All About BigCommerce Apps & The right way to Construct One

The technology platform we’re going to discuss today is anything but unfamiliar. In fact, it stands as one of the most prominent players within the vast landscape of eCommerce. Yes, you’ve got it right – we’re shining the spotlight on none other than BigCommerce apps. This feature-rich Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) eCommerce solution has proven itself as a driving force behind numerous businesses, propelling them towards becoming renowned online brands. By harnessing BigCommerce’s prowess, these enterprises have been able to craft eCommerce apps that offer robust, distinct commerce experiences without compromising on essential factors such as security, stability, or scalability.

Recognizable brands like SONY, Casio, Razer, and Almanac have harnessed the capabilities of BigCommerce to navigate the competitive landscape and carve a niche for themselves, all the while providing their customers with an unparalleled eCommerce journey.

If you’re currently in the process of selecting an eCommerce platform or are seeking to elevate your existing system, this article holds a wealth of insight. Without further ado, let’s delve into the intricacies of BigCommerce and unravel why it stands as the ultimate solution tailor-made for your business.

BigCommerce Apps: A Detailed Perception

Established in the year 2009, BigCommerce stands tall as one of the most sophisticated and NASDAQ-listed Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) eCommerce app development platforms. Armed with highly adaptable APIs and robust headless commerce capabilities, BigCommerce simplifies the process of setting up a professional online store for businesses. Beyond facilitating online store creation, this platform extends its offerings to encompass search engine optimization (SEO), hosting, marketing, and security services tailored to cater to a broad spectrum of businesses, ranging from small enterprises to large corporations.

BigCommerce’s global influence is undeniable, as it boasts a user base spanning countries such as the USA, Australia, and the UK. Over the course of its existence, the platform has served as the host for a staggering count of over 145,000 websites, and to this day, it continues to empower around 52,198 active stores on its platform.

Key Options of BigCommerce

BigCommerce provides an array of features designed to facilitate the growth of your business.

1. Intuitive drag-and-drop page builder along with HTML and CSS editing capabilities.
2. Seamless integration with over 55 payment gateways for smooth transactions.
3. Accommodation of up to 600 SKUs per product to cater to diverse product ranges.
4. Support for payments in more than 140 local currencies across over 95 countries.
5. Provision for Product Reviews and a Product Search Facility to enhance user experience.
6. Comprehensive Coupons and Discounts options to drive sales and customer engagement.
7. Robust Order Management and streamlined checkout process for efficient operations.

Why Select BigCommerce apps to your first eCommerce?

1. Handle merchandise, orders, and clients like a professional.

In addition to its user-friendly interface, BigCommerce empowers eCommerce businesses with an incredibly intuitive dashboard for efficient management of products, orders, and returns. This dashboard comes with comprehensive filtering options, enhancing the engagement and usability for end-users of the online store.

In the past, enterprises often had to juggle multiple eCommerce platforms to manage distinct pricing structures for various customer segments. However, with BigCommerce, such complexities are greatly simplified. The platform enables businesses to seamlessly handle extensive customer volumes and segment them into distinct groups based on personalized pricing, promotions, product access, and tailored store information. This streamlined approach eliminates unnecessary complexities for businesses.

2. An Search engine optimisation-ready Platform

Maintaining the viability of your eCommerce venture in an ever-competitive market is no straightforward feat. This challenge becomes even more pronounced in the digital realm, where tailoring your store to align with the ever-evolving search engine algorithms becomes a crucial catalyst for eCommerce growth. By aligning with the latest SEO guidelines, the BigCommerce platform empowers you to incorporate keyword-rich content manually into the designated SEO fields. Additionally, it provides other SEO features such as auto-optimized titles and URLs to enhance your website’s search engine visibility and ranking.

3. Safe and Compliant

Ensuring the security of your eCommerce operations remains a paramount concern for all businesses. When it comes to security, opting for a hosted platform is often preferable to self-hosting, as it offers superior quality and integrated security measures.

Take, for instance, BigCommerce, which provides robust security and Level 1 PCI compliance across all plans. For those requiring enhanced security measures, the Enterprise level offers protection against DDOS attacks and multi-layered security.

Within the framework of BigCommerce, several security features are provided:

• Scanners for file integrity and perimeter security

• Server-specific firewalls and intrusion detection software

• 24/7 customer support

• State-of-the-art DDOS mitigation techniques

By choosing BigCommerce, you not only ensure your eCommerce venture is secure but also gain access to a comprehensive range of security measures designed to safeguard your business and customer data.

4. Spectacular eCommerce Growth Assist Guides, Sources, and Instruments.

BigCommerce excels in catering to the needs of developers, providing them with a valuable resource in the form of its Fast Start Guide and Dev Centre. This comprehensive guide comprises an array of excellent tools and resources, all aimed at enhancing the development experience for users.

When it comes to creating apps through BigCommerce, developers will require specific developer accounts and their corresponding registration credentials to bring their envisioned app to life. While we will delve further into this process shortly, let’s explore another advantage of BigCommerce mobile app development at this juncture.

5. Sturdy built-in advertising instruments and analytics.

A significant differentiating factor between BigCommerce and other platforms lies in its built-in third-party integration of analytical platforms and add-on legacy tools. Unlike the competition, BigCommerce offers this as an inherent feature. It empowers businesses with comprehensive analytics, providing them with invaluable data-driven insights that ultimately aid in enhancing conversion rates based on performance benchmarks.

Key attributes of the marketing and analytics capabilities in BigCommerce encompass:

• Facilitating the sale of gift vouchers.

• Providing exclusive cart-level discounts.

• Automated generation and validation of coupon codes.

• Launching and publishing email marketing campaigns.

BigCommerce Plans and Pricing

The right way to construct BigCommerce Apps

As mentioned previously, you can develop installable eCommerce apps for BigCommerce stores by leveraging the platform’s robust APIs, SDKs, and toolkits. Once an app is constructed, tested, and approved, you have the opportunity to sell the app or offer it for free to all BigCommerce merchants through the Apps Market.

However, before delving into the development of a BigCommerce app, it’s essential to understand how apps are discovered, displayed, and managed within BigCommerce stores.

About BigCommerce Apps

Discovery

This is the process through which approved BigCommerce apps are showcased on the App Market, allowing merchants to explore, search, and install them.

Administration

Installed apps can be managed within the store’s control panel under the section “Apps > My Apps.” This is where store users can initiate or remove their draft app.

Show

When a merchant launches an app, BigCommerce triggers the app’s /load callback and displays the app’s user interface within an iFrame.

The provided images above illustrate the process of discovering, managing, and displaying BigCommerce apps. Now, it’s time to determine what type of app you believe would be most beneficial for your business.

Varieties Of BigCommerce Cellular Apps

BigCommerce provides businesses the ability to create two main types of apps: single-click apps and connector apps, which are differentiated by their authentication methods. Single-click apps utilize the OAuth Authorization Code Grant flow for authentication.

On the other hand, connector apps use manual OAuth token creation instead of the single-click app flow, requiring store owners to generate and configure store API credentials manually. In addition to the authentication method, apps can also vary in terms of their visibility.

BigCommerce mobile apps can be categorized into three visibility options: Drafts, Unlisted, and Public.

Getting Began with BigCommerce App Growth

Here’s your pathway to initiate your journey in BigCommerce app development:

1. Establish a BigCommerce Sandbox Store: Begin your journey by setting up a BigCommerce sandbox store. This controlled environment provides you with the space to experiment, test, and refine your app ideas without impacting live operations.
2. Join the Partner Program for Compensation: If you’re keen on monetizing your app creations, consider applying to the BigCommerce Partner program. This program enables you to earn from your app contributions.
3. Create a Developer Portal Account: Forge a Developer Portal account to kickstart your app registration and submission process. This central hub empowers you to manage your apps efficiently.
4. Engage in the Developer Community: Collaborate and seek guidance from fellow BigCommerce developers by joining the dynamic Developer Community. This space is a valuable resource for insights, solutions, and collective learning.
5. Gain Insight from the Market: Explore the BigCommerce Market to discover existing apps and solutions. This exploration not only provides inspiration but also helps you identify potential gaps and opportunities in the market.

By following these initial steps, you’ll set the foundation for your BigCommerce app development journey, equipped with the necessary resources and support to create innovative and impactful solutions within the eCommerce landscape.

BigCommerce’s Developer Center serves as an invaluable hub, granting access to a myriad of tools, APIs, comprehensive developer documentation, exhaustive lists of available APIs, endpoints, and their intended functionalities, as mentioned earlier.

However, for assessing API specifications, a User ID and Password are prerequisites. These credentials can be conveniently generated through the Storefront and My Apps sections. It’s important to note that you’ll require both a sandbox store and a developer account to access the full array of APIs. Only then can you initiate the request runner in your browser, facilitating interactions with diverse APIs such as Storefront, GraphQL, and REST.

Once you’ve acquired a deep understanding of the API intricacies, you can proceed to locally test app authentication with the aid of ngrok. This invaluable tool facilitates secure testing of your app’s interaction with the external web.

Subsequently, as you expose your app to the online landscape, the upcoming stride entails registering your app within the developer portal, marking it as a draft. The process of this pivotal step will now be explored in detail.

Registering & Putting in App as a draft

1. Check in to the Developer Portal with the ID & password you created beforehand.
2. Click on Create an App.
3. Title your app.
4. Click on Technical.
5. Enter your app’s callback URLs. When you’re utilizing ngrok, they’ll seem like this:

Auth: https://4022ffe4.ngrok.io/auth

Load: https://4022ffe4.ngrok.io/load

Uninstall: https://4022ffe4.ngrok.io/uninstall

1. Click on Replace & Shut.
2. Click on View Consumer ID to view the app’s client_id and client_secret.

It’s important to be aware that any store associated with the same email as your Developer Portal account has the ability to install your draft BigCommerce apps. The installation process is relatively straightforward:

1. Check in to the shop
2. Navigate to Apps > My Apps > My Draft Apps.
3. Click on the draft app thumbnail to put in the draft.
4. While you click on Set up, BigCommerce will start the OAuth circulate by making a GET request to the app’s /auth callback URL. If the app handles all of the requests efficiently, the app has been put in, and you may start function growth.

Managing & Publishing BigCommerce Cellular App

After successfully installing the app, you can proceed with developing the desired features for your envisioned BigCommerce app. Additionally, you can access the BigCommerce Dev Center to gain comprehensive insights into app management, QAuth implementation, and UI development using best practices.

Once you have a well-constructed app ready, you can visit the Dev Center, click on MyApps, and edit the app to configure appropriate callbacks. Once the necessary edits are completed, navigate to your sandbox store, locate your draft app, and proceed to install it on the store with just a few simple clicks.

Change into a Expertise Companion

A crucial step in publishing your app to the BigCommerce marketplace is to enroll in BigCommerce’s Technology Partner Program. To apply for this program, you can visit their Partner Portal and click on “Get Started.” When filling out the application, ensure that you specify your application for the Technology Partner Program.

During the application process, you’ll need to provide details such as your business email address, company website, intention to publicly offer your app, ability to provide support for app users, and evidence of your expertise in app development.

Once you become an approved technology partner, you will gain access to the next set of app store approval requirements. These requirements will guide you through a step-by-step process on how to submit your app for review. Once your app has been tested and approved, it will be deployed to the marketplace and made available for retailers to purchase.

Conclusion

Partnering with BigCommerce can be a strategic move to ensure the success of your eCommerce business. Becoming a technology partner grants you access to an array of comprehensive development tools and guides. These resources will serve as valuable assets for your business, empowering you to provide an exceptional customer experience to your clients. Additionally, you have the option to collaborate with a top-tier BigCommerce web design company to kickstart the development of your very own BigCommerce mobile app. This combination of expertise and tools can greatly enhance your business’s growth and customer satisfaction.