• by Ray Schultz , May 6, 2019

BigCommerce, an ecommerce platform provider, is discontinuing its email hosting service to focus on its core business, effective June 1.

The company stopped providing email hosting to new merchant accounts in 2016. Only a small percentage of legacy clients will be affected by the June 1 cutoff, a spokesperson says. 

When BigCommerce launched in 2009, “there were “fewer email hosting services available, and at the time, it made sense to package that functionality as part of our holistic offering,” the spokesperson said, adding that at this point, “there are a number of affordable email hosting options that offer an expanded array of features that only a dedicated email hosting platform can provide.” 

The company is advising clients to switch to a “more robust email provider like Google, Godaddy or Zoho,” according to the spokesperson. Those merchants can take advantage of features such as advanced spam filtering, dedicated support an two-actor authentication. 

“Ultimately, BigCommerce is an ecommerce platform, not an email hosting provider, and we felt that our merchants would be better served if we allocated our resources to advancing the infrastructure and store features that help them grow,” the spokesperson concludes.

The story was first reported by Ecommerce Bytes.