I've been building on BigCommerce for a couple of years, and honestly some things still catch me off guard. Thought I'd share what I keep running into and see if it's just me.
- Editing themes is a pain. I thought Stencil would be easy, but even a small layout change sometimes means jumping between several files. Took me a while to get comfortable with it.
- Apps break things. My clients love adding apps, and I get it, but every extra one is a risk. Last month a random script broke the checkout on a store, and I spent hours figuring out which app caused it.
- API limits hit you at the worst time. I was syncing a large catalog and kept getting blocked. Sending data in smaller batches fixed most of it.
- Checkout can't be changed much. This one frustrates me the most. Unless you're on the Enterprise plan, you're pretty limited in what you can do.
- Slow stores. Big images and too many scripts slow everything down. Most owners don't notice until sales dip.
- Moving from another platform is messy. I've migrated stores from WooCommerce, and something always goes missing, usually order history or product options. Always test with a small import first.
- Going headless sounds cool but it's a lot of work. More systems means more things to manage.
After a few projects, I think smart BigCommerce development really just comes down to keeping things simple, not overloading the store with apps, and testing before launch.
Has anyone found a good workaround for the checkout limits? Or any tools that saved you time? Would love to hear what's worked for you.
stevejonas
(120 Points)
