes or design a unique interface to express the brand image and the pharmaceutical eCommerce industry.

Switch eCommerce platform

After the right eCommerce platform for migrating, businesses should carry out the process to minimize the risk of data loss or errors. Typically, the migration process is automated as much as possible to avoid potential issues. 

The migration process includes the following steps:

• System Analysis: Evaluate the current system in detail, including the database, interface design, integrations, and implemented customizations.
• Migration Planning: Develop a detailed plan for the conversion process, including timelines, resources, and participants.
• Integration and Data Migration: Extract data from the old system and transfer it to the new system, including information about products, orders, customers, and other relevant data.
• Testing and Quality Assurance: Conduct comprehensive testing to identify and rectify errors, ensuring that the website operates smoothly and securely.

After re-platforming, the business needs to perform thorough checks to ensure that the data has been migrated completely and accurately according to the plan.

Upgrade eCommerce features

Beyond core features, businesses should focus on building a system with more complex features, including advanced and industry-specific functionalities for pharmaceutical eCommerce.

• Prescription Medication: Provide prescription medications based on the doctor’s indications and instructions.
• Consultation Services from Doctors/Pharmacists: Offer health consultation services and online medical examinations as needed.
• Detailed Product Information Display: Provide comprehensive product information, including the name of the medication, ingredients, indications, dosage, usage instructions, side effects, warnings, expiration date, and pricing.
• Usage Guidelines: Provide instructions for the use and dosage adjustment for all medical products, with a reference to the advice of doctors/pharmacists.
• Online Medical Records: Store patient medical records and test results on the system’s information portal.

In addition, businesses need to consistently update and enhance these features to meet user needs and keep pace with market trends.

Operate & maintain system

When testing the eCommerce system, businesses need to thoroughly check the entire website and its features over a specific period to ensure order processing speed and website stability. If any issues arise, businesses should immediately contact the in-house team or development partner to adjust and improve the website accordingly before officially going live. 

Once the pharmacy eCommerce website system is stable, businesses should focus on eCommerce marketing strategies or Omnichannel approaches to enhance their online pharmacy.

Additionally, regular maintenance, updates, and continuous system upgrades are essential to sustain growth and quickly adapt to changes in the eCommerce market in general and the healthcare market in particular.

The Bottom Line

In general, the journey of building a pharmacy eCommerce website in Vietnam is not an easy task. This work demands substantial investments of time and budget from businesses to research the most suitable eCommerce strategy for each stage of their development. 

Understanding the challenges that businesses may encounter when building an online pharmacy, SECOMM is ready to provide custom solutions for developing an eCommerce system.

Contact SECOMM or call the hotline at 028 7108 9908 for a free consultation.

According to The Business Research Company, the global pharmaceutical eCommerce market is projected to reach $732.3 billion by 2027. This represents a significant opportunity for pharmacies, healthcare service providers, or hospitals/clinics to implement eCommerce and reach a broader range of potential customers. To achieve this, building an online pharmacy on a professional platform is a great idea to address industry-specific challenges. 

Things to keep in mind when building an online pharmacy

When building a pharmacy eCommerce website, businesses must meet numerous criteria to ensure professionalism, safety, and legal compliance within this industry.

Intuitive user interface

The typical customer profile in the pharmaceutical eCommerce sector consists of individuals seeking to purchase medications, medical equipment, and other healthcare products for themselves, family, or friends.

Thus, the website interface needs to be visually appealing, and user-friendly, and prioritize colors such as blue or white to create a sense of safety and cleanliness. 

Other factors, such as layout, font choice, and imagery, should be carefully selected and coordinated to deliver the most professional user experience.

Bespoke features

When building an online pharmacy, beyond default eCommerce features, businesses should focus on developing the following features to address industry-specific needs:

• Prescription Medications: Provide prescription medications based on the doctor’s indications and instructions.
• Consultation Services from Doctors/Pharmacists: Offer health consultation services and online medical examinations on demand.
• Detailed Product Information Display: Furnish comprehensive information about products, including drug names, ingredients, indications, dosage, usage instructions, side effects, warnings, expiration dates, and prices.
• Usage Guidelines: Provide usage instructions and dosage adjustments for all medical products, about the advice of doctors/pharmacists.
• Online Medical Records: Store patient medical records and test results on the system’s information portal.

High security

An online pharmacy is a system that contains various crucial information including personal details, payment information, and the health status of customers. Therefore, the security system of the website needs to be built and deployed carefully to ensure the safety of customer data.

Compliance with legal regulations

Pharmaceutical eCommerce is a specialized business area subject to the regulations of the healthcare/pharmaceutical industry. eCommerce pharmaceutical businesses need to comply with these regulations to ensure that their operations are legal and safe for customers.

Below are some key legal regulations that e-commerce pharmaceutical businesses need to adhere to in Vietnam:

• Pharmaceutical Law: The Pharmaceutical Law regulates the conditions for pharmaceutical business, including requirements for pharmaceutical business licenses, facilities, equipment, personnel, and drug quality.
• Decree 54/2017/NĐ-CP: Decree 54/2017/NĐ-CP provides detailed regulations on pharmaceutical business activities.
• Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT: Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT guides the advertising of drugs, drug ingredients, medical equipment, and cosmetics.
• Circular 04/2016/TT-BYT: Circular 04/2016/TT-BYT guides state management of the pharmaceutical profession.
• Circular 34/2018/TT-BYT: Circular 34/2018/TT-BYT guides state management of drugs and drug ingredients.

In addition, pharmaceutical eCommerce businesses also need to comply with other legal regulations, such as Cybersecurity Law, Consumer Protection Law, and eCommerce Law.

Top 5 eCommerce Platforms to build an online pharmacy

Although this industry has many challenges to deploy, businesses always have eCommerce platforms to create their online pharmacies. Here are the 5 leading platforms for building online pharmacy that businesses may consider.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a cloud-based eCommerce platform operating on the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, enabling businesses to create and manage online stores.

Currently, BigCommerce offers four main solutions, including

Pros:

• Easy to use: BigCommerce is designed to be user-friendly with a drag-and-drop builder to help businesses create and manage online stores easily without the need for technical skills.
• Multi-channel support: BigCommerce allows pharmaceutical businesses to operate across multiple platforms, including eCommerce websites, social media pages, and online marketplaces.
• Security compliance: BigCommerce is committed to adhering to high-level security standards and protects customer personal information and transaction data.
• Pharmaceutical solutions: BigCommerce offers a variety of features and interfaces specifically designed for the pharmaceutical industry.

Cons:

• Ongoing costs: As a SaaS, BigCommerce requires monthly or annual fees for usage. The value of these fee packages may increase depending on the scale of the business and transaction fees per order.
• Limited customization: While BigCommerce allows customization of eCommerce websites, it limits deeper customization. This could be an issue for businesses with specific customization requirements, such as in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Limited scalability: While BigCommerce can scale, for large businesses or those planning rapid expansion in the future, it may be necessary to consider more specialized platforms to handle these needs.
• Platform dependency: Businesses will rely on BigCommerce’s ecosystem to maintain and update their online stores. This could be a concern if a business needs complete control over its system.

Some famous pharmaceutical eCommerce businesses currently utilizing BigCommerce include Victoria Health, Molton Brown, LARQ, and Zyppah.

Shopify

Shopify is a SaaS eCommerce platform established in 2006. To date, Shopify has rapidly become one of the leading platforms in the eCommerce industry, supporting thousands of businesses worldwide to initiate and grow their online ventures.

The cost to use the Shopify platform is quite diverse, including these three solutions:

In addition, Shopify provides eCommerce solutions tailored to businesses with different needs and wants, such as:

• Starter: $5/month, leveraging payment features through social networks and messaging apps for businesses.
• Retail: $89/month, includes employee management features, inventory tracking, and loyalty programs for retail stores.
• Commerce Components: Custom pricing, offering third-party modules for integration into the eCommerce website.
• Shopify Plus: Custom pricing, designed for large enterprises.
• Shopify Hydrogen: Custom pricing, for businesses to deploy Headless Commerce.

Learn more: Top 5 benefits of Headless Commerce 

Pros:

• Easy to use: Shopify is designed with an intuitive user interface, allowing non-technical users to easily create online stores.
• Diverse pricing plans: Shopify offers a wide range of choices for businesses, catering to small, medium, startup, and large enterprises with various customization needs.
• Data Security: Shopify adheres to important security standards such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) to keep customer’s personal and healthcare data safe.
• Extensive Feature Set: Shopify provides many features and extensions to meet the needs of building eCommerce websites for various industries, including the pharmaceutical sector.

Cons:

• Ongoing costs: Similar to BigCommerce, Shopify requires monthly or annual fees for service usage, and costs can escalate over time due to transaction fees, expansion of features, etc.
• Limited Customization: Shopify offers a certain level of customization for basic packages like Basic, Shopify, Advanced, Retail, and Starter. If a business requires a highly customized eCommerce website, additional fees must be paid to use other solutions or consider alternative platforms.
• SEO Limitations: While Shopify supports basic SEO optimization, there are some limitations in terms of more advanced SEO optimization and custom URL management.

Healthcare, pharmaceutical, and medical businesses using Shopify include Dr.Axe, 310 Nutrition, Hiya, and BUBS Naturals.

StoreHippo

StoreHippo is a SaaS eCommerce platform established in 2014 in India. Over the years, this platform has consistently updated its technologies to meet the website-building needs of businesses, particularly those in the pharmaceutical eCommerce sector.

Similar to other SaaS platforms, StoreHippo offers a variety of solutions to choose from:

Pros:

• Easy to use: StoreHippo is designed with a user-friendly interface, making it quick and easy for users to create online stores.
• Custom solutions for pharmaceutical eCommerce: StoreHippo provides dedicated solutions for various industries, including online pharmacies.
• Continuous Updates: To address specific functions for each industry, StoreHippo has consistently improved and updated the latest technologies in e-commerce, such as Headless Commerce, PWA, Angular JS, etc.

Cons:

• Limited customization: Although StoreHippo allows businesses to customize their eCommerce website interface, it still limits deeper customization compared to other eCommerce platforms.
• Limited image size: StoreHippo has limitations on the size of images that businesses can upload and use in their online stores.
• Community and Support Limitations: In comparison to larger e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, or BigCommerce, StoreHippo has a smaller user community and customer support, which may slow down the resolution of technical issues or support requests.

Some brands that built their online pharmacy with StoreHippo include WoundProfessional, Kunooz, and On A Healthy Note.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin developed for the WordPress platform, one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) globally. WooCommerce enables businesses to turn their WordPress websites into online stores or integrate eCommerce features into existing websites.

The license fee of WooCommerce depends on the complexity of each project, averaging around $1,000 for a basic eCommerce website and $10,000 for a more advanced eCommerce website.

Pros:

• Free to use: WooCommerce is an open-source platform, so it is entirely free to use and customize. However, associated costs such as hosting, domain, themes, functionality systems, and maintenance should be considered.
• Easy to use: WooCommerce is deeply integrated into WordPress, making the installation and management of online stores straightforward. Users familiar with WordPress will find WooCommerce’s interface user-friendly.
• Third-party integration:  WooCommerce has a large development community and supports integration with various third-party applications and services, including features tailored for pharmaceutical eCommerce
• High customization: Businesses can customize the eCommerce website interface using both free and premium themes. WooCommerce also allows businesses to design their interface to reflect their brand.

Cons:

• WordPress dependency: WooCommerce is essentially a plugin for WordPress, meaning businesses must use the WordPress platform to use WooCommerce. This dependency can lead to challenges such as inconsistent support, slow data retrieval, conflicts between updates, etc.
• Complex customization: While WooCommerce allows customization, implementing complex customizations or integrating specific features may be time-consuming and require high technical skills or support from developers.
• Limited scalability: WooCommerce often faces difficulties in handling large online stores with thousands of products and high traffic.

Brands using WooCommerce to build online pharmacy include Dr. Scholl’s, myLAB Box, Superdrug Health Clinics, and Apothecanna.

Adobe Commerce (Magento)

Adobe Commerce, formerly known as Magento Commerce, is a professional and widely used eCommerce system. Adobe Commerce is part of the Adobe Experience Cloud product line and is designed to assist businesses in building eCommerce websites.

Currently, Adobe Commerce provides businesses with two main versions:

• Adobe Commerce (Magento Commerce): This is the premium version of Magento designed for large enterprises, offering two options: on-premise and on-cloud.
• Magento Open Source: Formerly known as Magento Community Edition, this is the open-source and free version of Magento.

Pros:

• High Scalability: The Magento platform is built with high scalability, allowing businesses to add features and integrate third-party applications as needed.
• High Security: Adobe Commerce prioritizes security, ensuring that customer data and payments are protected securely.
• High customization: All versions of Adobe Commerce have flexible customization capabilities, addressing the complex requirements of various industries, particularly in the pharmaceutical eCommerce sector.
• Adobe Experience Cloud Ecosystem: If a business is using other Adobe products such as Adobe Analytics or Adobe Marketing Cloud, they can integrate them with Adobe Commerce to create a comprehensive system for customer experience.

Cons:

• High initial costs: Adobe Commerce has a higher development cost compared to other eCommerce platforms, making it preferred by medium and large businesses with complex eCommerce systems or high customization needs.
• Require high technical skills: Adobe Commerce is developed using the PHP programming language, which is relatively complex, requiring technical personnel with expertise and experience to develop projects correctly and effectively.
• Long deployment time: Deploying Adobe Commerce may take more time, especially for highly customized or complex eCommerce websites.

This list is just a few examples for businesses to reference; there are many other robust eCommerce platforms that businesses can consider based on specific needs and available resources. 

With extensive experience in implementing eCommerce for clients in various countries, SECOMM understands the challenges and difficulties businesses face during the deployment of pharmaceutical eCommerce.

Contact SECOMM now or call the hotline at 02871089908 today for a free consultation.

The eCommerce world is growing, and the significance of building and developing eCommerce websites has never been more crucial. Among the popular SaaS platforms, Shopify stands out as a name that commands attention.

Shopify is a SaaS platform and an outstanding solution that helps thousands worldwide turn their online business ideas into reality.

So, what is it? Why it is the top choice for eCommerce businesses, ranging from small-scale to large-scale operations. Let’s explore the power of Shopify in this article.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a widely used eCommerce platform that allows businesses to build, develop, and manage their online store. With its user-friendly interface, even those with limited technical expertise can effortlessly navigate it easily.

How does Shopify work?

Shopify operates as a Software as a Service (SaaS), requiring businesses to pay a monthly fee for usage and adhere to the platform’s regulations. However, the platform manages hosting and takes responsibility for technical issues, ensuring the security and efficient operation of the business’s eCommerce website.

Shopify pricing

• Pricing plans

Until now, businesses have been familiar with 5 main solutions: Starter, Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus. Recently, the platform introduced a new advanced solution called Commerce Components. This solution allows businesses to use the platform as a modular service,  paying only for the features they need. It’s worth noting that this new solution is currently exclusive to the U.S. market.

• Transaction fees

For the Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus plans, transaction fees are waived when businesses use Shopify Payments. However, in reality, this payment method isn’t available for all countries. Currently, it only supports countries in this list.

Conversely, transaction fees will apply at rates of 2%, 1%, 0.5%, and 0.15%, respectively. For the Starter plan, whether or not using it, transaction fees still apply and are relatively high at 5%.

Plus businesses using this payment method will enjoy no transaction fees. However, this exemption doesn’t apply to businesses in Austria, Belgium, and Sweden, even though these countries are included in the list.

Pros of Shopify

Ease of use

The platform is designed with an intuitive interface, allowing users with limited technical expertise to navigate it effortlessly. The platform offers a drag-and-drop editor, enabling businesses to easily add or remove products and make quick customizations.

Businesses also have the flexibility to customize layouts, colors, fonts, and font sizes, and add or remove elements and widgets from both free and premium themes. 

Moreover, it offers businesses documentation and tutorial videos, ensuring a seamless and efficient setup and utilization experience.

Affordable initial costs

The platform provides a range of cost-effective solutions suitable for startups and small to medium-sized businesses entering the eCommerce market. However, larger enterprises often prefer the Shopify Plus solution, given its reasonable costs of around $2,000, offering customization and scalability comparable to open-source platforms.

Moreover, as a SaaS platform, businesses pay a monthly fee for using it based on actual Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), eliminating the need for a substantial one-time payment common with open-source platforms.

Feature-rich

This is a versatile eCommerce platform suitable for businesses of all sizes and deployment needs. Whether for individuals, startups, or medium to large enterprises, it can provide features and tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of the business.

Some standout features that the platform brings to businesses include:

• POS: Manages online, offline, and omnichannel sales transactions.
• Marketplace Connect (formerly Codisto): Connects and sells on major eCommerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Walmart (available only in the United States).
• Shopify Payments: Superior integrated online payment gateway.
• Checkout: Incorporates Shop Pay for optimized payments and provides multiple delivery options (available in select countries).
• Markets: Centrally manage multiple local domains, languages, and currencies.
• Shopify Email: Automates Email Marketing campaigns.
• Shopify Hydrogen: A React-based framework for building Headless eCommerce websites.

A vast app store

Beyond a diverse range of solutions and outstanding features, the platform offers businesses over 6,000 applications and integrations across various categories, from marketing, analytics, and shipping to inventory management and customer care. Each application is designed to address specific challenges and goals in the development of eCommerce.

Most applications and integrations in the App Store are developed by third-party businesses or independent developers. It provides resources, documentation, and tools for developers to create and release their applications on the store. While some apps offer a free version, it often comes with limited features, and businesses need to pay a monthly fee to access the full functionality.

Mobile app

Compared to other SaaS platforms, Shopify provides businesses with up to three mobile applications for effective remote management of eCommerce operations:

• Shopify app: Manage orders, and inventory, and view updated sales reports.
• Shopify POS: Manage transactions for online, offline, and omnichannel sales.
• Shopify Inbox: Manage customer interactions and conduct direct sales within the chatbox.

Customer support

The SaaS platform offers 24/7 customer support through chat, hotline, and email to address any customer issues throughout the eCommerce website development process. The level of support is equivalent for both small and large businesses. Moreover, it provides Shopify Experts services to offer businesses in-depth technical support, including web development, web design, marketing, and sales.

Cons of Shopify

Ongoing costs

While the fees for using the plans seem reasonable, depending on the need for additional features, apps, or extensions, monthly costs may increase significantly, posing challenges for cash flow management, especially for larger businesses.

Limited customization & scalability

While this popular SaaS platform serves as a versatile eCommerce platform, its regular plans come with limitations in terms of customization and scalability. If a business requires a unique design or seeks freedom in designing the website interface, customizing themes on it can be restrictive and may require advanced programming skills. 

Moreover, customizing third-party features and apps may add extra costs and dependencies. As an eCommerce website grows and expands, performance may be affected by increased traffic, accompanied by significant cost increases due to transaction fees (if not using Shopify Payments), app fees, and platform fees.

In such cases, the regular pricing plans (Basic, Shopify, Advanced) may not meet the business’s expectations for scalability, and businesses should consider transitioning to the Plus platform for long-term goals.

Platform dependency

As a SaaS platform, Shopify has full control over the source code and data within the entire eCommerce website system. This means that all data related to the eCommerce operations will be locked into the platform’s database. 

If it declares bankruptcy or ceases operations, all business data on this platform could be lost. However, this risk is highly unlikely. In the second scenario, when a business switches to another eCommerce platform, the exported data is typically provided in the form of a CSV file.

Get started with Shopify today!

When Tobias Lütke transformed Shopify from a snowboard-selling website to an eCommerce platform for businesses, he probably couldn’t have envisioned the significant impact it would have on the global business and technology landscape. The figure of 4.5 million active eCommerce websites is sure to increase substantially in the coming years.

Having accompanied many businesses, both domestically and internationally, in deploying Shopify website, the SECOMM team has accumulated extensive experience in web development and a deep understanding of the platform.

Contact SECOMM or call the hotline at 028 7108 9908 to get started!

In recent times, SaaS platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce have gained popularity thanks to the growing demand for eCommerce. While BigCommerce currently supports over 45 thousand active online stores globally, Shopify surpasses it with around 4.5 million active websites. Although Shopify and BigCommerce share typical features of SaaS platforms, there are notable differences between the two.

This article will compare the distinctions between Shopify and BigCommerce, providing valuable insights to help you, as a business make informed decisions quickly.

Learn more: Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise

Shopify vs BigCommerce: Pros and Cons 

Shopify vs BigCommerce: So sánh nhanh

Shopify vs BigCommerce: Detailed Comparison

Ease of Use

New businesses often find Shopify more user-friendly than BigCommerce when it comes to setup and usage. Adding or removing products, customization, and editing layouts on Shopify are all straightforward tasks.

This doesn’t mean that the user experience of BigCommerce is less intuitive than the other. Both platforms are similar, providing drag-and-drop store editors, detailed documentation, and quick support. However, BigCommerce offers many built-in features that are expandable and customizable.

Users, though, may find themselves completing several different steps for each setup task, which can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

Staff Accounts

Shopify sets account staff limits for each pricing plan. Specifically, the Basic package allows 2 staff accounts, Shopify allows 5 staff accounts, and Advanced allows 15 staff accounts.

In this regard, BigCommerce has a significant advantage by providing unlimited account access for all solution packages. This flexibility can benefit businesses with many employees needing access to the eCommerce website system.

Pricing

• Pricing plans

By using BigCommerce pricing plans, you can enjoy a 15-day free trial. The other offers a 3-day free trial for its 3 pricing plans, followed by a payment of only $1 per month for the initial 3 months. This gives you more time to experience the platform at a highly affordable cost.

• Transaction fee

The transaction fee is a drawback of Shopify. If you opt for third-party payment gateways, you’ll incur a transaction fee of 2%, 1%, and 0.5% for the Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans, respectively. On the other hand, this fee is waived if you use Shopify Payments. However, Shopify Payments is limited to certain countries, some businesses may not have access. This, in turn, makes BigCommerce more appealing as it doesn’t impose transaction fees on any pricing plan.

Annual Sales Limits

BigCommerce sets annual sales limits to $50k for the ‘Standard’ plan, $180k for ‘Plus,’ and $400k for ‘Pro’, while the ‘Enterprise’ plan can be negotiated. To exceed these limits, you must upgrade to a higher pricing plan. 

However, your business may not need the features offered in higher-tier plans and may be hesitant to pay additional fees for an upgrade. Therefore, the sales volume limit on the BigCommerce platform is a crucial factor that requires thoughtful consideration. In contrast, Shopify doesn’t impose any annual sales limits on any of its pricing plans.

Features

• Point of Sale (POS)

The POS feature isn’t limited to eCommerce transactions but also extends to traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Both BigCommerce and Shopify allow you to implement POS on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) and other hardware (cash registers, barcode scanners).

To use POS with BigCommerce, you need to integrate with software like Clover, Vend, Square, PayPal Zettle, and others. Hence, if you are currently using a third-party POS system may appreciate the flexibility offered by BigCommerce.

Conversely, Shopify offers built-in POS features, starting with the ‘POS Lite’ plan within its pricing plans. However, to access more advanced POS features, you can opt for the ‘POS Pro’ plan at $89 per month per location, added to the chosen pricing plan. If you choose the annual payment option, the ‘POS Pro’ plan is only $79 per month per location.

Shopify POS solution caters to diverse needs, including single-store transactions, multi-store transactions, event transactions, online and offline sales, as well as omnichannel operations.

• Email Marketing

In eCommerce, email marketing is crucial when it comes to customer attraction and substantial sales growth. Hence, it’s a feature you should prioritize when selecting an eCommerce platform.

Beyond the Shopify POS solution, Shopify offers you the built-in Shopify Email feature, designed for Email Marketing campaigns and automating email processes (Welcome Email, Winback Email, Upsell Email).

Meanwhile, for Email Marketing on BigCommerce, you need to integrate with third-party service providers like Klaviyo, MailChimp, Omnisend, and others.

• Blogging

When you utilize blogging effectively, it can be one of the best sources to attract organic traffic. Both BigCommerce and Shopify come with built-in blogging features at a basic level, offering attractive templates that help you create SEO-optimized blog content to draw in potential customers. Moreover, you can seamlessly integrate with WordPress or other CMS platforms for more advanced blogging features

• Multilingual, multicurrency

Cross-border selling is currently a common goal for many eCommerce businesses. Fortunately, both Shopify and BigCommerce provide features and tools to help businesses expand into the global market

Shopify Markets, introduced in 2021, is a feature that allows you to select the specific markets you want to sell in. It’s an all-in-one feature that helps you centrally manage multiple local domains, languages, currencies, and payment gateways.

Plus, Shopify Markets utilizes the IP address of visitors outside the default ‘market’ that you previously defined to prompt them to select a location and the appropriate currency.

On the other hand, with BigCommerce, you can choose the currency for transactions on your eCommerce website instead of opting for a ‘market’ like Shopify. Additionally, the currency is automatically converted based on the customer’s IP address.

While language conversion capabilities are built into Shopify when the Shopify Markets feature is enabled, for BigCommerce websites, you’ll need to integrate with a third-party service to achieve the same, such as Weglot, which offers free conversion for 1 language and 2000 words. In contrast, Shopify provides free conversion for 20 languages across all pricing plans.

• Mobile app

While BigCommerce has only one app to help you manage sales, interact with customers, and access basic reports, Shopify you up to 3 apps to improve efficiency in eCommerce operations.

• Shopify: The main app for order and product management, along with viewing updated reports.
• Shopify POS: Manages online, offline, and omnichannel sales transactions.
• Shopify Inbox: Facilitates customer interaction, product sharing, and direct sales within the chat interface.

Themes & Apps

• Themes

Both BigCommerce and Shopify offer you a variety of free and paid themes. For BigCommerce, the platform provides 12 free themes, but in reality, there are around 5-6 distinct free themes as the layouts are quite similar. As for paid themes, BigCommerce has approximately 185 themes ranging from $150 to $400 per theme.

On Shopify, the platform offers 12 free themes and 141 paid themes with prices ranging from $170 to $380 per theme. Both Shopify and BigCommerce provide users with drag-and-drop theme editors to modify layouts, colors, fonts, and text sizes and add/remove elements and widgets. 

However, Shopify’s themes, both free and paid, are widely favored for their modern and contemporary styles. Additionally, Shopify offers a diverse selection of fonts for you to choose from. In contrast, BigCommerce has around 8 font options.

• Apps

Alongside their built-in features, Shopify and BigCommerce both offer extensive app stores to help you optimize your eCommerce activities. Both app stores offer free versions of apps, but certain features may be limited. To access the full functionality, you’ll need to subscribe to the paid versions, which often involve monthly fees. The number of apps available on Shopify and BigCommerce differs significantly, with Shopify boasting over 6000 apps, while BigCommerce has over 1000.

Customer Support

In the process of deploying an eCommerce website, both BigCommerce and Shopify offer 24/7 support through hotlines, chat, and email. Plus, if you seek advice and support in addressing specialized issues related to technology, design, and marketing, BigCommerce provides Partner Directory services, while Shopify offers Shopify Experts.

Final Thoughts

Above are the comparisons between Shopify and BigCommerce. However, it’s challenging to determine which platform is the best in 2023 for developing an eCommerce website. The choice will depend on your specific needs and wants.

With years of experience advising and collaborating with numerous businesses both domestically and internationally on implementing eCommerce websites on both Shopify and BigCommerce, SECOMM has gathered valuable insights to help your business streamline your eCommerce development process, optimize your website performance, and swiftly generate conversions. 

Contact SECOMM today or call directly at the hotline 028 7108 9908 for free and detailed consultations.