Top BigCommerce Developers in 2024

A prediction by Statista showed that e-commerce in the US reached approximately $768 billion in market value in 2021. The eCommerce market has rapidly grown in the US and accounted for nearly 15% of all retail sales in the country in 2021. With many active sites globally, businesses are looking for strategies to stand out from the crowd, and this is where BigCommerce comes in handy.

BigCommerce is a leading e-commerce solution in the US that allows store owners to build and customize their online store with an array of templates and functionalities. As of 2019, BigCommerce had over 1 million users and estimated revenue of about $225 million. 

Although making this kind of digital store is feasible, hiring a BigCommerce developer is critical for companies that do not want to build their store from the ground up. BigCommerce development services are also advantageous for those who do not have coding expertise or the money to hire programmers on their own. 

Here is everything to know about hiring the best BigCommerce development company. 

Competitive advantages of BigCommerce

BigCommerce developers support the growth of all businesses, from small and medium businesses to large enterprises. Originally designed for the needs of small and medium businesses, the BigCommerce platform today supports some of the largest brands in the world. Starting with a comprehensive yet easy-to-use platform, a business can grow to hundreds of millions of sales without facing limitations in BigCommerce development services.

1. Open SaaS

Because every business is unique and most large companies have specific requirements that are difficult to provide a turnkey solution, BigCommerce's product strategy emphasizes what the company calls “open SaaS”. "Open SaaS" is the disclosure of the functionality of the SaaS platform through APIs and software development kits. APIs allow customers to access a wide range of third-party applications and integrate with legacy systems. Thus, open SaaS as a strategy competes with the flexibility of legacy open-source software.

2. Cross-channel commerce

BigCommerce developers provide free connections to two of the leading US marketplaces: Amazon and eBay, and the company's technology partners provide integrations with dozens of other leading markets around the world. BigCommerce is one of two platforms that natively allows social selling on Facebook and Instagram Checkout. The company has integrations and business partnerships with a wide range of leading POS software vendors including Square, Clover (a Fiserv Company) and Vend.

3. Variety of themes and BigCommerce website design

For branded client sites, the Stencil design framework offers over 100 beautiful, pre-built, responsive theme options, as well as the ability to custom BigCommerce website design in a local development environment. The interactive page builder lets you drag and drop control of layouts, designs, widgets, and content blocks on pages that can contain anything from simple image rotations to powerful merchandising features.

4. The lower total cost of ownership

BigCommerce believes that the total cost of ownership of the company's platform is substantially less than that of legacy software. Customers can take advantage of pre-negotiated rates from strategic payment partners, and whose published rates are lower than Shopify's for most plan types.

5. Performance and safety

BigCommerce developers have developed a platform to maximize uptime, minimize response time, and provide a secure environment. On all sites, stores, on average, achieved 99.98% uptime in 2019, and as of June 1, 2020, the average uptime in 2020 was 99.99%. Since 2014, BigCommerce has had zero site downtime during its five peak holiday shopping days.

6. Download speed

According to Google PageSpeed ​​Insights, BigCommerce is responding faster than top eCommerce sites. Faster response times and page load times benefit customers by improving the buyer's experience and organic search engine rankings. Unlike managed software, security is built into the BigCommerce platform and service. The company offers its payment security at PCI-DSS Level 1, and its security protocols have received ISO 27001 certification - the "gold standard" in security assessments.

BigCommerce Development Process

A BigCommerce platform service can help businessmen and company owners to build a custom online store without much effort. Here are the six steps involved in developing one. 

1. Planning

The store owner must first outline the business goals and come up with a budget for the BigCommerce development process. Other aspects of the planning process include choosing the ideal BigCommerce development company with the necessary expertise to produce a viable BigCommerce store with the necessary components.

2. Design 

Once the plan is in place, the next step is to consider the store theme. Of course, this should be done with the target audience's expected shopping experience in mind. 

Most BigCommerce development services include access to predesigned templates, eliminating the need to make anything from scratch. Furthermore, some services will include helpful features like a page builder and drag-and-drop editor that allow for customizing the platform without any kind of coding skills.

3. Development

Here, the best BigCommerce development company will start creating a responsive and reliable platform that meets the store owner’s needs. One key point to consider is how the platform is optimized to support different devices like tablets, desktops, and smartphones, making it more accessible to more customers.

This process also includes deciding on product categories and how to add items to the marketplace. In addition, the store owner must choose delivery partners and meet fulfillment and shipping standards. Ultimately, another critical component of the BigCommerce development service is completing payment gateways to accommodate different consumers.

4. Testing

After developing for BigCommerce, the next step is to test the store to ensure that everything is working as it should. The store will be tested on different devices and browsers and analyzed how it works. Testing involves analyzing the website design, performance, checkout experience, landing pages, loading speed, and payment processing integrations. 

Top BigCommerce development companies will also check to ensure that the links are functional and there are no missing product descriptions or categories. The navigation and scrolling experience should also be smooth enough without too many lags and glitches.

5. Launch

If everything works correctly, the top BigCommerce development companies will launch the store to allow people to buy the products. During the launch, it helps to ensure a smooth customer experience. The developer should also consider ways to attract customers and drive traffic to optimize the store after launching.

6. Maintenance

The BigCommerce development process does not end with launching. In fact, there is a need for platform maintenance after launch to ensure that the app continues to run efficiently. The best BigCommerce development companies will usually perform numerous maintenance and update tasks as part of the maintenance process.

Maintenance is a crucial part of BigCommerce development services because it helps to fix any bugs that may hinder operations. It is also crucial for developing post-launch updates, data backups, security, and website information. 

What Language is BigCommerce Built On?

BigCommerce platforms are mostly built on PHP programming language. Nonetheless, such commercial platforms are quite adaptable, allowing developers to use alternative languages such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Ruby on Rails. With such versatility, both small and large enterprises may establish, customize, and manage their BigCommerce stores.

How to Choose the Right BigCommerce Development Company 

Choosing the best BigCommerce development company goes a long way in ensuring professional and well-developed stores. Here are tips for selecting the right BigCommerce developer. 

1. Narrow Down Your List of Potential BigCommerce Companies

Before looking for top BigCommerce development companies to collaborate with, store owners should know what they want in terms of design, features, etc. By knowing the requirements, one can narrow down their list of developers and come up with a handful of names that are most suitable for the job. 

This involves reviewing each developer's profile and analyzing their qualifications, samples of previous assignments, technical expertise, hourly ratings, and more. Ultimately, the company should remain with the best BigCommerce development companies that are a good fit for their project.

2. Check Specialization and Portfolios

Even after you have only a few names at hand, you should first go through their portfolios to better understand their skill set and what they have to offer. Portfolios will show the practical experience of the developer, which is useful for determining whether they are suitable for the job at hand. 

The best BigCommerce development companies have varying specialties within the BigCommerce Development industry. Specialization helps them to stand out from the rest of the developers. However, some developers choose to become generalists, meaning that they do not specialize in any kind of work. Therefore, checking specialization might be important for top-tier work.

3. Analyze the Company’s Project Management Methodologies

There are different project management methodologies that top BigCommerce development companies use to manage their projects and ensure optimum performance. Ideally, no project is similar, making it difficult to find a one-size-fits-all approach. That means that what may work for one company may not work for another. 

Several factors should be analyzed when choosing the right project management methodology including the team size, timeline, flexibility, and cost and budget. Also, how much the client or stakeholder wants to be involved in the process can help determine the right project management method. 

4. Compare Prices with the Budget in Mind

Although setting up an online store is more cost-effective than a physical one, there are still costs associated with it. This can include platform costs, design costs, development costs, integration costs, and maintenance costs. 

Therefore, it helps store owners to set a budget for what they intend to spend on the platform development. 

Once they have a budget in mind, they should compare the prices and hourly rates of top BigCommerce development companies. This way, it will be easy to identify developers that meet their budgetary needs and those that exceed their budget. 

How Much Do BigCommerce Development Companies Charge for their Services?

In general, the cost of BigCommerce development service varies from one company to another. Usually, top BigCommerce development companies can charge for their services based on factors such as the set budget, business goals, growth plans, and more. Besides, most developers offer varying plans and pricing packages to suit store owners' needs and requirements. It is also worth noting that the cost can be high when building from scratch.

Conclusions

The best BigCommerce development companies will help their clients to create and run a successful online store that stands out from the crowd. The best BigCommerce development companies should also be able to incorporate the latest features, functionality, and third-party applications to optimize a BigCommerce online store.