Developing a business is by no indicates an easy task. Finding the right devices to leverage on, and automating a lot of daily duplicated tasks, will significantly reduce stress and anxiety and maximize time so you can concentrate on other important elements of your business (and life). Bigcommerce is one of those online establishment builders that have the ability to liberate your time.
Bigcommerce currently powers over 50,000 online shops and has actually processed almost $3 billion in transactions. That shows authenticity and integrity right off the bat.
Advantages
Bigcommerce gives you a very extensive set of e-commerce tools “from the box” that packs a huge punch. In our view, from all the other e-commerce home builders, Bigcommerce offers the most handy and practical tools that you will in fact make use of– all consisted of as part of their month-to-month bundle. From integration with email newsletter devices (car responders), developing coupons / promo projects, unlimited item variations (e.g. varying t-shirt colors and sizes), shipping and tax configurations, safe payment entrance integrations, handling returns, shop statistics reporting, social sharing, item wish list, product reviews, and so on. They actually set you up with a lot of tools you have to assist you succeed.
Bigcommerce assists you grow your sales with very little effort by leveraging on different social channels. You can set up your establishment on Facebook and offer there, and the shop is totally integrated and synchronized with Bigcommerce. You can also integrate your Bigcommerce establishment with eBay, Google Shopping, and a whole variety of item comparison websites such as Shopzilla, Bizrate, Beso, Nextag, PriceGrabber, Shopping.com and MySimon. If you think about it, Bigcommerce is essentially providing you massive take advantage of to obtain your items out in front of prospective consumers, so you can increase your chances of producing more sales. All these social channels will be totally integrated with your Bigcommerce shop, so you get greatly more exposure to prospective clients, without needing to do that much work. We have not seen other e-commerce store contractors out there with this considerable ability, so we’re amazed.
Although Bigcommerce already supplies you with an extensive set of tools (more than a lot of its rivals), must you feel that you want more, they have an App shop which you “bolt on” more advanced tools to take your store to the next level. These Apps are produced by 3rd party property developers, and consist of advanced tools for accounting, shipping, promo / marketing, order management, live chat, email marketing, analytics, and so on. You don’t necessarily need them as Bigcommerce’s standard tools are already adequate, however these Apps are absolutely convenient when you prepare to scale your business to the next level. These tools help you promote your products more effectively, automate your day-to-day mundane jobs even further, and just offers a lot more firepower without taking up any more of your time. Some of these Apps are complimentary, and some are paid. But they are well worth the payment as they can assist grow your business while freeing up your time.
Disadvantages
Although Bigcommerce offers you over 100 complimentary design templates, we feel that a lot of their designs are a bit outdated, and not as polished as its competitors such as Shopify. This is not to say that they are unsightly by any means, it’s just doesn’t offer that modern vibe– as if the storefront designs are stuck in 2008. They’re still extremely practical and organized, and Bigcommerce is continuously releasing new and updated design templates. So it’s just a matter of time when their profile of styles will be finished updated. We wanted that they did exactly what Shopify does and invite independent expert designers to develop pre-made design templates to offer to users. This will no doubt produce a lot of premium template submissions and severe entrepreneur will definitely consider paying $100– $200 for them. We would.
Bigcommerce provides you over 100 complimentary templates, however one of things we don’t understand is that they do not actually show you all the templates up until you sign up– we discovered this uncomforting. When choosing the right e-commerce home builder, among the first things we want to comprehend is what template designs are readily available. Revealing what design templates are available is a rather basic practice for all website builders on the internet. The only means to see any previews or demo websites is to search through Bigcommerce’s blog site where they do announce brand-new template releases. However this just consists of the recent brand-new template releases, and not their whole collection. Searching through the blog site to take a look at some of the newer templates is just extra work that we don’t discover helpful.
Despite the fact that Bigcommerce provides support hours beyond the “conventional business hours” (such as 9am– 5pm, Monday– Friday), we wished they would provide 24/7 support across the board. Although they offer 24/7 support via email and Live Chat, Bigcommerce is yet to offer 24/7 phone support. However, if you truly want to have the ability to call some one, you can constantly call a phone support number that is not toll-free from the nation you are based in. So in a way, Bigcommerce always has phone support readily available given global time zone differences, but if you live in North America and will need to call Australia for support, long distance charges will apply. As company owner ourselves, encountering technical problems is among the more aggravating elements of operating an online shop– particularly when you understand you’re losing out on sales, or producing a bad first impression for prospective consumers. We can certainly understand that not all businesses staff 24/7 support, but we feel that they must think about offering this alternative for those who signed up to their higher tier plans– Gold ($79.95 / month) and Platinum ($199.95 / month) (more prices discussions below). At the very least, provide an off-office hour emergency situation number for users who enrolled in the higher plans. Having said that, the 24/7 support by means of Live Chat and Email is a truly good beginning. We know we sound a bit “entitled”, but their main rival, Shopify offers 24/7 support for all subscribers (yes– they set the standard bar rather high!) If your store requires technical support, you wish to get help as soon as possible. So this is a crucial point to consider.
BIGCOMMERCE NEXT
Bigcommerce just recently introduced “Bigcommerce Next”, which presented brand-new mobile-friendly designer styles, blogging function (to assist get even more prospects to your online store and to enhance for Search Engine Optimization), 1-click integration for payment entrances, shipping and Apps, managing your shop with your smart phone, and Bigcommerce University which provides you free lessons on the best ways to grow your business and sales.
BIGCOMMERCE IS IDEAL FOR …
Bigcommerce is perfect for you if you wish to begin an e-commerce shop, or if you currently run a physical store, however wish to broaden your business by selling your products online.
- Bigcommerce serves a broad range of markets, such as fashion, electronics, health, presents, jewelry, sports, homeware, and so on. No matter what market or niche you are selling to, Bigcommerce has a comprehensive range of devices to make this an easier process for you and to assist you be successful.
- Operating with technology can be difficult sometimes, and it is not (and need to not be) your only focus when running your business. So leveraging the aid of e-commerce shop contractors such as Bigcommerce to help you utilize the online technology side of thoughts, can allow you to focus on other vital parts of your business (such as marketing, product development, customer relationships constructing, administration, etc).
ALLEVIATE OF USE
As mentioned above, Bigcommerce offers you an extensive set of tools to construct your online establishment. As with all brand-new thoughts, you’ll have to invest a couple of hours to discover the fundamentals and when you do that, you’ll find that it’s not too hard to obtain your store up and running.
If you have to include more tools through their App Store (more on this below), each App feature / device will be fully incorporated into your Bigcommerce establishment with just 1-click– very streamlined and basic undoubtedly.
Daily Tasks Simplified
Bigcommerce offers you the tools to:
- Develop endless product alternatives (cost, weight, image, inventory levels).
- Setup item rules (e.g. adding $5 to larger t-shirts, complimentary shipping for orders over $200, etc).
- Offer non-tangible products such as digital downloads, event tickets, services, etc
- . Organize your products into classifications (easier for your potential customers to find what they need).
- Manage and process orders– see which orders are still pending or delivered. Invoices, packing slips. All are utilized from the Bigcommerce control panel.
- View your whole inventory at a glimpse.
- Utilize returns (refunds, change, provide store credit, etc).
- Accept payments from more than 60 various payment processors in various currencies.
- See your very popular products for the week, month, perpetuity or throughout between by revenue or units offered.
- Recognize and reward your finest customers. View top 20 customer lists for any date array by income or number of orders.
