With e-commerce becoming more and more popular, many tools and platforms are becoming available to help people with online selling. BigCommerce is one of these tools and works to create and manage an online cloud-based shopping cart for any size online e-commerce business.

BigCommerce helps to manage and maintain every aspect of an e-commerce business. With the platform, you can create a great online website, develop your storefront, manage payments, and customize checkout and shipping options.

With so much in the cloud now and with so many tools available, running an online store is easier than ever before.

About BigCommerce.com

BigCommerce was founded in 2009 by Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper and has undergone several branding changes over the years. The latest iteration of BigCommerce takes influence from other popular cloud-based shopping cart solutions such as Shopify, creating a very easy to use interface that is packed with features.

BigCommerce made the Forbes list of the World’s Best Cloud Companies in 2016 and has also made Inc. 5000’s List of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies.

BigCommerce has a complete set of tools to create and manage an online store and website, and these tools are capable of being used by any size e-commerce organization. The service includes many flexible, extensive, and customizable tools that offer great support for all types of businesses that need to sell their products online.

Much like other popular e-commerce platforms, BigCommerce is an e-commerce solution which works to integrate seamlessly with your website and business.

Currently, BigCommerce is being used in over 150 countries and by over 95,000 stores. Over $3 billion in sales has been facilitated through the e-commerce platform, helping merchants of all levels to reach greater revenue by selling products online.

Top Features of BigCommerce.com

The BigCommerce platform has a long list of features, and many more features are being released and developed regularly. Great tools come right out of the box and are ready and available to use, although some individual features for BigCommerce users vary depending on which plan you decide to choose. Below are a few of the main features you can expect from BigCommerce.

ADMIN

BigCommerce has an excellent website builder that will allow you to build, customize, and manage your site with ease. With great templates to choose from, you will be able to make an elegant looking site and shop that are perfect for your shop setup purposes, whatever they may be.

BigCommerce also allows for custom domains so you can make your site and brand appear as professional as possible.

BigCommerce allows for bulk importing and exporting of your products via CSV, meaning you can easily get set up and add new products.

The platform also includes a variety of SEO tools to help improve your search engine presence. You can also use the platform’s email tools to interact more efficiently with customers while keeping them engaged in your business.

Blog features are also built right into the BigCommerce platform, allowing you to easily set up a blog that will provide that extra bit of value to your customers.

There are also numerous tools to understand and better evaluate your customers. Customer segmentation tools, purchasing trends, demographics, and insights are available to know your customers better. However, some of these are limited to use by customers using the Pro Plan, or higher.

STOREFRONT

BigCommerce offers heaps of customization for the storefront and has multiple templates to choose from.

The storefront can be customized by adding social sharing buttons. Users can use these to easily share your site or specific products with their social media network.

The storefront options include a useful filtered search function, so customers can easily find relevant products on your site. Additionally, your customers will have the ability to create wish lists and see a list of recently viewed products.

Many options are available for the product pages as well. The product pages allow for high-quality product images, and you can also choose to add a section for product and customer reviews.

CHECKOUT

For checkout functions, BigCommerce delivers anything you may need for your online store. A single page checkout is an option, and this will allow customers to get through checkout with minimal hassle.

The checkout process also has options for creating and applying discounts. For the Plus Plan and above, abandoned cart recovery helps to deal with lost shopping carts.

Customers can make purchases as a guest or choose to create an account.

SHIPPING

For shipping needs, the BigCommerce platform offers plenty of customization options. ShipperHQ can be easily integrated with your site, and shipping quotes can be provided in real-time for all the major carriers such as UPS, FedEx, and USPS.

You may also choose to drive sells by offering free shipping for customers. For example, you can set up free shipping for anybody who spends over $200 during a purchase.

MULTICHANNEL SELLING

One of the best selling points of the BigCommerce system is the fact that so many integrations and multichannel selling options are available.

The Square POS system can be easily integrated into the BigCommerce platform, making online and offline sales extremely simple and easy.

BigCommerce offers a huge list of apps that you can integrate into the platform including services such as ChannelAdvisor, Facebook Ads, Quickbooks Online, MailChimp, and any more. Some of the apps available are completely free to use while some will need an additional subscription or purchase.

All of the major markets can be integrated into your shop so that you can display your products on websites such as Ebay, Amazon, ETSY, Rakuten, and Jet.

BigCommerce also integrates into social media accounts, and it is possible to sell using a shop on Facebook, or Buyable Pins on Pinterest.

Global selling is also streamlined, and tools help to make the process as simple as possible for all parties. BigCommerce offers currency conversion, international shipping abilities, and multilingual support, meaning people anywhere in the world can consume your products.

BigCommerce also has great integrations and options for mobile commerce, and the included themes are all mobile compatible.

BigCommerce.com Prices

BigCommerce has a free 15-day trial, so you can try the platform before buying it. The plans start at 29.95 a month, and each pricing plan is based on how much your business earns.

The Standard Plan is $29.95 per month and will allow you up to $50k in sales per year.

The Plus Plan will cost you $79.95 per month and will allow for up to $150k in sales per year.

The Pro Plan will cost you $249.95 per month and will allow for up to $400k in sales per year. The Pro Plan costs an additional $150 per month for each additional $200k and reaches up to $1M.

The enterprise plan is available for unlimited sales, and the rates are customized.

The prices are as follows:

• Standard Plan $29.95 Up to $50,000
• Plus Plan $79.95 Up to $125,000
• Pro Plan $199.95 Up to $1,000,000
• Enterprise Plan Custom Unlimited

Criticism Of BigCommerce.com

Although many users are completely satisfied with the BigCommerce platform, others have issues with the service. There has been occasional dissatisfaction with customer support resolutions for some customers.

Others have complained about the occasional downtime that BigCommerce suffers. Users have been unable to access their admin pages when needed.

Another big complaint about BigCommerce is that in 2016, the company unveiled some very sudden changes in their pricing tier. The platform added caps to the number of sales for each pricing plan, and many users were automatically bumped up to a different plan. The company only gave a few months notice for these changes, leaving many customers angry and frustrated.

Customer Support

BigCommerce support is generally good, and the representatives are available for assistance 24/7. You can reach customer service using multiple methods, including phone, email, or chat.

A client success team is readily available to help with any customer issues. Support is provided for any help you need with migration and onboarding.

Additionally, BigCommerce provides dedicated account management for larger customers.

The platform also has plenty of resources available and offers tutorials that you can use to get your bearings. There are webinars, Youtube resources, a resource center, knowledge base, and design guide to help you use the platform and get the most out of your site.

Final Thoughts

BigCommerce is a great competitor to Shopify and other cloud-based shopping cart platforms. Whether you’re starting your first shop or have been in business for years, BigCommerce has solutions for just about any kind of user.

The platform is feature packed, incredibly customizable, and is easy to use.

There are some qualms about customer service, and there has been some dissatisfaction with the sudden price increases, but all in all BigCommerce is a wonderful platform that gets the job done.

If you’re looking to start or manage an e-commerce store, there are few services that will satisfy your needs more than BigCommerce.