Introduction
Hi everyone. Welcome to the October 2009 issue of our newsletter - it's a few days early but we've got some exciting new to share with you.If you've visited our website in the last few days I'm sure you've seen the banners for
BigCommerce, our new hosted ecommerce offering which is of course powered by Interspire Shopping Cart.
BigCommerce makes it possible for anyone to launch a beautiful online store in just a few minutes - simply signup for a
15 day free trial, pick a store design, choose your shipping and billing preferences, add your products and you've got a store live ready to accept orders!
There's nothing to install, no hosting to buy, no servers to setup, no backups to worry about and no upgrades to install. We take care of everything so you can focus on growing your business with BigCommerce.
So why did we launch a hosted eCommerce solution and how can it help you? I'm going to answer these questions and more in this issue of Interspire Insider Monthly. I'll show you why we're so excited about BigCommerce and why thousands of stores have been launched since it went live. If you have questions I'll provide you with our contact details so you can get in touch too.
Thanks in advance and we'd love to hear what you think about BigCommerce.
Cheers,
Interspire Co-Founders
Table of Contents
- What is BigCommerce?
- How Can I Sell Online Using BigCommerce?
- Why We Created BigCommerce
- How Does it Differ From Interspire Shopping Cart?
- What are the Plans for Development Moving Forward?
- How Can I Benefit From BigCommerce as a Partner?
- How Can I Make Money From BigCommerce as an Affiliate?
- Who Can Answer My Questions About BigCommerce?
What is BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is a hosted, fully managed ecommerce platform which includes everything you need to sell your products online. We take care of all the "tech stuff" so you can fous on growing your business. We make sure your online store is always up and running, we push new features to your store as soon as they're ready to go and we're just a phone call away if you have any questions.
There's nothing to install, no hosting to buy, no servers to setup, no backups to worry about and no upgrades to install. We take care of everything so you can focus on growing your business with BigCommerce.
How Can I Sell Online Using BigCommerce?
It's extremely easy to sell your products online using BigCommerce!
Start by signing up for a
15 day free trial (no credit card required) so you can experience everything BigCommerce has to offer. The free trial is fully functional and the BigCommerce
support portal includes a user guide and step-by-step training videos if you get stuck.
After you've signed up for your free trial store, our
store launch checklist helps you get everything in place to launch your online store. That's really all there is to it. You don't need any technical skills and we're just a phone call (1-888-699-8911) or email (
sales@bigcommerce.com) away if you need help or have questions.
Why We Created BigCommerce
We of course created BigCommerce based on feedback from customers like you. All too often we were receiving emails and calls from business owners and partners in the market for ecommerce software who didn't want to host it themselves for whatever reason.
It started off as just a few requests a day and over the period of a few months grew to dozens and even hundreds of requests a week. Some customers and people visiting the Interspire.com website were telling us they loved our software but that they weren't comfortable finding hosting, installing software, handling upgrades, etc, so that's when we decided to do something about it.
After deciding on the architecture, setting up the hosting infrastructure and hiring a team of eCommerce superstars we launched a limited beta release of BigCommerce in June of this year. We used the 2 month beta period to collect feedback from early users and iron out any issues we found and as they say, the rest is history.
Click here to go to the BigCommerce website How Does it Differ From Interspire Shopping Cart?
BigCommerce is a hosted, fully managed SaaS (software as a service) eCommerce platform which requires absolutely no technical knowledge to use. You simply go to th
BigCommerce.com website, sign up and your store is created for you automatically. It's similar to how you might use Gmail or SalesForce.
With BigCommerce you have full access to modify the look and layout of your online store using Drag & Drop Design mode, the QuickEdit online file editor or FTP to modify HTML/CSS files. BigCommerce includes a full "pull" API to get data such as orders, products and customers out of your online store, however the PHP code isn't available for customization.
When we release new features they're automatically pushed to your store and don't affect any template customizations you've made. All BigCommerce customers also receive free phone and ticket-based support.
BigCommerce operates as a month-to-month subscription with plans starting from just $24.95 per month. There are no contracts to sign and you can cancel at any time. We even offer a
15 day free trial so you take it for a test drive to see if it fits the bill.
To sum it all up, we take care of all the "tech stuff" so you can focus on growing your business. We make sure your online store is always up and running, we push new features to your store as soon as they're ready to go and we're just a phone call away if you have any questions.
Click here to go to the BigCommerce website What are the Plans for Development Moving Forward?
Both Interspire Shopping Cart and BigCommerce will continue to be developed in parallel with the exact same featureset, so no matter which product you choose, we'll help you stay competitive when it comes to selling online.
Due to the nature of SaaS software (including a controlled platform and automatic upgrades), new features will be pushed to all BigCommerce stores as soon as they're released, which is generally every 6-8 weeks. Interspire Shopping Cart will continue its current release cycle which includes 2-3 major upgrades per year. Both products will have the exact same features, but they will be available through BigCommerce first.
Because we have to support hundreds of server configurations for Interspire Shopping Cart, it takes longer to develop and tweak certain features to run on these platforms. We don't have to do this extra development for features on BigCommerce because all of the servers run an identical configuration, thus meaning a faster time-to-market.
Click here to go to the BigCommerce website How Can I Benefit From BigCommerce as a Partner?
If you'd like to grow the eCommerce consulting and customization side of your business without having to worry about managing servers, hosting, backups and ugrades, then you should consider the BigCommerce partner program.
BigCommerce has all of the features your customers demand, including a full ecommerce platform, built-in marketing tools, search engine optimized online store, business intelligence reports, easy customization and more. We take care of the hosting, backups, upgrades and security so you can focus on turning out more stores in less time.
Just like our Interspire partner program, we offer excellent incentives for BigCommerce partners. There are two partner levels for BigCommerce - authorized and certified. BigCommerce certified partners receive qualified leads and all partners recurring 25% monthly commission on referrals. You can
learn more about the BigCommerce partner program if you're interested.
How Can I Make Money From BigCommerce as an Affiliate?
Just like our valued partner network, we wanted to give you the opportunity to make significant commission on BigCommerce. We've spent weeks crafting professional banner ads, web pages and email campaigns which you can use to drive people to BigCommerce - and of course make excellent upfront or recurring commissions in the process.
The BigCommerce affiliate programs were designed from the ground up to generously reward affiliates for promoting BigCommerce. We offer two affiliate programs - the upfront bounty program which pays up to $300 per sale and the recurring commission program which pays 25% ongoing monthly commission. You can
learn more about the BigCommerce affiliate programs if you're interested.
Who Can Answer My Questions About BigCommerce?
Our team of BigCommerce experts will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. Just send an email to
sales@bigcommerce.com or give us a call on 1-888-699-8911 between 9am and 6pm CDT Monday to Friday. You can also find answers to common questions, watch the video tour and start your 15 day free trial at
BigCommerce.com.
