Bigcommerce Review

Bigcommerce is a solid cart with an impressive following of retailers. Almost 100.000 merchants in a wide assortment of niches have found success with Bigcommerce. Check out our full review to get the whole picture

Bigcommerce features

As discussed above the exact features you get with Bigcommerce depend on the plan you opt for, but basic features include:

the ability to sell a wide range of either physical or digital goods, in categories of your choosing and using shipping rates of your choosing
integration with Paypal and a wide range of payment gateways
full content management (CMS) functionality
good search engine optimisation (SEO) options – it’s very easy to add appropriate keywords to your products and site pages
integration with several e-newsletter services: Constant Contact, iContact, Mailchimp and Interspire
integration with Alibaba.com
automated reminder emails to people who abandoned their carts at checkout
discount coupons and gift vouchers as standard
the ability to tweak CSS and HTML as desired.

Web Design

Bigcommerce has hundreds of templates to choose from including many new additions. They can be used as they are, or can be modified via the WSYWIG editor, or for those that like to customize code-level, a full HTML editor. And Bigcommerce can also connect you with plenty of third-party designers that can make you a custom design for your eCommerce store. Check out the Bigcommerce design and developer network for more info. Needless to say, if you want a truly beautiful and unique site, consider options beyond just free templates.

Payment Processing

Depending on your plan, Bigcommerce offers easy integration with over 40 payment processors. This includes commonly trusted gateways like PayPal Express Checkout, authorize.net, Square, and Stripe. Paypal in particular has seen some advancements within Bigcommerce, including a more seamless payment experience.

Bigcommerce Pricing (updated Jan 2015)

Bigcommerce offers three plans plus enterprise solutions. If you pay for a year at a time you get a 10% discount.

The Silver Plan – $29.95/month

Limits:

1.5% transaction fee depending on the payment gateway you choose
3 Gb Storage
No Abandoned Cart Saver
No Loyalty Programs and customer segmentation
No eBay or Google Merchant integration

The Gold Plan – $79.95/month

This is the plan most people start with – you can always upgrade or downgrade later if you find you do not need everything included. Includes Unlimited storage and bandwidth, abandoned cart saver, customer loyalty groups and integration with eBay, Amazon and Google Merchant center.

The Platinum Plan – $199.95/month

This plan is the best if you are moving from another shopping cart to Bigcommerce because it includes data migration and expert setup & migration (which you would pay more than $600 for on the Gold or Silver plans). The Platinum Plan is also the only plan that allows for Google Trusted Store Datafeed Automation necessary to maintain Google Trusted Store certification.

Bigcommerce support

Bigcommerce support is pretty comprehensive. 24-hour phone support is available, along with live chat and email support (it is not clear what hours the live chat and email support is available however).

There is also a good range of video and text resources available, and a community forum.

Notable Stores Using Bigcommerce in 2015

Collette Dinnigan – International Fashion House – http://shop.collettedinnigan.com.au

Mason Jars – Full site built using Bigcommerce including blog and static pages – http://masonjars.com

Hoka One One – Leading long distance running shoe brand – http://shop.hokaoneone.com.au/

Fugoo – Not the poison fish. Simple marketing site built with Bigcommerce – http://www.fugoo.com/

Conclusion

In short, Bigcommerce is not without its wrinkles, but it has earned its position as a top contender in the crowded Shopping Cart scene. It has done so with its jam-packed feature list, solid SEO, and ease of use. The monthly price point is commensurate with their place in the market; it is very reasonable for the new/small online retailer, yet it is scalable enough to serve any growing business. And the recent plunge in per-swipe transaction fees in the Standard Plan is a particular advantage for startups seeking a powerful shopping cart that won’t undermine them right out of the gate. Bigcommerce absolutely earns every star that we can give it. I would recommend it for most businesses types, with only a few reservations in specific cases.