Bigcommerce- A One-Stop Guide for Flexible and Comprehensive Site Creation

There are plenty of tools that can be used for developing eCommerce websites. You can opt for commercial as well as free software. However, those seeking a one-stop solution for designing functional and feature-rich e-commerce websites opt for BigCommerce. With time, the popularity of big commerce web design is going up.

What is it?

BigCommerce is a \'hosted\' e-commerce solution using which you can develop functional online shops without delay and hassles. It runs on dedicated servers. So, you need not bother about seeking external hosting entities. It makes designing flexible and functional e-commerce sites a breeze. You can set up such sites with a browser and web connectivity from anywhere. There is just no need to install any app to use it. This is offered as \'\'software as a service,\' and you have to pay a monthly charge to keep using the service.

Bigcommerce custom design has also become much sought after owing to the wide range of customizable templates. This ensures you can design eCommerce sites that do not look like a replica of other similar sites. What gives BigCommerce an edge over most competing solutions is that it lets you design stunning and feature-rich eCommerce sites even if you do not have much skill in web design. However, the good thing is bigcommerce design services can tweak CSS and HTML codes when required.

The cost of using BigCommerce

Before you pick any hosted web design solution, it becomes necessary to check its pricing. BigCommerce is available in 4 different monthly packages. These are:

• BigCommerce Standard
• BigCommerce Pro
• BigCommerce Plus
• BigCommerce Enterprise

The pricing of BigCommerce Enterprise is not fixed. The remaining ones hover between $29 and $ 299.95. The good thing is you can try the service for 15 days without paying anything.

The main features of BigCommerce

The feature list depends on the plan you choose. The major features are:

• A dozen free templates: Even if you opt for the entry-level standard version, you get 12 free templates. This is decent for start-ups venturing into the e-commerce arena.
• Drag-and-drop page builder- This makes designing pages of the e-commerce sites breeze. The UI is simplistic.
• Multiple payment gateway support: People buying things and services online prefer paying through various means. These include internet banking, debit cards, Paypal and wallets etc. The good thing is BigCommerce supports Paypal and many other payment gateways.
• SEO friendly: BigCommerce is quite SEO friendly.
• Automated image optimization: Your e-commerce site must be laden with high resolution, stunning images. BigCommerce offers Akamai Image Manager, using which you can tweak images easily.
• E-mail marketing integration: It integrates with plenty of popular mail marketing services like Mailchimp, iContact and Constant Contact.
• The other notable features- Include content management (CMS) functionality, product review, and unlimited staff accounts. You get unlimited file storage and bandwidth too.

The additional features in upper-end versions

Logically, the higher-end versions of BigCommerce come with additional features. The Plus version comes with an abandoned cart saver tool, stored credit cards, customer segmentation, \'\'persistent cart\'. The Pro plan packs extra features like Google Customer Reviews, faceted search, and higher online sales limit. The top-end Enterprise edition comes with advanced product filtering, unlimited API calls, priority support. The Enterprise plan pricing is kept customizable.

What are the drawbacks?

Before using bigcommerce designers, you may want to know the drawbacks. No e-commerce development tool is flawless. There are a few limitations of BigCommerce.

While you do not have to pay any transaction charge for using BigCommerce, paying the credit card transaction fees is necessary. Again, it varies according to the payment gateway chosen. However, a bigger limitation that may put some users at unease is BigCommerce\'s annual online sales limit. For BigCommerce Standard, it is $50,000 and has a capping of $180,000. The Pro plan has a capping of $400,000.

What makes BigCommerce more flexible?

There are several features in BigCommerce that lend it some edge over competing eCommerce site development services:

• Multi-currency selling: Selling your products in different currencies keeps things flexible both for you and the target buyers. BigCommerce\'s free themes you get embedded multi-currency solution. It facilitates IP address-based currency conversion.
• Multi-channel approach: When you set up an eCommerce store, you want to sell various products and services through it. However, it would be nice if you can sell your products through other channels too. BigCommerce lets you sell products through many other platforms. You can sell through Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon. You can also avail of a facility called dropshipping. It relies on a retailer based model. BigCommerce facilitates selling at the POS.
• Easy tax norms: When you operate an online store, you may sometimes run into a labyrinth of sales tax and regional taxes. In Canada and the USA, different states/provinces follow separate tax rates. With BigCommerce, assessing tax rates for these two countries is inbuilt. This reduces your hassles to an extent. Of course, you will have to deploy third-party apps like Avalara and Vertex to use this feature.
• Shipment options: With BigCommerce, it is simple to set up several types of shipping rules. You can pick from free shipping, Price-based rate, Flat rate, and Weight-based rates.
• An app store: If the embedded features of BigCommerce are not enough for your site creation needs, do not fret. You can very well access its app store. It is called \'Ecommerce Apps Marketplace.\' App belonging to categories like accounting, marketing, and CRM are there. Integration with third-party SaaS apps is possible. Examples are Mailchimp, Salesforce, and Zendesk.
• Mobile friendly: Using BigCommerce, you can create mobile-optimized e-commerce sites with ease. The templates are responsive. They also function as \'Accelerated Mobile Pages.\' It is good from an SEO perspective, as well.

Summing it up

BigCommerce scores well as an e-commerce development solution. It is simple to use, and the various plans make it suited for entities with different profiles. The inbuilt features are good enough, and you can also opt for third-party ones. It also has an app store. The flexibility is amazing, and taxation issues are handled efficiently. If you are still in doubt, opt for the free trial.