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BigCommerce: A Decent BigStep For Those Warming Up To E-Commerce
Updated April 14, 2014

BigCommerce: A Decent BigStep For Those Warming Up To E-Commerce

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Gold

Modules Used

  • Mailchimp
  • Ordoro

Overall Satisfaction

Our company uses BigCommerce as our main storefront. We navigated from a CMS that was not e-commerce specific to BigCommerce and were very happy with the decision. BigCommerce has many automated processes and also integrates with other apps/modules that focus on convenience. Ordoro, for instance, is a fantastic automated fulfillment app and integrates with BigCommerce almost flawlessly. The Gold Plan's monthly price is also very affordable versus those systems that get a 2-3% cut.
  • Big results for small teams with their automated processes.
  • Ease-of-use for new businesses and those without a design budget. Design can be pricey but their theme market has many free options.
  • They really need to beef up their technical options with things like checkout (& multiple address checkout), discount rules, email customization.
  • Not being able to edit the .php files! Not allowed to create additional product details.html templates!! Not being able to duplicate HTMLHead.html !!!! And the list goes on. These are EXTREMELY frustrating. Not being able to create additional header files kills some SEO functionality. And not being allowed to edit product details is basically telling merchants they're not allowed to sell very different products different ways. and PHP files is obvious.
  • I wish people checking out as a guest could create an account in the future that would gather all of the orders placed with their email address (when they checked out as a guest). It's hard to offer rewards programs when customers don't realize their past orders aren't registered under their new account.
  • The search bar function is an absolute disgrace.
  • Much faster conversion. The express checkout page is quick, especially for members.
  • Customer service is actually a bit more difficult because people can leave messages in their account, and when the merchant replies within the admin area the customer isn't notified by email. The customer has to log in to even know there is a message there.
For teams of 1-2, BigCommerce will get the job done. It's not a big investment and will allow you to customize one of their themes and offers more functionality than other small shopping carts. If you expect your business to grow rapidly within 1-2 years, BigCommerce might be the wrong choice as it doesn't seem very scalable. Not being able to thoroughly customize every design of every page is a huge headache for any team of 4 or more. Not being able to customize the checkout is obvious (mess one thing up and people can't order...), but not being able to create a different look for a vastly different product? Come on! If you're somewhere between beginner and intermediate in the eComm world, then it will certainly work as a good stepping stone. The search bar is a disaster and apparently has been for a while.

Again, they focus on pre-built themes and silly beginner-esque functions over the core strengths every eCommerce site should have.
It's perfect for people who are navigating from an Amazon, eBay or perhaps even a Shopify store. It gives merchants many more options than they had in the beginning. It is definitely suited for less-experienced merchants than it is for teams of over 4. If you have over four people working on the website, there is certainly some room to move up and pay for a better, more custom experience.