E-commerce has become a fundamental part of the modern business world. With the rise of technology and online shopping, it is essential for businesses to have a competitive and solid digital presence to stay in the current market. While there are many e-commerce platforms, BigCommerce is one of the most popular and reliable options in the industry.
BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to easily create and manage their online stores. From small to large companies, they can take advantage of the platform's full potential as a scalable solution that adapts to the needs of any business in virtually any industry.
With a wide range of features and advanced tools, such as customization, SEO optimization, and integration with marketing functions, BigCommerce offers everything a business needs to succeed in the world of online sales.
In this article, we will share the main features and advantages of BigCommerce, and explain why it is one of the best options for merchants looking to offer smooth and user-friendly experiences to their customers.
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What is BigCommerce?
Based in Austin, Texas, BigCommerce is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce software platforms in the world. Since its creation in 2009, the company has grown to over 600 employees and supports over 90,000 online stores in more than 120 countries around the world.
Brands that use BigCommerce range from startups to medium-sized businesses and high-profile companies such as Toyota, Martha Stewart, and Ben and Jerry's. BigCommerce has gone from a two-person startup to a global company that helps retailers generate billions of dollars in sales each year.
As a self-hosted solution, it allows business owners to set up an online store, customize it to their liking, and sell an unlimited number of products, whether digital, physical, or even services.
The platform is accessible from any web browser with an internet connection. This means that no web hosting or software installation on a computer is required for its use.
BigCommerce provides flexibility in building and growing online stores. It has enterprise-level functionalities, easy-to-use and customize, and is also a headless-focused platform, which means it can integrate with any interface to create unique shopping experiences.
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The main features of BigCommerce
Whether you're thinking of migrating to a new e-commerce platform or starting your business's online store from scratch, there's a lot you can expect and do with this solution.
Whatever your choice in the four different plans that BigCommerce offers, you can surely take advantage of the following features:
- 12 completely free templates
- A suite of search engine optimization (SEO) optimization features
- Page Builder, a page design tool with easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality
- Automatic image optimization through Akamai Image Manager
- Full content management system (CMS) functionality
- Gift cards and discount coupons
- Integration with PayPal (and a wide variety of payment gateways)
- Integration with various email marketing services, including well-known brands such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, iContact, and Interspire
- Ability to review products
- Professional reports
- The ability to sell an unlimited number of digital or physical products from any category and using any shipping rate you want
- The option to modify CSS and HTML code whenever you want
- Unlimited user accounts
While you can always have more costs with the Plus, Pro, or Enterprise packages, as far as standard offers are concerned, BigCommerce offers one of the best options on the market to invest in and grow.
But... Does BigCommerce work for small businesses?
For many small business owners, BigCommerce's Standard Plan will provide almost everything they need to manage their eCommerce site.
With a very user-friendly interface and affordable pricing, BigCommerce is even ideal for online store owners who are venturing into this type of business for the first time. It has a large number of key features and doesn't charge transaction fees.
Some key differences between BigCommerce and its two main competitors (Shopify and Squarespace) are that BigCommerce's initial plan offers a limited number of free templates to build your store. If you want additional templates, they can cost between $150 and $400. Shopify and Squarespace, on the other hand, offer a wide variety of free templates to build your website.
BigCommerce does not charge transaction fees natively and has advanced reporting features with its Standard plan, while Shopify charges a transaction fee of 0.5% to 2% if you use a third-party payment processor and requires a more expensive plan to create detailed reports. Squarespace does not offer advanced analytics in its most basic plan.
Overall, the three platforms are easy to use, with a simple interface and a drag-and-drop website builder.
At the enterprise level, BigCommerce has recently launched its BOPIS solution.
During the first week of March 2023, BigCommerce introduced its Buy Online and Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) solution, also known as Click & Collect. The company says it provides merchants with more options to reach buyers where they are and provide more frictionless shopping experiences.
After its surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, BOPIS (short for "Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store") continues to grow and has become an important tool for merchants with both online and physical stores to provide a seamless experience between them. In the US, BOPIS is expected to continue growing by around 10% annually.
Additionally, it is also expected to exceed $131 billion in 2026, according to eMarketer. The growth rate is similar in the UK. Click & Collect is expected to exceed $40 billion in 2026.
Meghan Stabler, Senior Vice President of Marketing at BigCommerce, said:
""To stay competitive, brands must reach customers where they are. Brands have to make it easy for customers to buy and pick up their items. With this latest evolution of our omnichannel offering, BigCommerce makes it easy for merchants to offer BOPIS to their customers. The solution coordinates orders and inventory across brand sites, social media, search, marketplaces, and physical channels, all through the BigCommerce platform».
Buyers increasingly expect flexible fulfillment options available to them. This includes the growing segment of customers who do not want to wait for delivery. Alternatively, it also includes consumers who want to avoid shipping costs by selecting in-store pickup.
BigCommerce's new BOPIS offering includes a set of new and updated APIs. These APIs provide merchants with the tools to create customized BOPIS/Click & Collect experiences tailored to their buyers' preferences. The APIs are also integrated into their overall order fulfillment strategy. BOPIS is now available as a multi-location inventory functionality for enterprise merchants looking to build the personalized experiences their buyers are looking for.
The new API features include:
- New inventory API to manage inventory across all locations
- New pickup methods API to create and manage pickup methods by location
- API updates, including the payment SDK, S2S payment API, store GraphQL, order API, and catalog API, updated to support BOPIS.
Now is your turn!
As you may have seen, BigCommerce is an excellent option for those looking for a complete and scalable ecommerce platform. Its advanced features, such as the recently launched BOPIS function, as well as the absence of transaction fees and detailed reporting options, make it stand out compared to other competitors in the market.
In addition, its intuitive user interface and simplified website building make it a good choice for both small businesses and large brands. With BigCommerce, merchants can offer a frictionless shopping experience and reach customers wherever they are, giving them a competitive advantage in an increasingly digital world.
