BIGCOMMERCE

Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper were two Australian entrepreneurs who saw that building an online store in 2009 was still unnecessarily complicated. Existing platforms were either too simple (couldn't handle complex catalogs) or too expensive (Magento required developers).

They founded Interspire in Sydney, which initially sold website software, then pivoted to a hosted e-commerce platform called BigCommerce. They moved the company to Austin, Texas in 2014 to be closer to the US market.

BigCommerce differentiated from Shopify by focusing on flexibility, built-in B2B features, and headless commerce (where the storefront can be built separately from the commerce engine). They went public in August 2020.

BigCommerce is a SaaS e-commerce platform charging monthly subscription fees based on the plan tier and annual online sales. Standard plans range from $39 to $399/month.

Enterprise pricing is custom. They also earn revenue from payment processing fees (unless the merchant uses a third-party payment provider) and from their partner ecosystem (apps, themes, agencies).

The "open SaaS" model — combining the ease of SaaS with the flexibility of open-source — is their key differentiator.

BigCommerce's core platform provides a complete e-commerce solution with storefront, checkout, payments, shipping, and inventory management. Their headless commerce capabilities allow custom frontends via APIs.

Multi-Storefront lets merchants run multiple brands from one account. B2B Edition provides quoting, price lists, and purchase orders.

Channel Manager distributes products across Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, and Google.

BigCommerce grew by targeting the mid-market gap between simple Shopify stores and complex enterprise solutions. Their headless commerce capability attracted brands that wanted to build custom frontends using React or Next.js while using BigCommerce as the backend.

They expanded into B2B commerce and omnichannel selling (selling on Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Shopping simultaneously). Strategic partnerships with Google, Amazon, and Facebook broadened distribution.

Shopify is the 800-pound gorilla. BigCommerce has a tiny fraction of Shopify's market share and marketing budget.

The company has struggled to achieve profitability since going public, with operating losses in most quarters. The stock dropped significantly from its IPO highs.

Competing with both Shopify (going upmarket) and Salesforce Commerce Cloud (going downmarket) is a difficult strategic position. CEO turnover hasn't helped stability.

Revolution Growth (Steve Case's fund), GGV Capital, General Catalyst, Goldman Sachs, and SoftBank have invested. The IPO in 2020 raised additional capital.

The Australian startup scene provided early support through Sydney-based investors. Going public during the COVID e-commerce boom gave BigCommerce strong initial market reception.