BigCommerce's stock opened at nearly three times its offering price, then got halted for volatility within minutes. It was August 2020. The pandemic had shut stores, and every shop that wanted to survive needed to sell online. BigCommerce rented those shops their storefront software. It was smaller than its Canadian rival Shopify, and it pitched itself to larger brands that wanted more control over how their stores worked.

From Sydney to Austin

Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper founded BigCommerce in Sydney in 2009, after building online software together. The company later moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas. The bet was that merchants wanted a hosted store they could switch on fast, with an open design that let them plug in other tools. BigCommerce sold to small sellers and to well-known brands that had outgrown simpler platforms.

From BIGC to CMRC

BigCommerce priced at $24 a share, above a range it had already raised, and began trading on the Nasdaq as BIGC on August 5, 2020. It opened near $68 and closed at $72.27, up 201 percent. The gains did not last as online shopping cooled. In 2025 the company renamed itself Commerce.com and changed its ticker to CMRC. In April 2026 Rezolve Ai made an unsolicited bid, and the board adopted a rights plan.

Cover: The Apple Market, Stanislas Lépine. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a market square (a place to sell).