BigCommerce Website Builder Review

BigCommerce – is a popular driving force for American eCommerce. Efficient enough, it fully meets the requirements of the Western audience. It is suitable for creating large, high-quality online stores in all respects. The innovative tool allows you to launch, build, and grow your online business. Designed with eCommerce in mind, the BigCommerce project is a SaaS product; which means that you periodically pay subscription fees for using the software and do not own it.

No hidden costs and transaction fees. Numerous ready-to-use features. Intuitive dashboard and design tools.

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The software has several templates that can be adapted depending on how you like it to breathe new life into the pages of an online store and some tools to sell your store. You may use BigCommerce to sell digital goods or vouchers. Can the service be useful in the modern realities of Internet marketing? Let’s figure it out and answer the questions.

BigCommerce is a strong product in almost all respects. However, its main disadvantage is that the developers did not take into account our audience at all when creating it.

Ease of Use

BigCommerce uses a straightforward and simple content management system, with an up-to-date dashboard and easy-to-use website editor. The website offers a brief tour to help new users get started. It has a manageable drag-and-drop builder. It outdoes some of its rivals’ drag-and-drop builders when it comes to design flexibility.

All required to do is to pick a page element and place it wherever you would like it to go. Its dashboard is straightforward and full of handy tools and pointers. BigCommerce currently uses the framework named Stencil, which is perfect for advanced developers. So, it is a great choice for businesses that can hire a developer.

However, for a new user, its design interface can be confusing. Once you get accustomed to the interface, then BigCommerce is easy to use and set up. The interface is intuitive, simple, and similar to the WordPress dashboard.

The offered Store Design tool lets you see the effects of your edits, so you will view post-editing how the site looks, and it makes page customization more available. One consistent thing is confusing terminology. You need to be familiar with the terms. This makes the system somewhat unsuitable for newbies. Yet for the not-so-tech-savvy, the service is not that good to use. If you are a beginner, opt for the 2020 BigCommerce page builder. It is a better option for non-technical startuppers to edit their website design.

BigCommerce Features

BigCommerce is a SaaS product that provides a simple and fast site setup on the proposed service. Here are its key features:

• Affordability: Reasonable prices and there’s no limit on the number of products or customers you can serve. Even in entry-level plans, you’ll get access to offered advanced features that you won’t get in most other solutions. The user does not need to buy hosting, domain, understand programming, or design. It is enough to register, choose the necessary plan, and a suitable online store template.
• SEO-friendliness: BigCommerce is also taking SEO strategies and channel integration, with giants like Amazon and eBay in great focus. This allows you to direct more traffic to your online store. You can easily post your products on Google Shopping, Facebook, Amazon, and Instagram. There is good SEO potential, assistance with SEO, and the marketing basics are provided.
• Simplicity: This platform is focused primarily on a user who wants to quickly launch a resource integrated with global payment systems and social services. It is ideal for users who have no background in web design, although users with know-how will also get value from it. Web developers can bypass and customize the CSS and HTML codes of their pages.
• Flagship functionality: High-quality level in everything related to the design of the showcase, product cards, marketing, analytics, and various subtleties; high-end adaptive templates with extensive customization options. There are tools such as inventory management, selection of delivery and payment providers, and custom-made shopping pages for your clients to handle most of the work.
• Marketing tools: Advertising, combined with Akamai Image Manager and Google AMP, will net your clicks. The platform also allows you to streamline the checkout procedure. There are exceptional management tools, comprising order management, analytics, reports, and marketing module accompanied with coupons, AdWords integrations. Links with a bunch of sales channels, deliveries, and payment systems are created.
• No third-party intervention: Physical or virtual services, regardless of the type of product you can sell, is not a problem for the service. All of them are already built into the software, so you don’t have to use a different third-party application. It is the only e-commerce platform that allows you to sell various types of products without having to use any other third-party software.
• User-friendly dashboard: The dashboard is used to control product listing on your site, and the mechanism of delivery and payments. POS (point-of-sale) solutions, marketing, and conversion tools, built-in SEO – these all simplify your work.
• Variety: Rich app store that contains Mailchimp, QuickBooks, and many others. There are various built-in marketing tools and the possibility to access without WordPress to a built-in blog.
• High-level security: The website has up-to-date DDOS – distributed denial-of-service protection with multi-layered security for posting. This allows your products to appear on item comparison sites.
• Responsive support: There are agents for issues you may encounter; involving expert advice, a community forum full of guides and webinars, and 24/7 phone support. They also consult on topics of marketing and SEO.

Note that BigCommerce plan and price are very dependent on your store’s revenue. As your sales grow, you need to upgrade the subscription to a higher plan.

You can find more than 200 add-ons in the app section. Additional features depend on the package you buy, but there are things common to all plans such as:

• 12 templates at zero cost;
• Integration with banking methods;
• Sale of physical or digital goods;
• CMS Content Management;
• SEO functionality;
• Akamai Image Manager;
• Email Marketing Integration;
• Configuring CSS and HTML;
• Professional-level reports.

In brief, BigCommerce offers any item you might need as an owner of an e-commerce store. Whether you choose the basics, or you wish to deep-dive into your store’s options, the platform has got you covered!

BigCommerce Setup

Indeed, there is no better way to get acquainted with a software tool than to see it in action.

1. First, visit their website!
2. There are two tabs at the top of the homepage: Enterprise and Essentials.
3. Pick from three Essentials plans.
4. Click on the registration link. Next, you will fill in some personal information.

When you view your account, you will notice a customizable toolbar with sections for store’s performance, store statistics, and store orders all in one place.

To start accepting orders, you need to go through this four-step process:

1. Add products;
2. Get ready to ship;
3. Payments Acceptance;
4. Set tax rates.

How you set up payment methods depends on the way you see your business will work.

BigCommerce Website Design and Templates

The company offers an impressive selection of templates for various budgets. Novices with a lower budget can begin with its 12 free themes. If your budget is bigger, there are over 180+ paid themes to pick from, in the price range of $145 and $300. They are all stylish mobile responsive, and easy-to-work-with.

They are divided into categories: art and craft, animals and pets, automation and industrial, electronics and computers, style and jewelry, food and restaurants, gifts, beauty and health, children’s toys, etc.

Each template describes the purpose, a complete list of features, as well as links to documentation and support. In addition to screenshots of styles and the mobile version, there is an opportunity to watch a live demo with content.

All the features related to the design of the store are located in the “Storefront” section. You can watch the preview on your current store if you decide to change the current design theme. Any template after installation appears in the general list of “My themes,” where you can switch between them. By clicking on “Customize,” you get to the menu that allows you to change the template appearance. There are a lot of settings, the general approach resembles WordPress.

The first tab is “Theme styles,” and it has some features like Changing styles, picking buttons and icons, setting header and footer, placing products, and setting an order confirmation page. Besides, you may edit manually the template files in the code in a convenient text editor with syntax highlighting.

There is also a Page Builder – a simple visual editor with a basic set of widgets for adding the appropriate elements: button, text, video, picture, banner, product, separator, and HTML code. This is necessary to easily add blocks not provided for by the template. Choose any page from the list, drag the widget to the right place and configure the element – simple task.

In the Layers menu, you can swap any sections on the site, and not overlay elements on top of others. This only works for static pages. As a logo, you can use a text inscription or upload your own image 250 x 100px. Everything is being edited. The same goes for the favicon. There is no built-in logo designer, but there is a separate menu for configuring the images carousel on the main page.

Here are the additional features you can find in this section:

• Applications

BigCommerce offers applications in its market that are developed to improve the overall user experience utilizing external applications. Many may require a subscription before use, so, not free.

Note that in combination with other apps that may involve periodic payments.

• SEO

The company’s SEO features are powerful; the essentials are covered fully, and it’s easy to manage headings, page titles, with meta descriptions. Another benefit of similar products is that you can create product links or short URLs.

• AMP

An Accelerated Mobile Page is a page format that is Google-managed. It provides fast and seamless delivery of your website on mobile devices. Templates included in AMP can be found using the AMP filter.

This, combined with the stellar image optimization, leads to the fast loading of mobile pages. One of the main products in many incoming marketing campaigns, and blogs, when done correctly, increases website SEO and traffic.

• Data Analytics

Various data reports on the platform are available for all packages, including Standard:

• Customer and Marketing Reports
• SEO and search data
• Financial statements

The Research report, which contains supplementary and more targeted info, is also obtainable for a fee. The cost varies based on the plan you are currently on.

The dashboard and store management features are manageable and they work great. Handling the first setup of the store will need some trial and error, though. The engine is good in terms of design settings: the templates are high-quality and adaptive. Note that it’s easy to get confused as there are many options. The good point is you will see a changes preview in real-time, the editor interface is intelligible.

Customer Support

The accessible support channels depend on the present subscription plan. Standard packages entitle you to 24/7 chat, and support phone, the same for all plans. The Help Center here is also a huge bonus. You can ask questions on the community forum or search for answers in the knowledge base.

The Enterprise Plan provides you with the highest level of priority assistance. This allows access to highly qualified and most proficient staff.

BigCommerce also has a strong community that includes queries and answers, groups, and more. You will quickly get the help you need, whether it’s a commercial matter or something technical.

BigCommerce Pricing

To make money you need to spend money. That is something that company owners cannot avoid. BigCommerce offers four main pricing plans.

• Standard Plan costs $29.95 a month – almost a dollar a day.
• Plus Plan is the most common, at $79.95 per month.
• The Pro Plan is $299.95 a month.
• Enterprise Plan’s price varies based on the business needs.

If you pay one amount for a yearly plan Plus or Pro, the discount on the subscription will be 10%.

For all the plans purchased, there are no fees. You can also upgrade to a higher plan to access additional features.

The more time you stay with the service, the lesser your Payment Processing Fee rates will go: from 2.9% to 2.2%, or even lower.

Optional Extra Costs include

• Apps: Free – $350/month
• Theme: Free – $295

The service offers over 65 payment gateways to pick from, like PayPal and Amazon Pay.

The company serves 150+ countries and it doesn’t add any transaction fees.

The lowest-priced plan is okay – $29.95 / month. Note there are also additional costs. The above-mentioned 1.5% transaction fee, and the price of a premium design if you want one.

Competitors

BigCommerce managed to take the lead in its niche thanks to some obvious advantages and flexibility. At the same time, some other great eCommerce platforms arise with great options, which make them better alternatives to BigCommerce.

Compare and contrast all available options to choose the instrument that has everything needed to meet your project requirements.

Verdict

BigCommerce is an established, trustworthy store designer that is not inferior in its capabilities to profile CMS, and in some ways even surpasses them. It has extensive basic features, which are perfectly complemented by a rich library of applications. It can be the perfect choice for your business. It has plenty of great perks in its package from gift cards to proficient reporting. The cost is decent but quite adequate for the European and American markets. The service is good and comprehensive. The noticeable misplaced feature in Standard Plan is the recovery of an abandoned shopping cart, so you should seriously consider upgrading it to Plus to get this important feature.

BigCommerce is an optimal solution for people who plan to run a large-scale business, thanks to the absence of transaction fees. If you wish to learn more about the platform and try working on it, do not hesitate to get a free trial.