BigCommerce – Best E-commerce Platform for Scaling Online Businesses
BigCommerce stands as a premier SaaS e-commerce platform engineered for businesses serious about growth. Unlike basic website builders, it provides the robust infrastructure, advanced features, and scalability needed to launch, manage, and expand a successful online store. It's the platform of choice for brands that have outgrown starter solutions and require deeper customization, superior performance, and seamless integration with the broader commerce ecosystem.
What is BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is a fully-hosted, cloud-based e-commerce platform that provides businesses with all the tools necessary to create and operate an online store. It goes beyond simple storefront creation by offering a comprehensive suite of built-in sales tools, marketing features, and third-party integrations. Its core purpose is to eliminate technical barriers, allowing merchants to focus on selling while the platform handles performance, security, and updates. It's designed for a primary audience of mid-market to enterprise-level businesses, as well as fast-growing brands that anticipate significant traffic and sales volume.
Key Features of BigCommerce
Enterprise-Grade Scalability
BigCommerce is built on a cloud infrastructure designed to handle high traffic volumes and sales spikes without compromising site speed or uptime. This ensures your store remains fast and reliable during peak seasons like Black Friday, providing a seamless customer experience that directly supports conversion rates and revenue growth.
Built-in Sales & Marketing Tools
The platform includes powerful out-of-the-box features often requiring expensive apps on other platforms. This includes multi-currency selling, customer segmentation, abandoned cart saver, product filtering, and SEO-friendly URLs. These integrated tools reduce reliance on third-party apps, simplifying operations and often lowering long-term costs.
Headless & Omnichannel Commerce
BigCommerce excels in modern commerce architectures. Its API-first design allows for headless implementations, letting you use any front-end framework while BigCommerce manages the backend. Furthermore, it offers native integrations to sell on channels like Amazon, eBay, Instagram, and Google Shopping directly from your dashboard, centralizing your omnichannel strategy.
No Transaction Fees
A significant advantage for growing businesses, BigCommerce does not charge additional transaction fees on any of its plans, regardless of your chosen payment gateway (like Stripe or PayPal). This provides greater cost predictability and can result in substantial savings as sales volume increases.
Who Should Use BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is ideally suited for established e-commerce sellers and brands with clear growth trajectories. This includes businesses that have outgrown platforms like Shopify Basic or WooCommerce due to technical limitations, need advanced B2B functionality, require deep API customization for unique workflows, or are implementing an omnichannel sales strategy. It's less ideal for absolute beginners testing a first idea with a tiny budget, but perfect for serious entrepreneurs and companies investing in a long-term, scalable online presence.
BigCommerce Pricing and Free Tier
BigCommerce operates on a subscription model without a traditional permanent free tier. However, they frequently offer a 15-day free trial for new merchants to explore the platform fully. Paid plans are tiered (Standard, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise) based on annual sales volume and required features. Pricing is transparent and scales with your business. While there is no free plan, the lack of transaction fees and the breadth of built-in features can provide a strong total cost of ownership (TCO) argument for growing businesses compared to platforms that rely on numerous paid apps.
Common Use Cases
- Scaling a high-volume DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) brand with complex product options
- Implementing a headless commerce architecture for a custom front-end experience
- Managing B2B and wholesale operations alongside a standard B2C storefront
Key Benefits
- Eliminates platform-based transaction fees, improving profit margins on high sales volume
- Reduces technical debt and app clutter with comprehensive built-in features, streamlining store management
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Superior built-in features reduce dependency on expensive third-party apps
- Excellent scalability and performance for high-growth, high-traffic stores
- Strong API and headless commerce capabilities for developers
- No transaction fees on any plan, offering cost predictability
Cons
- Pricing can be higher than entry-level platforms, with a steeper learning curve
- Themes and design flexibility in the standard editor can feel less intuitive than some competitors
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BigCommerce better than Shopify?
BigCommerce often excels for businesses prioritizing built-in advanced features, scalability for high volume, and complex sales models (like B2B). Shopify offers superior ease-of-use for beginners and a larger app ecosystem. The 'better' platform depends on your business size, technical needs, and growth stage.
Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?
No, a major advantage of BigCommerce is that it does not charge any additional transaction fees on top of what your payment gateway (e.g., Stripe, PayPal) charges, regardless of your subscription plan.
Is BigCommerce good for international selling?
Yes, BigCommerce has strong multi-currency and localization features built-in, making it a robust platform for stores targeting global audiences and managing cross-border commerce.
Conclusion
For e-commerce sellers focused on sustainable, scalable growth, BigCommerce presents a compelling and powerful solution. Its combination of enterprise-ready infrastructure, a rich set of native features, and a fee structure that rewards high sales volume makes it a strategic investment. If your business has moved past the experimental phase and you need a platform that can grow seamlessly with your ambitions—handling increased traffic, complex sales channels, and custom integrations—BigCommerce is undoubtedly a top-tier choice worthy of serious consideration.