Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus stands out for its simplicity, diverse add-on ecosystem, and continuous innovation, making it a perfect match for small to mid-sized B2B e-commerce businesses in need of user-friendly and low-maintenance solutions.

Pros :

1. Effortless Interface: Shopify Plus offers a streamlined, intuitive interface that makes operations smooth and offers easy customisation for users. As a hosted platform, Shopify Plus makes getting started on the platform as a new B2B e-commerce business a breeze.
2. Innovative Growth: The platform is constantly innovating, regularly introducing enhanced features to meet the changing needs of businesses, helping them stay ahead in the game.
3. Low Maintenance: Being a hosted platform, Shopify Plus manages all upgrades and security patches at their end, making the platform hassle-free and convenient.
4. Enhanced B2B Features: Shopify Plus has recently introduced many advanced B2B features like:

• Quantity Purchasing Rules: Enable B2B e-commerce businesses to set conditional rules like minimum purchase quantities and offering discounts on bulk purchases.
• Quick Reordering: Facilitates seamless bulk orders, optimising the purchasing process.
• Company-Specific Customisations: Allows for the creation of different company profiles and customer-specific product publishing.
• Multiple Store Fronts: Facilitates global reach with localised storefronts and international currency transactions.

Cons:

1. Limits Customisation: Due to its non-self-hosted nature, Shopify Plus limits the ability to create tailored user experiences after a point, which can be a downside for those seeking extensive customisation.
2. Transaction Fees: Shopify Plus applies additional costs per transaction, charging a small percentage of your revenue but impacting the overall ownership cost.
Pricing Structure: The table provided below gives a price break down for developing a Shopify Plus store

Knowing your B2B e-commerce business requirements is crucial before starting to build your B2B store, as it helps add the right features and functionalities to the store.

Who’s it for?

If you’re starting small or medium and want a no-fuss solution, Shopify Plus is your choice! By understanding the advantages and limitations of this platform, you can make an informed decision on whether it aligns with your needs, operational dynamics, and growth aspirations.

Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce is particularly favourable for large businesses that value extensive customisation and seek advanced functionalities to reflect the complexity of their operations. It stands as one of the oldest CMS platforms, renowned for its comprehensive feature list and open-source nature, providing maximum customisation and a slew of B2B e-commerce business features.

Pros :

1. Advanced Customisation: Adobe Commerce allows for the creation of unique user experiences with its extensive list of features, enabling B2B e-commerce businesses to tailor their websites to meet their specific needs.
2. Scalability: It scales operations adeptly to keep pace with business growth, ensuring it can meet the evolving demands of expanding enterprises.
3. In-Built Adobe Experience Cloud Tools: The integration of Adobe Experience tools provides a seamless experience and augments the platform's capabilities.
4. B2B Centric Features: Adobe Commerce is equipped with features specifically designed to address the unique needs of B2B e-commerce businesses, such as:

• Company Profiles & Custom Catalogues: Allows the creation of diverse company profiles and custom catalogues tailored to individual companies.
• Quick Order Tables: Streamlines bulk ordering process.
• Bulk Ordering via CSV: Facilitates convenient and efficient bulk orders.
• Sales Rep Enabled: Supports sales representative management and operations.
• Complex Catalogue Handling: Manages intricate product catalogue functionalities efficiently.

Cons:

1. Higher Initial Building Costs: The richness in features and complexity of the Adobe Commerce setup results in higher initial costs.
2. Longer Set Up Time: Given the intricate nature and extensive customisation options Adobe Commerce offers, it generally necessitates engaging experienced developers and undergoing an extended development cycle. To fully optimise the B2B e-commerce website, thorough testing of complex functionalities and configurations is crucial, both before and after launch.

Pricing Structure:

Here’s a snapshot of the broad pricing structure offered by Adobe Commerce for B2B businesses:

The final pricing will be contingent on the specific needs of your business. Therefore, we highly recommend leveraging FutureSoft’s expertise to facilitate a customized quote from Adobe that aligns with your requirements.

Who’s it for?

If your business has outgrown the basics and you need to upgrade to a robust platform that can support enhanced complexity and layered functionality, Adobe Commerce is your best match!

BigCommerce

BigCommerce emerges as a balanced contender for businesses of diverse sizes, offering a harmonious blend of extensive features and SEO benefits. Its versatility makes it a sought-after choice for small to large B2B e-commerce companies that require well-rounded solutions.

Pros:

1. Feature-Rich: BigCommerce, a hosted solution, allows for more customisations compared to Shopify Plus, presenting a spectrum of out-of-the-box functionalities tailored to cater to diverse B2B requirements.
2. No Transaction Fees: This platform is a boon for growing businesses, eliminating additional costs per transaction, and providing a cost-effective solution.
3. SEO Friendly: Its robust SEO features enhance online visibility, increasing organic traffic and facilitating online growth.
4. Low Maintenance: As a hosted solution, BigCommerce requires minimal maintenance, allowing B2B e-commerce businesses to focus more on their core operations.
5. Growing B2B Feature Set: BigCommerce is currently enhancing its B2B capabilities, adding features like:

• B2B Account Portal: Offers a consolidated view of products and past orders.
• Sales Rep Quoting: Enables sales reps to provide customers with quotes for approval or modification.
• Configurable Pricing Rules: Enables tier pricing for different customer groups, allowing for flexible pricing strategies.

Cons:

1. Limited Free Themes: BigCommerce offers only 7 free themes. This means that if your requirements are not met using the limited set of themes available, you will need to pay more to buy paid themes. This will increase the overall cost of ownership.
2. Annual Sales Threshold: BigCommerce’s pricing is based on annual sales value. Once your online sales cross a certain threshold, BigCommerce automatically upgrades your store to the next higher value plan. This may lead to unexpected cost impact for your business and therefore it is important to keep this in mind while planning your budgets.

Pricing Structure:

The pricing table given below outlines the unique value-based pricing approach of BigCommerce, enabling you to see how the platform aligns its cost to your business performance rather than imposing limits or taxing your sales, API calls, or traffic.

Please note, for a more precise and accurate quote based on your individual business needs, we recommend getting a direct quote from BigCommerce. FutureSoft is here to facilitate those discussions and help you navigate through the nuances of selecting the ideal CMS for your B2B e-commerce business.

Who’s it for?

If you are looking for lots of features for your mid-sized business without the transaction fees, consider BigCommerce. With its rich feature set and SEO advantages, it may help you reach your operational goals within reasonable budgetary considerations.