Bigcommerce Review

BigCommerce Review – Is This the Right Option for You?

eCommerce has revolutionized the way businesses operate all around the world. It allows entrepreneurs and business owners to expand their sales borders and reach a larger audience on a global scale.

With over $9 million processed in online transactions in 2022, BigCommerce is one of the most widely used ecommerce platforms available today.

In this BigCommerce review, we’ll walk you through a big-commerce store’s key features, benefits, and downsides.

What Is BigCommerce?

Founded in 2003, BigCommerce is an online platform for businesses seeking to create online stores to sell their products.

It mainly targets small and medium-sized companies looking to transfer their business online and reach broader audiences.

It is one of the more popular all-in-one platforms available within the e-commerce industry, attracting clientele from various industries.

Famous brands using BigCommerce include Toyota, United Arab Emirates, Martha Stewart, Skullcandy, and more.

BigCommerce operates as a SaaS (Software as a service). Users must pay a monthly fee to use it instead of owning the software.

Additionally, users aren’t required to invest in web hosting or download anything to use the platform.

Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or an experienced business owner, using BigCommerce can significantly boost your sales.

BigCommerce Monthly Pricing

BigCommerce prides itself on a pricing model philosophy that encourages a fair, predictable, and transparent system for growing brands.

BigCommerce offers four monthly pricing options for its users.
Each plan includes zero transaction fees, unlimited bandwidth storage, and unlimited staff accounts.

• BigCommerce Standard: $29
• BigCommerce Plus: $79
• BigCommerce Pro: $299
• BigCommerce Enterprise: The monthly pricing for this option is based on the businesses’ customer sales.

The various functions users navigate on BigCommerce depend on how much they’re prepared to pay monthly. In this BigCommerce review, we’ll break down the respective features of each plan on offer.

BigCommerce Standard

At $29.99, the “Standard” option is the cheapest of all the plans on offer at BigCommerce.

However, despite matching prices with other e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Wix, and Volusion, BigCommerce’s entry-level plan involves a far more complex startup.

That said, this means that BigCommerce arguably gives its customers access to more features for less money.

Features included with the BigCommerce Standard plan include:

• The option of selling an unlimited number of products
• Unlimited bandwidth and file storage
• An unlimited amount of staff accounts
• Access to several sales channels including Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and Google
• The option to use different currencies, with available automatic conversion
• Access to BigCommerce via your mobile device
• Coupons, gift cards, and discount codes
• Regular product ratings and professional reviews

As mentioned earlier, BigCommerce Standard offers a host of valuable features. However, it’s important to note that the standard plan limits users to an annual sale of $50,000.

BigCommerce Plus

The most popular of all the BigCommerce plans, BigCommerce Plus, has much to offer its customers for the monthly price of $79.95. Perhaps the reason for the success of this plan is that it provides features that can significantly help boost overall sales.

 Along with all the features of the standard startup plan, BigCommerce Plus provides users with a few extra tools to help with online business growth.

• The option to create loyalty programs by segmenting customers for pricing, product action, and promotions. Different customers can gain rewards based on their activities.
• An “Abandoned Cart Saver” conversion tool that encourages customers to complete purchases.
• A “Persistent Cart” automatically saves their shopping cart no matter which device they are using.

Customers opting for BigCommerce Plus can expect an annual sales limit of $180,000.

BigCommerce Pro

Next on the list is BigCommerce Pro, priced at $299.95 a month. This plan offers all the same features as BigCommerce Standard and Plus, including enabling Google Customer Reviews.

This allows future customers to review your product once it is bought from your e-commerce store. The product reviews can then be displayed on your website for new customers.

While this option doesn’t offer much more than BigCommerce Plus in terms of general functionality, it does provide a significantly larger sales limit of up to $400,000.

BigCommerce Pro gives users an extra $150 per month for sales hitting $200,000 or more.

BigCommerce Enterprise

The final plan to take into consideration is BigCommerce Enterprise. As the name suggests, this option mainly targets high-earning corporations that need more developed sales strategies.

The features available with BigCommerce Enterprise are as follows:

• The option of segmenting price lists based on customer groups
• Express routing and priority support
• Unlimited API support

Generally, customers who opt for BigCommerce Enterprise can expect a lot more hands-on approach from BigCommerce – including in-depth support with setup and overall management of your account.

In addition, unlike the other BigCommerce plans, the Enterprise option allows users to negotiate their annual sales limit to fit their specific business requirements.

What if You Can’t Make Up Your Mind?

Before committing to a plan, customers are offered a 15-day free trial with BigCommerce to understand how the Software works.

If satisfied after the free trial, they can choose which monthly BigCommerce pricing plan to opt for.

Additionally, customers can save 10% off their subscription if they pay for their plan annually.

How Easy Is BigCommerce to Use?

BigCommerce is relatively simple to navigate, sharing aesthetic similarities with other ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Squarespace.

Some customers have even compared the BigCommerce dashboard to WordPress.

First-time customers will particularly benefit from BigCommerce’s easy-to-use platform.

In addition, the all-in-one option means that new businesses may not be required to invest additional money towards hiring a developer, thus allowing them to save money.

Setting up an account is also an easy process. To get started, all you need to do is provide your email address, home address, and phone number and answer some questions regarding your business.

When everything is set up and logged in to your account, you will notice a vertical menu on the screen’s left side.

All the key features you’ll need to use (e.g., “Orders,” “analytics,” etc.) can be found there. In addition, BigCommerce recently decided to insert a drag-and-drop feature for page building.

This way, users can insert text boxes, images, and columns by simply dropping them onto the page as desired.

The “Create New Product” page allows users to add their products to their page easily.

Customers must follow the instructions and enter the relevant product information in the required box (E.g., price, product code, tax, type, etc.).

Once you get started with BigCommerce, you’ll be offered a choice of 12 free templates for your site.

Once you’ve chosen the one you wish to use, setting up your site is easy, and you are guided by professionals the whole time.

The Advantages of Using BigCommerce

In this section of our BigCommerce review, we’ll be highlighting some key features of the program platform that may be of interest.

Adaptability

Over half of all online shopping traffic comes from mobile phones, with over 230 million consumers living in the U.S. owning smartphones.

Therefore, ensuring that your online business is easily accessible from a mobile device guarantees that many more potential customers will see it.

What’s more, BigCommerce was the first e-commerce platform to team up with Google AMP (accelerated mobile pages). The benefits of this collaboration include:

• A simplification of product pages
• Immediate access to product details
• Quicker page loading time

The “Abandoned Cart Saver” Feature

The “Abandoned Cart Saver” feature distinguishes BigCommerce from other e-commerce platforms.

This handy tool allows business owners to send three emails to potential customers who didn’t buy anything but left their shopping cart with items inside. 

This vital feature can potentially increase your overall revenue as many online stores tackle this problem of abandoned carts.

The best part is that once you’ve set up the automated emails, you’ll no longer need to revisit that setting, as it will automatically be enabled.

However, potential customers should note that this feature is only available with BigCommerce’s “Plus,” “Pro,” and “Enterprise” plans.

The Use of Multi-Currency

It makes sense that the more currencies your business can accept worldwide, the more sales you will achieve overall.

This feature puts BigCommerce in a better position than competitors such as Squarespace, which doesn’t support multi-currency use.

Adapting to different currencies is a straightforward process when using BigCommerce.

All free themes that are available with BigCommerce support sales in multiple currencies.

If you prefer to pay for a particular theme, you can check in with BigCommerce support to ensure that the chosen theme supports the use of multiple currencies.

Integrating With Other Platforms

BigCommerce allows its customers to integrate with many high-end platforms, including Amazon, eBay, and Facebook.

This feature drives additional traffic to individual sites and heightens the likelihood of increased sales via the bigcommerce app store.

No Transaction Fees

Many potential users’ questions may be: “How much money will BigCommerce take from my sales?” Unlike competitors such as Shopify, BigCommerce doesn’t charge transaction fees on its plans.

This is a tremendous advantage to startup businesses as they won’t need to worry about losing money from sales.

Despite no transaction fees, BigCommerce users will still need to pay card processing fees to the chosen credit card companies when they wish to process any payments.

The simplest way of navigating credit card transactions on BigCommerce is to use the default payment option of PayPal powered by Braintree.

Additionally, PayPal transaction rates gradually decrease depending on customers’ pricing plan.

These are the current rates in U.S. dollars:

• BigCommerce Standard: 2.59% plus 49c
• BigCommerce Plus: 2.35% plus 49c
• BigCommerce Pro: 2.05% plus 30c
• BigCommerce Enterprise: 2.05% plus 30c

Customer Service

BigCommerce provides its users with support in a variety of ways. For example, when starting the BigCommerce free trial, users can access various emails and resources to assist them with the entire process.

Future customers can also sleep soundly at night, knowing they have 24-hour assistance via email, online chat, or phone.

In addition, should any problems arise with your e-commerce plan once it’s up and running, somebody will assist no matter the time.

In addition to 24/7 assistance, users can access the BigCommerce knowledge base, the BigCommerce University.

This can be accessed via the BigCommerce website through the help pages. Users can gain access to a host of helpful information to assist with any issues they might face when operating the system.

Many blogs, webinars, and video tutorials are also available across community forums.

It’s also worth mentioning that phone support is available in many countries.

If the country you are searching for isn’t listed, you need to call the “all other countries” number, which can be found on the BigCommerce help page.

Guaranteed Security

BigCommerce offers multiple layers of security, including Level 1 PCI certification.

In addition, server protection in BigCommerce is provided through various types of firewalls, 24/7 action monitoring, and intrusion detection.

This ensures business owners can relax and focus on growing their companies while BigCommerce takes care of security issues.

Simple Shipping Options

BigCommerce features an easy way of setting up shipping methods. Business owners can choose fixed shipping rates for multiple locations worldwide with no hassle.

Here are some features offered when shipping with BigCommerce:

• Free shipping rates
• Pick up in-store
• Rates based on price
• Rates based on weight

BigCommerce also offers its customers the opportunity to integrate their business with ShipStation.

This option saves time by allowing users to print their labels for FedEx, USPS, UPS, Canada Post, and DHL. Another bonus feature includes eligibility for shipping discounts of up to 50%.

Enterprise customers are given access to ShippingHQ, a top-rated shipping calculator.

This feature lets users refine their shipping rates and helps provide more accurate shipping quotes.

The Disadvantages of Using BigCommerce

Annual Sales Limits

If you’re not looking to spend more on BigCommerce Pro or Enterprise, there is an annual limit to sales.

An additional monthly payment of $150 is required if the annual limit is breached, hindering some startup business plans in the long run.

Extra Fees for Success

In 2015, BigCommerce updated its pricing structure to charge more when an online store grows.

Additional charges are placed for stores that make annual revenue of over $125,000 or process over 2,000 orders.

If these numbers are exceeded, a monthly payment of $199 and an extra $80 per month for 1,000 orders are required.

Bigcommerce Themes Can Get Expensive

Some may also see it as a downside that many free themes are too alike. However, the cost of using premium themes may be a bit expensive for some customers, which could have a knock-on effect on the overall startup cost of their business.

Aside from the twelve free themes available, the premium theme prices start at $170 or $190.

Also, the typeface number is limited in the free themes available, which may be an issue.

No Lite Version Available

Although not a huge deal, the fact that BigCommerce doesn’t offer a lite version means that you won’t be able to integrate a store elsewhere (as seen with Shopify) without getting too technical.

Enhancing Your BigCommerce Experience Using the App Store

BigCommerce is highly versatile and can be easily accessed from any mobile device.

However, if you need features that are not directly available on the standard platform, you may want to consider accessing the “E-commerce Apps Marketplace.”

This can be accessed via the app store on both iOS and Android devices.

Once the app is downloaded, users can download many additional features to their BigCommerce experience.

Many apps that are available to download can help with the overall management of e-commerce. Categories that may be included are marketing, shipping, or accounting, to name a few.

While many apps are available, it’s worth noting that there is often a cost tied to downloading them, so it may be worth considering your budget before making any commitments.

As an independent user, you can also download any other outside extensions or software that may help you boost your revenue.

It’s worth downloading the BigCommerce app if you are a customer. That way, you’ll access all your stores from anywhere with a single login.

Plus, it makes it easier to keep track of your store’s revenue, orders, overall visits, and customers.

It’s also possible to directly contact customers via the app. Initially, the reviews for the BigCommerce app were poor, but it has since been updated and appears to be generating higher ratings.

How Well Does BigCommerce’s SEO Feature Work?

When choosing an e-commerce platform, it must have a strong SEO (search engine optimization) feature.

Fortunately, BigCommerce ticks this box. Users can efficiently edit any pages, headlines, and titles.

They can also edit specific product URLs with little trouble and create short URLs – a feature considered to be crucial from an SEO perspective.

In addition, BigCommerce’s templates are designed to adjust to any device they are being viewed (e.g., smartphone, tablet, desktop, etc.).

In addition, many templates also work as “Accelerated Mobile Pages” (AMP) thanks to teaming up with Google, which is also an essential feature for ensuring good SEO.

How to Check Reports on BigCommerce

Using the standard plan for BigCommerce, users can access multiple analytics reports to track how their site is operating.

• Customer reports (How many people visit your page, how many customers return, average customer spending, etc.).
• Finance reports (Tax reports, sales, etc.).
• Search Data (Which words/phrases do customers use when searching for products on your site).
• Reports on your abandoned cart (provided you’re using a plan that supports this feature).

It’s also possible to access the “E-commerce Insights” report for an extra fee, depending on which plan you’ve opted for. For “Standard” and “Plus” customers, the cost is an additional monthly $49. For “Pro” customers, the price is $99 per month, and for those using “Enterprise,” the price goes up to $249.

It is also possible to integrate Google Analytics into your store site to keep track of reports and conversions.

A Big Future for a Big Company

BigCommerce is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms available. It offers a host of features for both first-time users and e-commerce veterans.

In addition, unlike many of its competitors, BigCommerce doesn’t offer any transaction fees and provides customers with an entry plan packed with features for a reasonable price.

Trying out a product before using it is always a good idea, and BigCommerce is no different. Luckily, the 15-day free trial lets you do just that.

In 2020, the rise of e-commerce accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The numbers are only predicted to increase as we move our lives more and more into the digital sphere. It seems natural that e-commerce platforms such as BigCommerce are expected to evolve.

If you’re considering joining the world of e-commerce, then we hope that this BigCommerce review has been of good use.

want to check some of the extensive commerce alternatives? read our reviews on other ecommerce store builders like Wix, Shopify & Woocommerce.