Yesterday, BigCommerce dropped a major announcement that has the e-commerce world buzzing. BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift have united under a new parent company called Commerce (at the ultra-cool domain Commerce.com). As someone deeply involved in e-commerce and a BigCommerce partner, I was immediately intrigued – and dare I say, excited. This isn’t just a simple rebrand; it feels like a bold strategic move aimed at redefining the game. In this article, I’ll break down what Commerce is, why BigCommerce made this move now, how it stacks up against competitors like Shopify and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and what it all means for online retailers and those of us who support them.
Meet “Commerce”: BigCommerce’s New Umbrella Brand
BigCommerce has always been about, well, commerce – it’s in the name. Now they’ve doubled down on that identity. Commerce is the new parent brand that brings together BigCommerce (the e-commerce platform itself), Feedonomics (product feed management), and Makeswift (visual storefront builder) under one powerful banner. According to BigCommerce’s announcement, this is “not just a rebrand. It’s a redefinition — one rooted in innovation, intelligence, and unity”. In other words, Commerce isn’t about slapping a new logo on the old BigCommerce; it’s about unifying three complementary solutions with a shared vision.
So, what exactly are these pieces of the Commerce puzzle?
- BigCommerce – the core open SaaS platform that merchants use to build and run their online stores. It gives businesses the freedom to create rich shopping experiences and scale globally on their terms. (If you know LimeLight, you know we’re big fans of this platform’s flexibility and power for both B2C and B2B e-commerce.)
- Feedonomics – a leading data feed management tool BigCommerce acquired in 2021. Feedonomics turns product data into a strategic advantage by ensuring every item a merchant sells is properly structured and optimized for discovery in shopping channels, marketplaces, and now an era of AI-driven search. Basically, it helps retailers get their products found wherever people are shopping.
- Makeswift – a visual website and page builder (acquired by BigCommerce in 2023) that empowers teams to quickly create headless storefront experiences without heavy coding. It’s all about enabling marketers and developers to collaboratively build beautiful, AI-optimized e-commerce sites, fast. If BigCommerce is the engine under the hood, Makeswift is like a slick design interface to craft the car’s exterior – and do it at lightning speed.
Under Commerce, these three remain distinct brands/tools, but they’re now aligned with a unified purpose. The new parent company’s mission is to provide “an open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem” that connects the tools and systems merchants need to grow, allowing them to unlock the full potential of their data and deliver seamless, personalized experiences across channels. In plain terms, Commerce wants to be the connective tissue for modern online businesses: the store platform, the data feeds, the front-end experience, all working together and enhanced by artificial intelligence.
One thing I find especially noteworthy is the mentality behind this move. BigCommerce’s CEO, Travis Hess, emphasized that launching the Commerce brand is a declaration that the company is doubling down on innovation to help brands “move faster, scale smarter and grow on their terms” by delivering “an open ecosystem built for speed, intelligence and flexibility.”. That quote hits a lot of important notes: flexibility, openness, speed. As an agency that has long championed open e-commerce solutions, this language sounds like music to my ears.
And yes, let’s take a moment to appreciate the name Commerce itself. Bold, ambitious, maybe even a bit audacious – in a good way. Securing Commerce.com as a domain is a power move (I mean, it doesn’t get more straightforward than “commerce”!). It signals that BigCommerce aims to be the hub for all things commerce, not just “Big” commerce stores but the entire ecosystem around them. From a branding perspective, it’s kind of brilliant in its simplicity. From a practical perspective, it may take some time for the market to adjust (since “commerce” is such a broad term), but I suspect the novelty of the name will quickly be associated with this unified platform in our industry circles.
Why Now? Riding the Wave of AI and “Agentic” Commerce
You might be wondering, why make this big change now? The timing isn’t random. E-commerce is in the midst of rapid evolution – faster than I’ve seen in my years in the field. A huge driver of that change is artificial intelligence. BigCommerce’s team pointed out that the world of commerce is changing fast: search is becoming “agentic,” buyer journeys are more complex, and AI is transforming how businesses grow. By agentic, they’re referring to the rise of AI shopping assistants and algorithms acting on behalf of consumers. (Imagine your next customer is an AI bot finding the best product for its human owner – that future isn’t far off.) In this landscape, businesses need to adapt quickly with intelligent, composable tools.
BigCommerce clearly sees AI as the future and doesn’t want to be left behind. In fact, the whole Commerce umbrella is pitched as an AI-driven ecosystem for next-generation commerce. We’re talking personalization, automation, predictive analytics – all those buzzwords we’ve been hearing, but now very real capabilities that online retailers need to leverage. Just recently, BigCommerce (excuse me, Commerce now) announced expanded partnerships with AI leaders like Perplexity, Microsoft, Google, and PayPal to help merchants take advantage of these “agentic commerce” opportunities. The writing is on the wall: adapt with AI or get left behind by those who do.
Importantly, BigCommerce isn’t alone in this AI race. Every major commerce platform is moving in this direction, which is further validation that this rebrand makes sense. Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly Demandware) spent much of its Connections 2025 conference talking about AI and what they dubbed the era of “agentic and unified experiences” defining the next decade. Salesforce has been baking AI (Einstein GPT) into its commerce products, focusing on unified commerce across online, store, and order management. Shopify, for its part, has been on a tear introducing AI tools for its huge merchant base – you might have heard about Shopify’s AI assistant Sidekick, which doubled its user count earlier this year. Shopify is making it clear they believe AI features will help pull in more sellers and keep them “better prepared” for uncertain times. Even Shopware, a smaller but growing player (especially in Europe), is all-in on AI. They launched their own Shopware AI and are talking about protecting merchant independence in an AI-driven world. Fun fact: Shopware reported triple-digit growth (300%+) in North America for the first half of 2025 – yes, you read that right, 300% – crediting their focus on Agentic Commerce and new AI capabilities as a key driver. It’s not every day you see a stat like that in this industry, and it underscores how much traction AI-focused platforms can get.
So, the Commerce rebrand is BigCommerce planting its flag in this new landscape. They’re saying: we’re not just an online store platform; we’re evolving into an intelligent commerce ecosystem. And personally, I think the timing is smart. The second half of 2025 and into 2026 is looking like a tipping point for AI in commerce – from search algorithms to customer service chatbots to AI-driven product recommendations. If BigCommerce wants to be seen as a leader and not just follow Shopify’s or Salesforce’s lead, making a bold statement now is how you do it.
BigCommerce’s Q2 2025 Performance vs. the Competition
Let’s talk numbers for a minute, because beyond the branding and vision, we need to see how BigCommerce is actually doing and how it compares to other platforms. Q2 2025 just wrapped up, and coincidentally (or not) the Commerce brand launch came right as BigCommerce announced its earnings. Here’s the snapshot:
- BigCommerce (Commerce) – In Q2 2025, BigCommerce pulled in $84.4 million in revenue, which was a modest 3% increase year-over-year. The growth was small, but notably it beat analyst expectations slightly, and the company even eked out a small non-GAAP profit of $0.04 per share. For a company that has historically run at a loss while investing in growth, turning any profit (even adjusted) is a positive sign. They also improved their operating margins (still negative, but less so than last year) and generated $11.9 million in free cash flow in Q2 – a significant swing from burning cash to actually generating it. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) stands around $355 million, up ~2.5% YoY, indicating a steady subscription base. The stock market seemed to like this news plus the rebrand – BigCommerce’s stock popped about 5–6% after the earnings release. Clearly investors see potential if the company can reignite growth under this new strategy.
- Shopify – Now, contrast BigCommerce’s single-digit growth with Shopify, the 800-pound gorilla of ecomm platforms. Shopify’s scale is enormous compared to BigCommerce (we’re talking billions in revenue vs tens of millions). In Q1 2025 Shopify posted $2.4 billion in revenue, up 27% year-over-year. Yes, that’s 27% growth on a base roughly 30 times larger than BigCommerce’s – a testament to how Shopify’s model is firing on all cylinders globally. They’ve had 8 straight quarters of 25%+ revenue growth and robust free cash flow margins to boot. For Q2 2025, Shopify projected growth in the mid-20% range as well, which is massive compared to almost anyone else in the space. Shopify is a different beast – it serves millions of merchants, from tiny startups to huge brands (adding names like Kering’s luxury brands and others to its roster). It’s also investing heavily in fulfillment and its own AI tools. So, while BigCommerce can’t match Shopify’s scale right now, Commerce’s aim is to differentiate by offering flexibility and an open ecosystem where Shopify often keeps things more tightly controlled. (For example, Shopify famously nudges merchants to use its own payment and checkout, whereas BigCommerce tends to be more agnostic and open in integrations.) Both are great platforms, but they cater to different merchant mindsets in many ways.
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud (Demandware) – Salesforce’s commerce platform doesn’t break out financials like a standalone company, since it’s part of Salesforce Inc., but we know it’s focused on large enterprise retailers that want deep integration with CRM, marketing, and other Salesforce tools. Salesforce has been growing its commerce segment by selling to big companies who need highly customized, enterprise-grade solutions. The key trend here is Salesforce pushing “unified commerce” (online + store + everything) and plugging in AI across the board. In Summer ’25, they rolled out new AI-powered features (like Agentforce for guided shopping and enhanced personalization). In short, Salesforce is ensuring that its Commerce Cloud stays relevant by leaning into AI for both B2C and B2B, much like BigCommerce is doing. The difference is Salesforce’s approach is typically a more closed ecosystem (all-in on the Salesforce stack) and often a higher total cost, whereas BigCommerce (Commerce) is preaching openness and lower total cost of ownership with SaaS. For some merchants, especially mid-market ones, that openness and cost efficiency is a big deal – and it’s one reason we at LimeLight have gravitated toward BigCommerce for many clients.
- Shopware – I mentioned Shopware’s explosive growth in North America above, and it’s worth reiterating. Shopware is an open-source commerce platform that historically had a stronghold in Europe and is now expanding. In the first half of 2025 they saw over 300% YoY growth in the U.S. market, signing a bunch of new mid-size and enterprise clients. They also position themselves as an open, merchant-centric alternative, which resonates with certain brands (and perhaps with agencies like ours that value flexibility). Their emphasis on avoiding vendor lock-in and “protecting merchant independence” in the age of AI is very much in the same spirit as BigCommerce’s message of an open ecosystem. I see Shopware playing in a similar space as BigCommerce for mid-market brands that want control and flexibility – though Shopware is still much smaller in presence in North America. The takeaway here is that the competition in the open commerce niche is heating up too. BigCommerce isn’t just competing with Shopify’s closed platform model; it’s also vying to be the dominant open SaaS platform as others like Shopware make their case.
In summary, Q2’s numbers show BigCommerce is holding steady but not sky-rocketing – hence the need to accelerate momentum. Shopify is the clear growth leader at scale, Salesforce is reinforcing its enterprise stronghold with AI, and up-and-comers like Shopware are proving there’s demand for flexible, open solutions. This context makes the launch of Commerce look like a timely offensive play: BigCommerce is saying “we’re not going to sit quietly in the shadow – we’re evolving and we mean business.” (Side note: that’s actually Commerce’s new tagline, “We mean business.” Fitting, right?)
What Commerce’s Unified Ecosystem Means for Merchants (and Agencies)
From a practical standpoint, what can e-commerce businesses (and those of us who support them) expect from this new Commerce era? A few thoughts:
1. More Seamless Integration of Services: If you’ve ever managed an online store, you know how many moving parts there are – storefront, back-end, inventory, marketing feeds, etc. BigCommerce bringing Feedonomics and Makeswift fully into the fold should result in smoother integration among these services. For example, a merchant could more easily use Feedonomics to syndicate their product catalog from BigCommerce to Google, Amazon, Facebook, and beyond, with everything kept in sync. Or use Makeswift to quickly spin up a landing page for a new product launch that pulls data from the BigCommerce store and is optimized automatically for SEO and conversion. The promise here is a unified tech stack that covers the journey from customer discovery (via feeds and search) -> shopping experience (the storefront) -> checkout and beyond, with AI enhancing each step. As an agency, we love anything that reduces friction in our tech stack integration. We already use Feedonomics for many clients and have dabbled in headless/storefront customization – if Commerce can tighten these connections out-of-the-box, it means faster deployments and better results for the brands we work with.
2. Acceleration of AI Features: I expect we’ll see a faster rollout of AI-driven capabilities across this Commerce ecosystem. BigCommerce has already been adding things like AI-powered search and product recommendations, but now with a clear AI-oriented identity, they’ll likely double down. Perhaps we’ll see native tools for content generation (maybe integrating something like ChatGPT or other AI to help merchants write product descriptions or ads), more personalized shopper experiences by leveraging Feedonomics data (e.g., dynamic pricing or promotions based on real-time feed data and AI predictions), and smarter design suggestions in Makeswift. The mention that Commerce is about “intelligence in action” and using AI where it “matters most” (like personalization and automation) hints that very practical AI enhancements are on the horizon. This is good news for merchants who might not have data scientists on staff – the platform is aiming to bake in that intelligence. It’s also good for agencies because it gives us better tools to work with in crafting high-converting experiences.
3. Continued Openness and Flexibility: One thing I’ll be watching closely is how open Commerce remains. BigCommerce’s DNA is open SaaS – meaning you get the benefits of cloud software and the flexibility to customize, use APIs, and avoid being locked into one way of doing things. The press release emphasized that openness is not just a buzzword but a core principle, enabling customers to “build what fits” their business through APIs and integrations. As a developer and marketer, this is crucial. I’ve seen scenarios where a closed platform’s limitations become a roadblock for a client’s growth or unique needs. With Commerce, I expect BigCommerce will continue supporting headless implementations, custom checkout experiences, and a rich app marketplace. In fact, by having Feedonomics and Makeswift under the same roof, the “openness” may even extend to how those tools can work outside the box – for instance, could a Makeswift-built front-end easily plug into other CMS or be sold as a standalone? Time will tell, but I suspect the integration will be tight yet still optional. If a merchant just wants BigCommerce by itself, they can. If they want the whole Commerce toolkit, it will be readily accessible. That flexibility of choice is part of growing on your terms, not the platform’s terms.
4. Implications for BigCommerce Stores (Current and Future): If you’re already a BigCommerce merchant or considering it, don’t worry – the BigCommerce platform isn’t going away or getting renamed (at least not at the store level). This is more like Google creating Alphabet as the parent company; Google search still exists as Google. So, your BigCommerce store will still be your BigCommerce store. What will change over time is branding (you might see the Commerce logo around) and hopefully an accelerated cadence of new features and improvements across BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift. One positive sign: BigCommerce’s Q2 results showed they are investing efficiently (spending was under control, and they still beat income expectations), so they have some runway to put serious resources into R&D and product development for this new vision. I’d bet on a wave of updates in the coming months enhancing multi-storefront capabilities, B2B features (BigCommerce launched a B2B Edition before – likely more to come), and native omnichannel selling features, all under the Commerce umbrella. For merchants, it means more tools to help you sell more intelligently. For agencies like LimeLight, it means we can deliver even more value by tapping into a richer ecosystem.
5. A Note on Being “Partner-Friendly”: Since I’m writing from the perspective of a BigCommerce partner agency, I have to mention how this impacts us and our peers. BigCommerce has always had a strong partner network (agencies, tech partners, etc. – we even saw Feedonomics originally grow through such partnerships before being acquired). The Commerce announcement explicitly mentioned a declaration to customers, partners, investors and team that they’re doubling down on innovation. As a partner, that reassurance is great. It means BigCommerce (Commerce) wants to continue working hand-in-hand with experts like us to bring merchants success. We already were all-in on the platform, and this just reinforces our confidence. In the end, our goal is to help our clients grow e-commerce revenue. Knowing the platform we recommend is forward-thinking and stable (and not afraid to reinvent itself when needed) lets us feel even better about recommending it. We’ve helped brands migrate from platforms like .Net Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce – each for their own reasons – and a common thread is that BigCommerce’s openness and cost-effectiveness can solve a lot of pain points. Now with Commerce’s AI-driven push, we can also say to clients, “you won’t be left behind in the AI wave; our platform partner is leading the charge.”
Final Thoughts: A New Era Begins
It’s not every day that you see a major e-commerce platform rebrand and reposition itself so decisively. There’s a sense of renewed energy around BigCommerce now – or should I say, Commerce. Time will tell how well they execute on this vision, but I’m optimistic. The challenges ahead aren’t small: Shopify is a formidable competitor that isn’t slowing down, Salesforce will keep wooing the enterprise clients, and newer players will keep nipping at the mid-market heels with innovation (as Shopware’s surge shows). But BigCommerce has something unique: a blend of enterprise-grade capabilities with a flexible, open approach that a lot of merchants (and agencies like us) appreciate. With the Commerce umbrella and an AI-focused roadmap, they are playing to that strength.
From a personal standpoint, this news resonates with me. I’ve always believed that e-commerce success comes from staying agile and embracing change – whether it’s adopting a new marketing channel, optimizing site UX, or leveraging the latest tech like AI to meet customers where they are. BigCommerce’s move to unify and innovate tells me they believe the same. It’s a signal to all of us in the e-commerce community that they plan to lead in this next era, not follow. And as a partner who has built countless stores and strategies on BigCommerce, I’m excited to continue that journey with even more firepower in our toolkit.
In short: Commerce (the company) has arrived, and it says it means business – literally and figuratively. Don’t be surprised if we start seeing faster innovation and a tighter race in the commerce platform space as a result. For e-commerce brands evaluating their platform choices, this is one more reason to give BigCommerce (now Commerce) a close look. And for our clients and friends: you can bet we’ll be diving into these new capabilities and insights, making sure you’re ahead of the curve. The future of e-commerce just got a little more interesting, and we’re here for it.
