BigCommerce Reviews, are they a fair assessment?

With the dynamics of business owners looking for the best eCommerce platform to host their shopping carts and give themselves an edge over the competition, the online stores hosted by BigCommerce can reach both success and failure. These divergent results reflect on the platform's ratings in their reviews through Trustpilot and social media. Are these reviews fair and are they a guide in setting expectations for its adoption?

Current BigCommerce Reviews

You can say for sure that the unhappy business owner will voice their opinion on a reviews platform, but some of the happy and more successful businesses also take time to do their reviews. What is interesting, is that BigCommerce slightly outpaces Shopify Reviews. Shopify is a much larger platform with many more Shopify Apps in its store. The BigCommerce reviews average 1.8/5 which is still a "poor" rating, but it seems 0.2 separate Shopify and it classes it with 1.6/5 as "bad".

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/bigcommerce.com

Reviews and their weight

Looking past the legitimacy of the authors of the reviews, what seems to be a common issue is the dissatisfaction with the platforms' feature/price performance for their business. An eCommerce platform has basic tools such as credit card processing, SEO tools for search engines, and the ability to host your online shop full of products. But these tools have various capabilities and must fit the business model which really points to more than just web hosting.

An eCommerce platform's goal is to offer the business owner the flexibility of the various technical and marketing tools to deliver the full eCommerce solution for its audience. This includes being able to tap into the organic search queries via the platform's free SEO tools tying into the long-tailed keywords search volumes. When this is not aligning with the business, it becomes a challenge to change the business model or eCommerce software, and inevitably there will be dissatisfaction. However, at times there are agencies that do not understand this concept, here is an example.

In this example - one would think that at the assessment level the expectations should have identified the misalignment between flexibility and the architecture to satisfy the requirements of the business. What makes the review most concerning is the payment aspect. While the business may not find the alignment in its features, the post-cancellation does raise further questions.

Differences between Shopify and BigCommerce TrustPilot reviews.

The main difference is the support aspect. While both have chat-based support, it is the quality of the support technician that is where BigCommerce gains points over Shopify. Shopify techs are just not very qualified on the platform's technology and architecture, so when a Shopify Expert raises an issue, disappointment ensues from the chat conversation. BigCommerce support chat has real techs with proper training and understanding of the architecture of the platform. Here is an example of a seasoned merchant, and the difference in contrast to the previous review. But note how support is a key ingredient for success.

Working with BigCommerce experts

BigCommerce experts have to take online classes and take tests to ensure the understanding of the platform and the architecture that can adapt to the business is front and center to the team evaluating a business and its feasibility to adopt the BigCommerce eCommerce features, no matter the paid plan that they are eligible for. BigCommerce experts will be able to evaluate both the business and the platform and see where the gaps are. A regular eCommerce agency will not have the foresight to make the assessment and may end up with a lot of development time wasted. It is highly recommended that platform selection is a key activity before committing to a platform.

Conclusion

With BigCommerce, like Shopify, it is all about understanding how to map the eCommerce platform to the business model, not the other way around. The tools must be in support of the business, and not let the tool define the business. This requires knowledge of the architecture of the platforms and being qualified as an Expert. Bringing this expertise to the business can make a significant impact on their decision-making, as they put trust and resources for you to guide them on the IT front. While reviews will show successes and failures, bringing them to perspective when it applies to your business, it is all about the partnership and the expertise of your BigCommerce expert. If you would like to discuss your project, feel free to reach out to us at wish@thegenielab.com