Ultra Pro Looking Platform - Best Choice for Apparel/Retail
February 20, 2017
Ultra Pro Looking Platform - Best Choice for Apparel/Retail
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Standard
Overall Satisfaction with BigCommerce
I have a hand painted clothing business that I started in Covent Garden, London. Due to the location, the customers are from all around the world (kind of like Times Square!) so I needed a web platform that would look professional for global shoppers. After a TON of research into alternatives such as Shopify and Magento it was an easy decision to go with BigCommerce. All of my online sales are completed via my BigCommerce webstore at www.westcoastlondon.com. I feel the BigCommerce platform addresses multiple problems. For starters, it looks ultra pro - to me this weeds out time waster shoppers or people who may try to commit fraudulent purchases or refund activity. Also, my store presentation (in my opinion) gives customers enormous confidence in making a purchase. My store LOOKS like a professional store - even the interface really looks on a par with a site like Bloomingdales for example; 'your account' 'refund policy' etc. These kind of details are what customers expect when they shop at a professional retail operations. BigCommerce provides these elements automatically.
- BigCommerce has all of your decisions sitting right in front of you so that you don't forget anything! All of the options for entering sizing/inventory availability/customization are right there so you can be up and out of the gates quickly.
- 24/7 tech support. I found the support people to be fantastic. This was a huge deal for me in picking an e-commerce platform. I'm no coder and I didn't want to spend hours (or weeks) learning - having a 24/7 tech support on hand, not just by a chat, but a real person you can speak to on the phone - this is awesome!
- The interface itself educates you. The tabs for marketing offer an array of options for putting banners or coupons. They are quite intuitive and straightforward to configure. This coupon element (I offered free shipping over £50 purchase) have really helped drive people to up the value of the shopping carts.
- I find templates lacking - there should be more current designs, like one page parallax type templates.
- I liked the older interface and am still not fully used to the new interface.
- It should be more clear that you can pre-pay a year for a discount!
- Perhaps video tutorials in addition to the online blog support?
- Online Store
- Brick & Mortar Store
- Social Media (e.g. Facebook, Pinterest)
I have set up companion social media platforms like Pinterest/Twitter/Facebook/YouTube. I have mainly used Facebook and found that the BigCommerce 'Facebook' store is also pretty cool! It makes it super easy to see your stuff directly from a Facebook page. Given that Facebook has an EXCELLENT advertising service I highly recommend utilizing this function. For literally ten bucks you can select where you want, say, 10,000 people to see your product on Facebook! When they click to buy it goes directly through the BigCommerce portal - so pro! :)
- The site looks very pro which has given vendors a lot of confidence in my products and services.
- I will be honest, I have secured some great additional event work and I feel it has absolutely been helped by the professional caliber of my website. I paint for events and as I have done it for 30 years I'm pretty darn good at it; I literally can paint anything on a garment simply by a suggestion or an iPhone photo - it's a unique skill which means I command a hearty hourly rate. When potential clients check out my website they immediately know they are dealing with not only a pro painter, but a pro business. They know they're less likely to be screwed around or let down at their event by someone who has gone to the trouble of maintaining a site like this - credit thus going right back to BC :)
- I feel the site has encouraged sales that would not have happened if the site were not so nicely configured (no credit to me there, it was all in place!) BC automatically offers clients 'suggested items' and this has yielded extra sales :)
- Shopify, paypal and PayPal Here
Prior to making the commitment to BigCommerce I tried a free trial at Shopify. I was immediately dismayed that there was no phone support. I believe this is now available but to me it kind of sent a message as to where their priorities were. Also the Shopify interface was only minimally customizable which to me is quite an issue. Standard templates may be fine for a lot of people, but I had specific fonts and background images and at the time I set up my trial these were very difficult to implement.
Less than $20,000