BigCommerce
Author: Kalicia Bateman
BigCommerce was founded in 2003 by two people from Australia who moved to Texas in hopes of making a name for themselves in the world of eCommerce. Originally the owners planned to cater their eCommerce services to small and medium-sized businesses, but because of BigCommerce's growth, the company is now able to handle large-scale businesses as well.
The Good
- Themes
- Integration Tools
- Additional Features
Themes
BigCommerce is constantly improving its services and providing new themes for its customers. It currently has over 50 different professional themes to choose from. These themes are optimized for most catalog sizes, merchandise categories, and promotions. Prices for these themes range between $145 and $195, but if you don't want to pay for a premium theme then BigCommerce has twelve styles of free themes available.
Integration Tools
BigCommerce also offers unique integration tools that allow users to connect to and leverage their social networks. This gives storefront owners access to a massive potential customer base. BigCommerce also has its own unique app store that offers powerful additional features for tools like email marketing, accounting, shipping, analytics, etc. While some of the apps in BigCommerce's app store are free, others are not.
Additional Features
BigCommerce offers unique additional features for its customers. Additional features include the following:
- Over 10 years in the eCommerce platform industry
- Over 50 themes to choose from
- 15-day free trial
- Live chat available for customer support
- BigCommerce University to help you set up your eCommerce business
The Bad
- Pricing
- Support
Pricing
While BigCommerce's pricing is reasonable, there are maximums for each annual online sales that forces you to get a more expensive plan. For example, with its Standard plan your max is $50,000 and if you are doing more business than the limit, you will have to pay for an upgraded plan which is at least $50 more per month.
Support
BigCommerce offers 24/7 customer support Monday through Friday via phone and email from 2:00 AM to 6:00 PM, but it appears no one is in the office for the majority of Saturday or Sunday. This could be concerning for storefront owners since the Internet never sleeps and technical issues can cost online stores a lot in revenue.
The Bottom Line
BigCommerce is a great option for serious business people who want to leverage their products and grow their businesses. For online store owners who take a more casual approach to their business, BigCommerce may not be the best option since its cheapest package is still somewhat pricey. For people concerned about security, BigCommerce makes it clear on its website that its sites feature "bank vault" level security features. Overall, BigCommerce has a strong presence in the market and is a great option for anyone trying to develop a strong online presence.
