The Crab Place Cracks Complex Commerce with BigCommerce
Discover how customisable, cost-effective and reliable BigCommerce is and why we built it that way.
- Featured
B2B Edition
Advanced B2B features for enterprise plans.Catalyst
NewCreate stunning, high-performing storefronts that captivate and convert.Feedonomics
Omnichannel feed and data transformation.Multi-Storefront
Manage multiple unique stores from one account.International
Grow your brand across the globe.
- Launch Services
Overview
Chart your path to success with specialised services.Implementation Project Management
Experts to ensure you launch on time and under budget.Solution Architecture
Seasoned advisors to help you best design your store.Data Migration & Optimisation
Expertise on a clean and clear path to migrating your data.Enterprise Launch Package
Personal training on how to set up and launch your BigCommerce Store.
Professional Services Blog Series
Get to know our teams and how they support your success in this Q&A series.
The Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report
This in-depth report provides actionable strategies to help you sell more online.
60%
increase in checkout speed
12%
decrease in customer shipping errors
40
hours per month saved in operational efficiency
Key highlights:
CHALLENGE.
Spent nearly 10 years attempting to replatform from a legacy custom system.
Needed highly customised checkout logic for event-driven, perishable deliveries.
Struggled with mobile performance, unreliable integrations, and platform limitations.
SOLUTION.
Built a fully customised, mobile-optimised checkout powered by BigCommerce APIs.
Scaled VIP loyalty using customer groups and a custom rewards cash system.
Integrated BigCommerce with a proprietary Azure ERP to automate operations.
RESULTS.
60% increase in checkout speed.
12% decrease in shipping errors that caused delays or re-routes.
40 hours per month saved through operational automation.
Delivering Maryland seafood nationwide since 1996
When Greg Cain, CEO of The Crab Place, processed one of the first seafood transactions on the internet in 1996, he wasn’t just selling crabs. He was pioneering ecommerce.
From Crisfield, Maryland, The Crab Place has spent three decades shipping premium blue crabs and specialty seafood nationwide. Their business revolves around time-sensitive moments like holiday feasts, family reunions, and backyard crab boils where delivery timing is everything.
But as mobile commerce accelerated and customer expectations evolved, their custom-built platform struggled to keep up.
To modernise checkout, support complex scheduled deliveries, and fuel future growth, The Crab Place turned to BigCommerce, building a faster, more flexible foundation for the next chapter of their business.
CHALLENGE
A decade of failed replatforming attempts.
For decades, The Crab Place operated on a highly customised ecommerce system built in-house. While it once offered control, it became increasingly difficult to scale as ecommerce evolved.
Mobile traffic was rising, but the site was not optimised for smaller screens. Paid acquisition stalled, data tracking was inconsistent, and their event-driven fulfilment model required checkout logic that mainstream platforms could not support.
For nearly 10 years, the company tried to modernise.
A Magento build was launched, then rolled back.
A custom React front end proved too complex to maintain.
Shopify restricted the checkout customisations they required.
Each attempt solved one problem but created another.
“Believe it or not, we were replatforming for 10 years,” said Cain. “We launched Magento and rolled it back. We tried building it ourselves, but you can’t write code fast enough, and then you’re worried about security and compliance. Shopify controlled checkout too tightly. We couldn’t get what we needed.”
The business needed a flexible platform that could support its complex checkout requirements without another costly restart.
“Believe it or not, we were replatforming for 10 years.”
GREG CAIN, CEO, THE CRAB PLACE
SOLUTION
Customising checkout for event-driven commerce.
For The Crab Place, checkout is not just the final step in a purchase. It is the operational backbone of the business.
Customers order seafood for specific moments like holidays, reunions, and backyard crab boils. Deliveries must arrive on exact dates, and availability depends on sourcing timelines. Standard ecommerce checkout flows were not built for this level of complexity, especially on mobile.
BigCommerce provided the flexibility to design a fully customised checkout experience that supports their event-driven fulfilment model while performing seamlessly across devices.
Using BigCommerce APIs and checkout capabilities, The Crab Place built:
A calendar-based delivery selector tied to product-level lead times.
Zip code logic to manage shipping eligibility.
Integrated address verification to reduce delivery errors.
A streamlined one-page checkout optimised for mobile.
Saved payment profiles and persistent carts for repeat buyers.
This new foundation allows customers to confidently place time-sensitive orders from any device, while preserving the custom backend systems that power operations.
“We’ve used BigCommerce to build something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Our checkout isn’t standard ecommerce. It has to work around sourcing, timing, and delivery windows, and now it does,” shared Cain.
Powering VIP growth and customer loyalty.
Beyond modernising checkout, The Crab Place needed to strengthen its relationship with its most valuable customers.
With more than 7,000 VIP members and ambitions to grow that base significantly, the business required deeper segmentation, better visibility into customer behavior, and the flexibility to reward loyalty at scale. Their previous platform made it difficult to manage tiers, store credit, and exclusive offers in a streamlined way.
BigCommerce provided the tools to build a structured, scalable loyalty ecosystem.
Using native features and APIs, The Crab Place implemented:
Customer groups to manage VIP tiers and pricing.
A custom rewards cash system built on store credit functionality.
VIP-exclusive product visibility and targeted promotions.
Persistent carts and saved payment methods for repeat buyers.
These capabilities allowed The Crab Place to better support its highest-value customers while creating a seamless repeat purchasing experience.
“Our VIP customers are the backbone of our business,” said Cain. “BigCommerce gives us the flexibility to reward them properly and scale that program with confidence.”
Automating operations without disrupting systems.
While improving checkout and loyalty were critical, The Crab Place also needed to modernise operations behind the scenes.
Over 30 years, the company built a highly customised ERP system that powers inventory, fulfilment, pricing, and order management. Replacing it was not realistic. Instead, they needed a platform flexible enough to integrate with it.
BigCommerce provided the API architecture required to connect their Azure-hosted ERP directly to the storefront, allowing the business to modernise the front end without dismantling the systems that drive production.
Through custom integrations, The Crab Place automated:
Real-time order syncing between storefront and ERP.
Post-purchase order edits and adjustments.
FedEx tracking updates and delivery notifications.
Automated SKU setup, pricing changes, and promotional workflows.
Rather than forcing operational change, BigCommerce adapted to their existing processes.
“We can evolve without ripping out what already works,” said Cain. “BigCommerce lets us modernise the customer experience while keeping our operational backbone intact.”
By pairing a flexible frontend with their proprietary backend systems, The Crab Place created a scalable infrastructure designed for long-term growth.
“We’ve used BigCommerce to build something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Our checkout isn’t standard ecommerce. It has to work around sourcing, timing, and delivery windows, and now it does.”
GREG CAIN, CEO, THE CRAB PLACE
“BigCommerce lets us modernise the customer experience while keeping our operational backbone intact.”
GREG CAIN, CEO, THE CRAB PLACE
RESULTS
Faster checkout. Fewer errors. Greater efficiency.
After launching on BigCommerce, The Crab Place saw immediate improvements across customer experience and operations.
By modernising checkout and integrating their custom ERP, the business achieved:
60% increase in checkout speed.
12% decrease in customer shipping errors that caused delays or re-routes.
40 hours per month saved in operational efficiency.
“We finally got a successful launch,” said Cain. “After 10 years of trying to replatform, BigCommerce gave us the flexibility we needed, and now we’re positioned to grow.”
With a stable, scalable foundation in place, The Crab Place enters each peak season with confidence.
“After 10 years of trying to replatform, BigCommerce gave us the flexibility we needed, and now we’re positioned to grow.”
GREG CAIN, CEO, THE CRAB PLACE
LOOKING AHEAD
Scaling with confidence and flexibility.
With a modern ecommerce foundation in place, The Crab Place is focused on expanding its VIP program and reaching new customers nationwide.
Using enhanced segmentation and clearer data visibility, the team can deepen loyalty and confidently invest in growth initiatives. BigCommerce also gives them the flexibility to introduce new products, refine their delivery model, and explore new recurring revenue opportunities.
“Now that we’re on BigCommerce, we can evolve,” said Cain. “We’re not stuck trying to rebuild the platform. We’re building the business.”
With flexibility at the core of its commerce strategy, The Crab Place is positioned to scale for the next generation of seafood lovers.
“Now that we’re on BigCommerce, we can evolve.”
GREG CAIN, CEO, THE CRAB PLACE
March 2026
See More On These Topics
