ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as the simpler starting point.

My recommendation: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best default for you. Its current Grow plan is $79/month when billed annually ($105 monthly), supports up to 5 staff accounts, and includes inventory management, online store functionality, and selling across social/marketplace channels. www.shopify.com

For an apparel brand, that gives you a relatively low-maintenance stack for things like:

• Sizes/colors as inventory variants
• Multiple inventory locations
• Low-stock management
• Discount codes
• Product/category promotions
• Bundles and more sophisticated promotions as you grow
• POS for pop-ups or physical retail

I wouldn't jump to Shopify Plus at your stage; Plus starts around $2,300/month on a 3-year term in the U.S. and is aimed at much more complex/high-volume operations. help.shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce is particularly compelling if by "discount rules" you mean lots of conditional pricing logic.

BigCommerce advertises 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, cart thresholds, customer-group discounts, category/brand discounts, and automatically applied promotions. www.bigcommerce.com Its inventory system also supports centralized inventory across channels and real-time syncing. www.bigcommerce.com

Its current plans start at $29/month billed annually, with Growth at $79 and Scale at $299. www.bigcommerce.com

So I'd make the decision this way:

• Want the easiest overall operation → Shopify
• Expect complicated promotional/pricing rules → BigCommerce
• Already have a WordPress site and technical resources → WooCommerce

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, where you sell (online only/POS/Amazon/etc.), and what discount rules you need (e.g. “20% off dresses, except sale items, plus buy-2-get-1”), I can narrow it down to the best fit for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Your two requirements—inventory management + flexible discount rules—make the choice more specific than simply picking a site builder.

My recommendation: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best fit if you want your small team to spend time running the brand rather than maintaining the website.

• Inventory: Strong product/SKU and inventory management, with a large ecosystem for expanding into marketplaces, POS, fulfillment, etc.
• Discounts: Native percentage/fixed discounts, BOGO, free shipping, product/collection-specific discounts, and automatic discounts. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• Ease of use: Generally easier for a three-person team than assembling WordPress + plugins.
• App ecosystem: If your discount logic eventually gets complicated, there are apps to extend it.
• Apparel: Particularly well suited to brands with lots of variants (size/color), frequent collections, promotions, and social/marketplace selling.

shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce becomes especially interesting if complex discounting is a major part of your business.

It has 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, tiered pricing, customer-group discounts, category/brand discounts, and cart-level rules. BigCommerce Its inventory system also supports SKU-level stock tracking, low-stock notifications, and inventory synchronization across sales channels. BigCommerce

The tradeoff is that BigCommerce can feel more complex than Shopify for a very small team. Its current Core plan is listed at $29/month when billed annually, with Growth at $79/month. BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is worth considering if you already use WordPress or want maximum control over the site.

Its discount capabilities can be extremely flexible, but you'll often be relying on extensions/plugins for advanced rules. For example, WooCommerce's Smart Discounts tooling supports product, cart, bulk, BOGO, and free-shipping discounts. WooCommerce

woocommerce.com

How I'd decide

For your situation, I'd start with Shopify unless your discount requirements are unusually complex. If you tell me the kinds of promotions you run—e.g. “20% off everything except new arrivals,” “buy 2 tees get 1 free,” “VIP customers get 15% off,” “spend $150, get $30 off,” etc.—I can compare Shopify vs. BigCommerce specifically against those rules and tell you where you'd need apps.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best fit if you want your team spending time selling clothes rather than maintaining the website.

• Inventory: built-in inventory management, multiple inventory locations, unlimited products, and centralized order management. Shopify
• Discounts: supports percentage/fixed discounts, buy-X-get-Y, free shipping, automatic discounts, minimum requirements, scheduled promotions, and discount combinations. Shopify Help Center Shopify
• Team: the current Grow plan is $79/month when billed annually and includes up to 5 staff accounts, which fits a three-person team nicely. Shopify
• App ecosystem: if you eventually need complicated apparel-specific promotions, loyalty, subscriptions, bundles, etc., you can add apps rather than rebuilding the site.
• Ease of use: I'd favor it if none of the three of you is particularly technical.

shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce becomes particularly attractive if discount logic is a major part of your business.

It has 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity/tiered discounts, cart thresholds, customer groups, category/brand-specific promotions, and mix-and-match rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce

That's useful for an apparel brand doing things like:

• "Buy 2 tees, get 20% off"
• "Buy 3+ items, get 30% off"
• VIP customers get different pricing
• Certain collections excluded from promotions
• Spend $150, get $25 off
• BOGO across particular products

BigCommerce's current Core plan is $29/month billed annually, with Growth at $79/month; plans automatically move up based on sales volume. BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Bottom line: Start with Shopify Grow unless you already know that sophisticated promotion rules are central to your sales strategy. If you're planning lots of conditional discounts, bundles, customer tiers, and mix-and-match offers, I'd seriously consider BigCommerce instead.

If you tell me roughly your monthly revenue, number of SKUs/variants, and the kinds of discount rules you want, I can narrow it down to the exact plan and likely monthly software cost.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d keep this fairly simple: you want a platform that gives you solid inventory control and flexible promotions without requiring a developer to run the store.

My recommendation: Shopify

shopify.com is probably the best fit for your team.

• Inventory: Strong SKU/variant management, stock tracking, and multichannel selling.
• Discounts: Built-in percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, minimum-spend rules, and collection/product-specific promotions. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• Complex promotions: If you eventually need things like "20% off sale items, but exclude new arrivals" or sophisticated tiered/stacking rules, Shopify has a large app ecosystem for extending discounts. Shopify Help Center Shopify App Store
• Small team: The admin is relatively approachable, so your three-person team shouldn't need someone dedicated to maintaining the technology.
• App ecosystem: This becomes particularly valuable for apparel as you add things like returns, email/SMS, loyalty, subscriptions, reviews, and inventory forecasting.

The main alternative: BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com would be my second choice—and potentially the better one if discount logic is a major part of your business.

BigCommerce has 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity/tier discounts, customer-group discounts, category/brand promotions, minimum-order thresholds, and automatic cart-level rules. BigCommerce It also has robust native inventory management and multichannel inventory syncing. BigCommerce

The tradeoff is that Shopify generally has the smoother ecosystem and easier day-to-day experience for a small team.

What I'd choose

Bottom line: Start with Shopify unless your business model already depends heavily on complicated promotion rules. If you're doing things like "buy 2 tees, get 15% off; spend $150, get $25 off; VIP customers get another discount; exclude sale items; don't allow stacking" on a regular basis, I'd seriously consider BigCommerce because more of that logic is native. BigCommerce docs.bigcommerce.com

If you tell me your approximate annual revenue, number of SKUs, and the kinds of discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the specific plan/software I'd buy for your brand.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix—but my default recommendation would be Shopify.

🥇 My pick: Shopify

shopify.com

Shopify is probably the safest choice if you're expecting the brand to grow. It gives you solid inventory management, product variants, sales channels, and a large ecosystem of apps. Its native discounts cover percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, minimum requirements, scheduling, and combinations. Shopify Help Center Shopify

For apparel specifically, I'd favor Shopify because you'll likely accumulate lots of SKU/size/color combinations, plus potentially Instagram/social selling, pop-ups, wholesale, and other channels. The ecosystem becomes particularly valuable as those needs appear.

🥈 BigCommerce if discount logic is a major requirement

bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce is the one I'd seriously consider instead if you already know you'll need sophisticated promotions. It advertises 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity/tier pricing, customer-group discounts, category/brand rules, cart thresholds, and combinations. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Its inventory system also supports real-time syncing across channels and SKU-level stock management. BigCommerce

The tradeoff is that Shopify generally has the more approachable ecosystem for a small team.

🥉 Wix if the brand/design experience comes first

wix.com

Wix is attractive if you want the site to feel highly editorial/brand-driven and don't expect particularly complicated commerce operations. It supports real-time inventory across sales channels and automatic discounts based on products, groups, customers, dates, and quantities. Wix Support wix.com

My recommendation: start with Shopify unless your discount requirements are unusually complex. If you tell me roughly how many products/SKUs you have, what discount rules you need (e.g. “buy 2 get 1,” VIP pricing, bundles, sale exclusions), and whether you sell wholesale or in-person, I can narrow it down to the best specific plan.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d narrow it to Shopify vs. BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best balance of easy site building + inventory + promotions + room to grow.

• Inventory: Built-in inventory management, product variants, and multi-channel selling are included. Shopify
• Discounts: You can create percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, and minimum-order requirements. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• Team of 3: The Grow plan currently supports up to 5 staff accounts, which fits your team nicely. Shopify
• App ecosystem: If you eventually need more sophisticated apparel-specific promotions, bundles, loyalty, subscriptions, etc., Shopify's app ecosystem gives you a lot of options. Shopify App Store
• Cost: Shopify's current Grow plan is listed at $79/month when paid annually. Shopify

shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce becomes especially compelling if complex discount rules are central to your business.

It has unusually powerful native promotions: BOGO, quantity breaks, category/brand-specific discounts, customer-group discounts, minimum-spend rules, and combinations of conditions—all without necessarily adding an app. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Its inventory system also supports centralized inventory across online, marketplaces, social channels, and physical locations. BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Recommendation: start with Shopify Grow unless you already know you'll need complicated promotion logic such as “buy 2 from collection A, get 30% off collection B, except sale items, with customer-tier restrictions.” In that case, I'd seriously consider BigCommerce from day one.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, where you sell (online only vs. retail/wholesale), and the kinds of discount rules you need, I can recommend the specific platform/plan and flag any hidden costs or limitations.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

It’s probably the best balance of easy day-to-day management + strong inventory + room to grow.

• Inventory: Shopify tracks stock across locations and channels, including committed, reserved, incoming, and damaged inventory. It also supports purchase orders and inventory transfers. Shopify
• Discounts: You can create percentage, fixed-amount, free-shipping, and Buy X Get Y discounts, plus automatic discounts and scheduled promotions. Shopify Help Center Shopify
• Small team: It's fully hosted, so you don't need someone maintaining servers, security, updates, etc. Shopify also tends to have a lower implementation burden than alternatives. Shopify
• App ecosystem: If you eventually need sophisticated bundles, loyalty, returns, subscriptions, wholesale, etc., there are plenty of integrations.

shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce becomes particularly attractive if complex discount logic is central to your business.

Its native promotions engine supports things like:

• BOGO and quantity discounts
• Tiered discounts
• Category/brand-specific promotions
• Customer-group discounts
• Minimum-spend rules
• Free gifts
• Multiple promotion rules and priorities

It also has native inventory management and two-way inventory syncing across sales channels. BigCommerce BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Bottom line: Start with Shopify unless you already know you'll need complicated promotional logic such as “buy 2 from Collection A + 1 from Collection B, get the cheapest item 40% off, but exclude sale items.” In that case, BigCommerce deserves a serious look because its native promotion engine is unusually powerful. BigCommerce BigCommerce

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the specific platform/plan I'd buy.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My recommendation

1. Shopify — best overall

• Very easy for a small team to operate without a developer.
• Strong inventory/variant management, which matters for apparel sizes and colors.
• Large ecosystem for fulfillment, email/SMS, accounting, returns, and marketing.
• Good discounting for straightforward promotions.
• Shopify has also expanded native B2B features to its regular plans, including volume discounts and quantity rules, which is useful if you expect wholesale alongside DTC. Shopify
• Caveat: if your discount logic gets extremely complicated, Shopify's deepest customization is concentrated in higher-tier/advanced tooling. Shopify Help Center

shopify.com

2. BigCommerce — best if discount rules are a major requirement

• I'd seriously consider this if you expect promotions like BOGO, buy X/get Y, tiered discounts, category exclusions, customer-group pricing, or complicated combinations.
• BigCommerce advertises 70+ native discount options, and its promotion engine supports conditions, priorities, exclusions, customer groups, quantity thresholds, and automatic promotions. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• Its documentation even has apparel-like examples such as percentage discounts on men's clothing and category-specific promotions. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• Tradeoff: I'd expect Shopify to be the easier platform for a three-person team to learn and run day-to-day.

bigcommerce.com

3. WooCommerce — best if you already live in WordPress

• Very flexible and inexpensive at the software level.
• Core WooCommerce has solid coupon restrictions and usage limits. WooCommerce
• More advanced automatic discounting typically means adding extensions/plugins, which creates more maintenance for a three-person team. WooCommerce

woocommerce.com

What I'd choose

Shopify unless your business model depends heavily on complex promotional rules. For a growing apparel brand, I'd prioritize minimizing operational work: inventory, variants, orders, shipping, returns, analytics, and integrations all need to work reliably while your three-person team focuses on the brand.

If your discounts are a major part of the business—e.g. “buy 2 tees, get 15% off; buy 3, get 25%; exclude sale items; VIP customers get another rule; BOGO on selected collections”—I'd lean BigCommerce instead.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and 3–5 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the best specific plan for you.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My shortlist

1. Shopify — my recommendation.
Shopify combines the storefront, inventory, orders, payments, shipping, and marketing in one system. Inventory management is built in, and its current plans support unlimited products. The Grow plan supports up to five staff accounts, which fits a three-person team nicely. Shopify

For discounts, Shopify supports percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, minimum requirements, scheduling, and discount combinations. More elaborate rules can be added through its app ecosystem. Shopify Help Center Shopify

shopify.com

2. BigCommerce — choose this if discount logic is a major part of your business.
BigCommerce is particularly strong if you anticipate things like BOGO, quantity tiers, bundles, customer-group pricing, category-specific promotions, exclusions, or complicated combinations of rules. It advertises 70+ native discount options without requiring third-party apps. BigCommerce BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Shopify Grow unless your discount requirements are unusually sophisticated. At your size, minimizing operational overhead is probably more valuable than having an enormous set of native promotion rules.

For example, if you need:

• "20% off all tops"
• "Buy 2, get 1 free"
• "Spend $150, get $25 off"
• VIP/customer-group discounts
• automatic sale pricing
• inventory tracking by size/color
• multiple sales channels

Shopify can handle the core setup, while apps can fill the gaps as your promotional strategy gets more complicated. Shopify Help Center

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, where you sell (online only, pop-ups, wholesale, etc.), and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can tell you whether I'd pick Shopify or BigCommerce and which specific plan I'd use.

shopify.com

2. BigCommerce — choose this if discount logic is a major part of your business.
BigCommerce is particularly strong if you anticipate things like BOGO, quantity tiers, bundles, customer-group pricing, category-specific promotions, exclusions, or complicated combinations of rules. It advertises 70+ native discount options without requiring third-party apps.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d strongly recommend Shopify as the default choice.

My ranking

1. Shopify — best overall

• Very little technical maintenance; hosting, checkout, security, and core commerce tools are handled for you.
• Strong inventory management for apparel variants like size × color.
• Supports percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, product/collection-specific discounts, and minimum purchase requirements. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• Huge app ecosystem if you eventually need advanced inventory, loyalty, subscriptions, wholesale, etc.
• Current Basic pricing starts around $29/month when billed annually. Shopify

shopify.com

2. BigCommerce — best if your discount rules are unusually complex

• This is the one I'd investigate if you're planning things like tiered pricing, BOGO, mix-and-match promotions, customer-group pricing, brand/category rules, or sophisticated wholesale discounts.
• BigCommerce advertises 70+ native discount options, including product, order, customer, category, and brand-level promotions, without requiring third-party apps. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• The tradeoff is that it's somewhat more commerce-focused/complex than Shopify.

bigcommerce.com

3. WooCommerce — best if you already use WordPress

• Extremely flexible and customizable.
• But you're taking on more responsibility for hosting, plugins, updates, security, and maintenance. Shopify
• For a three-person team, I wouldn't choose it just to save money unless someone on the team is comfortable managing WordPress.

woocommerce.com

What I'd choose for you

Shopify Basic → Shopify is probably the sweet spot.

For a growing apparel company, I'd prioritize operational simplicity over maximum configurability. Your team of three shouldn't spend its time maintaining the ecommerce platform. Shopify also gives you room to grow into POS, additional sales channels, analytics, and a large app ecosystem. Shopify

I'd move to BigCommerce instead if you already know your business needs complicated promotional logic that you'd otherwise have to bolt onto Shopify with multiple apps.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and the kinds of discount rules you need (e.g. "20% off everything except sale items," "buy 2 get 1," VIP pricing, quantity tiers), I can narrow this down to the best platform and plan for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d strongly recommend Shopify as the default choice.

My ranking

1. shopify.com — Best overall

• Excellent inventory management, including variants like size/color, stock tracking, and unlimited products. Shopify
• Built-in discount codes and automatic discounts for percentage-off, fixed-amount, free shipping, and Buy X Get Y promotions. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• Huge app ecosystem if your discount logic eventually gets more sophisticated—for example, tiered pricing, bundles, BOGO, or wholesale discounts. Shopify App Store
• Grow is particularly well suited to a small team: currently $79/month when paid monthly and supports up to 5 staff accounts. Shopify
• Biggest advantage: you can start simple without hiring a developer, then add functionality as the brand grows.
• bigcommerce.com — Best if discount rules are unusually complex

• Its promotion engine is exceptionally powerful out of the box: BOGO, quantity tiers, category/brand discounts, customer-group pricing, cart thresholds, exclusions, and combinations of rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• Current Core pricing starts at $29/month annually, with Growth at $79/month annually. BigCommerce
• I'd choose this over Shopify if your business model revolves heavily around complicated promotions, wholesale pricing, or lots of conditional discounts.
• woocommerce.com — Best for maximum flexibility

• Very customizable, and plugins can create sophisticated discount rules around products, categories, customer roles, quantities, cart value, etc. WooCommerce
• But you're also taking on WordPress hosting, updates, plugins, security, and more technical maintenance.
• For a three-person team, I'd generally avoid this unless someone on the team is comfortable managing WordPress.

What I'd pick for you

Shopify Grow is probably the sweet spot.

For an apparel company, I'd prioritize:

Inventory → Shopify's native system
Website → Shopify theme
Discounts → Native Shopify initially
Advanced promotions → Add an app only when you actually need it

That keeps the tech stack manageable for three people. Shopify's native discounts already cover a lot, and you can extend them later rather than paying for complexity you don't need on day one. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

If you tell me roughly your annual revenue, number of SKUs, and the kinds of discount rules you want (e.g. "20% off collection A but not sale items," "buy 2 get 1," "VIP customers get 15%," etc.), I can tell you whether Shopify or BigCommerce is the better fit and what plan I'd use.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best balance of ease, inventory management, storefront quality, and room to grow.

• Inventory: built-in inventory management, variants, multiple inventory locations, and sales-channel syncing. Shopify Shopify
• Discounts: supports percentage/fixed discounts, BOGO, free shipping, automatic discounts, and discount codes. Shopify Help Center
• App ecosystem: if your discount rules eventually get complicated, Shopify has a huge app ecosystem for extending functionality.
• Team of three: the main caveat is that Shopify Basic doesn't include additional staff accounts; the Grow plan does. Shopify
• Cost: Basic is currently $39/month monthly or $29/month when billed annually. Shopify

shopify.com

Consider BigCommerce if discounts are central to your business

BigCommerce is particularly attractive if by "discount rules" you mean things like:

• Buy 2 shirts → 20% off
• Buy from Category A → $15 off Category B
• VIP customers → 10% off
• Spend $150 → get a free item
• Mix-and-match discounts
• Tiered/quantity pricing
• Complex exclusions and combinations

BigCommerce says it has 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, bundles, customer-group promotions, and cart-level rules, without requiring third-party apps. BigCommerce BigCommerce BigCommerce

Its Core plan is currently $39/month monthly or $29/month annually, with staff accounts and inventory-location support. BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

What I'd choose for your brand

Bottom line: Start with Shopify unless you already know you'll need sophisticated promotional logic. If your business model revolves heavily around bundles, quantity breaks, customer groups, and complicated discount combinations, I'd lean BigCommerce instead.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the best platform and plan for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

shopify.com

My shortlist

• Shopify — best overall. It’s relatively easy for a small team to operate, has strong inventory/order management, and supports percentage, fixed-amount, free-shipping, and Buy X Get Y discounts natively. You can also target discounts by customer segments and add specialized discount apps as you grow. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• BigCommerce — best if discount rules are unusually complex. It has 70+ native promotion options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, customer-group rules, cart conditions, and automatic promotions, while keeping inventory management native. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• Wix — best if the website/design side matters more than sophisticated commerce. It's easy to build with, but I'd choose Shopify instead for an apparel business where inventory and promotions are central. Shopify

What I'd choose for you

Start with Shopify unless you already know you'll need complicated promotion logic. For a growing apparel brand, the combination of product variants (size/color), inventory, orders, marketing, and a large app ecosystem is particularly useful. Shopify also supports automatic discounts and scheduled promotions, while its app marketplace can handle more specialized rules when you outgrow the built-in tools. Shopify Shopify App Store

I'd move to BigCommerce if your discount requirements look more like:

"20% off tops, except clearance; buy 2 get 1; VIP customers get another 10%; wholesale customers get different pricing; promotions have priorities and can't stack."

BigCommerce is particularly strong at those kinds of rule-based promotions out of the box. docs.bigcommerce.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and the discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to Shopify vs. BigCommerce and tell you which plan I'd start with.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d prioritize something that is easy to run day-to-day but won’t box you in as the catalog and order volume grow.

My recommendation: Shopify

Shopify would be my first choice for you.

Why:

• Inventory: Strong variant-level inventory management, which matters for apparel because you’ll likely have sizes/colors for every SKU.
• Discounts: Handles percentage/fixed discounts, automatic promotions, codes, product/category targeting, and more through its ecommerce ecosystem.
• Apparel ecosystem: There’s a huge ecosystem for shipping, returns, email/SMS, reviews, loyalty, bundles, subscriptions, etc.
• Small-team friendly: You can keep the operation relatively simple instead of having someone effectively become a full-time site administrator.
• Room to grow: You won't need to migrate platforms just because the brand takes off.

shopify.com

Two alternatives worth considering

BigCommerce is the one I'd consider if your discount rules are unusually sophisticated. Its promotion system supports things like BOGO, quantity tiers, category/brand rules, customer-group discounts, exclusions, logical AND/OR/NOT conditions, and promotion priorities. BigCommerce BigCommerce BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

Wix is attractive if the brand/website design experience is more important than advanced ecommerce complexity. It has inventory synchronization and automatic discounts including quantity-based deals and Buy X Get Y. Wix Support wix.com

wix.com

How I'd choose

Bottom line: I'd start with Shopify, unless you already know you'll need complicated promotional logic such as “buy 2 from collection A, get 1 from collection B at 50% off, except sale items, with different rules for VIP customers.” In that case, BigCommerce deserves a serious look. Its native promotion engine is particularly powerful. BigCommerce BigCommerce

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, where you sell (online only vs. pop-ups/retail), and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the best platform and plan for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d prioritize something that is easy to operate day-to-day but won’t box you in as your catalog and order volume grow.

My shortlist

🥇 I'd pick Shopify

For a small apparel team, Shopify is probably the safest choice. You get a polished storefront builder, product/variant inventory management, order management, payments, shipping integrations, and a huge ecosystem of apps.

The big advantage for you is that the team doesn't need to be particularly technical. You can spend your time managing the brand rather than maintaining the website.

shopify.com

🥈 Consider BigCommerce if your discount logic is unusually sophisticated

This is the one I'd investigate if by "discount rules" you mean things like:

• 20% off a particular collection but not sale items
• Buy 2, get 1 free
• Spend $150, get $30 off
• VIP/customer-group pricing
• Mix-and-match promotions
• Different rules that need to be prioritized or stopped from stacking

BigCommerce has particularly deep native promotion logic, including product-, category-, brand-, cart-, and customer-based conditions and automatic promotions. BigCommerce BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

🥉 WooCommerce if you already live in WordPress

WooCommerce gives you a lot of control and its core coupon system handles percentage, fixed-cart, and fixed-product discounts with restrictions and usage limits. WooCommerce The WooCommerce Developer Blog

But for a three-person team starting/growing an apparel brand, I'd generally avoid choosing it because it's flexible. That flexibility also means more plugins, updates, hosting decisions, and maintenance.

woocommerce.com

Bottom line: Start with Shopify unless your business model depends heavily on complicated promotion rules—in that case, BigCommerce deserves a serious look.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs/variants you have, your monthly order volume, and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the best specific plan/platform for you.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My recommendation

Shopify is probably the best balance of easy day-to-day management, inventory, storefront design, and room to grow. Its core discount system supports percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, product/collection targeting, minimum purchase requirements, scheduling, and customer-segment eligibility. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

For apparel specifically, that's useful because you can handle things like:

• “20% off everything in the Summer collection”
• “Buy 2 tees, get 1 50% off”
• “$20 off orders over $150”
• VIP/customer-specific discounts
• Free shipping over a threshold
• Automatic promotions without making customers enter a code
• Inventory by SKU/size/color

Shopify also has a huge app ecosystem if you eventually need more sophisticated promotions or inventory workflows. Shopify App Store

The main alternative: BigCommerce

BigCommerce would be my #2, and potentially #1 if your discount logic is unusually complicated.

BigCommerce has 70+ native promotion/discount options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, tiered pricing, customer-group discounts, category/brand rules, and combinations of conditions. It also provides centralized inventory management and real-time inventory syncing across channels. BigCommerce BigCommerce

The tradeoff is that I'd expect Shopify to be the easier platform for a three-person team to operate and customize without getting bogged down in ecommerce infrastructure.

What I'd choose

Bottom line: I'd start with Shopify, unless your business model depends heavily on complicated promotion logic, wholesale/customer-group pricing, or highly customized catalog rules—in that case, I'd seriously consider BigCommerce. Shopify's 2026 pricing comparison also positions it as a fully managed SaaS platform with relatively low implementation burden, which is particularly attractive when you only have three people. shopify.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can tell you which platform I'd pick and which specific plan/apps I'd use.

For a 3-person growing apparel brand, I’d prioritize something that lets you spend time on product, marketing, and customers—not maintaining the website. Your biggest needs (inventory by size/color, SKUs, discount rules, easy merchandising, and room to grow) point toward a few strong options. Ecommerce Website Create Retailpresso

My top recommendation: shopify.com

Best fit for most apparel brands at your stage.

Why:

• Excellent for apparel variants (size, color, style, SKU tracking)
• Very easy for a small team to manage day-to-day
• Strong discount tools (percentage discounts, fixed discounts, free shipping, automatic discounts via apps/features depending on plan)
• Huge ecosystem for apparel needs: - size charts
• reviews
• subscriptions
• bundles
• loyalty programs
• returns/exchanges
• email/SMS marketing
• Low technical overhead—you won’t need a developer for normal store operations Ecommerce-Platforms.com

Tradeoff:

• You may add paid apps as you grow, which can increase monthly costs. Retailpresso

Strong alternative: bigcommerce.com

Consider this if you expect:

• a very large catalog
• wholesale/B2B sales
• complex pricing rules
• multiple brands or regions

BigCommerce has more built-in commerce features and a strong promotions engine, including rule-based discounts such as cart conditions, product discounts, and buy-one-get-one style promotions. BigCommerce

Tradeoff:

• The ecosystem and app marketplace are generally smaller than Shopify’s. Retailpresso

Consider only if you have technical help: woocommerce.com

Good if:

• you already use WordPress
• you want maximum customization
• you have someone comfortable managing plugins, hosting, security, and updates

Tradeoff:

• You’ll assemble more of the system yourself. StableCommerce

What I’d pick for your team

For a 3-person apparel company:

1. Shopify — best overall choice for launching and scaling a DTC clothing brand.
2. BigCommerce — choose instead if wholesale, complex promotions, or large inventory management are central.
3. WooCommerce — choose only if owning/customizing the tech stack matters more than simplicity.

Before committing, I’d check these specific workflows in a demo:

• Can you create a product with all size/color combinations easily?
• Can you run “20% off everything except new arrivals”?
• Can you do “buy 2 tees, get 1 free”?
• Can you manage inventory across online + pop-up/retail sales?
• Can you handle returns/exchanges without spreadsheets?

If you tell me your approximate number of SKUs, whether you sell DTC only or also wholesale, and your expected monthly order volume, I can narrow this to a specific plan/setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d generally recommend choosing a platform that minimizes technical upkeep while giving you strong control over SKUs, sizes/colors, inventory, and promotions. My top pick would be:

1. shopify.com — best overall fit for your stage

Why I’d start here:

• Built specifically for small-to-growing ecommerce teams.
• Excellent handling of apparel variants (size, color, style), SKUs, stock tracking, and fulfillment workflows.
• Huge ecosystem for things apparel brands commonly need: reviews, bundles, subscriptions, loyalty programs, returns, email/SMS marketing, wholesale tools, etc. Ecommerce-Platforms.com
• Easy enough that a three-person team can manage the store without a developer.

Good fit if you need:

• “20% off jackets this weekend”
• “Buy 2 tees, get 1 free”
• Customer-specific discount codes
• Automatic discounts
• Inventory alerts
• Multiple sales channels (Instagram, marketplaces, pop-ups)

Shopify’s discount system supports automatic discounts and discount codes, including more advanced customer eligibility rules for certain setups. Shopify Help Center

Potential downside:
You may end up adding paid apps as you grow, which increases monthly costs.

2. bigcommerce.com — best if you expect complex pricing rules

BigCommerce is worth considering if your apparel business has more complicated merchandising, such as:

• wholesale accounts
• tiered pricing
• lots of promotions
• large catalogs
• customer groups

Its native promotions engine is particularly strong, supporting rules like cart thresholds, product/category discounts, BOGO-style offers, and customer-group promotions. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Tradeoff: It can feel a bit more “enterprise” and less beginner-friendly than Shopify.

3. woocommerce.com — best if you already live in WordPress

Choose this if:

• your brand site is already WordPress-based,
• you have someone technical on the team,
• you want maximum customization.

It’s powerful, but you’ll be responsible for hosting, updates, plugin compatibility, and maintenance.

My recommendation for your exact situation

For a growing apparel brand with three people, I’d rank them:

1. Shopify — launch quickly, manage easily, scale confidently
2. BigCommerce — choose this if your discount logic or wholesale needs are unusually complex
3. WooCommerce — choose only if you already have WordPress expertise

Before committing, I’d test your real workflows:

• How many products × sizes × colors do you carry?
• Do you do wholesale?
• Do you run frequent promos (drops, bundles, flash sales)?
• Do you sell mainly DTC, or also through retailers?

If you tell me your approximate catalog size (e.g., 30 products vs 3,000 SKUs), sales channels, and whether you need wholesale, I can narrow it down further.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

shopify.com is particularly well suited if you want the team to spend time growing the brand rather than maintaining the website.

My shortlist

Why Shopify: It gives you inventory/product management, multiple sales channels, and straightforward discount codes and automatic discounts. Native discounts include percentage/fixed-amount, Buy X Get Y, and free shipping, with additional capabilities available through apps. Shopify Help Center Shopify

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead: If your discount logic is unusually sophisticated—for example, “buy 2 from Collection A, get 20% off Collection B, but exclude sale items, unless the customer is VIP.” BigCommerce has a particularly powerful native promotion engine with product, category, customer, cart-value, BOGO, tiered, and exclusion rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

What I'd pick for you

Start with Shopify unless you already know you need complex promotion logic.

For a growing apparel brand, I'd prioritize:

• Easy product/variant inventory management — especially sizes and colors
• Automatic low-stock/inventory tracking
• Collections and merchandising
• Discount codes + automatic promotions
• Easy integrations for email, reviews, shipping, accounting, and social selling
• A storefront your team can change without a developer
• Room to add apps as your needs grow

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and what kinds of discount rules you run (BOGO, bundles, VIP, quantity breaks, seasonal sales, etc.), I can narrow it down to Shopify vs. BigCommerce and the specific plan I'd use.

Why Shopify: It gives you inventory/product management, multiple sales channels, and straightforward discount codes and automatic discounts. Native discounts include percentage/fixed-amount, Buy X Get Y, and free shipping, with additional capabilities available through apps. help.shopify.com shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead: If your discount logic is unusually sophisticated—for example, “buy 2 from Collection A, get 20% off Collection B, but exclude sale items, unless the customer is VIP.” BigCommerce has a particularly powerful native promotion engine with product, category, customer, cart-value, BOGO, tiered, and exclusion rules.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d prioritize something that minimizes admin work while giving you solid inventory and promotion controls.

My recommendation: shopify.com

Shopify is the best overall fit if you want your team to get the store running without a lot of technical overhead.

• Inventory: Strong variant-level inventory management, which is important for apparel sizes/colors.
• Discounts: Native percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, and Buy X Get Y promotions. You can also target discounts to specific products, collections, customers, or markets. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• Ease of use: Particularly good for a small team where nobody wants to become a full-time ecommerce administrator.
• Ecosystem: If your requirements eventually outgrow the native discount system, Shopify has a large app ecosystem for promotions, bundles, inventory automation, etc. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store
• Growth: You can start relatively simply and add more sophisticated capabilities as the brand grows.

The alternative I'd seriously consider: bigcommerce.com

I'd choose BigCommerce over Shopify if complex discount logic is a major part of your business.

BigCommerce advertises 70+ native discount options, including product/category/order/customer promotions, BOGO, quantity breaks, tiered discounts, and combinations of rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce Its promotion engine can handle conditions such as minimum quantity/spend, customer groups, exclusions, priorities, and multiple rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Shopify vs. BigCommerce for you

Bottom line: I'd start with Shopify unless you already know you need complicated promotional rules such as "buy 3 from collection A, get 20% off collection B, except sale items, with different rules for VIP customers." In that case, BigCommerce deserves a closer look because much of that logic is native rather than requiring apps. BigCommerce BigCommerce

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, your monthly order volume, and the kinds of discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the specific plan/setup I'd choose for your brand.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d prioritize something that is easy to operate day-to-day but won’t box you in as your catalog and promotions get more complicated.

My recommendation: BigCommerce

I’d put BigCommerce at the top of your shortlist if inventory and sophisticated discount rules are important.

• Inventory: Native SKU-level inventory management, low-stock alerts, bulk catalog updates, and inventory syncing across channels. BigCommerce
• Discounts: It has 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity breaks, bundles, category/product discounts, minimum-spend offers, customer-group discounts, and automatic promotions. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• App dependence: A lot of these promotion capabilities are built in rather than requiring a third-party discount app. BigCommerce
• Apparel fit: BigCommerce specifically supports fashion/apparel brands and offers tools for omnichannel selling, product feeds, promotions, and multi-storefront growth. BigCommerce
• Small-team friendly: Hosting, security, updates, and core ecommerce infrastructure are managed for you, which matters when you only have three people. BigCommerce

Its current Core plan is $29/month when billed annually, with a $30K trailing-12-month GMV threshold before automatic upgrade to Growth; Growth is $79/month billed annually. BigCommerce

The other two I'd consider

Shopify — probably the best choice if your priority is simplicity, polished storefronts, and a huge app ecosystem. I'd choose it over BigCommerce if your discount rules are relatively straightforward and you expect to use lots of other apps/integrations.

WooCommerce — worth considering if you already have WordPress expertise or want maximum control. But for a three-person team, I'd generally avoid it unless someone on the team is comfortable owning the WordPress/plugin/hosting stack. More sophisticated coupon behavior can involve extensions; for example, WooCommerce's Smart Coupons adds advanced targeting and promotional workflows. WooCommerce WooCommerce

What I'd choose for your situation

Bottom line: If you expect rules like “20% off dresses, but not sale items,” “buy 2 get 1,” “spend $150 get $25 off,” “VIP customers get 15%,” and similar combinations, I'd lean BigCommerce. Its promotion engine is unusually capable out of the box. BigCommerce BigCommerce BigCommerce

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, your monthly sales, whether you sell through Instagram/Amazon/physical retail, and 2–3 examples of your discount rules, I can narrow it down to the best platform and plan for you.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d put Shopify at the top of the list.

My recommendation

Shopify is probably the best balance of easy site management, inventory, apparel variants, promotions, and room to scale without needing a developer. Shopify is a fully managed platform, so your team isn't responsible for hosting, security, or maintaining the underlying software. Shopify

For your specific requirements:

• Inventory: Strong product/variant inventory management, which is particularly useful for apparel where you may have dozens of size/color SKUs.
• Discount rules: Shopify supports percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, collection/product-level promotions, minimum purchase requirements, and automatic discounts. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center
• More sophisticated promotions: You can target discounts to customer segments and markets, and the Shopify App Store can extend the built-in discount functionality when you outgrow it. Shopify Help Center Shopify App Store
• Small team: The big advantage is that you can operate most of it yourselves rather than having a developer maintain the store.
• Scaling: You can start relatively simply and add apps/integrations as your catalog, marketing, wholesale, and operations become more sophisticated.

shopify.com

The alternative I'd seriously consider: BigCommerce

BigCommerce is worth considering if complex discounting is one of your most important requirements.

It has a particularly strong native promotions engine: BigCommerce advertises 70+ native discount options and supports combinations involving product, cart, category, brand, and customer-group rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce Docs

For example, you can build rules like:

Buy 3 items from Collection A → 20% off
Spend $150 → $25 off
VIP customers → 15% off
Buy X → get Y
50% off Category A, but exclude sale items

Its promotion system also supports priorities and rules for controlling how multiple promotions interact. BigCommerce Docs BigCommerce Docs

bigcommerce.com

How I'd choose

Bottom line: I'd choose Shopify unless you already know you need complicated, overlapping promotion rules. If your brand is going to run lots of things like tiered discounts, mix-and-match offers, customer-group pricing, and elaborate exclusions, I'd take a harder look at BigCommerce.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and 3–5 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the specific Shopify/BigCommerce plan and setup I'd use.

For a 3-person apparel brand that’s growing, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

shopify.com

It’s probably the best balance of easy site building + inventory + marketing + room to scale for a small team.

• Inventory: Built-in inventory tracking across locations, variants, purchase orders, transfers, and multiple sales channels. Shopify
• Discounts: Native percentage, fixed-dollar, free-shipping, and Buy X Get Y discounts, with automatic discounts and discount codes. You can also target customer segments and markets. Shopify Shopify Help Center
• App ecosystem: If your discount logic gets more sophisticated—e.g. "buy 2 tees, get 1 free," tiered discounts, bundles, VIP pricing—there are a huge number of apps available. Shopify App Store
• Apparel-friendly: Excellent handling of product variants such as size × color, collections, product photography, merchandising, and mobile shopping.
• Small team advantage: It's relatively easy for a three-person team to administer without needing a developer.

The alternative: BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

I'd seriously consider BigCommerce if sophisticated discount rules are central to your business.

Its native promotions system is considerably more powerful: it supports things like BOGO, quantity breaks, tiered discounts, customer-group discounts, category/brand discounts, minimum-spend rules, and multiple promotion rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Its inventory system is also strong, including real-time inventory synchronization across channels and low-stock notifications. BigCommerce

The tradeoff is that BigCommerce can feel more complex than Shopify, which matters when only three people are running the business.

How I'd choose

Bottom line: Unless you already know you'll need complicated promotional logic, I'd start with Shopify. It gives a three-person team the least operational overhead while still giving you plenty of room to grow. Shopify's inventory and discount capabilities are already substantial, and you can add specialized functionality later rather than over-engineering the store on day one. Shopify Shopify

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and the kinds of discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the specific platform/plan I'd use for your brand.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d generally recommend a hosted ecommerce platform rather than a general website builder. You need product variants (size/color), inventory tracking, discount logic, order management, and room to grow without a developer on staff. Ecommerce Website Create BigCommerce

My shortlist:

1. shopify.com — Best overall fit for most growing apparel brands

Why I’d put this first:

• Strong inventory management for size/color variants and SKUs
• Very easy for a small team to operate daily
• Large ecosystem for apparel needs (returns, reviews, email marketing, subscriptions, bundles, loyalty, etc.)
• Good themes and merchandising tools for fashion brands
• Discount codes, automatic discounts, customer-specific promotions, and campaign tools are well supported Ecommerce Website Create

Best if you are:

• Direct-to-consumer (DTC)
• Selling through Instagram/TikTok/social channels
• Running seasonal drops or collections
• Planning to hire more people later

Watch-outs:

• You may end up paying for several apps as you add advanced features.
• More complex inventory workflows may require integrations. BigCommerce

2. bigcommerce.com — Better if operations are getting complex

Consider this if you expect:

• Hundreds/thousands of SKUs
• Wholesale accounts
• Multiple storefronts
• More advanced catalog rules

BigCommerce tends to include more commerce functionality natively, which can reduce reliance on apps for some growing brands. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Downside: it can feel heavier than you need as a three-person team.

3. woocommerce.com — Best if you already live in WordPress

Good choice if:

• Your brand site is content-heavy
• You have technical help
• You want maximum customization

Less ideal if your team wants a low-maintenance system. Hosting, updates, plugins, and security become your responsibility.

4. squarespace.com — Best for small, highly visual collections

Great for:

• Capsule collections
• Premium branding
• Lookbook-style sites

Less ideal once inventory complexity becomes a major part of your business. Ecommerce Website Create

My recommendation for your situation

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d start with:

Shopify + a clean theme + a small set of carefully chosen apps

A typical stack might be:

• Shopify → store, inventory, discounts, orders
• Klaviyo → email/SMS marketing
• Gorgias or Zendesk → customer support
• Loop Returns → apparel returns/exchanges
• ShipStation or ShipBob (depending on volume) → fulfillment workflows

Before choosing, I’d answer these four questions:

1. How many products/SKUs do you have today, and how many do you expect in 12 months?
2. Do you sell wholesale to boutiques, or only direct to consumers?
3. Are you doing limited drops/preorders, or keeping products always in stock?
4. Do you need a physical retail/POS system?

Those answers could move the recommendation between Shopify and BigCommerce.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d start with:

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My recommendation

1. Shopify — best overall

• Very easy for a small team to operate without a developer.
• Strong inventory management, including variants, locations, purchase orders, transfers, and bulk inventory editing. Shopify Shopify
• Built-in discounts support percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, automatic discounts, codes, minimum requirements, scheduling, and combining discounts. Shopify
• Huge app ecosystem if you eventually need more sophisticated apparel functionality—bundles, loyalty, wholesale pricing, advanced promotions, etc.
• Current Basic pricing is $39/month month-to-month or $29/month when paid annually. Shopify
• It also gives you room to grow into POS, social/marketplace selling, and more advanced inventory workflows.

2. BigCommerce — best if your discount rules are unusually complex

• This is the one I'd consider seriously against Shopify.
• BigCommerce has 70+ native promotion options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, tiered pricing, customer-specific discounts, category/brand rules, and cart-level conditions. BigCommerce
• Its inventory system is also strong, with real-time inventory syncing across channels and locations. BigCommerce
• The tradeoff is that I'd generally expect a little more complexity for a three-person team.

What I'd choose for you

One important distinction: don't choose a platform solely because it can create discount codes. For apparel, I'd specifically test rules like:

• “20% off all tops, except new arrivals”
• “Buy 2 tees, get the 3rd 50% off”
• “Spend $150, get $25 off”
• “VIP customers get 15% off, but not sale items”
• “Free shipping over $100”
• “Discount A cannot combine with Discount B”
• “Automatically hide/disable products when inventory hits zero”

Shopify handles the core use cases well, but BigCommerce has a notable edge if complicated promotion logic is central to your business. BigCommerce explicitly supports multi-rule promotions, priorities, and stopping lower-priority promotions from applying. BigCommerce BigCommerce

Bottom line: I'd start with Shopify unless you already know you need sophisticated, highly conditional promotions. For a growing three-person apparel company, the simplicity and ecosystem are likely worth more than BigCommerce's extra native promotion flexibility.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs/variants you have, whether you sell wholesale, and 2–3 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the exact platform/plan I'd buy.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d start with shopify.com.

My ranking

1. Shopify — best overall

• Very good inventory management for apparel variants (size/color/SKU).
• Easy for a small team to manage without technical staff.
• Huge ecosystem for shipping, email/SMS, returns, analytics, POS, etc.
• Its native discounting is solid, and there are many apps for more sophisticated rules such as BOGO, bundles, quantity breaks, VIP pricing, and automatic discounts. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store
• Best if: you want the easiest platform to grow with and don't want your team spending time maintaining the website.
• bigcommerce.com — best if discount rules are unusually important

• This is the one I'd seriously consider against Shopify.
• BigCommerce has 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity discounts, tiered pricing, customer-group discounts, category/brand rules, and cart thresholds. BigCommerce
• Its promotion engine supports multiple rules, priorities, automatic application, start/end dates, and conditions. BigCommerce
• Current Core pricing is $39/month monthly or $29/month when billed annually, with Growth at $105/$79 respectively. BigCommerce
• Best if: your merchandising strategy involves lots of complicated promotions and you want those capabilities natively rather than through apps.
• woocommerce.com — best for maximum flexibility

• Powerful inventory and discount possibilities, especially if you already use WordPress.
• But I'd hesitate for a three-person team starting from scratch: you're taking on more responsibility for hosting, plugins, updates, security, and maintenance.
• Advanced coupon/discount functionality is available through WooCommerce extensions. WooCommerce WooCommerce
• Best if: someone on your team is comfortable with WordPress/technical maintenance.

What I'd choose for you

Shopify unless your discount rules are genuinely complex.

For example, if you need things like:

"20% off dresses, except clearance; spend $200 and get a free accessory; VIP customers get another 10%; don't allow the discounts to stack; and automatically stop the promotion when inventory hits 10 units"

I'd lean BigCommerce because its promotion engine is particularly strong out of the box. BigCommerce BigCommerce

If your needs are more like inventory + standard promo codes + seasonal sales + occasional BOGO/bundles, Shopify is likely the better fit for a three-person team because of its overall ecosystem and ease of operation.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and what kinds of discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the best platform and plan for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best fit if your priority is running the business without needing a technical person. It handles product/variant inventory, collections, orders, customers, fulfillment, and marketing in one relatively approachable admin.

Its native discounts support percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, automatic discounts, discount codes, minimum requirements, scheduling, and combining discounts. www.shopify.com

For apparel, that means you can comfortably handle things like:

• S/M/L/XL variants and inventory
• Color-specific inventory
• "20% off these collections"
• "Spend $150, get $20 off"
• Free shipping over a threshold
• Customer-specific offers
• Seasonal/promotional codes
• Automatic discounts

The catch: if sophisticated discount logic is central to your business, you may eventually need a Shopify app.

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce is particularly compelling if you already know you'll have lots of complicated promotions.

Its promotion engine natively supports things such as BOGO, quantity discounts, tiered pricing, product/category/brand discounts, customer-group discounts, minimum-spend rules, exclusions, logical AND/OR/NOT conditions, promotion priorities, and automatic application. docs.bigcommerce.com

For example, you can build rules along the lines of:

"Buy 2 items from Collection A AND spend $100, get 20% off, except sale items."

That's the sort of scenario where BigCommerce starts pulling ahead. docs.bigcommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Shopify unless your discount requirements are unusually complex.

For a three-person team, I'd optimize for less administration and a huge ecosystem of integrations/apps, rather than choosing a platform primarily for advanced functionality you may not need yet.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs/variants you have, whether you sell wholesale as well as DTC, and 3–5 examples of the discount rules you need, I can tell you which platform I'd choose specifically for your business.

For a 3-person growing apparel brand, I’d usually recommend choosing a platform that minimizes maintenance while handling the messy parts of clothing retail: size/color variants, SKU inventory, promotions, returns, and future growth. My top pick would be:

1. shopify.com — Best overall fit for your team

Why it fits a small apparel team:

• Strong inventory management for size/color variants and SKUs
• Built-in discount codes, automatic discounts, bundles, and promotions (with apps for more advanced rules)
• Huge ecosystem for apparel needs: reviews, email marketing, subscriptions, loyalty, returns, wholesale, etc.
• Low technical overhead — important when you only have three people
• Easy to expand into pop-ups or retail with POS tools Shopify

Best for: DTC apparel brands that want to grow from hundreds of orders/month into thousands without rebuilding the store. Ecommerce Website Create

Potential downside: You may rely on paid apps as your needs become more sophisticated, which can increase monthly costs.

2. bigcommerce.com — Better if you already have complex operations

Consider this if you expect:

• Lots of SKUs and product combinations
• Wholesale accounts
• Multiple storefronts or regions
• More advanced catalog rules

BigCommerce tends to include more commerce functionality natively, while Shopify often uses apps to extend functionality. BigCommerce

Best for: Apparel brands that are already getting operationally complicated.

Potential downside: It can feel heavier than you need as a three-person team.

3. woocommerce.com — Best if you already live in WordPress

Pros:

• Extremely customizable
• No shortage of plugins
• Great if your brand relies heavily on editorial content/blogging

Cons:

• More maintenance (hosting, updates, plugin conflicts)
• Usually requires more technical ownership

My recommendation for your situation

I’d start with:

Shopify + a carefully chosen app stack

• Shopify for storefront, checkout, inventory, orders
• A product review app
• Email/SMS marketing integration
• Returns/exchanges app
• Inventory forecasting once volume justifies it
• Discount rules app only if Shopify’s built-in promotions aren’t enough

A three-person team usually benefits more from speed and reliability than from maximum customization.

A few questions would change the recommendation:

1. How many SKUs do you expect (for example: 20 styles × 5 sizes × 4 colors)?
2. Are you selling only DTC, or also wholesale to boutiques?
3. Do you need complex discount logic (e.g., “buy 2 get 1 free,” VIP tiers, automatic markdowns, bundles)?

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d shortlist Shopify and BigCommerce, with Shopify as the default choice.

My recommendation

1. Shopify — best overall for your team

Why I’d start here:

• Strong inventory/SKU and variant management, which is important for apparel sizes/colors.
• Very easy for a small team to operate without a developer.
• Built-in discount codes and automatic discounts, including percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, minimum-purchase requirements, scheduled promotions, and discounts by product/collection. www.shopify.com
• Huge app ecosystem if you eventually need things like bundles, loyalty, subscriptions, advanced inventory, or more sophisticated promotions.
• Generally the safest choice if your goal is to grow without rebuilding the store later. Shopify is also currently ranked as a leading platform for scaling ecommerce brands. www.techradar.com

2. BigCommerce — best if your discount rules are unusually complex

This is the one I'd seriously consider if you already know you'll have rules like:

Buy 2 tees → 15% off
Spend $150 → $25 off
VIP customers → 20% off
Buy from Collection A → discount Collection B
BOGO with exclusions
Different promotions that interact with each other

BigCommerce has 70+ native discount options and supports sophisticated combinations involving products, categories, customer groups, quantities, cart values, BOGO, bundles, and promotion priority. www.bigcommerce.comwww.bigcommerce.comwww.shopify.com Its inventory system also supports SKU-level tracking and real-time inventory syncing across sales channels. www.bigcommerce.com

How I'd choose

I wouldn't choose Wix or Squarespace for this particular brief. They're excellent website builders, but once inventory, apparel variants, promotions, fulfillment, and growth become central to the business, I'd rather have an ecommerce-first platform.

Bottom line: I'd put your team on Shopify unless you can already identify several complicated promotion rules that Shopify's native discounts can't handle. Shopify's native system covers a lot; if you outgrow it, there are also hundreds of specialized discount apps available. www.shopify.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and what kinds of discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the best platform + plan for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d prioritize something that minimizes technical maintenance while giving you strong inventory and promotion controls.

My recommendation: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best fit if your goal is to grow without having someone on the team babysitting the website.

Why I’d choose it:

• Inventory: strong product/variant inventory management, which is especially useful for apparel sizes and colors.
• Discounts: straightforward percentage/fixed discounts, automatic promotions, and the ability to extend functionality with apps when your rules get more sophisticated.
• Ease of use: much less technical overhead than building a WordPress/WooCommerce store.
• App ecosystem: you can start simple and add functionality for things like bundles, loyalty, subscriptions, or advanced promotions later.
• Scalability: you won't necessarily need to rebuild the site when your catalog and order volume grow.

The other two I'd consider

BigCommerce is particularly interesting if "discount rules" is a major requirement. Its native promotions engine supports things like BOGO, quantity discounts, minimum-spend rules, customer groups, category/brand exclusions, tiered promotions, and combinations of conditions. www.bigcommerce.com

WooCommerce can do extremely sophisticated pricing, but advanced rules often mean adding extensions/plugins and maintaining WordPress. Its Dynamic Pricing extension supports rules based on products, quantities, order totals, roles, and categories. woocommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Shopify unless you already know you need complicated promotion logic such as:

"Buy 2 tops, get 20% off the cheaper one, except new arrivals, unless the customer is wholesale, and don't allow stacking with the VIP discount."

If that's the kind of rule set you're anticipating, I'd take a serious look at BigCommerce before committing. Its promotion engine is unusually flexible out of the box. docs.bigcommerce.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, your monthly order volume, and 3–5 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow it down to the best platform and plan for your brand.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d narrow it to Shopify vs. BigCommerce, with Shopify as my default recommendation.

My pick: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best fit if you want your team spending time on the brand rather than maintaining the website.

Why it fits apparel particularly well:

• Inventory: tracks stock by variant (size/color), locations, committed/available inventory, purchase orders, transfers, and low-stock workflows. www.shopify.com
• Discounts: supports automatic discounts and codes, percentage/$ discounts, free shipping, product/collection-level rules, minimum purchase requirements, scheduling, and discount combinations. www.shopify.com
• Apparel ecosystem: enormous ecosystem for returns, reviews, email/SMS, subscriptions, loyalty, wholesale, fulfillment, etc.
• Easy for a small team: less technical overhead than WooCommerce.
• Scales well: you won't need to rebuild the store when you're substantially larger.
• Current pricing starts at $39/month month-to-month or $29/month when paid annually for Basic. www.shopify.com

When I'd choose BigCommerce instead

BigCommerce is worth serious consideration if your discount logic is unusually complicated.

Its native promotions engine is particularly strong: it supports 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity tiers, customer groups, category/brand discounts, cart thresholds, and complex combinations—without necessarily needing an app. www.bigcommerce.com Its inventory system also handles multi-channel inventory and real-time syncing. www.bigcommerce.com

How I'd decide

Bottom line: I'd start with Shopify, unless you already know you need sophisticated rules like “VIP customers get 15% off category A, except sale items, plus buy-3-get-1, with different tiers based on cart value.” In that case, I'd evaluate BigCommerce first.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, where you sell (online only vs. retail/wholesale), and the kinds of discount rules you need, I can give you a much more specific recommendation—including which Shopify plan I'd use and which apps, if any, you'd actually need.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d recommend Shopify as the default choice.

Shopify

Why Shopify fits you

• Inventory: Strong native inventory management, including size/color variants, stock levels, transfers, returns, and multiple locations. Apparel can create a lot of SKU combinations, so this matters. www.shopify.com
• Discounts: Built-in percentage/fixed discounts, free shipping, Buy X Get Y, automatic discounts, eligibility rules, usage limits, and customer segmentation. help.shopify.com
• Small team: It's hosted and relatively low-maintenance, so your three-person team doesn't need to manage servers, security, updates, or a complicated WordPress stack.
• Growth: You can start relatively simply and add apps/integrations as your operation gets more sophisticated.
• App ecosystem: If you eventually need things like wholesale pricing, advanced promotions, subscriptions, loyalty, or more sophisticated inventory planning, there's a large ecosystem to extend it.

The main alternative I'd consider: BigCommerce

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is particularly attractive if complex discounting and merchandising rules are central to your business. It advertises 70+ native discount options, including BOGO, quantity/tiered discounts, customer-group discounts, category/brand rules, and cart thresholds without requiring third-party apps. www.bigcommerce.com

I'd lean BigCommerce over Shopify if you already know you'll have complicated promotions, wholesale/customer groups, or a highly complex catalog.

My recommendation

Bottom line: I'd start with Shopify unless your discount logic is unusually complicated. For a growing apparel brand, getting your team onto a clean, centralized system for products, variants, inventory, orders, and promotions is more valuable than maximizing customization on day one. Shopify's current plans start at relatively accessible levels, while the platform can scale considerably beyond a small operation. www.shopify.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, whether you sell wholesale, and the kinds of discount rules you need (e.g. “20% off sale items but not new arrivals,” “buy 2 get 1,” VIP pricing), I can narrow this down to the best platform and plan for your specific setup.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My recommendation

1. Shopify — best overall

• Very quick for a small team to launch and manage without a developer.
• Strong product/variant inventory management, which matters for apparel because you’ll likely have size × color × style SKUs.
• Excellent ecosystem for shipping, email/SMS, returns, analytics, POS, and marketing.
• Discounting can start simple and expand through apps when you need more sophisticated rules; the Shopify App Store currently has hundreds of discount/rule tools. apps.shopify.com
• It’s also the safest choice if you expect the brand to grow substantially. A 2026 comparison similarly identifies Shopify as the strongest general-purpose choice for clothing brands. apps.shopify.comecommercewebsitecreate.comdocs.bigcommerce.comwww.bigcommerce.com

2. BigCommerce — best if your discount logic is unusually complex

• Particularly strong if you need rules like “buy 2 from collection A, get 20% off collection B,” customer-tier discounts, quantity breaks, BOGO, exclusions, minimum spends, etc.
• Its promotion engine supports conditions, multiple rules, priorities, customer groups, product/category exclusions, and automatic promotions. docs.bigcommerce.com
• Inventory is also centralized and can sync across online, in-person, marketplaces, and social channels. www.bigcommerce.com
• The downside for a 3-person team: more platform than you may need, and generally a little less effortless than Shopify.

3. WooCommerce — best if your brand is already heavily invested in WordPress

• Maximum flexibility and control.
• But I'd avoid choosing it just for flexibility. You're a three-person team, so minimizing maintenance and technical overhead has real value.

What I'd choose for you

One important distinction: if by “discount rules” you mean things like 20% off sale items but not new arrivals; spend $200 get 15% off; buy 3 tees get the cheapest free; VIP customers get a different discount; don't stack certain promotions, tell me what rules you actually need. I can then compare Shopify vs. BigCommerce specifically against those rules, including what works natively versus what requires an app.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d recommend Shopify as the default choice.

Shopify is particularly strong for apparel because you get a relatively easy storefront builder while still having serious ecommerce infrastructure underneath—variants/SKUs, inventory, orders, payments, shipping, analytics, and a huge app ecosystem. It’s also widely regarded as the strongest general-purpose ecommerce platform for growing clothing brands. www.techradar.com

My shortlist

Why I'd pick Shopify: Your team is small, so minimizing operational overhead matters. Shopify gives you the core inventory/order system without requiring someone technical to maintain the site.

For discounts, Shopify can handle normal percentage/fixed discounts natively, and its app ecosystem can add more sophisticated rules. For example, the Shopify App Store currently has apps supporting BOGO, tiered discounts, gifts-with-purchase, upsells, stacking, scheduling, and rule-based promotions. apps.shopify.com

BigCommerce is the one I'd seriously consider instead if your phrase "discount rules" means really complicated rules—e.g. "buy 2 from collection A, get 1 from collection B at 50% off, except sale items, only for VIP customers, with promotion priority." Its promotion engine supports conditions, logical operators, customer groups, product/category rules, BOGO, minimum quantities/spend, exclusions, and promotion priority natively. docs.bigcommerce.com

It also has strong native inventory management and real-time inventory syncing across sales channels. www.bigcommerce.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Shopify unless you already know you'll need highly complex promotion logic.

A practical setup for a 3-person apparel company would be:

Shopify → theme → native inventory → native discounts → a discount/promotions app only when you hit a limitation.

That keeps the tech stack manageable rather than paying for enterprise-level complexity before you need it.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, where you sell (online only vs. wholesale/retail), and the kinds of discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to Shopify vs. BigCommerce and the specific plan I'd choose.

For a 3-person growing apparel brand, I’d generally recommend starting with Shopify unless you have unusually complex operations. Apparel has a lot of moving parts (sizes, colors, SKUs, seasonal drops, bundles, promo codes), and Shopify is designed around those workflows. ecommercewebsitecreate.com

My shortlist:

For your situation, I’d lean:

1. Shopify (most likely winner)

Choose this if you need:

• Size/color inventory tracking
• SKU management
• Discount codes and automatic promotions
• Wholesale or influencer discount codes later
• Instagram/TikTok/social selling
• A team that doesn’t want to maintain technical infrastructure

A typical apparel setup might include:

• Shopify for storefront + inventory
• A returns app
• An email/SMS marketing tool
• A review app
• Possibly a bundle/upsell app

2. BigCommerce (if your discount logic is advanced)

Consider it if you already know you’ll need rules like:

• “20% off only on certain collections”
• “Buy 3 tees, get the cheapest one free”
• “Different pricing for wholesale customers”
• Complex customer segmentation

BigCommerce has more discount functionality built in, which can reduce reliance on apps. docs.bigcommerce.com

Questions I’d use to make the final call:

1. Roughly how many SKUs do you expect in the next year (50, 500, 5,000+)?
2. Are you selling direct-to-consumer only, or also wholesale?
3. Do you need things like “buy one get one,” bundles, loyalty tiers, or VIP pricing?
4. Are you moving from an existing platform or starting from scratch?

If you’re under a few thousand SKUs and your team wants to focus on building the brand rather than managing software, Shopify is probably the right starting point.

For a 3-person, growing apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My ranking

1. Shopify — my pick

It fits apparel particularly well because you can manage size/color variants, SKUs, inventory, orders, marketing, and sales channels from one system. Current 2026 comparisons also consistently position Shopify as the stronger choice for scaling ecommerce brands. www.techradar.com

The big advantage for your use case is the ecosystem. If your discount requirements get beyond basic coupon codes—e.g. buy 2, get 20% off; spend $150, get $25 off; VIP customers get 15%; BOGO; free gift; exclude sale items—there are dedicated Shopify apps that add sophisticated rule-based promotions. apps.shopify.com

So your three-person team can start relatively simple without having to build custom commerce functionality.

2. BigCommerce — worth considering if your rules are unusually complex

BigCommerce has very strong native promotion logic. Its rules can handle things like BOGO, category-specific discounts, quantity thresholds, exclusions, fixed/percentage discounts, and promotion priority. docs.bigcommerce.com

Its inventory system is also strong, including SKU-level stock, multiple inventory locations, low-stock notifications, and syncing across sales channels. www.bigcommerce.com

The downside for a 3-person brand: I'd only choose it if you actually need that complexity. It can be more platform than you need initially.

3. Wix — good if the website/branding side matters more than sophisticated commerce

Wix can handle common apparel promotions such as buy-2-get-20%-off, category discounts, free shipping thresholds, and quantity-based discounts. support.wix.com

It's attractive if your store is relatively small and you want the easiest visual site-building experience. But I'd be more hesitant to put a rapidly growing apparel operation on it.

What I'd do in your shoes

Shopify + a good apparel-focused theme + minimal apps initially.

Don't overbuild it. You want the three of you spending your time on product, marketing, and fulfillment, rather than maintaining the website.

I'd specifically look for these capabilities:

• Size/color variants with individual SKUs
• Real-time inventory tracking
• Low-stock alerts
• Bundles and BOGO
• Automatic discounts based on cart value or quantity
• Customer/VIP-specific discounts
• Ability to exclude already-discounted products
• Discount stacking controls
• Instagram/TikTok/Google sales channels
• Easy returns/exchanges
• POS if you do pop-ups or physical events

One important caveat: don't assume Shopify's basic discount functionality will cover every complicated rule you have in mind. For advanced promotions, you may end up adding an app; Shopify's ecosystem makes that relatively easy, but it does add cost and another system to manage. apps.shopify.comwww.bigcommerce.comsupport.wix.com

If you tell me roughly (1) how many SKUs you have, (2) your monthly online sales, and (3) 3–5 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the best Shopify vs. BigCommerce setup and likely monthly cost for your brand.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My ranking

1. Shopify — my recommendation

Shopify gives a small team the best balance of storefront design, inventory, orders, payments, shipping, and administration. For apparel specifically, managing variants like size/color, stock levels, collections, and products is straightforward.

The important caveat is discount complexity. Shopify has a large ecosystem of discount apps for things like BOGO, quantity breaks, tiered discounts, automatic promotions, and conditional rules. apps.shopify.com

So if your rules are things like:

• 20% off a collection
• Buy 2, get 15% off
• Spend $150, get $25 off
• VIP customers get 10% off
• BOGO
• Free gift above a threshold
• Don't allow certain discounts to stack

…I'd choose Shopify and add an appropriate promotions app only when you actually need the more advanced rules.

Shopify

2. BigCommerce — worth considering if promotions are unusually important

BigCommerce is particularly attractive if you expect a large catalog, multiple inventory locations, or sophisticated merchandising. Its current plans support up to 4–8 inventory locations depending on tier, but some of the more advanced promotion capabilities are reserved for higher plans. www.bigcommerce.com

The current Core plan is $39/month monthly or $29/month when billed annually, with Growth at $105/$79. www.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce

3. WooCommerce — best if you already live in WordPress

WooCommerce can be extremely powerful for rules. Its Dynamic Pricing extension supports quantity, product, category, order-total, and role-based pricing. woocommerce.com

But for a three-person team, I'd only choose it if someone on your team is comfortable managing WordPress, plugins, hosting, updates, and occasional technical issues. You gain flexibility but take on more operational overhead.

WooCommerce

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Shopify. Don't overbuild it.

Use native Shopify for:

• Products/variants
• Inventory
• Orders
• Customers
• Basic discount codes
• Shipping
• Analytics

Then add one well-chosen discount/promotion app if your rules outgrow the native functionality.

For a growing apparel brand, I'd prioritize ease of inventory management + reliable checkout + low maintenance over having the most sophisticated promotion engine possible.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, your annual online sales, and the 3–5 discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the specific Shopify vs. BigCommerce setup I'd choose for you.

For a 3-person apparel brand, I’d make Shopify the default choice.

My ranking

1. Shopify — my recommendation.
It's particularly well suited to apparel because you can manage products/variants, inventory, orders, storefront, payments, and sales channels from one system. It's also a strong choice if you expect the brand to grow rather than wanting to rebuild later. A 2026 comparison likewise puts Shopify as the practical choice for most clothing brands. www.techradar.com

The big advantage for your requirement is discount flexibility. Shopify has a large ecosystem of discount apps for rules such as BOGO, tiered/quantity discounts, customer-specific offers, gifts with purchase, stacking, and scheduled promotions. apps.shopify.com

Shopify

2. BigCommerce — consider it if your discount logic is unusually complicated.
Its promotion engine is exceptionally powerful: rules can depend on products, categories, quantities, cart value, customer groups, exclusions, BOGO logic, and promotion priority. docs.bigcommerce.com It also has strong native inventory management and multichannel syncing. www.bigcommerce.com

For a three-person team, though, I'd choose it only if those advanced rules are genuinely important. Otherwise Shopify is generally the easier ecosystem to operate.

BigCommerce

3. WooCommerce — only if you already want WordPress.
It's very flexible and its core coupon system handles percentage, fixed-cart, and fixed-product discounts plus usage restrictions/limits. woocommerce.com But you'll be responsible for more of the hosting, maintenance, plugins, and technical stack, which isn't my first choice for a lean three-person brand.

WooCommerce

What I'd actually build

For your team, I'd aim for:

Shopify + a good apparel-focused theme + native inventory + one carefully chosen discount/promotion app only if your rules exceed the native functionality.

That keeps the operational burden low. You don't want three people spending their time maintaining a complicated ecommerce stack.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs/variants you have, whether you sell wholesale as well as DTC, and 3–5 examples of the discount rules you need, I can narrow this down to the exact Shopify vs. BigCommerce setup I'd use.

For a 3-person growing apparel brand, I’d usually recommend choosing a platform that minimizes technical maintenance while giving you strong control over SKUs, size/color variants, inventory, promotions, and future growth. My shortlist would be:

1. Shopify — Best overall fit for most apparel brands

Shopify

Why I’d put this first:

• Excellent handling of apparel variants (size, color, SKU tracking)
• Very easy for a small team to operate daily
• Huge ecosystem for things like email marketing, reviews, subscriptions, bundles, loyalty, returns, and analytics
• Strong checkout experience
• Good support for discount codes and automatic promotions, including Buy X Get Y offers. help.shopify.com

Best for your situation if you:

• Sell primarily DTC online
• Want to launch quickly
• Don’t have a dedicated developer
• Expect your catalog and marketing needs to grow

Potential downside:

• You may add paid apps as you scale, which increases monthly costs.

2. BigCommerce — Best if your discount logic or catalog gets more complex

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is worth considering if you anticipate:

• Lots of SKUs
• Wholesale/B2B selling
• More complex promotions
• Fewer third-party apps

It has more built-in promotion tools, including rules based on cart contents, quantities, customer groups, products, and categories. docs.bigcommerce.com

Best for:

• Apparel brands moving toward wholesale
• Larger catalogs
• Teams that want more native functionality

Potential downside:

• The ecosystem and general “plug-and-play” feel are not as beginner-friendly as Shopify.

3. WooCommerce — Best if you already live in WordPress

WooCommerce

Good choice if:

• Your brand is content-heavy
• You already have WordPress expertise
• You want maximum customization

Tradeoff:

• More responsibility for hosting, updates, security, plugins, and troubleshooting. unil.ink

What I’d pick for a 3-person apparel team

My default recommendation: start with Shopify unless you already know you need wholesale pricing, advanced catalog rules, or unusual discount logic. It’s the platform most likely to let a small team spend time on product, marketing, and customers instead of website maintenance. ecommercewebsitecreate.com

A few questions would change the recommendation:

1. Roughly how many products/SKUs do you have now (e.g., 20 styles × sizes/colors vs. 500+ SKUs)?
2. Do you sell only DTC, or also wholesale boutiques?
3. What discount rules do you need (simple codes, bundles, tiered pricing, VIP/customer groups, automatic promos)?