BigCommerce Software Reviews

“fast turnkey ecommerce launch”

Pros

Establishing an online store with it takes very little time. Setup happens quickly and the platform covers the essentials like shopping carts, payment providers, taxes, shipping and pretty much everything else you need. As a complete turnkey solution, it handles that job really well.

Cons

The downside is how locked in the platform feels. Since it isn't self-hosted, you're paying for the whole ecosystem and a lot of features come at an extra cost. Things like custom themes for improving the storefront experience or revenue tracking often sit behind added fees so it can feel like the product is constantly nudging you to spend more. It's not exactly hidden pricing but many of the more detailed shop management features are still tucked behind additional paywalls.

“poor experience”

Pros

Being cloud-based is a plus and the hosting has been more reliable than Magento. The discount rules engine is fairly capable and it works with most major shipping management tools like ShipStation. I also appreciated that the terms of use were not overly restrictive which makes it a workable option for sellers dealing with high-risk products. In real-world use, it performs better than Magento for the majority of small to mid-sized businesses.

Cons

Problems started to add up pretty quickly: site speed optimization is weak, the customer-facing checkout experience feels lacking and the app ecosystem is underwhelming. Automation and reporting tools are clearly behind the competition, the admin interface feels cluttered and theme customization is both difficult and expensive. On top of that, new features and product releases are often locked behind extra costs and still arrive feeling half-finished. After we canceled and moved to Shopify, billing continued when it should have stopped and we also ran into a glitch that somehow hid paid orders. Compared side by side, Shopify handles almost everything better right out of the box while reducing the chance of mistakes during setup, configuration, optimization and everyday store management. Across nearly every use case and metric, Shopify outperforms this tool. It feels like it is still trying to catch up and the backend makes that pretty obvious. Some updates even had that familiar "looks polished but lacks substance" feeling, where the visual refresh seemed to matter more than practical usefulness. In the end, It really only has an advantage in pricing, terms of service and a handful of configuration edge cases, most of which Shopify can usually address with apps.

“powerful reporting and quick setup”

Pros

Setting up a store in this software is a smooth process and it didn't take long to start taking orders. The platform is also packed with useful reporting and data which makes it really simple to analyze your customers and see where they're coming from.

Cons

Fully understanding the system can take you some time, few parts can feel a little confusing when you're trying to run reports. Once everything is properly set up though, the amount of data available is incredibly valuable.

“full control and flexibility”

Pros

Switching to this tool from our previous ecommerce platform was a huge upgrade. I honestly love everything about it. The biggest difference has been how much control we now have over our site. Our old provider wouldn't let users access the robots.txt file or make fixes to AMP pages but it gives us complete control over both of those features.

Cons

I'd still like to see an improved ability to organize the links on the admin page. As it is now, the drop-down menus can make it harder than it should be to find exactly what I'm looking for.

“user-friendly backend experience”

Pros

Exploring around the system backend feels very easy and it doesn't take much effort to understand how everything works.

Cons

I can't say there's really anything I dislike about this platform.

“setup was easy”

Pros

Searching the platform is simple and having customer service available 24/7 is a big plus.

Cons

It feels overpriced for what's included. When I bought it, I was told the tech team would know how to help me connect my affiliate panel to the system but they had no clue what I meant. I ended up having to sort it out on my own so I was paying for the system before I could actually start using it.

“well organized tool”

Pros

Everything about it feels convenient to use and it keeps things accurate and well organized.

Cons

The only downside is that the settlement period for monetary modifications takes too long.

“highly customizable software”

Pros

There's a lot of flexibility with this software. I can include plenty of detail, photos and other content and it works well as a full website instead of only serving as a plugin. It really helps organizing the whole site-building process.

Cons

Setting up products with swatches and additional rules can be a bit tedious.

“Best fit for digital sales”

Pros

Coming from building several retail websites for clients, I ran into it when one of them hit a wall with Shopify and its limitations around selling digital downloads. That was a major issue for a modern comic book author who needed that option. Rebuilding the site on this platform solved that problem and while working in the platform, it also felt eaiser to use than Shopify.

Cons

The pricing may be a bit higher than some alternatives but for this particular project it delivered exactly what my client needed. The increase in revenue ended up more than justifying the cost so it has easily paid for itself.

“Capable order tools”

Pros

As a SaaS e-commerce platform it works well for selling both physical products and digital goods online. It offers different subscription plans tailored to a range of business needs which makes it easier to pick something that fits. You can choose from a selection of templates and get your online store up and running quickly. The order management feature is especially great and has been one of the best parts for me.

Cons

Sales are capped based on the subscription plan you choose. If your sales go beyond that limit, you're automatically moved to a more expensive plan.

“flexible selling options”

Pros

Setting up this platform feels really easy. Whether you're building your own eCommerce store or just selling through Facebook, it gives you the freedom to keep things as small or as large as you want. That kind of flexibility is something a lot of people would probably appreciate as I do.

Cons

I would have liked a bigger selection of free templates. I was hoping there would be a few more available when I first signed up.

“helpful square integration”

Pros

I ended up going with it mainly because I got a free one-year subscription and the smooth integration with Square was definitely a plus.

Cons

Compared with other e-commerce platforms I've worked with, this one is pretty confusing. The interface makes it hard to find things, customizing the themes is more difficult than it should be and I really wish they offered a mobile app for tracking purchases and activity but there's still nothing available for iOS.

“store tools brilliantly”

Pros

Getting a store up and running on it was very easy. Setting up the website, shipping rates and payment options was simple and the backend app store has tons of useful add-ons available. We currently use around nine apps for things like SEO, live visitor tracking and analytics that show where visitors come from and which pages or products they're viewing. I'd definitely recommend it especially because it's so user-friendly and the 24/7 phone support is outstanding. Whenever I've run into an issue or needed help with something, I've called support and usually had an answer within five minutes.

Cons

My only real complaint is that the pricing can feel a bit higher than some other ecommerce platforms. That said you really do get what you pay for. It has been the best platform we've used, with zero downtime and the strongest support we've had in 12 years of running our business.

“drag-and-drop convenience”

Pros

Drag-and-drop feature makes the whole experience very convenient to work with. Customer support is consistently helpful and the team does a good job of making sure you have the apps and tools you need.

Cons

There aren't a lot of suppliers available. Some will be a good fit and others won't, depending on what you're selling online.

“affordable ecommerce with helpful support”

Pros

Installing it didn't cost much which was a big plus and the platform includes all the essential ecommerce features along with a few added extras. I've been using it for around five years now. The template system took a little time to figure out at first but the support team was helpful whenever I needed guidance.

Cons

If I remember correctly, the coupon feature had a few issues at one point though those were eventually fixed. Some parts of the template system also made customization harder than it should have been for a detail-oriented designer but it wasn't anything serious.

“good experience with support team”

Pros

Set up was quick and the platform gives plenty of room to customize things however you want. The integration options are easy to understand and the service and support team has been excellent whenever we've needed help.

Cons

It honestly offers more features than we currently need. Beyond that, I really can't think of any downsides because we've genuinely enjoyed working with this tool.

“love the stable features”

Pros

Right from the start, the platform feels polished and professional and it comes loaded with plenty of features that make it feel ready for serious business as soon as it's installed. The 24/7 customer support by phone and email is a big plus too since help is always available quickly no matter the time or timezone. It may not have a massive user base but the stores built on it are top-notch and generate very impressive sales.

Cons

Number of free templates is pretty limited and the premium ones are priced a bit higher than what you'll find on some other platforms.

“excellent support team”

Pros

After bringing this software on board for multi-channel listings on our website and eBay, the setup turned out to be fairly simple and the customer support was excellent. The included free templates are best for basic needs and the more customized ones are reasonably priced too. Managing orders was also simple and convenient.

Cons

Getting everything to sync properly with eBay took a bit of effort and the feature set felt somewhat limited in places. Every listing is forced to go up as Good Till Canceled and I really wish there were an option to choose between GTC and 30-day listings. Another frustration is that each item title has to be unique even though many of the products we sell are similar enough to naturally share the same title. To work around that, we had to add the SKU into the title which is not something I'm very happy with.

“Easy to learn”

Pros

Adding our online store to the storefront went really well and the software was simple to pick up. Training our current employees to use it was not really difficult so we didn't have to spend a lot of time getting everyone up to speed.

Cons

Some parts are still difficult to work with especially when trying to add more sections. Because of that, we end up putting certain things on our blog instead since it's much easier to manage there.

“feature-packed e-commerce value”

Pros

Packed with features, plus built-in plugins and apps, this platform lets you get an eCommerce store up and running without needing expert-level knowledge. It costs less than Shopify and includes pretty much everything needed to build and run a successful online business.

Cons

The product still costs more than standard web hosting but considering all the extra tools and features included, it ends up being worth the money especially for someone who doesn't have much website experience.