AmeriCommerce is a powerful ecommerce platform designed to support businesses with advanced needs, especially those selling across multiple stores or managing large inventories.
While it may not be as well-known as Shopify or BigCommerce, AmeriCommerce offers enterprise-grade functionality with a focus on flexibility, B2B capabilities, and multi-store management — all under one roof.
In this detailed review, I’ll walk you through AmeriCommerce’s features, pricing, pros and cons, user experience, and who I think it’s best suited for — all based on hands-on testing and real use cases.
Why You Can Trust This Review
I’ve tested dozens of ecommerce platforms — from beginner-friendly website builders to robust backends designed for enterprise-level businesses.
I spent several weeks working with AmeriCommerce to explore everything from product management and store design to multi-store configuration, custom checkout settings, and backend performance.
Unlike most reviews that rely on surface-level feature lists, this one is based on actual setup, product uploads, support interactions, and customizations.
AmeriCommerce Pros & Cons
| Overall Rating | Best For | Price Range |
|---|---|---|
| 4.3 out of 5 | B2B and multi-store ecommerce | $49 – $399+ / month |
Pros 👍
- Built-in multi-store management
- Native B2B features with custom pricing and customer groups
- Fully customizable themes with direct HTML/CSS access
- Strong backend performance with bulk tools and automation
- Zero transaction fees on external payment gateways
Cons 👎
- Outdated interface with a steeper learning curve
- Smaller third-party app ecosystem
- Limited pre-built templates
- Not ideal for beginners or small DIY stores
What I Like About AmeriCommerce
✔️ True Multi-Store Management
AmeriCommerce allows you to manage unlimited storefronts from one dashboard — including inventory, orders, and customers. It’s one of the few platforms with this feature built in.
✔️ Advanced B2B Selling Tools
Volume pricing, customer segmentation, PO workflows, and net terms — all available out of the box.
✔️ Customization Without Restrictions
With full access to theme code, developers or advanced users can completely tailor storefronts and checkouts.
✔️ Great for High SKU Counts
The platform handles catalogs with tens or even hundreds of thousands of products without slowing down.
✔️ Low Total Cost of Ownership
Despite higher-tier pricing, AmeriCommerce avoids nickel-and-diming with add-ons — reducing long-term platform costs.
What I Don’t Like About AmeriCommerce
❌ Old-School Backend Interface
The admin panel feels outdated, and it's not intuitive for beginners. You’ll need time to get used to it.
❌ Limited Design Templates
Compared to other platforms, AmeriCommerce has fewer theme options, especially for modern and stylish designs.
❌ Smaller App Store
There’s no large app marketplace, which limits plug-and-play integrations with newer tools.
❌ Steep Learning Curve
Features are powerful but not always easy to configure without technical know-how or support.
My Experience Using AmeriCommerce
Onboarding and Setup
Getting started with AmeriCommerce is relatively simple.
I signed up for a free trial without needing to enter payment information upfront. The onboarding process guided me through basic setup steps — like choosing a store name, configuring domains, and importing product data — but it’s much less polished than Shopify or Wix.
There was no built-in site wizard or AI-driven assistant, which meant I had to manually configure most store settings.
That said, the platform does a good job of surfacing critical options like payment methods, shipping rates, and tax settings in a central dashboard.
What stood out during setup:
- Each storefront can have a separate theme, domain, and branding
- I could assign products to multiple storefronts or restrict them
- SEO fields, meta tags, and URL paths were available during initial product upload
Managing Products and Inventory
AmeriCommerce offers a robust catalog system designed to support large and complex product lines.
The product editor includes standard fields — title, description, price — but also supports advanced features like:
- Tiered and volume-based pricing
- Inventory per location
- SKU variants
- Attribute filters
- Purchase restrictions per customer group
Importing products via CSV was straightforward, and the bulk editing tools made it easy to update pricing or descriptions across hundreds of SKUs.
Designing My Store
Store design in AmeriCommerce is built around themes, but it’s less visual and more code-driven compared to drag-and-drop builders.
Themes can be customized directly with HTML and CSS, which gave me full control but required some development experience.
There’s a basic layout editor for changing page elements, but it’s not on par with visual editors like Squarespace or Webflow.
AmeriCommerce currently offers a small set of templates, most of which feel outdated. If brand image and design flexibility are top priorities, this may be a drawback.
Pricing and Plans
AmeriCommerce offers several pricing tiers based on product count, bandwidth, and support level. Here’s a breakdown:
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Product Limit | Users | Support Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel | $49/month | 500 | 2 | Standard |
| Bronze | $79/month | 1,000 | 3 | Standard |
| Silver | $149/month | 5,000 | 5 | Priority Email |
| Gold | $249/month | 10,000 | 10 | Phone + Priority Email |
| Platinum | $399/month | 50,000+ | 25 | Priority + Dedicated |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Custom | Account Manager |
There are no transaction fees if you use your own payment processor. This alone can lead to savings for higher-volume stores.
AmeriCommerce also offers add-on services for advanced support, design customization, and performance enhancements.
These optional extras are ideal for businesses that want to scale more quickly or require more hands-on assistance during migration or onboarding. Although these services come at an additional cost, they can speed up setup and reduce long-term friction.
AmeriCommerce is best value for:
- Multi-brand businesses needing more than one storefront
- Wholesale businesses requiring advanced pricing models
- Enterprise operations with high SKU counts
Performance and Reliability
AmeriCommerce is built for scale. Even with large product catalogs and multiple storefronts, the platform delivered reliable performance.
Key observations during testing:
- Product pages loaded in under 2 seconds even with multiple variants
- Order processing remained smooth across three active storefronts
- No downtime occurred during the two-week test period
- Backend remained stable during large data imports
The infrastructure feels reliable, and for mission-critical ecommerce sites, that’s a big deal.
AmeriCommerce also provides tools to monitor performance, such as real-time traffic analytics and uptime tracking.
These built-in reports help you identify bottlenecks and performance issues before they impact conversions.
For stores with high transaction volume, this level of visibility adds an extra layer of confidence in the platform’s stability.
Customer Support
Support quality varies depending on the plan.
On lower tiers, you're limited to email support, but on higher tiers, you get phone support and faster response times.
Available channels:
- Email support for all users
- Live chat for Silver plans and up
- Phone support starting at Gold
- Knowledge base with walkthroughs and documentation
The response times were reasonable, and the support team had in-depth product knowledge. That said, documentation could be more visual and up to date.
For businesses with complex storefront setups or advanced customizations, AmeriCommerce also offers consulting and onboarding support at the Enterprise level.
This is especially helpful for teams that are migrating from platforms like Magento or Shopify Plus and want technical guidance during the transition.
Who Should Use AmeriCommerce?
AmeriCommerce isn’t the right fit for everyone.
It’s best suited for experienced ecommerce businesses that value backend control and operational complexity over visual design or beginner ease-of-use.
Best For:
- Businesses managing multiple brands or storefronts
- Wholesale and B2B companies with custom pricing needs
- Large inventories or complex product configurations
- Teams with development support or technical knowledge
Not Ideal For:
- Entrepreneurs launching their first online store
- Brands that rely on flashy, modern designs
- Users who want a wide range of prebuilt templates or drag-and-drop editing
- Businesses heavily reliant on third-party app ecosystems
AmeriCommerce fits well into the operational workflows of companies that prioritise long-term scalability and internal efficiency over simplicity or rapid prototyping.
If your team is already accustomed to working with backend systems and custom workflows, AmeriCommerce may offer a level of control that lighter platforms can’t match.
Final Verdict: Is AmeriCommerce Worth It?
If you’re looking for an ecommerce platform with deep functionality, AmeriCommerce delivers.
It’s not trying to be the most user-friendly or design-focused tool — it’s built for businesses that need control, customization, and scalability.
While it may lack the visual flair and massive app ecosystems of more popular platforms, AmeriCommerce makes up for it with native features that eliminate the need for endless plugins or custom workarounds.
If you’re managing multiple brands, need advanced B2B functionality, or handle a complex catalog, AmeriCommerce is a strong alternative to Shopify Plus — at a potentially lower total cost of ownership.
It’s not ideal for beginners or solopreneurs who want quick setup and modern templates.
But for experienced ecommerce teams who value performance and backend flexibility, AmeriCommerce offers long-term advantages that are hard to match in this price range.
Key Takeaways
- Best for: B2B businesses and brands needing multi-store management
- Price: Starts at $49/month — no transaction fees
- Strengths: Advanced backend features, performance, customization
- Weaknesses: Outdated UI, fewer design tools, smaller community
- Verdict: Ideal for experienced businesses, not beginners
We’ve been using Americommerce (now SparkPay) since 2008. I have a long background in internet retail, but not in IT. This cart is not at all friendly to someone who has to learn from the ground up. I’d used other carts previously without a problem, but needed Americommerce’s ability to run multiple sites from a single admin. I built our site for almost a year before the launch. Launch in 2008 went perfectly, but since then I’ve wanted to leave so many times. Support can be slow, and they aren’t always patient with someone who isn’t a tech. But I’ve also had wonderful support, so if I don’t get a person that is helpful, I try again until I do.
When trying to sell you this program, their sales staff will promise the moon. Anything you want, they can do, so they say. However, many standard features of other carts remain lacking, inconsistent, or non-existent on this cart. I’ve had to pay for them to “fix” standard features that didn’t work, just so I could use them on my store.
Inventory control is spotty at best. I believe (no idea if this is true) that when the site hits a hiccup, it reverts back to a previously stored version. If you’ve updated inventory or had sales in the meantime, then those inventory numbers are changed back to a prior point in time. Short story…our inventory is almost always off, especially on the products we sell the most of. We manually count and correct often, so we’re sure this is a program error, not human error.
Bottom line…what it does well, it does very well. But if you’re somewhat a novice (i.e. if you don’t know HTML, CSS, or Dreamweaver) then walk away. I’ve learned a lot through blood, sweat, and tears, but the stress isn’t worth it. The program is also expensive to keep up with. A couple of years ago they switched to a new format for websites. New customers get the new format automatically, but old clients like me have to pay to upgrade. It was in the thousands of dollars for our stores and I can’t afford it. So my sites are losing usability and I no longer receive free upgrades or new features. I’m sure that before too long, I won’t be able to receive support, either. My day is coming very soon…do I pay to upgrade or pay to switch companies?
I rediscovered this post and I’d like to update. In June 2017, we left Americommerce for all the reasons stated in my original comment. They’d made some changes that caused a 90% drop in our sales, virtually overnight. I worked with tech support for 3 months before we jumped ship, and they never could agree on the problem or solution. Since our business supports our family, obviously we couldn’t afford to give them any more time, and we bailed. We’re now with Shopify and I love it.
Been using the product since 2007. had 8 websites with them using a master database. I like 90% of everything the software offers. The company was sold 2 years ago and was reorganized to attract a sale. In the process, support on several levels has declined. Quality Control on the new features launched in 2013 was not great, so you will still small find bugs that Tech Support will have a hard time fixing or just timeout and close the ticket altogether.
I think part of the problem is they have a Sales Dept and a Tech Support Dept. NOT a Customer Service Department. What I mean is a dept. or persons dedicated to working with the customer, expediting a fix, finding or recommending solutions tailored to the client and most importantly smoothing over any upsets. Problems don’t move up the chain of command and the C-Suite is not noticing. It’s a big hole for the client when something is not working and the customer is losing money.
As an example, we spent 6 weeks each on several important tickets with no end in site. (Back in the old days sometimes even a Founder or other fully training coder would pick up the phone and fix something in a few hours) Today most of the entry-level Tech Support is clearing a ticket (little training on the product) rather than fixing a problem. If they can not fix a problem, the ticket is marked “SOLVED”
In frustration, I asked even Sales for assistance with no luck. I then asked two different departments to be transferred to Admin, C-suite or a Founder and was told I (as a customer) was not allowed to speak to to them by phone. Over several more calls, asked for an email address and was told I would not be allowed to email them unless I first send the email (whatever the subject) through Tech Support for approval.
No new features, updates, community posts or even blog entries have been coming out for about a year. Typically, when a company is sold and the name changes, the Founders leave and most of the happy excited staff you see on the website are replaced within a year. (Unfortunately, that’s just the way these things go.) So the name change to Sparkpay doesn’t look like the product’s Staff will be getting better (no leadership in place).
David (above) is correct, it is marketed as no IT Dept required (DIY with average skills), but when you run into a problem they expect you to find someone else to fix it. Even third-party partners are complaining to us customers.
Reluctantly, we have planned our exit and hope the system will not lose us too much until we flip the switch on the new launches.
long time americart user 15 years upgraded fully to americommerce
1 order processing is awesome
2 inventory control using amerisync and quickbooks although added cost works great
3 the search engine on the site plan and simple does not work well , so expect added cost to upgrade to a working search like google site search or freefind
4 phone support some of the nicest people i ever dealt with , and they try hard but i found that they have limited experience with the product but they will do their best to get you the help you need
5 online support , much of the information on the support site is in fact outdated and does not apply to the current cart system thats 2 years old and other is just confusing or just plan incomplete
6 expect a wait on this normally two days min and here again very nice to deal with but little experience with the product , sometimes its a lot longer
7 pages have huge amounts of script if you use google page speed insights you going to find problems like
Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content
8 since each page is so big and the sitemaps works so well expect large extra for bandwidth , they do have a tool to try help with this and kinda point in the direction
but they honestly do not seem to work easly
i spent year getting this site ready to go before , but when i turned on full time it took a profitable site to costly site
so would i use again , well it does play well with quickbooks and shipping programs
so from a order process stand point from that point a would say 100 percent yes
what burned me is that no where , did it say that this product is made for company with a full time IT staff. its a great fit for a million dollar company , for a small company like mine the switch over to americommerce the most likely out come will be the end of the company since sales have dropped and the amount of time trying to fix it has taken a large toll
Thanks a lot David, totally agree with all your notes!
Thanks a lot David, totally agree with all your notes!
This is my Americommerce review:
I have been using Americommerce since May, 2014.
Pros:
1. Americommerce has many features for retail and wholesale.
2. Reasonable price
Cons:
1. Customer service is too slow and terrible – Sometimes it takes few more days to receive an answer.
When I tried to change my domain DNS to launch my website, I did not receive any server information from them for more than 6 days after submitting tickets and phone calls.
2. Because of very poor manuals, it is very difficult to use some features of Americommerce.
For example, according to their manual we cannot properly display categories and subcategories at the left column that is one of the most important things.
(See the manual: http://support.americommerce.com/hc/en-us/articles/201904640-HOW-TO-Setup-horizontal-vertical-navigation-and-drop-down-fly-out-submenus- )
3. Customer services are lack of knowledge for their program.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us Ken! So did you move away from this platform and tried another one you’re still with them?