In this article, we explore Bigcommerce, an e-commerce solution that is currently available and one of the most popular. Just like Squarespace, Volusion, and Shopify, Big commerce recurrently features on the “top five” online store builders’ lists.
Here are the basics of Big commerce as well as the pros and cons. This should give you a better understanding of the platform and help you decide whether it is a fitting solution for you and your business.
What is Big commerce?
“It is a hosted e-commerce solution that allows you to establish your store and sell products online. Big commerce has to be paid for. It avails a variety of templates that you can customize to design your store and sell digital or physical products. It also includes tools that assist in marketing your store” says Collymore Martin, a .executive digital marketer at A Plus Digital.
Big commerce is essentially intended for people with minimal web design skills. However, it can also be used by the tech-savvy to tweak the CSS and HTML of their sites.
It is among the most established products of e-commerce with clients such as Travelpro, Gibson Guitars, and Toyota.
How much does Big commerce charge?
There are four pricing plans available
- Bigcommerce Enterprise: your business requirements determine the pricing
- Bigcommerce Pro: $249.95 per month
- Bigcommerce Plus: $79.95 per month
- Bigcommerce Standard: $29.95 per month
The “pro,” “plus” and “standard” pricing plans are best suited for the small and individual businesses. The “Enterprise” plan is better suited for a corporate and large business with advanced functionality needs.
Sales limits and transaction fees
Zero transaction fees! Yes, this is great news. No transaction fees are charged by Big commerce regardless of which Big commerce plan you choose. Of course, you will pay the usual credit card transaction fees which depend on your preferred payment gateway. Big commerce does not take a cut of your sales.
The bad news is that your annual online sales have a limit.
- Bigcommerce Enterprise: Negotiable
- Bigcommerce Pro: $400,000
- Bigcommerce Plus: $150,000
- Bigcommerce Standard: $50,000
I got in touch with Big commerce to see what a beach of the limits would mean. This was their response:
“There is an extra 1,000-2,000 order limit per plan, which users can go over before being forced to upgrade. Users will also get notifications about upgrading their plan as they are over the limit. But we will not prevent additional orders from coming through until they exceed the additional 1,000-2,000 overage order provided.”
Payment gateways
“It is important to note that if you use a payment gateway, additional charges will apply. A payment gateway is a software to process credit cards and is usually made available by a third party. These fees are applied by the payment gateway provider you choose and not by Big-commerce” says Nate Shivar, SEO Specialist at a marketing agency in Atlanta, GA.
Is Big commerce SEO friendly?
Big commerce has a lot of great SEO changes they have made over time. The platform is generally good, but from an SEO point of view, it would be worth pointing out that it still has some way to go to become the best.
