BigCommerce vs SAP Commerce Cloud

During testing, I noticed right off the bat that BigCommerce is a feature-rich platform that needs a lot of customization to fit my exact needs. Plus, there aren’t guided onboarding experiences, making implementation time-consuming. You must manually explore the interface to learn how to create or connect a domain, add products, set up fulfillment workflows, connect sales channels and design a storefront.Secondly, what caught my eye was the platform's speed and operability. BigCommerce boasts a 99% website uptime, and I could see why. It automatically optimizes images, minimizes HTTP requests and uses browser cache to identify customers. Also, a global content delivery network allows visitors worldwide to view your site from the nearest server.I loved how intuitive it is to connect and manage sales channels using BigCommerce. You can set up differentiated experiences for each channel using dynamic pricing, multiple product views, product swatches and bulk pricing tools. A robust customer segmentation module automatically groups similar customer personas based on your rules and helps design personalized experiences.The storefront editor uniquely lets you design a carousel for the website header. However, I didn’t like anything else about the storefront editor. It has limited free themes, and paid ones are comparatively more expensive than what competitors offer. That said, the platform's headless architecture helps compensate by enabling custom storefront development.My only point of contention was its unique pricing model. It charges a base subscription fee and puts a cap on your business's annual sales. If you exceed this cap, BigCommerce takes a percentage of your revenue based on your subscription plan.Also, if you connect the platform to a POS, every POS sale is considered an eCommerce sale, leading to a higher sales volume and cost. This leads to complex TCO calculations for enterprises with large sales volumes and international customers.Overall, BigCommerce is one of the best options for growing mid-sized businesses that can offset the platform cost with their sales revenue. It's flexible and can adapt to multiple business models, including B2B, D2C and dropshipping, with separate storefronts for each.However, the platform can be overkill for small businesses and may require significant investments to unlock its full potential. That's because all the good features like multi-storefront, personalization, customer segmentation and headless architecture are available in higher-tier plans. Also, lower-tier plans are comparatively more expensive than those of competitors like Shopify.

User reviews from the last year paint a mixed picture, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses that make it a good fit for some businesses, but not others. While many users praise its robust feature set, particularly its powerful shopping cart and marketing tools, they also point to its complexity and high cost as major drawbacks. Some users find the platform's learning curve steep, requiring significant time and resources to master. Others note that its pricing structure can be prohibitive for smaller businesses, making it more suitable for large enterprises with deep pockets. What sets SAP Commerce Cloud apart is its tight integration with other SAP products, a major advantage for businesses already invested in the SAP ecosystem. This seamless integration allows for streamlined operations and data sharing across different departments, boosting efficiency and providing a holistic view of the business. However, this strength can also be a weakness for businesses that don't use other SAP products, as they may not fully utilize the platform's capabilities. Ultimately, SAP Commerce Cloud is best suited for large enterprises with complex eCommerce needs and existing SAP infrastructure. Its comprehensive features, scalability, and integration capabilities make it a powerful tool for managing sophisticated online businesses. However, smaller businesses or those new to SAP may find its complexity and cost overwhelming, making alternative platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce more attractive options.