BigCommerce makes it easy to launch an ecommerce store. The platform is a great base for all types of stores and products — but as you grow, you’ll no doubt need functionalities that go beyond its offerings. BigCommerce apps are the answer to your needs, and you have a wealth of them to choose from.
In fact, with the hundreds of apps on the BigCommerce App Store, you may be overwhelmed by all your options. This guide simplifies the decision-making process with a list of the best BigCommerce apps for merchants looking to launch a new store. Not only are these options all excellent performers on their own, but they work with each other to keep your business running smoothly. Get a head start on the competition by checking out the best apps for 2023.
Before your ecommerce business launches, you’ll need to create a storefront and plan marketing campaigns. Here are the apps you need for customer-facing communications.
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Use it for: Creating site pages, managing site content
Pricing: Feature-based plans start at $19/month after a ten-day free trial
Integrations: Klaviyo, sticky.io, Yotpo and more
Shogun is BigCommerce merchants’ top choice for creating beautiful landing pages, blog pages and product pages. This drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create a beautiful site even if you don’t know any code.
You can use Shogun’s built-in templates and customizations with any BigCommerce theme. Every page you build will be fully responsive, so mobile and desktop users alike have a good experience. And Shogun has the tools to help you optimize your site. Its analytics track events, including cart adds, form submissions and sales. You can also visit your dashboard to see metrics, such as bounce rate and total number of customer sessions.
Use it for: Email and SMS marketing
Pricing: $0 (up to 250 contacts); volume-based plans start at $20/month (email only) or $35/month (email and SMS)
Integrations: Shogun page builder, smile.io, sticky.io, Yotpo and more
Klaviyo is an omnichannel marketing app that uses customer data to help you automate personalized messaging campaigns via email, SMS and mobile push messages. It also helps merchants segment customers in real time based on their behaviors. With Klaviyo’s coordination capabilities, you’ll create unified campaigns across all supported message types.
View your marketing success with Klaviyo’s analytics, which allow you to filter audience data by segment and view your sales funnels. That data goes toward creating predictive analytics that help you personalize campaigns by customer profile. And, if you like the results you’re getting, you can export your customer lists for use in social advertising campaigns.
Make it easy to pay for your goods, and you’ll see fewer abandoned carts. These apps support a smooth payment process that will leave your customers satisfied with their shopping experience.
Use it for: Checkout, recurring billing
Pricing: Feature-based plans start at $99/month + 1.25% of revenue
Integrations: Advanced Shipping Manager, Klaviyo, ShipperHQ, Shogun page builder, smile.io, TaxJar, Yotpo and more
sticky.io natively integrates with BigCommerce, so it’s easy to take customers through a smooth checkout flow. Shoppers can make one-time purchases and enroll in a subscription in the same transaction. The app works with 14 payment gateways, allowing merchants to support a wide range of payment methods and handle international currencies.
Take advantage of the most flexible billing logic in any BigCommerce subscription app to create a range of subscription programs, including membership and loyalty offerings. sticky.io helps you keep your customers around with a full suite of decline management tools and an analytics dashboard that tracks subscription metrics.
Use it for: Sales tax management and filing services
Pricing: Volume-based plans start at $19/mo after a 30-day free trial
Integrations: Advanced Shipping Manager, ShipperHQ, sticky.io, and more
This Stripe-owned sales tax solution keeps ecommerce merchants compliant with tax codes across the US. TaxJar’s up-to-date sales calculations work across all channels and all types of payments and transactions, so you can confidently automate the sales tax assessment process.
TaxJar also helps with your internal accounting. The app creates exportable reports that are ready to be added to tax returns. You can use TaxJar to auto-submit those returns to states where your business is registered. The app even tracks your sales and will alert you when you hit thresholds that require you to register in new states.
Customers have high expectations for ecommerce delivery. Competitive businesses have to meet them. Here are the apps that will help you make shipping as cheap and convenient as possible.
Use it for: Shipping rate calculation
Pricing: $155/mo after a 14-day free trial
Integrations: sticky.io, TaxJar (if you download the free Tax Connector app)
Advanced Shipping Manager helps you provide accurate shipping rates and delivery dates on every order. You won’t end up over- or under-charging customers for shipping thanks to its dimensional weight-based calculations. Advanced Shipping Manager also accurately calculates delivery timelines for multi-origin orders and determines which distribution center allows you to make the quickest delivery.
You can tweak its settings to reflect custom shipping limitations or policies. It’s easy to limit shipping methods by product. Advanced Shipping Manager also allows you to add handling fees to each order, create custom shipping rate tables and even set custom rules for each dropshipper you work with.
Use it for: Shipping rate calculation
Pricing: $75/mo after a 15-day free trial
Integrations: sticky.io, TaxJar and more
ShipperHQ promises full visibility in your customer’s shipping choices, accurate shipping rates and delivery dates you can meet without stress. With this app, you can access real-time shipping rates for over 50 worldwide carriers or add your own custom rates. ShipperHQ also supports preferred delivery dates and in-store pickup arrangements.
This app allows you to tailor shipping options using custom rules. Assess surcharges or give your customers discounts based on factors including location, order price, order quantity and more. You can also create shipping rules by product and see ShipperHQ automatically determine the best packing configuration for each order.
Increase your customer lifetime value (CLTV) with tools that encourage shoppers to buy more…and reward them for doing so. Get started with these loyalty apps that give your buyers a reason to return.
Use it for: Managing loyalty and referral programs
Pricing: Feature-based plans start at $0/month (pay at least $199/mo to get advanced features)
Integrations: Klaviyo, Shogun page builder, sticky.io and more
Yotpo Loyalty and Referrals makes it easy to set up a simple, points-based rewards system — for free. You’ll also get access to all of Yotpo’s referral program features, along with an ROI dashboard that measures how well your membership program is working.
Paid versions of this app come with a wealth of features that support more complex loyalty setups, such as a VIP tier. You can also reward brand engagement such as social interactions and keep customers coming back by linking points to certain spending thresholds or the number of purchases made.
Use it for: Managing loyalty and referral programs
Pricing: Volume-based plans start at $49/mo
Integrations: Klaviyo, sticky.io, Yotpo Customer Reviews and more
Set up customer loyalty programs that reward shoppers for engaging with your brand with smile.io. This app allows you to award points for purchases and brand interactions. You can create VIP programs to encourage heavy engagement and spending and offer rewards to shoppers who refer others.
The lowest-priced tier of smile.io comes with plenty of features for merchants who want to see if a loyalty program is right for them. You can set custom points-earning rules for certain events and cap point earning by frequency. Customers can trade in their points for perks like percentage or dollar amount discounts or free shipping.
When you’re building a store on BigCommerce, you’ll know every app you choose works with the platform. You should also think about interoperability between apps. For most merchants, this means planning your entire BigCommerce tech stack before you start investing in tools.
Start by looking at the features you need today and those that may help you expand into the future. Then, evaluate your shortlist of apps to see which play well with others. The “perfect” choice that lacks integrations with your other apps may not deliver the value you’re hoping for.
Merchants who are building their BigCommerce setup can determine which features are most important to their operations and build around the apps that provide them. Sellers who have already launched on the platform should look at their foundational apps and choose add-ons that work well with them. And all retailers should ask themselves how a new tool will work as their business continues to grow before investing in it.
Discover the eight features to prioritize when searching for a subscription ecommerce platform and see how four of the top subscription apps stack up.
Discover the eight features to prioritize when searching for a subscription ecommerce platform and see how four of the top subscription apps stack up.
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