The payment processor Heartland Payments has joined forces with e-commerce platform Bigcommerce to launch an online storefront meant to help small and medium-sized businesses compete with larger merchants.

Heartland describes its new Heartland Online Storefront as a fully integrated omnicommerce solution that allows merchants to launch online stores in less than an hour or upgrade their existing e-commerce sites with advanced shopping cart functionality and other features.

The storefront includes a mobile-optimized website, fully integrated secure payment processing, digital marketing tools such as search engine optimization, promotions and coupons, email marketing and integration with eBay and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, the company said.

About 75 percent of small business owners don't have a website or online store, according to a 2012 U.S. Census Bureau survey, due in part to the costs and complexities of online retailing. For example, Heartland said, launching a basic storefront requires nearly 20 different components, such as web development, order management, payment processing, digital marketing and so on, which traditionally required merchants to work with and coordinate among several disparate providers.

The Heartland's Online Storefront lowers the barrier to entry and opens up new sales opportunities, the company said, with an end-to-end solution featuring around-the-clock customer support and invoicing from a single company. It also features added functions, such as an "abandoned cart saver" option that increases revenue resulting from saved sales, the company said.

"Consumer online purchasing is growing rapidly, and it is critical that retailers be ready and well equipped to capture the mindshare of connected consumers if they want to prosper," Ian Drysdale, Heartland's president of network solutions, said in a news release. "Heartland's Online Storefront gives small and medium-sized retailers the power to do just that by opening the door to new sales opportunities."

Noting that e-commerce is a $250 billion market in the U.S. and growing nearly 15 percent annually, Steven R. Power, chief revenue officer, Bigcommerce, said in the release that "brick-and-mortar retailers can't afford not to be online. Our partnership with Heartland significantly lowers the barriers to entry for merchants, making it simpler and easier than ever to launch and manage an online store, and grow their businesses to their full potential."

Heartland said several U.S. merchants are using the combined solutions, including Bon Bon Online, buycellular, Panacea Jewelry, The Equine Gourmet and Tradewinds International.

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