BigCommerce is a powerful platform for building and scaling online stores, while Authorize.net is a trusted payment gateway known for secure and reliable transactions. On paper, integrating the two should be a winning combination. However, for subscription-based merchants, the reality is quite different.
The native BigCommerce and Authorize.net integration works efficiently for one-time purchases, but it lacks the functionality required for managing recurring billing and subscriptions. This gap forces merchants to rely on manual processes that slow down growth and introduce unnecessary operational complexity. This is where SubscriptionFlow becomes essential.
The Real Business Problem Subscription Merchants Face
Subscription businesses depend heavily on automation to scale efficiently. Without automated recurring billing, merchants often find themselves overwhelmed by manual payment management. Many BigCommerce merchants managing subscriptions have to create and maintain billing schedules manually, track customers and payments using spreadsheets, draft and send invoices themselves, wait for customers to initiate payments, and handle failed transactions without any retry mechanism.
As these tasks multiply with customer growth, they take attention away from strategic business development. BigCommerce’s checkout is designed primarily for one-time transactions and does not support the recurring billing logic required by subscription-based business models.
The Gap Between BigCommerce and Authorize.net Explained
Authorize.net is a widely trusted payment gateway known for secure and seamless transaction processing. While it does support recurring payments, this functionality does not operate natively within the BigCommerce ecosystem. As a result, subscription merchants face several limitations when using the two platforms together.
In the default BigCommerce–Authorize.net setup, merchants cannot define automated billing schedules, which means customers are not charged automatically at predefined intervals such as monthly or quarterly cycles. Because payments are not auto-charged, merchants must remember to process each payment manually, increasing the risk of missed or delayed billing. Invoicing also becomes a manual task, adding to operational strain.
Another major limitation is the absence of a dunning mechanism. Without automated payment retries, merchants have no way to recover failed transactions efficiently. Since BigCommerce processes only one-time charges through Authorize.net, failed payments often result in immediate revenue loss and increased churn.
Subscription lifecycle management is also missing from the native integration. Controls such as pausing subscriptions, skipping billing cycles, upgrading or downgrading plans, renewing subscriptions, and applying proration are essential for delivering a flexible subscription experience. These features help reduce cancellations and keep customers engaged, yet BigCommerce does not offer them natively.
Reporting is another challenge. BigCommerce and Authorize.net store data separately, with BigCommerce focusing on orders and customers while Authorize.net tracks transactions and payment outcomes. Subscription merchants lack a unified system to view the entire subscription lifecycle in one place.
How SubscriptionFlow Connects BigCommerce and Authorize.net
SubscriptionFlow acts as the missing link between BigCommerce and Authorize.net by integrating seamlessly with both platforms. Merchants begin by connecting SubscriptionFlow to their BigCommerce store and enabling SubscriptionFlow’s hosted checkout. Once this checkout is activated, Authorize.net is selected as the payment gateway within SubscriptionFlow.
With this setup in place, customers are redirected to the SubscriptionFlow checkout to complete their purchases, while payments are securely processed through Authorize.net. SubscriptionFlow stores tokenized payment details and customer data, allowing recurring charges to be processed automatically without further customer involvement. This setup allows BigCommerce to focus on storefront and commerce management, Authorize.net to handle secure payment processing, and SubscriptionFlow to manage subscription logic and automation.
Benefits of BigCommerce Authorize.net Integration Powered by SubscriptionFlow
When BigCommerce and Authorize.net are connected through SubscriptionFlow, merchants gain the ability to accept fully automated recurring charges. SubscriptionFlow allows businesses to create flexible billing schedules, whether monthly, quarterly, or custom, ensuring customers are charged on exact dates without delays or missed payments.
SubscriptionFlow also introduces smart dunning by enabling automated payment retries through Authorize.net. This helps merchants recover failed payments quickly and reduces involuntary churn, giving businesses greater control over their recurring revenue.
Customers benefit from a self-service portal that allows them to manage their subscriptions independently. They can pause or skip billing cycles, upgrade or downgrade plans, view invoices and payment history, and update payment details without contacting support. This improves customer satisfaction while significantly reducing support requests.
All subscription-related data is unified within SubscriptionFlow, giving merchants access to comprehensive reporting and analytics. Store owners can view customer subscription statuses, billing history, upcoming payments, and renewal dates from a single dashboard. Advanced analytics also provide insights into revenue trends, churn rates, customer acquisition, and future revenue forecasts.
SubscriptionFlow further simplifies billing by automating invoice generation. Invoices are created accurately and delivered on time for every billing cycle, while real-time payment status tracking ensures merchants always know which payments are completed, pending, or failed. This eliminates billing errors and removes the delays commonly associated with manual invoicing.
Final Thoughts
While the native BigCommerce and Authorize.net integration works well for one-time payments, it does not meet the needs of subscription-based businesses. SubscriptionFlow bridges this gap by enabling automated recurring billing, smart dunning, subscription lifecycle management, unified reporting, and automated invoicing.
By powering the BigCommerce–Authorize.net integration with SubscriptionFlow, merchants can eliminate manual payment processes, improve customer experience, and build a scalable subscription business with confidence.