BigCommerce Themes: How to Choose the Perfect Design for Your Store

Choosing the right theme for your BigCommerce store is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your e-commerce journey. Your theme not only impacts the visual appeal of your site but also plays a crucial role in how customers navigate, interact with, and ultimately purchase from your store. Here’s a guide to help you select the perfect BigCommerce theme for your online store:

1. Understand Your Brand and Target Audience

Before diving into theme options, take a moment to define your brand’s personality and your target audience. Are you selling luxury goods, tech gadgets, or handmade crafts? The design should reflect your brand's style and appeal to the specific preferences of your audience. For example, a minimalist design may work best for luxury brands, while a vibrant and playful theme might suit a children's toy store.

2. Responsive Design: Mobile Optimization is Key

In today’s mobile-first world, ensuring your theme is fully responsive is non-negotiable. A responsive theme adjusts seamlessly to any screen size, providing a smooth browsing experience on both desktop and mobile devices. Since over half of e-commerce traffic comes from mobile devices, your BigCommerce theme must offer mobile optimization to avoid losing potential customers.

3. Consider the User Experience (UX)

User experience is crucial for online success. The right theme should offer intuitive navigation, fast loading times, and an easy checkout process. Look for themes with built-in features that enhance UX, such as easy-to-find product categories, search bar functionality, and clear calls to action. A smooth, frictionless experience will help reduce bounce rates and improve conversion rates.

4. Customization Options: Flexibility Is a Must

While BigCommerce offers a range of pre-built themes, it’s important to choose one that offers enough customization options. A theme should give you flexibility in adjusting colors, fonts, layouts, and other elements so you can match it to your brand’s identity. Ideally, look for a theme that allows you to easily tweak the design without needing advanced coding skills.

5. Check for Built-In Features

Different themes come with different features. Some might include advanced filtering, product zoom, and quick view options, while others may offer integration with social media platforms, newsletters, or product review systems. Look for themes that include the specific features your store needs—whether that’s a blog section, multi-currency support, or a customizable homepage layout.

6. SEO-Friendly Design

An SEO-friendly theme will ensure your store is optimized for search engines from the get-go. Choose a BigCommerce theme that includes clean, organized code, fast page load speeds, and proper markup for SEO. Themes with optimized structure and performance are likely to help your store rank higher in search results, driving more organic traffic to your site.

7. Preview the Theme’s Demos

Before committing to a theme, always preview the demo version to get a feel for its design and functionality. BigCommerce allows you to see how the theme will look on your store, so you can test its layout, mobile responsiveness, and overall user experience. If a theme’s demo doesn’t impress you or isn’t easy to navigate, consider other options.

8. Support and Regular Updates

Look for themes that come with excellent customer support, as well as regular updates. A well-supported theme means that you can get assistance if you run into any issues or need help with customization. Additionally, regular theme updates are essential for compatibility with the latest BigCommerce features and security patches.

9. Check Reviews and Testimonials

Before settling on a theme, check customer reviews and testimonials to see what other BigCommerce store owners have to say. Positive reviews about a theme’s design, performance, and ease of use can provide valuable insights into whether it’s the right fit for your store.

10. Consider Future Growth

Lastly, think about how your theme will accommodate your store as it grows. Your store's needs will evolve over time, and it's essential that the theme you choose can scale with you. Whether you plan to add more products, expand into international markets, or integrate additional sales channels, make sure your theme is adaptable enough to grow with your business.

Boosting Customer Experience on BigCommerce: Best Practices

Delivering an exceptional customer experience (CX) is critical to the success of your BigCommerce store. A seamless, enjoyable shopping journey not only helps convert visitors into customers but also keeps them coming back for future purchases. Here’s how you can enhance the customer experience on your BigCommerce store with some proven best practices.

1. Prioritize Website Speed and Performance

A slow-loading website is one of the quickest ways to lose potential customers. Studies show that 40% of users will abandon a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. To improve site speed:

  • Choose a lightweight, optimized theme.
  • Compress images and videos.
  • Minimize unnecessary scripts.
  • Leverage caching and CDN (Content Delivery Networks) to speed up content delivery.

2. Optimize for Mobile Shopping

With mobile commerce on the rise, having a mobile-optimized website is essential. BigCommerce themes are generally responsive, but you should still ensure:

  • The mobile navigation is user-friendly and intuitive.
  • Text and images are legible without zooming.
  • Buttons and CTAs are large enough for easy tapping.
  • The checkout process is streamlined for mobile users.

3. Simplify the Checkout Process

A complicated checkout process can lead to cart abandonment. Simplify the journey from cart to purchase by:

  • Offering guest checkout (so customers don’t need to create an account).
  • Providing multiple payment options, such as credit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay.
  • Enabling auto-fill for address fields to save time.
  • Displaying a progress bar so customers know how many steps are left.


4. Personalize the Shopping Experience

Personalization can create a more engaging shopping experience and increase conversions. BigCommerce allows you to implement personalized recommendations based on:

  • Past browsing behavior or purchase history.
  • Product suggestions based on what similar customers have bought.
  • Geolocation-based recommendations (e.g., showing products relevant to a customer's region).

5. Provide Excellent Customer Support

Customers value easy access to support. Make sure your store includes:

  • Live chat or chatbot for instant assistance.
  • Easy-to-find contact details (email, phone number, etc.).
  • An FAQ section to answer common queries.
  • Support for multiple languages, if relevant to your market.

6. Create Detailed Product Pages

Well-designed, informative product pages enhance the customer experience by helping shoppers make informed decisions. Here’s what to include:

  • High-quality product images (showing the product from different angles).
  • Detailed descriptions that highlight key features and benefits.
  • Size guides, if applicable.
  • Customer reviews and ratings for social proof.

7. Streamline Product Search and Navigation

A simple, intuitive navigation system will help customers find what they’re looking for quickly. Key tips include:

  • Organizing products into clear categories (e.g., by type, brand, price range).
  • Using a search bar with auto-suggestions and filters.
  • Implementing advanced search capabilities (e.g., filtering by size, color, material).

8. Offer Easy Returns and Clear Shipping Policies

Uncertainty about returns and shipping can discourage customers from completing their purchase. Be transparent and clear about:

  • Your return and refund policies (and ensure they’re easy to find).
  • Shipping options, costs, and delivery times.
  • Tracking orders, so customers can stay informed.

9. Integrate Social Proof and Reviews

Consumers trust peer reviews more than anything else. Use social proof to build trust and encourage purchases:

  • Enable customer reviews on product pages.
  • Feature testimonials or case studies from satisfied customers.
  • Display trust badges, like secure checkout or money-back guarantee, to reinforce trust.

10. Leverage Email Marketing for Engagement

Email marketing is a powerful tool for staying connected with customers. Boost the customer experience by:

  • Sending personalized follow-up emails after purchase.
  • Offering exclusive discounts, early access to sales, or loyalty rewards.
  • Providing order confirmations and shipment tracking updates.

11. Improve Post-Purchase Experience

The experience doesn’t end once a customer completes their purchase. Enhance post-purchase satisfaction by:

  • Sending a thank-you email with personalized product recommendations.
  • Offering loyalty points or discounts for future purchases.
  • Encouraging social sharing or reviews of the product.

12. Monitor Customer Feedback and Continuously Improve

The key to long-term customer satisfaction is constant improvement. Regularly collect customer feedback through:

  • Post-purchase surveys.
  • Social media interactions.
  • Website reviews and analytics. Use this feedback to refine your customer experience and make data-driven decisions to improve your store.

Top 5 BigCommerce Apps to Supercharge Your Online Store

BigCommerce offers a robust platform for building and managing online stores, but the true power of the platform is unlocked when you integrate it with the right apps. These apps can automate tasks, enhance functionality, improve customer experiences, and ultimately boost your bottom line. In this blog post, we'll highlight the top 5 BigCommerce apps you should consider to take your online store to the next level.

1. Klaviyo – Email Marketing Automation

Why You Need It:
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive repeat sales and nurture customer relationships. Klaviyo is a powerful email marketing app that integrates seamlessly with BigCommerce, allowing you to automate email flows, segment customers, and send personalized content based on purchase history and browsing behavior.

Key Features:

  • Automates email sequences for cart abandonment, post-purchase follow-ups, and customer retention.
  • Advanced segmentation based on customer behavior and demographics.
  • A/B testing and analytics to optimize campaigns for higher engagement.

How It Supercharges Your Store: By sending highly targeted, relevant emails, Klaviyo can help you increase conversions, recover abandoned carts, and drive repeat business. With Klaviyo, you can tailor your email campaigns to specific customer groups for maximum impact.

2. Rewind – Backup & Data Protection

Why You Need It:
Data loss can be catastrophic for an e-commerce store. Rewind helps protect your store's data by automatically backing up your product data, orders, customer information, and more. This gives you peace of mind, knowing that your business-critical data is safe and can be easily restored in case of any issues.

Key Features:

  • Automatic daily backups of your BigCommerce store data.
  • Quick and easy restore options in case of accidental changes or data loss.
  • Backup for products, customers, orders, and other important store information.

How It Supercharges Your Store: With Rewind, you’re protected against data loss, accidental deletions, or errors during store updates. If something goes wrong, you can quickly restore your store to its previous state, minimizing downtime and preventing loss of sales.

3. Yotpo – Product Reviews & UGC

Why You Need It:
Customer reviews and user-generated content (UGC) are powerful trust signals that can significantly influence buying decisions. Yotpo makes it easy to collect, manage, and display customer reviews, ratings, and photos on your product pages. This social proof can drive higher conversions and increase customer trust.

Key Features:

  • Collects product reviews, ratings, and Q&A from customers.
  • Integrates with social media to showcase UGC (user-generated content) like photos and videos.
  • Easy integration with Google Shopping to display ratings in search results.

How It Supercharges Your Store: Yotpo enhances your store’s credibility by displaying authentic customer feedback. Product reviews help reassure potential buyers that your products are high-quality and reliable, leading to improved conversion rates and customer loyalty.

4. ShipperHQ – Advanced Shipping Management

Why You Need It:
Shipping can be one of the most complicated and costly aspects of running an online store. ShipperHQ simplifies and automates shipping logistics by offering advanced shipping options like real-time carrier rates, custom shipping rules, and international shipping calculations. It helps ensure you're offering competitive shipping rates while providing your customers with flexible options.

Key Features:

  • Real-time shipping rate calculations for domestic and international orders.
  • Multi-origin and multi-destination support for complex shipping scenarios.
  • Custom shipping rules, including weight-based, price-based, or distance-based shipping.

How It Supercharges Your Store: With ShipperHQ, you can offer customers a range of shipping options at checkout, from standard delivery to expedited or international shipping. This not only improves the customer experience but also helps you optimize your shipping costs, boosting profitability.

5. Smile.io – Loyalty & Rewards Program

Why You Need It:
Customer retention is often more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. Smile.io allows you to create a customizable loyalty program that rewards customers for purchases, referrals, and social media engagement. This app incentivizes repeat purchases and fosters brand loyalty by offering valuable rewards for ongoing engagement.

Key Features:

  • Points-based rewards system for purchases and referrals.
  • VIP tiers to reward your most loyal customers with exclusive discounts or perks.
  • Integration with other apps and tools for seamless customer experience.

How It Supercharges Your Store: Smile.io helps you turn first-time buyers into repeat customers. By offering rewards for purchases and referrals, you create an incentive for customers to keep coming back, thus increasing customer lifetime value (CLV). A well-executed loyalty program can boost customer retention and foster a sense of community around your brand.

How BigCommerce Handles Multi-Channel Selling Like a Pro

In today’s e-commerce landscape, selling on multiple channels is no longer optional—it’s a must. With consumers shopping across a variety of platforms—social media, marketplaces, and traditional e-commerce stores—businesses need to be where their customers are. BigCommerce stands out by offering seamless integrations for multi-channel selling, allowing store owners to expand their reach and boost sales without increasing complexity.

In this post, we’ll explore how BigCommerce makes it easy to manage and grow your business across multiple channels, from Amazon to Facebook and beyond.

1. Integrated Multi-Channel Selling

BigCommerce offers out-of-the-box integrations with major online marketplaces and social platforms, making it simple for you to list your products and manage orders across multiple channels from a single dashboard.

Key Integrations:

  • Amazon: Direct integration with Amazon allows you to sync inventory, product listings, and orders between your BigCommerce store and your Amazon storefront.
  • eBay: Manage your eBay listings and orders from within BigCommerce, syncing products and inventory automatically.
  • Facebook & Instagram: Use BigCommerce’s social selling tools to showcase and sell products directly through Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping.
  • Google Shopping: BigCommerce helps you create product listings for Google Shopping, making it easier for customers to find your products when searching online.

How It Helps: These integrations save you time and eliminate the need for manual updates. By syncing your product listings and inventory across multiple platforms, you ensure consistency and avoid overselling.

2. Centralized Inventory Management

One of the biggest challenges of multi-channel selling is keeping inventory updated across all platforms. BigCommerce solves this by offering a centralized inventory management system that automatically syncs your stock levels across all connected sales channels.

Key Features:

  • Real-time inventory tracking across all channels.
  • Automatic updates for stock levels, ensuring you don’t oversell products.
  • Customizable low-stock alerts to help you stay on top of your inventory.

How It Helps: This automated inventory management system reduces the risk of human error and ensures you can fulfill orders from any channel, providing a smooth experience for both you and your customers.

3. Unified Order Management

BigCommerce’s unified order management system allows you to view and manage orders from all your channels in one place. No more switching between different dashboards or manually processing orders. With this feature, you can efficiently handle fulfillment, customer service, and returns.

Key Features:

  • Consolidated view of all orders, regardless of channel.
  • Easy access to order details such as shipping status, payment status, and customer information.
  • Ability to manage returns, exchanges, and customer communication from a central location.

How It Helps: By bringing all your orders into one place, BigCommerce streamlines your workflow, allowing you to process orders more quickly and improve customer service.

4. Customizable Pricing and Discounts Across Channels

BigCommerce allows you to customize pricing and discounts for each sales channel, giving you the flexibility to adjust your strategies based on the platform and your target audience. You can create unique pricing structures for Amazon, eBay, Facebook, or your BigCommerce store.

Key Features:

  • Set custom pricing rules for different marketplaces.
  • Apply unique discounts or promotions on specific channels.
  • Control visibility and discounts for different customer segments.

How It Helps: Customizable pricing ensures that you can remain competitive across platforms while protecting your margins. For example, you may offer a discount for Facebook followers while keeping regular pricing on Amazon, allowing you to tailor your strategy for each platform.

5. Marketing and Promotions Across Channels

BigCommerce makes it easy to run marketing campaigns and promotions that span multiple channels, helping you increase visibility and sales across the board. Whether you’re running a flash sale, discounting products for specific holidays, or promoting a special bundle, BigCommerce’s multi-channel capabilities extend your marketing efforts beyond your own store.

Key Features:

  • Built-in marketing tools for email campaigns, promotions, and retargeting.
  • Integration with Google Ads and social platforms to advertise products.
  • Ability to create discount codes and promotions that work across all channels.

How It Helps: By enabling consistent marketing across channels, you can increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your store and marketplaces. Whether it’s a discount on your BigCommerce store or a paid ad on Facebook, your promotions reach a larger, more diverse audience.


6. Analytics and Reporting Across Channels

BigCommerce provides robust analytics tools to help you track your performance on all your sales channels. From detailed reports on sales, traffic, and conversions, to insights on customer behavior, you’ll have all the data you need to make informed decisions.

Key Features:

  • Customizable reporting for sales and traffic across all channels.
  • In-depth product performance analysis to understand which items are performing well.
  • Customer segmentation and lifetime value reports to optimize marketing and promotions.

How It Helps: With integrated analytics, you can track how each sales channel is performing, measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, and adjust your strategy accordingly. This data-driven approach helps you make smarter decisions to maximize your sales.

7. Streamlined Customer Service Across Channels

BigCommerce allows you to provide a consistent customer service experience across all your sales channels. Whether a customer reaches out via your online store, Amazon, or Facebook, you can easily manage customer inquiries, returns, and support requests through one central platform.



Key Features:

  • Access customer data and order history across all channels.
  • Reply to customer messages and inquiries directly from BigCommerce.
  • Manage reviews and customer feedback on all platforms.

How It Helps: With consolidated customer information, you can provide faster, more personalized support, improving customer satisfaction and fostering brand loyalty.

Conclusion: Multi-Channel Selling Made Easy with BigCommerce

BigCommerce provides a comprehensive suite of tools to help you manage your store across multiple channels without the added complexity. By integrating with key platforms like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Instagram, offering centralized inventory and order management, and providing robust analytics, BigCommerce makes multi-channel selling a streamlined process.

Whether you're a growing business looking to expand your reach or an established retailer aiming to diversify, BigCommerce’s multi-channel capabilities give you the flexibility and control you need to sell everywhere your customers shop—without the hassle.