BigCommerce software begin in 2003 as a locally installed shopping cart program called Interspire. As cloud technology took over the market, the original developers decided to move with the prevailing trends and transitioned to a universal BigCommerce in 2012. Today, BigCommerce consistently ranks among the top 5 shopping carts and supports around 100,000 online stores. Read our BigCommerce review below.
OverviewBigcommerce comes with all the features you would expect from one of the industry leaders. It offers a full package of features that are meant to make it easier to tackle all the details that are involved in starting your own business.
Who is Bigcommerce best for?
Bigcommerce comes with all the tools you will need to start a business. It also makes it easy for you to migrate or expand an existing business. However, this platform is perhaps strongest when it comes to design and ease of use. If you are intimidated by the idea of designing your storefront and creating a professional site, Bigcommerce is a good eCommerce platform to have on your side. The templates are perfect for beginners and easy to customize. They are also flexible enough to accommodate larger, more established businesses.
Does Bigcommerce come with significant limitations?
In all honesty, Bigcommerce doesn’t have any glaring flaws. You will enjoy unlimited bandwidth and storage with every package. Their security protections are up-to-date. The design features are easy to use, and it comes with a ton of great features. While it does all of these things well, some competitors simply do it a little bit better.
Scalability
Bigcommerce is meant to help your business grow. It comes with web site traffic reporting and built-in marketing and conversion tools. This means that it is also ready to grow your business. Whether you are just launching your business or looking to migrate a well-established business, Bigcommerce is flexible enough to fit your needs and adapt as your business changes.
BigCommerce Enterprise eCommerce Software
If your online store makes $1 million or more in sales, BigCommerce is probably the eCommerce platform you use. It’s the top enterprise eCommerce platform choice for Fortune 500 and Internet Retailer 1000 brands.
Toyota and Martha Stewart use the BigCommerce enterprise level platform to deliver fully customizable buying experiences to customers. Its open architecture gives you the power to connect with other critical software you use to run your business.
Your customers expect to buy from you on their favorite social media platforms. BigCommerce has native integrations for eBay, Facebook, Pinterest, and many others.
Bank-grade security, automatic fraud detection, and a 99.99% server uptime record are just a few of the reasons why online stores who’ve reached the level of hundreds or thousands of daily orders choose BigCommerce as their partner.
BigCommerce knows that even a 1-second page load delay can cost over $500,000 in lost sales for an online store with sales of $25,000 a day. This enterprise level platform is reliable, scalable, and secure. You’ll even be assigned a dedicated account manager.
Canceling your account
With Bigcommerce, you can cancel your account at any time without penalties. You won’t receive any refunds, so be careful if you pay for an entire year upfront.
Reputation
In the competitive field of online shopping cart platforms, Bigcommerce has a solid position in the top 5. It isn’t a runaway winner, but it is a reliable and reputable option that offers competitive features. Think of it more like an individual program rather than one with a real “wow” factor.
Awards
2014 winner of the Gold Stevie Award for Company of the YearEcommerce Bytes’ Overall Winner of the Sellers Choice Awards for Online Shopping Carts 2014Name the 15th Fastest-Growing Company in the Austin Business Journal’s Fast 50 Awards2014 Best Enterprise eCommerce – Critics Choice from CMS Awards2014 eCommerce for SMB – Critics Choice from CMS Awards
Why choose Bigcommerce?
All in all, it is an excellent choice. It provides all the features you will need to start your store at an affordable price. You won’t have to worry about many of the limitations that other competitors have put in place. If your biggest concern is designing a professional store without having to hire a professional, then Bigcommerce maybe the right choice for you. When it comes to ease of use and attractive templates, Bigcommerce has a lot to offer.
Key FeaturesA comprehensive look at expert reviews shows that Bigcommerce is well liked even among the critics. While every writer has their own rating system, Bigcommerce consistently receives 4.5 out of 5 stars and excellent reviews. Experts seem to be particularly impressed with the range of high-quality tools and standard features. Bigcommerce comes out of the box with more features than most of its competitors.
It also helps that Bigcommerce provides an extensive app store. Experts are quick to point out how easy it is to integrate popular, third party programs. Users can quickly expand the functionality of their store with available apps.
Any negative reviews that prevent the program from earning a perfect rating seem pretty trivial and vary widely among experts. Some would like to see more payment options and better themes. The most common and important complaint to take note of involves ease of use. Compared to other programs,Bigcommerce has some room for improvement when it comes to the user experience. While it is a highly accessible and flexible option, many experts prefer the Shopify because as easier to use and navigate. Despite that, Bigcommerce still comes highly recommended as a solid all-around solution.
There is a lot of praise out there for Bigcommerce and its features. After all, it is one of the most popular programs on the market. Here are the most common refrains that can be found on review sites all over the web:
Most of the negative review tend to focus on issues that are mostly technical in nature.
Design & CustomizationBigcommerce has a reputation for providing some of the most attractive templates available. It doesn’t hurt that they are also easy to edit and customize.You can choose from hundreds of free and premium themes.While the free options certainly provide enough for you to create an attractive and functional store, you may want to consider purchasing a premium theme to enjoy more options.Paid themes cost around $150 to $200.
Website Builder Interface and Customization
There are a variety of ways to customize your site. Use the WYSIWYG editor to make changes with simple drag and drop tools. You can also use the “design mode” to directly edit the storefront. For those with coding experience, you can also easily access both HTML and CSS. Choose the option that best fits your skill level. If you are feeling ambitious, you can build your site from scratch.
With so many editing options, it is easy to customize your site. Add your logo and color scheme and resize navigation menus as needed. The photo gallery makes allows you to organize and store all your images. Inserting media and links just take a few clicks.
Mobile Site Building
Recently, Bigcommerce made a big push make more of their themes mobile friendly. There are still some options listed in the theme store that will require you to build a separate mobile store. It is probably best to just stay away from these. Save yourself some time by choosing a responsive design from the start.
Social Media Integration
Visit the marketing section of your dashboard to integrate and manage your social media accounts. You can even include links that allow you to sell directly on Facebook or eBay.
Design Services
Instead of offering in-house design services, Bigcommerce has created a network of resources. You can browse through potential designers and choose the right fit. Be sure to read customer reviews and compare prices. This creates a competitive market for services that ultimately benefits you, the customer.
Features & Tools | Feature | Overview |
|---|---|
| Online store setup | If you are familiar with the backend of WordPress, getting setup on Bigcommerce will be easy. A step-by-step tutorial also helps guide you through important functions. For beginners without any experience, there will be a slight learning curve. Fortunately, there are many help resources, and the control panel is very intuitive. Bigcommerce provide one of the easiest store setup processes. |
| Bandwidth and Storage | Enjoy unlimited bandwidth and storage with every package. Add as many products as you want. There is no need to worry about overages. |
| Shopping Cart Plugins and Add-ons | There are 227 available add-ons, and that number is always growing. Quickly and easily integrate some of the most popular programs. |
| Order Management | Bigcommerce comes with basic order management tools. If you are looking for additional data and control, visit the app store. There are plenty of programs that can increase functionality. |
| Inventory Management | Bigcommerce has a strong showing in this area. You can upload quickly products in just a few clicks. Customize the settings to suit best your industry and quickly check inventory levels. Tracking your product levels is simple. |
| Shipment Tracking | With Bigcommerce, you can customize your shipping options. Use dropshipping and a tax calculator to make shipping easy. Third party shippers allow both you and the customer to track packages. |
| CRM Features | A convenient search feature enables you to locate customers. This is an excellent way to track tickets and communicate with existing customers. You can also use these features to send out newsletters and promote sales. |
| Templates and Themes | There are hundreds of free and premium themes to choose from. All of them are easy to customize and will help you store increase traffic. |
| Integrations and Add-ons | With over 200 add-ons, you can incorporate almost any function into your site. Choose from some of the most popular programs on the market including, MailChimp and Freshbooks. The one-click installation feature couldn’t be easier to use. |
| Mobile eCommerce | While the majority of themes are responsive, there are still a few that are not mobile friendly. Also, Bigcommerce claims that you can manage your store from any device. Technically, you can, but it can be a real pain and not worth the effort. Stay close to your computer if you are expecting a busy day. |
| Web Hosting | Enjoy full web-hosting and powerful servers. |
| App Store | The Bigcommerce app store is one of the best. There are hundreds of choices and installation can take as little as one mouse click. |
| Blogging | The blogging feature is standard with every package. |
| SEO and Marketing | A lot of the marketing features are completely automated. Create custom URLs, metadata, and 301 redirects. The platform also takes care of sitemaps and canonical links. You can focus on building your blog and creating newsletters. |
| Newsletters | CRM features make it easy to target customers with relevant newsletters. You can also add email programs such as MailChimp if you would like. |
| Security Features | Every package includes automatic security updates. Also, your data is saved, so you won’t have to worry about losing your store in the event of a major crash. An SSL certificate will also protect your customer’s personal information and prevent fraud. |
| PCI Certification | Bigcommerce is Tier 1 PCI certified. |
| Content Creation | Between the WYSIWYG editor and standard blogging features, adding content is quick and easy. |
| Gift Certificates | All packages include a coupon, discount and gift certificate capabilities. |
| Payment Options | Bigcommerce offers over 40 different payment gateways. Customers can use credit cards, PayPal and a variety of different gateways. |
| Tax and Shipping Calculators | Automatically calculates tax and shipping cost according to location. |
| Reports | The Standard Plan doesn’t offer much when it comes to reporting. You can use Google Analytics to track performance, but you will have to upgrade to a more expensive plan to view more data. The Plus Plan comes with abandoned cart reporting and real-time shipping. Depending on the size of your business and your budget, it may be worth the extra money. |
| Site Statistics | Google Analytics is the easiest way to generate reports. You can track customer spending, view unique visitors and measure best-selling items. This is a free tool that will help you improve your website. |
Plans & Pricing Take advantage of the free 15-day trial. You don’t need a credit card to register, and you can get to know the platform in just a few days. If you decide to purchase a plan, consider paying upfront for a year’s subscription to save 10%. Otherwise, you will pay on a monthly basis.
Pricing Packages
Standard – $29.95/month
This plan is recommended for businesses with a sales volume of $50,000 per year. It is a basic option that will allow you to get started but excludes many reporting tools.
Plus – $79.95/month
Best for businesses with up to $125,000 in online sales per year. This plan includes real-time carrier shipping, abandoned cart saver and advanced customer segmentation.
Enterprise – Call for pricing
Running a big business with hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales? You will want to ask about the Enterprise Plan. It offers a complete package for growing businesses.
You will find that most shopping carts offer a basic package from around $30 a month. What varies is what features are included with that monthly fee. Compared to other options, Bigcommerce includes a fair share of important features. It looks like the pricing packages are designed to encourage you to sign up for the Plus Plan. If you shop around, you may find that you can enjoy Plus Plan features for a lower price with other platforms.
Customer Support Bigcommerce also ranks well when it comes to customer support. There are a variety of easy ways to access both technical and sales support 24/7. Visit the support portal to contact representatives by
You can also visit the Bigcommerce University. This learning center is full of tutorials. Search by topic and find a helpful video that addresses your needs. The knowledge base is also full of informative articles. You can also visit the community forum to post questions and enter discussions with other users.Also, be on the lookout for regular webinars. These events cover eCommerce topics and will help you stay ahead of trends. The customer support system covers all the bases, but may not be a fail-proof system.
While there are a variety of ways to reach support, their actual customer service leaves something to be desired. It can take a long time to receive an answer.
In addition, not all the representatives are knowledgeable and helpful. In fact, the number one complaint against Bigcommerce is a failure to resolve issues. Unfortunately, you may be better off searching the resources for answers than trying to contact someone.
Ease of Use A big part of why Bigcommerce has won so many awards and stays atop the industry leaderboard is because it is so easy to use. When it comes to setting up your store, adding products and managing day-to-day operations, Shopify is the only other platform currently in the same league. If launching a professional looking store is your priority, the Bigcommerce can meet your needs.
When it comes to designing a website, there is nothing easier than a drag and drop WYSIWYG editor. Bigcommerce takes design ease one step further by adding a design mode. This allows you to make real-time changes directly to the storefront. Even beginners can quickly learn to navigate the interface. Primary functions are easy to locate and both the user and customer interface fully functional and easy to navigate. Avoid a lengthy learning curve and get started selling sooner with Bigcommerce.
Conclusion Is Bigcommerce the Right Choice for Your Online Store?
Maybe. Without a doubt, it is a robust and reliable option. When it comes to great templates and ease of use, the competition is pretty thin. Bigcommerce also offers all the features you will need to run a business. Plus, you don’t have to worry about hidden costs or performance limitations. It does everything you would want it.
The one drawback is that some eCommerce platforms like Shopify or Volusion do all these same things just a little bit better. In the end, it may just come down to personal preference. Perhaps you fell in love with a theme during the free trial, or you took right to the admin dashboard. If that is the case, you won’t be disappointed with Bigcommerce and what it can do for your business.
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