A hosted e-commerce platform called BigCommerce offers all the features and services needed to run an online business. BigCommerce is a software as a service (SaaS) offering, which implies that a company pays a monthly charge for access to the e-commerce platform instead of owning the software.
BigCommerce is a platform that many businesses may use, but it is especially valuable for broader, faster-growing enterprises. This is because using the platform can be difficult for those who are unfamiliar with e-commerce. Multiple businesses choose BigCommerce website development services to build a store on this platform. It will help you to design a store with the latest functionalities.
Therefore, in this blog, we will explain all the important things you have to take care of while designing the BigCommerce store. Additionally, we will explore BigCommerce features and quick ways to build a store on it. So, begin with the elements you need to pay attention to.
Key Things To Prioritize When Designing The BigCommerce Website
When creating an online store, consider key functionalities tailored to your business. Align features with your goals and customer journey. Begin with essential elements like preferred payment gateways, then add extras such as automatic tax/shipping calculations. Prioritize features based on revenue impact and operational efficiency.
Mobile-Friendly Design:
As mobile commerce grows, ensure your website supports responsive, mobile-friendly design, or consider a mobile app. This guarantees a consistent shopping experience across devices. BigCommerce themes, both free and premium, offer responsive designs optimized for various product catalogs and industries.
SEO Capabilities:
To draw in organic visitors, optimize your website for search engines (SEO). Ranking higher on Google increases visibility, drawing interested users. Effective SEO can make traffic cost-effective and drive potential clients with high conversion intent.
Site Speed:
Fast-loading sites enhance user experience and positively impact SEO. A speedy site reduces bounce rates, making it crucial for retaining visitors. You can use tools like Website Speedy to boost your store speed simply. Being a SaaS-based solution, Website Speedy is an excellent tool to enhance your website's loading speed.
CMS (Content Management System):
A program called a content management system (CMS) is used to handle things and enables numerous contributors to produce, revise, and publish them. Utilize a Content Management System (CMS) to house dynamic content like blog posts and visuals. A CMS allows easy content updates, ensuring your site stays fresh and aligned with product offerings.
Product Management:
Product management seeks to provide value to both the company and its clients. Enable easy management of inventory, ensuring consistent product availability. Your ecommerce site should support adding, editing, and tracking inventory to meet customer demands effectively.
Payments and Checkout:
Offer multiple payment options to meet diverse customer preferences. Integrating with various payment gateways enhances flexibility, expedites decision-making, and potentially increases spending. Custom checkout options, like one-click checkout, can be implemented for an improved user experience.
Security:
When a BigCommerce store is first built, it is all set to private. Prioritize security compliance, especially handling sensitive customer data. BigCommerce stores provide Level 1 PCI compliance as a standard, ensuring a secure environment and freeing you from security concerns.
Integrations:
Choose an ecommerce platform that allows customization through plugins and integrations. Ensure compatibility with back-office systems and preferred marketing tools. Evaluate how well the platform integrates with your data, email marketing system, on-site chat, SMS marketing, and popular marketplaces.
Marketing Strategy:
Develop your ecommerce marketing strategy early in the process. Align website features with your marketing goals. For instance, if social media advertising is a focus, incorporate social sharing options. If mobile commerce is prominent, consider push notifications or a mobile app. Tailor your site to support your overall marketing strategy.
Now, move further toward the best BigCommerce features.
Top BigCommerce Features That All Businesses Should Know!
Here, we will explore the top features of the BiGcommerce store. It is categorized into two sections: the first is for most known features, and the second is for additional services.
Best BigCommerce Features:
BigCommerce offers unlimited products, file storage, and bandwidth, even in the basic Standard tier. There is no need to upgrade for more products or faster loading times. Sales caps exist, but enterprise plans have no limits.
Simplifying checkout with a single-page design, BigCommerce minimizes distractions, increasing the chances of completed purchases. It makes BigCommerce a suitable option for beginners.
With an impressive 99% uptime, BigCommerce ensures minimal downtime, vital for customer trust and continuous sales, thanks to its cloud-based solution using Amazon Web Services (AWS).
All BigCommerce plans include versatile tools for store owners. A flexible discount system and coupon codes boost loyalty, while the ability to create gift products enhances customer experience.
BigCommerce plans allow sellers to effortlessly incorporate product videos using YouTube links, presenting an engaging way to showcase products.
The bulk pricing feature enables sellers to offer discounts for higher quantities, particularly beneficial for products often purchased in multiples, making BigCommerce a compelling choice for B2B stores.
Additional Services that BigCommerce Provides:
BigCommerce includes a straightforward customer review and rating system, customizable for manual or automatic approval, enhancing the customer feedback process.
Multiple product variants, like size and color, are allowed in all BigCommerce plans. Color or image swatches provide customers with a quick preview of each variant.
For Plus plans and above, BigCommerce offers customer segmentation, allowing merchants to classify customers into groups for targeted marketing and personalized experiences.
The Abandoned Cart Saver feature, available in Plus plans and above, allows sellers to send customized automated emails to customers who abandon their carts, encouraging them to complete their purchase with incentives like discounts.
Now, we will discuss the simple steps to build a store on the BigCommerce platform.
How To Build A Custom Store In Simple Steps
Creating a custom ecommerce website involves several key steps to ensure a smooth development process. Rather than starting from scratch, you can leverage existing platforms that require minimal coding skills.
Define Your Business Goals:
Clearly, you understand why you want to sell online. Determine if you're aiming for direct-to-consumer sales, supplementing brick-and-mortar operations, or expanding from B2C to B2B. Set measurable goals, such as weekly sales volume, local or international reach, and plans for growing customer lifetime value.
Design the Shopping Experience:
Consider the kind of online shopping experience you want to offer. Think about features like search result filters, product comparisons, optimized checkout, and promotions. Tailor your site to match your audience's preferences for a quick and simple shopping experience or a more pleasant browsing journey.
Explore Platform Options:
Discuss various ecommerce platform options, considering your specific needs. Popular choices include BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify, and Shopify Plus. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each platform based on the features required for your online business.
Add and Describe Products:
Ensure adding and editing product listings is user-friendly. Focus on high-quality product images and detailed descriptions to instill confidence in your customers. Include all relevant information, product specifications, sizing details, etc., especially for researched products.
Set Payment and Shipping Settings:
In this step, streamline the shopping cart and checkout process and integrate payment gateways. Choose payment gateways that align with customer preferences, offering different payment methods. Select options that support cross-border transactions if you plan to sell internationally.
Quality Assurance and Launch:
Before launching, thoroughly test your website to ensure a seamless user experience. Review calls-to-action, test the checkout process, check payment processing integrations, optimize images for speed, verify product listings, and test coupons/promo codes. Ensure your website displays well on both desktop and mobile devices for a consistent user experience.
Conclusion
Therefore, in this blog, we have explained the basics of the BigCommerce platform, its unique features, and what elements you should consider when developing a store.
Additionally, we mentioned the procedure of building a BigCommerce website. By following the above-mentioned six steps, you can develop a custom e-commerce website that aligns with your business goals and provides a positive shopping experience for your customers.
Also, if you are not a technical person and need help to develop a website or want to migrate from your current platform to BigCommerce, hire a BigCommerce store migration services in India from MakkPress Technologies. We are an ecommerce marketing agency located in India, which specializes in building ecommerce stores from scratch and have ample experience in this field.
Apart from this, MakkPress Technologies is a top choice for e-commerce store designing, customization, marketing, maintenance, and all the e-commerce services.
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