If you’re a BigCommerce store owner, you may have heard people talking about “V2 vs V3”. These labels refer to the two unique product experiences that BigCommerce currently offers. New stores, and ones that were created in the last year or so, have the V3 product experience. Older stores have the V2 product experience.
Why Does V2 vs V3 Matter?
Some newer apps will only work if you’re on V3. And the new multi-storefront functionality that BigCommerce just released only works with V3 stores.
Existing Stores Considering Upgrading
If you have an older store and are thinking about upgrading to V3, there’s a lot to consider. The functionality between the two experiences is, as of this date, drastically different. There are some BigCommerce stores which simply would not be able to run on V3 as it’s currently designed. And the process of upgrading to V3 is not an easy one.
New Stores Evaluating BigCommerce
Some of you may be actively demo-ing the BigCommerce platform. Maybe you’re thinking about migrating to BigCommerce from another platform or launching a new business. Your trial store will have the V3 experience by default. However, it’s important to note that you can request V2 for your store if you need features that only V2 provides.
Should I Upgrade to V3?
I’m starting to get questions from my older clients about V3 and whether they should upgrade. In short, unless you absolutely need an app that only works with V3, I don’t recommend it. For most store owners, there is no benefit to upgrading. And in fact, you may lose essential functionality you need to manage your store. As someone who offers product support for many clients, I can attest that certain tasks are near impossible to accomplish on V3.
V2 vs V3 Differences
Over the next few blog posts, I’ll be outlining the current differences between V2 and V3. I believe it’s important for BigCommerce store owners to understand the functionality gaps that exist so they can make an informed decision about whether to upgrade. And for those evaluating the BigCommerce platform, I hope this series of posts will help you better determine if BigCommerce will work for you.
Ultimately, I expect that BigCommerce will push all stores to upgrade to V3. However, until there is parity between V3 and V2, I don’t think that will be feasible. My hope is that BigCommerce starts to address these gaps in the very near future. If they do, I’ll be updating this post and the ones that follow to reflect those changes.
Read the next post, BigCommerce V2 vs V3: Overall Differences >