Key Takeaways
- BigCommerce offers a comprehensive all-in-one e-commerce solution with built-in features that eliminate the need for multiple third-party apps
- Setting up your BigCommerce store requires just 5 simple steps, from account creation to customizing your store profile
- The platform provides both free and premium themes that are mobile-responsive and optimized for conversions
- SendLayer’s email delivery service seamlessly integrates with BigCommerce to ensure your transactional emails reach customers reliably
- A well-structured product catalog with clear categories and high-quality images can significantly improve your store’s conversion rate
Setting up an e-commerce store doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right platform and guidance, you can launch your online business quickly and start selling to customers worldwide. BigCommerce stands out as one of the most robust and user-friendly e-commerce solutions available today, powering thousands of successful online stores across various industries.
Whether you’re a complete beginner or migrating from another platform, this comprehensive guide will walk you through every step of creating your BigCommerce store. SendLayer, a leading email delivery service that integrates seamlessly with BigCommerce, knows that reliable communication is essential for e-commerce success. Their expertise in ensuring transactional emails reach your customers’ inboxes makes them an ideal partner as you set up your store.
Ready to build an online store that stands out from the competition? Let’s dive into the process of setting up your BigCommerce store from scratch.
BigCommerce: Your Powerful E-commerce Solution
BigCommerce is a feature-rich, hosted e-commerce platform designed to help businesses of all sizes sell products online effectively. Unlike other platforms that require numerous apps and extensions to achieve basic functionality, BigCommerce includes most essential features out of the box. This comprehensive approach means you’ll spend less time piecing together different solutions and more time growing your business. For those considering alternatives, you might want to explore the Shopify setup plan for thriving e-commerce success.
What makes BigCommerce particularly appealing is its scalability. Whether you’re just starting with a few products or running an enterprise-level operation with thousands of SKUs, the platform grows with you. With 99.99% uptime, industry-leading load times, and robust security features, BigCommerce provides a solid foundation for your online business.
The platform also excels in providing multi-channel selling capabilities, allowing you to sync your inventory and sell across popular marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and social platforms including Instagram and Facebook. This omnichannel approach helps you reach customers wherever they prefer to shop.
5 Steps to Create Your BigCommerce Account
Getting started with BigCommerce is straightforward. The platform offers a 15-day free trial that gives you full access to all features, allowing you to build your store before committing to a paid plan. Let’s break down the account creation process into simple steps.
Select Your Pricing Plan
BigCommerce offers four primary pricing tiers to accommodate businesses at different stages of growth. The Standard plan starts at $29.95/month and includes all essential features for new online stores. Plus ($79.95/month) and Pro ($299.95/month) plans add advanced features like abandoned cart recovery, customer segmentation, and higher sales thresholds. Enterprise plans offer custom pricing with dedicated support and advanced functionality for high-volume merchants.
When selecting your plan, consider not just your current needs but where your business will be in 6-12 months. All plans include unlimited products, file storage, bandwidth, and staff accounts—making BigCommerce an excellent value compared to competitors that charge extra for these features.
Enter Your Business Information
After selecting your plan, you’ll need to provide basic information about your business. This includes your store name, which will determine your temporary URL during setup (e.g., yourstore.mybigcommerce.com), your name, email address, phone number, and store address. Be sure to use accurate information, as some of these details will appear on customer receipts and may be required for payment processing verification.
BigCommerce will also ask about your industry, expected annual revenue, and current selling methods. While these questions might seem personal, they help BigCommerce tailor your store setup experience and recommend appropriate features and optimizations for your business type.
Verify Your Email
Once you’ve submitted your information, BigCommerce will send a verification email to the address you provided. Simply click the verification link to confirm your account. This step is crucial as it secures your account and enables important notification emails about orders and customer inquiries.
If you don’t see the verification email within a few minutes, check your spam folder. You can also request another verification email from the BigCommerce setup screen if needed. Completing this step promptly allows you to move forward with your store setup without delays.
Set Up Two-Factor Authentication
Protecting your e-commerce store from unauthorized access is essential for both your business and customer security. BigCommerce strongly recommends enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) during setup to add an extra layer of protection to your admin account. This security feature requires both your password and a verification code sent to your mobile device when logging in.
Setting up 2FA takes just a minute and dramatically reduces the risk of account compromise. You can use authentication apps like Google Authenticator or Authy, or opt for SMS verification. Given that your store will handle sensitive customer and payment information, this small step provides significant peace of mind. For more information on securing your e-commerce store, check out our Shopify setup plan for thriving e-commerce success.
Complete Your Store Profile
The final step in account creation is completing your store profile with essential business details. This includes setting your store’s default currency, timezone, and weight/measurement units. These settings will affect how prices display to customers, when order timestamps appear, and how shipping calculations work. For more insights on optimizing your store, check out these content repurposing strategies to enhance your online presence.
You’ll also need to specify your store’s industry category and the types of products you’ll be selling. BigCommerce uses this information to suggest appropriate features and optimizations for your specific business model. Be as accurate as possible, as these settings influence tax calculations and available payment methods.
Pro Tip: Even during your trial period, complete your store profile as if you’re launching for real. This gives you the most accurate preview of how your store will function when live, including tax calculations, shipping options, and payment processing.
Design Your Online Store in 4 Easy Steps
With your account created, it’s time to design your online store. BigCommerce provides intuitive tools that make it easy to create a professional-looking website without coding knowledge. Your store’s design significantly impacts customer trust and conversion rates, so it’s worth investing time to get it right from the start.
The BigCommerce control panel provides access to all the design elements you’ll need, organized in a logical way that guides you through the process. Let’s explore the key design steps that will transform your blank canvas into an engaging online store.
Choose the Perfect Theme
BigCommerce offers a variety of themes (or templates) that determine your store’s overall look and feel. The Theme Marketplace includes both free and premium options, with prices for paid themes typically ranging from $150-$300. Free themes provide solid functionality for new stores, while premium themes offer more advanced features, unique layouts, and specialized designs for specific industries.
When selecting a theme, prioritize mobile responsiveness, loading speed, and compatibility with your product types. Preview each theme thoroughly before making your choice, paying attention to how product images display, the checkout experience, and navigation structure. Remember that while you can customize any theme, starting with one that closely matches your vision will save considerable time. For more guidance, check out this BigCommerce tutorial for setting up your store.
Customize Your Homepage Layout
Your homepage creates the crucial first impression that can determine whether visitors stay or leave. BigCommerce’s drag-and-drop Page Builder makes it easy to customize your homepage without coding knowledge. You can add, remove, and rearrange elements like hero banners, featured product sections, testimonial blocks, and promotional areas.
Focus on creating a clean, organized layout that clearly communicates your brand’s value proposition and guides visitors toward products. Include high-quality imagery that represents your brand aesthetic, and ensure all text is easy to read. Keep the most important elements “above the fold” (visible without scrolling) to capture attention immediately. For a comprehensive Shopify setup plan, you can explore additional resources.
Consider your customer journey when designing your homepage flow. What information do customers need most? Which products or categories deserve highlight positions? How can you build trust quickly? Answering these questions will help you create a homepage that not only looks good but effectively converts visitors into customers.
Create Essential Store Pages
Beyond your homepage and product pages, several additional pages are critical for a complete online store. At minimum, create About Us, Contact, Shipping Policy, Return Policy, and Terms & Conditions pages. These pages build trust, answer common questions, and fulfill legal requirements for online businesses. To enhance your store’s visibility, consider utilizing content repurposing strategies to maximize SEO benefits.
Your About Us page should tell your brand story authentically and connect with customers emotionally. The Contact page should offer multiple ways to reach your business, including a contact form, email address, and phone number if applicable. Policy pages should be clear, comprehensive, and written in straightforward language that customers can easily understand.
BigCommerce makes creating these pages simple through the Page Builder interface. You can use the same drag-and-drop tools that you used for your homepage, ensuring a consistent look and feel throughout your site.
Set Up Your Navigation Menu
A well-organized navigation menu is essential for helping customers find products quickly. BigCommerce allows you to customize your primary navigation menu and create additional menus for different sections of your site. The ideal navigation structure should be intuitive, with categories and subcategories that make logical sense to your target audience.
Limit your main navigation to 5-7 primary categories to avoid overwhelming visitors. Use descriptive, concise labels for each menu item, and consider how categories will expand as your product catalog grows. Include a search bar prominently, as many customers prefer searching directly for specific products rather than browsing through categories.
Add Products That Sell
With your store design in place, it’s time to focus on your product catalog. How you present your products significantly impacts your conversion rate and customer satisfaction. BigCommerce provides powerful product management tools that help you create detailed, appealing product listings that drive sales.
Create Product Categories First
Before adding individual products, establish a logical category structure that makes your store easy to navigate. Well-organized categories help customers find products quickly and improve your site’s SEO by creating a clear hierarchy. Consider how customers typically shop for your products and create categories that match their natural search patterns. For more insights on improving your site’s SEO, you can analyze competition using Moz.
Upload Product Images That Convert
High-quality product images are essential for e-commerce success. Since customers can’t physically handle products before purchase, your images must provide a complete visual understanding of what you’re selling. Invest in professional photography or learn to take excellent photos yourself using proper lighting, backgrounds, and angles.
BigCommerce recommends uploading multiple images for each product, showcasing different angles, features, and use cases. The platform automatically optimizes images for web display while preserving quality. Maintain consistent image dimensions and styles across your catalog to create a cohesive, professional appearance.
Consider adding lifestyle images that show your product in use, as these help customers envision how the item might fit into their lives. For clothing and accessories, include photos of models wearing the products to provide scale and styling ideas.
Image Optimization Tips: Use square images with dimensions between 800×800 and 1200×1200 pixels for optimal display across devices. Keep file sizes under 500KB for faster loading times, and always use descriptive filenames that include product keywords before uploading.
Write Clear Product Descriptions
Effective product descriptions balance being informative, persuasive, and scannable. Start with a compelling overview that highlights key benefits, then provide detailed specifications, materials, dimensions, and other relevant details. Address potential questions or objections directly in your description to reduce customer service inquiries and returns. For more tips, explore these content repurposing strategies to enhance your product descriptions.
Set Up Inventory Tracking
Accurate inventory management prevents overselling and disappointed customers. BigCommerce’s inventory tracking system allows you to monitor stock levels automatically and set low-stock alerts to prompt reordering. You can also enable inventory tracking at the variant level for products with multiple options.
When setting up inventory, decide how you want to handle out-of-stock scenarios. BigCommerce offers options to hide out-of-stock products, keep them visible but unpurchasable, or allow backorders with messaging about delayed shipping. Consider your supply chain and customer expectations when configuring these settings.
For businesses with physical locations or multiple warehouses, BigCommerce’s inventory management can be configured to track stock across locations. This feature helps optimize fulfillment by shipping from the location closest to the customer, reducing shipping costs and delivery times.
- Set minimum inventory thresholds to trigger reorder notifications
- Configure automatic inventory updates when orders are placed
- Enable low-stock badges to create urgency for nearly depleted items
- Consider using BigCommerce’s inventory API to sync with external systems if you sell through multiple channels
- Schedule regular inventory audits to ensure digital counts match physical inventory
Add Product Variants and Options
Many products come in multiple variations like different sizes, colors, or materials. BigCommerce handles these through product options and variants, allowing customers to select their preferred version. You can create up to 600 variants per product, each with its own SKU, price, weight, and inventory level.
When setting up variants, use clear option names and values that customers will understand immediately. For color options, consider using both color swatches and text labels for accessibility. If certain combinations aren’t available, BigCommerce allows you to disable specific variants rather than creating confusing out-of-stock messages.
Configure Your Payment Settings
Setting up payment processing is a critical step in your store setup. BigCommerce integrates with over 65 payment gateways worldwide, giving you flexibility to choose the options that best suit your business model and customer preferences. Offering multiple payment methods can significantly increase conversion rates by accommodating different customer preferences.
The payment setup process involves connecting your preferred payment processors, configuring tax settings, and establishing shipping options. Getting these elements right ensures a smooth checkout experience and proper financial record-keeping for your business. For more detailed guidance, consider exploring this Shopify setup plan for thriving e-commerce success.
Connect Payment Gateways
BigCommerce makes it easy to connect popular payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Amazon Pay. Navigate to Store Setup > Payments to view available options and begin the connection process. Most gateways require you to create an account with the provider first, then link it to your BigCommerce store using API credentials or OAuth authentication.
Consider offering multiple payment options to accommodate different customer preferences. Credit card processing is essential, but adding digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay can increase mobile conversion rates by up to 30%. For B2B businesses, consider enabling offline payment methods like purchase orders or bank transfers in addition to credit card processing.
Set Up Tax Rules
Accurate tax collection is a legal requirement for e-commerce businesses. BigCommerce offers automated tax calculation through integrations with tax services like Avalara, TaxJar, and Vertex. These services automatically update tax rates based on your nexus locations and the shipping destination, ensuring compliance with complex and changing tax regulations.
Create Shipping Options
Shipping configuration in BigCommerce allows you to create rules based on order weight, value, destination, and item quantity. You can set up flat-rate shipping, free shipping thresholds, real-time carrier quotes, or a combination of these methods. Take time to create shipping zones that accurately reflect your fulfillment capabilities and cost structure. For more insights on setting up your e-commerce platform, consider reading this Shopify setup plan for thriving e-commerce success.
Pre-Launch Checklist: 6 Things to Test
Before making your store public, thorough testing is essential to ensure everything functions properly. Even small issues can damage customer trust and result in lost sales. BigCommerce’s preview mode allows you to test your store thoroughly without exposing it to customers. Work through this checklist methodically, testing on different devices and browsers to catch any potential issues.
1. Test Your Checkout Process
The checkout process is where conversions happen—or don’t. Place test orders using each payment method you’ve enabled to verify the entire process works smoothly. Check that order confirmations are sent correctly, inventory updates properly, and receipt information is accurate. Pay special attention to shipping calculations, tax display, and the mobile checkout experience.
2. Check Mobile Responsiveness
With more than 50% of e-commerce traffic coming from mobile devices, your store must function flawlessly on smartphones and tablets. Test your store on multiple devices to ensure text is readable, buttons are tappable, images load correctly, and the checkout process works smoothly. For more insights on setting up your store, check out this Shopify setup plan for thriving e-commerce success.
- Test navigation menus for easy touch interaction
- Verify that product images are clear and zoomable on small screens
- Ensure forms are easy to complete with mobile keyboards
- Check loading speeds on mobile data connections
BigCommerce themes are designed to be responsive, but custom modifications can sometimes create mobile display issues. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to identify potential problems, and make adjustments as needed through your theme editor.
Remember that mobile users often have different shopping behaviors than desktop users. They may be more focused on quick purchases and less likely to read lengthy content. Optimize your mobile experience accordingly, with clear calls-to-action and streamlined information presentation. For more insights on setting up a successful e-commerce platform, check out this Shopify setup plan.
3. Review All Store Policies
Carefully review your shipping, return, and privacy policies for accuracy and completeness. These documents not only fulfill legal requirements but also set customer expectations and build trust. Ensure your policies are easy to find, written in clear language, and cover all necessary scenarios for your business type.
4. Set Up Google Analytics
Understanding your customer behavior is crucial for optimizing your store and marketing efforts. BigCommerce integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics, allowing you to track visitor traffic, conversion rates, and customer journeys. Navigate to Advanced Settings > Web Analytics to add your Google Analytics tracking ID. For enhanced e-commerce tracking, enable the additional e-commerce features within your Google Analytics account to gain insights into shopping behavior, checkout funnel performance, and product performance metrics.
5. Test Loading Speed
Page loading speed directly impacts conversion rates, with studies showing that even a one-second delay can reduce conversions by up to 7%. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to evaluate your store’s performance and identify potential bottlenecks. Common issues include oversized images, excessive apps, or complex theme elements.
BigCommerce’s built-in content delivery network (CDN) helps optimize loading times, but you can further improve performance by compressing images, minimizing custom scripts, and selecting a streamlined theme. Pay particular attention to your homepage and product pages, as these are critical conversion points where speed matters most.
6. Preview Your Store on Different Devices
Before launch, view your store on multiple devices, browsers, and screen sizes to ensure a consistent experience for all visitors. BigCommerce’s preview functionality lets you see how your store appears to customers before publishing. Check that all elements display correctly, buttons function properly, and text remains readable regardless of the device used. This cross-device testing helps identify issues that might only appear in specific environments, preventing potential customer frustration after launch.
Launch and Grow Your Online Store
After completing all the setup steps and thorough testing, you’re ready to make your BigCommerce store live. The launch process is straightforward, but planning your timing and post-launch activities will help ensure a successful debut. Consider launching with a special promotion or event to generate initial traffic and sales momentum.
Remember that launching your store is just the beginning of your e-commerce journey. Successful online businesses continuously optimize their stores, add new products, refine marketing strategies, and improve the customer experience. BigCommerce provides the tools and flexibility to grow with your business needs over time. For more insights, explore these successful influencer outreach strategies to enhance your marketing efforts.
Publish Your Store
When you’re confident that everything is working properly, navigate to Store Setup > Store Settings and change your store status from “Coming Soon” to “Live.” This removes the password protection and makes your store accessible to the public. Consider timing your launch strategically—many businesses benefit from launching on Monday or Tuesday morning when online shopping activity tends to be higher.
Immediately after publishing, verify your store is accessible by visiting your URL in an incognito browser window. Check that your domain is properly connected, SSL certificate is active (showing the padlock in the address bar), and all pages load correctly. If you encounter any issues, you can temporarily revert to “Coming Soon” mode while resolving them.
Announce your store launch across all available channels—email your existing contacts, post on social media, and consider a press release for larger launches. The initial traffic surge provides valuable data and your first opportunity to convert visitors into customers.
Set Up Marketing Tools
BigCommerce offers native integrations with numerous marketing tools to help you attract and retain customers. Connect your social media accounts to enable selling on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Set up email marketing through providers like SendLayer to create automated flows for welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, and post-purchase follow-ups that drive repeat business and build customer relationships.
Create Your First Promotion
Launch your store with an attractive promotion to incentivize first-time purchases. BigCommerce’s Marketing > Promotions section allows you to create discount codes, automatic cart-level discounts, and free shipping offers. Consider a limited-time launch discount, free shipping threshold, or bundle offer to encourage larger initial orders. Track the performance of your promotion through BigCommerce’s analytics to understand which offers resonate best with your audience.
Remember to prominently display your promotion on your homepage, product pages, and checkout to maximize visibility. You can use BigCommerce’s banner manager to create attention-grabbing announcements that highlight your special offers throughout the shopping experience.
For even greater impact, create urgency with countdown timers or limited quantity messaging. These psychological triggers can significantly increase conversion rates during your promotional period.
Frequently Asked Questions
As you set up your BigCommerce store, you’ll likely have questions about specific features, capabilities, and best practices. Here are answers to some of the most common questions new store owners ask when getting started with the platform. For those interested in comparing platforms, you might also want to explore this Shopify setup plan for thriving e-commerce success.
How much does BigCommerce cost compared to other platforms?
BigCommerce offers four pricing tiers: Standard ($29.95/month), Plus ($79.95/month), Pro ($299.95/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Compared to other platforms, BigCommerce provides excellent value because all plans include unlimited products, staff accounts, bandwidth, and file storage—features that often cost extra elsewhere. Additionally, BigCommerce doesn’t charge transaction fees on any plan, potentially saving high-volume merchants thousands of dollars compared to platforms that charge per-sale fees. The main consideration when choosing a plan is your annual sales volume, as each tier has sales thresholds that trigger automatic upgrades when exceeded. For more details, you can check out this BigCommerce tutorial.
Can I migrate my existing store to BigCommerce?
Yes, BigCommerce offers comprehensive migration tools and services for businesses moving from other platforms. The BigCommerce Data Migration service can transfer products, customers, and order history from platforms like Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and many others. For larger or more complex stores, BigCommerce partners with migration experts who can handle custom migration needs, including URL redirects, custom field mapping, and design adaptation.
Before migrating, create a detailed inventory of your current store’s components, including product data, customer information, content pages, and custom functionality. This preparation helps ensure a smooth transition and identifies any elements that might require special attention during migration.
Does BigCommerce work with dropshipping?
Absolutely! BigCommerce integrates with popular dropshipping suppliers and marketplaces like Alibaba, AliExpress, and Doba through apps in the BigCommerce App Marketplace. These integrations allow you to import products, sync inventory, and automate order fulfillment. For more advanced dropshipping operations, solutions like Inventory Source and Spocket offer direct integrations that automatically update product information and forward orders to your suppliers, streamlining the entire process and minimizing manual work.
How do I connect my domain name to my BigCommerce store?
Connecting your domain to BigCommerce requires two main steps: purchasing a domain (if you don’t already own one) and updating your DNS settings to point to your BigCommerce store. You can purchase a domain directly through BigCommerce for the simplest setup, or connect an existing domain from any registrar. For existing domains, you’ll need to log into your domain registrar account and update the CNAME record to point to your BigCommerce store. BigCommerce provides detailed instructions specific to major registrars, and their support team can assist if you encounter any difficulties during the connection process.
What SEO features does BigCommerce offer?
BigCommerce includes robust SEO features that help your store rank well in search results. The platform automatically generates SEO-friendly URLs, customizable meta titles and descriptions, structured data markup, and XML sitemaps. You can customize URL structures for products and categories, create 301 redirects for changed pages, and access built-in tools to identify and fix common SEO issues. BigCommerce also offers exceptional page speed performance—a critical SEO factor—through its cloud infrastructure and content delivery network. These native features provide a solid foundation for search visibility without requiring additional apps or technical expertise.
Setting up a BigCommerce store might seem like a complex process, but breaking it down into manageable steps makes it achievable even for e-commerce beginners. By following this guide, you’ll create a professional online store that’s ready to attract customers and process orders efficiently. The platform’s intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set provide everything you need to launch successfully.
Remember that your store will evolve over time as you learn more about your customers and market. BigCommerce’s flexibility allows you to adapt and expand your store as your business grows, whether that means adding new products, entering international markets, or implementing advanced marketing strategies.