BigCommerce Review 2022

An Open SAAS Architecture with a Website Builder for any small business to set up an online store with great tools in managing products. The strength of this platform resides in B2B business models and it will span from SMB to Enterprise when it comes to scalability. This highly pragmatic platform seems to be poised to be a strong performer for 2022 - below is a summary of its strengths and weaknesses.

BigCommerce Advantages

Low Monthly Fees - Much like Shopify Pricing, BigCommerce Pricing is on parity with the three major plans. With Standard, Plus, and Pro plans for you to be selling your products. There are additional features over Shopify in some areas, with special platforms access such as BigCommerce B2B Edition.

Relatively Easy to Use - Web Designers find it easier to work with that Shopify since the architecture is open and compatible with WordPress Themes. You don't have to be restricted to Liquid programming language so you can more easily customize your online store. When it comes to setting up your store, configuring your products, and setting up a payment gateway with credit card processing to start selling, it is on par with competitive platforms like Wix or Shopify.

Fully Hosted - As a cloud platform (SAAS), you don't have the same level of maintenance to a hosted solution and it's on par with Wix, Shopify, and other Cloud-based platforms.

Theme Selection - While Shopify may have thousands of Themes to choose from, BigCommerce specific Themes have hundreds when it comes to their selection - you still have plenty ranging from Free Themes to Premium Themes. Call-to-action themes, or complex product themes, you have a lot to select from. However, keep in mind that BigCommerce is compatible with WordPress Themes - including Premium WordPress Themes.

BigCommerce Partners - With the need for customization, and creating your website with the right tools - BigCommerce Experts, a Knowledgebase, and Community are available at your disposal. To achieve good customer satisfaction during the build-out process and manage/optimize your features through BigCommerce Apps or even build your very own custom App, there are a lot of options for your eCommerce Website.

Third-Party Integrations - The platform's biggest strength is its Open SAAS architecture, a Superfast API interface supports this platform differentiating it from other SAAS platforms like Shopify where its REST API is slow in comparison.

Omnichannel and Internationalization - BigCommerce approaches this with a Headless eCommerce approach where you can build multiple front-end themed WordPress sites where BigCommerce sits in the back to process the orders. You can have a product strategy for B2C and B2B the same way, making your product marketing more efficient to structure and communicate.

Social Media friendly - In order to sell online, it takes a capable platform with a flexible shopping cart to insert and interact with social media platforms. Some paid themes may include Instagram or other social media insertions within the theme, or BigCommerce Apps might do the job. The same goes with Facebook Messenger and other social media tools that are easily added to your store without too much trouble.

Inventory Management - To offer great customer service, requires you to manage your inventory such that you don't over-sell or know when to re-order based on your run rate. The good news is that BigCommerce has good product management roles and tools to keep this well under control.

Operating Costs - While you can have a scaling of cost through BigCommerce Apps because BigCommerce has more features for the same plan level than Shopify you have less reliance on Apps for certain features. Besides, BigCommerce Enterprise is priced at about 1/2 of Shopify Plus when it comes to the monthly fee. Most importantly, BigCommerce does NOT change per transaction - which is a massive advantage.

Expanded Customization - With Open SAAS and a fast API, you can have limitless capabilities in achieving your specific funnels, customer experiences and apply the full set of tools of the internet in your eCommerce store. You can also fully customize the checkout experience, where you can see limitations in the Shopify architecture.

B2B Capabilities - This platform is natural for B2B, with the B2B Edition, you have all the tools to manage clients and deal with custom payments with all the various marketing tools needed at your disposal.

BigCommerce Challenges

Email Marketing - BigCommerce does not have its own integrated feature but you can add your MailChimp or other tools relatively easily - they have plenty of Email Marketing Apps.

Short Free Trial - A 15-day Free Trial is offered with BigCommerce, so you have to have a plan when it comes to executing your online store. Have your products ready, your assets (Photos, Logos, etc.), SEO (Keywords, Meta Descriptions, Titles...), and your online store features.

Technical Support - Given the size of the client base of BigCommerce getting support in a timely manner is really based on your BigCommerce Plan (BigCommerce Enterprise has much greater access) and the BigCommerce Partners you enlist. The higher your sales volume, the larger the risk associated with any defects and management of promotional activities (sales, discounts, coupons, loyalty points, etc.) which to offset that risk, the right support to ensure your execution must be in place.

Creating a Website

During the 15-day trial, select a good BigCommerce Theme and use the website builder for your website design, and make it mobile-friendly. Building a website focuses on your brand, your marketing using the SEO tools within the Theme. An online business web design efforts usually focus on the conversion of their finished goods. At the conclusion of your 15-day trial selecting a paid plan or if you are finished before the end of the trial, and are ready to transact, the paid plan selection is a requirement.

What type of business is NOT optimized for BigCommerce

Because this platform is more open-ended - it does require better planning, and it is not just click-and-add Apps and your store is ready. This platform is for more mature and knowledgeable business entities, not so much for entry-level which it can do, but can get confused along the way. The confusion is in areas that give you too many options, or the options are not there laid out to be clicked on - it might require a custom App, or know how to configure your store for B2B for example. There is plenty of support, and there are BigCommerce Experts ready to assist.

Conclusion

If you are considering the BigCommerce Platform for your business, a stronger discipline in having your data structure, your business processes, and business model. Being a cloud-based platform the hosting service is a given, this full-featured platform can deliver one of the strongest presence as an online store. This BigCommerce review gives a contrast to the Shopify Review counterpart. If you have questions and need to discuss your options for your online business, feel free to give us a shout at wish@thegenielab.com. We strive to attain expertise by certification, building Apps and launching online stores at all levels of the spectrum and love what we do.