Signs You’ve Outgrown BigCommerce
BigCommerce is often chosen by retailers who already anticipate growth and complexity. It offers flexibility, control, and customization beyond entry-level ecommerce platforms, making it a strong choice for businesses with more advanced needs.
However, as order volume, channels, and fulfillment scenarios expand, many BigCommerce retailers reach a point where even a robust storefront platform needs additional operational support.
If your team is experiencing growing friction behind the scenes, it may be a sign that your business has outgrown relying on a storefront platform alone.
However, as order volume, channels, and fulfillment scenarios expand, many BigCommerce retailers reach a point where even a robust storefront platform needs additional operational support.
If your team is experiencing growing friction behind the scenes, it may be a sign that your business has outgrown relying on a storefront platform alone.
Common Signs You’ve Outgrown a Storefront-Only Platform
1. Managing B2B and B2C workflows has become difficult
You support multiple customer types, pricing rules, catalogs, or ordering workflows. Keeping everything consistent across channels requires manual intervention or custom logic that’s hard to maintain.
1. Managing B2B and B2C workflows has become difficult
You support multiple customer types, pricing rules, catalogs, or ordering workflows. Keeping everything consistent across channels requires manual intervention or custom logic that’s hard to maintain.
2. Order complexity is increasing
Split shipments, partial fulfillment, backorders, allocations, or special handling are common — and your team relies on workarounds to keep orders moving accurately.
Split shipments, partial fulfillment, backorders, allocations, or special handling are common — and your team relies on workarounds to keep orders moving accurately.
3. Inventory accuracy is fragile across systems
Inventory data lives in multiple places, and keeping availability aligned between ecommerce, warehouses, marketplaces, or back-office systems requires constant reconciliation.
Inventory data lives in multiple places, and keeping availability aligned between ecommerce, warehouses, marketplaces, or back-office systems requires constant reconciliation.
4. Fulfillment rules are hard to enforce
Routing orders by location, inventory availability, shipping method, or customer type becomes increasingly complex — and difficult to manage from a storefront platform alone.
Routing orders by location, inventory availability, shipping method, or customer type becomes increasingly complex — and difficult to manage from a storefront platform alone.
5. Customer service lacks a unified operational view
Support teams can’t easily see order status, inventory availability, fulfillment progress, or exceptions in one place, slowing response times and creating internal dependencies.
Support teams can’t easily see order status, inventory availability, fulfillment progress, or exceptions in one place, slowing response times and creating internal dependencies.
6. Reporting and visibility require manual effort
Understanding what’s selling, what’s backordered, and what can actually ship requires spreadsheets or custom reports pulled from multiple systems.
Understanding what’s selling, what’s backordered, and what can actually ship requires spreadsheets or custom reports pulled from multiple systems.
Why This Happens
BigCommerce excels at providing storefront flexibility and customization. But as operational complexity grows, retailers often ask the ecommerce platform to manage inventory truth, fulfillment logic, and order orchestration — responsibilities that extend beyond the role of a storefront.
That’s when an Order Management System becomes essential.
BigCommerce excels at providing storefront flexibility and customization. But as operational complexity grows, retailers often ask the ecommerce platform to manage inventory truth, fulfillment logic, and order orchestration — responsibilities that extend beyond the role of a storefront.
That’s when an Order Management System becomes essential.
The Role of an OMS
An Order Management System provides a centralized foundation for commerce operations by:
An Order Management System provides a centralized foundation for commerce operations by:
- Maintaining accurate, structured product and inventory data
- Managing order lifecycles, backorders, and allocations
- Enforcing fulfillment and routing rules
- Providing real-time operational visibility
- Integrating cleanly with BigCommerce instead of replacing it
When to Take the Next Step
If these challenges sound familiar, it may be time to complement BigCommerce with an Order Management System.
Ability OMS helps retailers bring structure, accuracy, and control to growing commerce operations — providing the reliable data foundation modern commerce (and AI-driven discovery) increasingly depends on.
Learn how Ability OMS supports complex commerce operations.
If these challenges sound familiar, it may be time to complement BigCommerce with an Order Management System.
Ability OMS helps retailers bring structure, accuracy, and control to growing commerce operations — providing the reliable data foundation modern commerce (and AI-driven discovery) increasingly depends on.
Learn how Ability OMS supports complex commerce operations.
