First, log in to your BigCommerce account. In the left side menu, go to settings.
On the new page that loads scroll down to the API section and click on Store-level API accounts
Click on Create API Account, and then – Create V2/V3 API token.
After this, you will need to give your account a name.
Next step – select OAuth scopes, which will be needed for your account. You should set these permissions:
Content: Read-only
Check out content: None
Customers: Read only
Customers Login: None
Information & Settings: Read only
Marketing: Read only
Orders: Read only
Order Transactions: Read only
Create Payments: None
Get Payments Methods: None
Stored Payments Instruments: None
Products: Read only
Themes: None
Carts: None
Checkouts: Read only
Sites & Routes: Read only
Channel Settings: Read only
Channel Listings: Read only
Storefront API tokens: None
Storefront API Customer Impersonation Tokens: None
After you set the permissions, save the account and you should get a pop-up window with your Client ID, Client Secret, and Access Token. Please make sure to save this information somewhere because there is no way to find this information again. If you are using Edge, Chrome, or Firefox, a text file containing this information will be downloaded to your computer.
Please provide this access token to connect your online store.
How can a website can be transformed from outdated to modern and mobile-friendly? In our recent project with Ultra-White.com, our team was able to do just that. We helped Ultra-White update their website design and migrate to a new platform, resulting in a more user-friendly and professional ecommerce site.The first step in the process was to create a new design using Adobe XD. The old design was over 20 years old and not mobile responsive, making it difficult for users to navigate and buy products on their phones. Our design team worked to create a modern design that was not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional and mobile ready.
Once the new design was approved, we migrated the site from Yahoo to BigCommerce. This platform change allowed Ultra-White to take advantage of the latest ecommerce features and technology, improving their overall online shopping experience.
The new design and platform migration brought significant improvements to the website. The site is now much faster, more mobile-friendly, and easier to use. Customers can easily browse products, make purchases, and track their orders.
Our Process
At Ventura Web Design & Marketing, we take pride in our three-step web design process. The first step is to understand the client’s needs and goals. In this case, Ultra-White wanted a modern and mobile-friendly ecommerce site. The second step is to design a website that is both beautiful and functional, taking into consideration the client’s brand and target audience. The final step is to develop and launch the site, ensuring it is optimized for search engines and user experience.
About Ultra-White.com
Ultra-White is a cosmetic dental product company that provides teeth whitening gels, trays, and other dental office strength cosmetic dental products. They were developed in 1996 by a cosmetic dentist and have been used to treat tooth discoloration in over 27,000 patients. The company provides the same teeth whitening process used by over 90% of dentists and has been online since 1997.
If you are looking to update your website or migrate to a new platform, our team at Ventura Web Design & Marketing can help. We design and build amazing websites for small businesses. Your website will be fast, beautiful, and easy to use. Keep reading to learn more, or schedule a free consultation today. Contact us today to learn more about our web design services and how we can help transform your online presence.
Importing and exporting files on Big Commerce can seem like a daunting task at first but with the steps and video listed below you should be able to import and export with ease.
Before Getting Started
To import and export on Big Commerce you will need access to a program like Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets that supports CSV and XML files. CSV is recommended due to the fact that it is needed if you plan to import exported data back into Big Commerce.
The CSV requires certain fields for import.
Creating new products requires:
Product name
Price fields.
Importing product images must have:
Only allowed characters
Case-sensitive text
Image files that are either JPEG/JPG, GIF or PNG.
When importing SKUs they must have the:
Product SKU
Stock level fields
For other common issues visit the Big Commerce troubleshooting page.
Choosing An Export Template
Big Commerce provides two export templates.
Bulk edit (recommended) – This template allows you to skip steps in the import process since it prefilled headers that are the same as the ones Big Commerce uses.
Default – this template only has basic fields like name, weight, description, and price.
You can make your own custom template and decide which export fields to include.
Export Your Products
Click on Bulk Edit
Choose Export to ____ (CSV)
Optional- Check Save export to the server for later download (this will save progress in case any interruptions happen while exporting
Click Continue button in the bottom right corner
Click the Download link in the pop-up window
Importing Products
Go to Products
Click Import
Steps to take if you used the Bulk Edit
Check the box next to Bulk Edit Re-Import
The fields will auto-populate
Upload your edited CSV file
Click Next
Edit the Link Import Fields to match the headers in your CSV spreadsheet (if you used the Bulk Edit option this isn’t necessary)
Click Next
Click Start Import
Options will come up click More Information to check for any warnings found during the import process
Click View Imported Products
Creating New Products Via Import
When adding a new product there are some things that are required.
Required fields for a new product:
Product Name
Category
Price
Weight (physical products only)
Track Inventory Value
Leave this field blank otherwise the product will not upload correctly
Product ID
To ensure import runs smoothly do not import more than a couple hundred items and use the Bulk Edit CSV if possible.
Importing Product Options
To create product variants tied to product options, you will need to add sub-product SKUs or Rules with those attributes. The easiest process is to create the base product first, export it, then add the SKUs or Rules.
Importing Product Images
As mentioned above images have requirements they are:
Image file names are restricted to a-z, 0-9, – and _.
Image file names cannot contain any spaces or special characters.
Image file types must be JPEG/JPG, GIF or PNG. They cannot be TIFF, BMP, or PDF file formats.
The optimal size for your product images is 1280 x 1280 pixels. Other product images (like thumbnails) will be created from the original image you upload.
There are two ways to import an image:
If the image is already on the Internet you can use the URL to import them using the image path in the CSV file
If you’re uploading photos from your computer it’s recommended to upload them using WebDAV
How to import using the image path:
Find the column in your CSV for product images. If you’re using the Bulk Edit template, this column will be called Product Image File
If you are importing new products, be sure to leave the Product Image ID column blank.
Enter the full path (URL) http must be included
To upload multiple images for a single product, create a new column with a heading of Product Image File – # (increasing the number each time you make a new column)
To include any of the other information for that image (such as descriptions), make a new column with the appropriate heading and the same number as the corresponding image.
Ex:
Product Image ID – 2
Product Image File – 2
Product Image Description – 2
Once these steps have been completed import your items. If you are using a template other than Bulk Edit, match the Product Image field to the correct column on the Link Import Fields step of the import.
Uploading through WebDAV:
Connect to your store through WebDAV
Open the product_images folder followed by the import folder. Then drag and drop the images from your computer into the import folder.
In your product CSV, locate the column for product images. If you are using the Bulk Edit template, this column is called Product Image File – (#). Enter the file name (such as image.png) of the image file.
To upload multiple images for a single product, create a new column with a heading of Product Image File – # (increasing the number each time you make a new column)
To include any of the other information for that image (such as descriptions), make a new column with the appropriate heading and the same number as the corresponding image.
If you are using a template other than Bulk Edit, match the Product Image field to the correct column on the Link Import Fields step of the import.
Exporting Specific Products
There are three ways to export specific products. They are selecting individual products, export products based on search or view, export products belonging to a certain category.
Here are the steps to export select individual products:
Go to Products
Click on View
Click the checkbox to the left of the product or products you want to export
Order notifications and order messages are a great way to keep you, the merchant, updated about new orders and customer concerns. Order notifications are sent via email to you when an order is placed and has helpful info like order details and a link to your store to view the order. Like order notifications, order messages are also sent to your email and will have info like the customer’s name, order ID, message, and a link to view the message within your store.
Here’s an example of an order notification:
Here’s an example of an order message:
Enabling Notifications
How to set up email notifications:
Go to Advanced Settings
Click on Order Notifications
Check Email Message
Click Save
When the page refreshes, click the Email Message tab to the right of General Settings. In the Email Address field, enter the email address(es) you would like to receive notifications. If entering multiple addresses, separate them with a comma, and Save your changes.
If you would like to receive a sample to the email(s) you provided use the Test Notification Method.
Forwarding Invoices
You can forward customer invoices to an email or emails. Here’s how:
Go to Store Setup
Click on Store Settings
Click on the Miscellaneous tab
Check the Forward Order Invoices setting
Enter the email(s) you want the invoices to be forwarded to (separate them by commas)
Save your changes
Text Via Email
Most major cellular providers give you the ability to send a text message via email using a unique email address. You can use this to receive notifications on your phone by entering your phone number’s email address in the email address field as described above.
For example, if your number is 555-123-6789, and AT&T is your cellular provider, then your email address would be 5551236789@txt.att.net.
If your provider is not listed here, inquire with your cellular company if you can send text messages via email.
Alltel: number@message.alltel.com
AT&T: number@txt.att.net
Boost Mobile: number@myboostmobile.com
Cricket: number@sms.mycricket.com
Metro PCS: number@mymetropcs.com
Nextel: number@messaging.nextel.com
Ptel: number@ptel.com
Qwest: number@qwestmp.com
Sprint: number@messaging.sprintpcs.com or number@pm.sprint.com
Suncom: number@tms.suncom.com
T-Mobile: number@tmomail.net
Tracfone: number@mmst5.tracfone.com
U.S. Cellular: number@email.uscc.net
Verizon: number@vtext.com
Virgin Mobile: number@vmobl.com
Contact Us
Set up a free consultation and allow us to review your e-commerce website and assess your needs. Contact us online or by phone. The number for the Tampa location is 813-556-7990 and the number for the Las Vegas location is 702-515-2057.
There are times you may have to go into a placed order to change some details. The most likely occurrence is when a customer reaches out to change an aspect of their order, whether it be a simple typo or a different shipping address these can all be easily adjusted in the control panel by the store owner or those with the right credentials to access that information.
Order Details
When editing an order, the following details can be changed:
customer account
email address
billing address
product price *
product quantity *
product options *
shipping address
shipping method *
discount amount
coupon code
order comments
staff notes
Once payment is approved you cannot go back and add things. If a customer would like to add more items you’ll have to create a new purchase order and if they would like to remove items a refund will need to be issued.
Order Editing Process
To edit an order that has already been charged:
Go to Orders
Click on View
Click on the action icon
Click Edit Order
The Edit an Order screen is broken down into four parts:
Customer Info — the customers billing information including their email address
Finalize — the order summary and the area where a discount or coupon can be entered
Contact Us
Now that you know how to edit your orders you can leave the marketing-related e-commerce factors to us. Contact us online or by phone. The number for the Tampa location is 813-556-7990 and the number for the Las Vegas location is 702-515-2057.
Customer Info
The Customer Info section is where you will make corrections to an order’s email address or billing information. When editing a guest order, the Order for selection will be set to New Customer. If you are editing an order created by someone with an existing customer account, the Order for selection will be set to Keep existing customer details. When editing an existing customer’s order, keep the default setting to ensure the changes are saved to the correct account.
Editing a guest order
Editing an order from an existing customer
When making changes to the Billing Information section, you can choose to save the new changes to the customer’s address book via the Save to customer’s address book checkbox located at the bottom of the page.
Guest Orders From Existing Customers
A returning customer may accidentally check out as a guest. They will not be able to view that order in their history.
To resolve this, edit the guest order and change the Order for selection to Existing Customer. Enter the customer’s name, email address, or company name in the new Search field and select them from the list of customers that appear.
If the rest of the order is correct, click Next until you reach the Finalize step and click Save to save the changes. The order will now be linked to the returning customer account.
Items
The items section is where you will go to adjust items that have been purchased, as long as you’re not adding additional items after payment has been authorized. The items section could be utilized for example if a customer ordered the wrong shirt size or color. You would manually go in and adjust this so their order gets fulfilled correctly.
Shipping
The shipping section is where you will make adjustments to shipping details should a customer need that. A situation in which this will be required is if a customer put in the wrong shipping address or needs to split an order into two separate delivery destinations.
When viewing the shipping method, the original choice will be labeled as Use Existing Quote.
If you need to add a shipping charge, change the shipping method, or split the order to send it to multiple addresses (which will adjust shipping costs), a new order will have to be created. You will not be able to capture funds or authorize a new capture using the same order.
If you select None, this will remove any previously selected shipping and not assign any new shipping method. This is useful when updating an order from a paid shipping method to a customer pick-up method, where you won’t be charging for any shipping costs. When downgrading the shipping method, as in the above example, use the Refund action to provide a partial refund or provide a store credit to the customer’s account.
Finalize
This section is where you can view any changes and information associated with the order such as Customer Billing, Cart, or Shipping Details. If you are editing an order that has already been charged, you will see the payment option that was used, the transaction ID, and the payment status.
Further down the page, there will be a summary section. This is where you will apply any coupons or discounts.
*Note- Even though you can apply a discount or coupon to an order that has been charged, it will not automatically return the difference to the customer. If the amount charged is incorrect, we recommend canceling and refunding the order, and then either you or the customer would create a new order for the proper amount. You cannot edit gift certificates once they are applied to an order.
Near the bottom of the page, you will see boxes for Order Comments or leave a Staff Note. Comments are visible on invoices, while Staff Notes are only visible in the control panel and are not seen by customers.
Being able to manage orders and respond to messages is an important part of running a Big Commerce store. The steps below will help you understand and use the actions and different types of correspondence on your Big Commerce site.
Order Actions
To view order actions go to the View Orders page and on the far right side of the menu, there will be an Action button. Click that to view all actions such as editing the details of the order, shipping the products, and refunding a payment, just to name a few.
Performing actions on an order will change the status of the order, but manually changing the order status will not perform an action. For example, if you want to refund a customer’s order, you will need to use the refund action in this menu. Just changing the order status in the drop-down menu will not refund the order.
This video will give you a rundown of order management. At 2:28 it talks about the order actions menu.
Here is a list of all actions you can see in the Order Actions menu:
Edit Order — Edit the billing address, cart contents, shipping address, shipping method, payment method and discount charges on an existing order.
Print Invoice — Print a paper or PDF invoice containing pertinent order information. See Printing an Order Invoice.
Print Packing Slip — Print a paper or PDF packing slip containing pertinent shipment information. See Printing Packing Slips.
Resend Invoice — Send a copy of the invoice to the email address associated with the customer.
Send Message* — Send an order message to a customer.
View Notes* — Add and see any Order Comments and Staff Notes about the order. Order Comments are visible on invoices; Staff Notes are only viewable in the control panel and are not seen by customers.
Refund — Allows you to partially or fully refund an order. This action will only appear if the order was placed using a compatible payment gateway.
Void Transaction — Will cancel the order and release any funds that may have been authorized. This action will only appear if the order was placed using an authorize only compatible payment gateway.
Ship Items — Create a shipment which specifies a carrier, service, tracking number, and shipping notes.
View Shipments* — View details, update tracking numbers, and print packing slips for order shipments. This action will only appear if the Ship Items action has been used.
View Order Timeline* — View timeline events pertaining to the order such as when the payment was authorized, the amount that was captured, or past refunds.
Detailed Explanation Of Common Actions
Some actions you’ll likely see more than others. It’s important to know as much as possible about these actions as possible. These actions are the Send Message, View Notes, View Shipments, and View Order Timeline.
Send Message
Customers can send you messages from their Account page if they have signed up. These messages will be sent to the email of your choice. This email can be reviewed or changed in the Order Notifications. When you receive a message they will be displayed in the View Orders page.
Clicking the message notification will take you to the View Messages page where you can reply by using the Send a Message button. In the control panel, the sender of the order message is the user’s email address, unless it’s the Store Owner user, in which case it appears as admin.
View Order Timeline
The View Order Timeline provides details about an order’s transactional history. Here you will find tax calculations and notifications of when payment authorization or capture took place, as well as the specifics of past refunds.
Orders will display this icon to indicate a timeline is available:
View Notes
The View Notes option allows you to add order comments or staff notes to an order without having to go through the edit an order workflow. Comments are visible on invoices while Staff Notes are only visible in the control panel and are not seen by customers.
Orders will display these icons to indicate a staff note or comment has been added:
Order Comments Icon:
Staff Notes Icon:
View Shipments
The View Shipments option will only appear if the Ship Items action has been used. View Shipments allows you to see the details of the shipment, update the tracking number, and print a packing slip — all without the need to visit the View Shipments page.
Skip to the 4:07 timestamp to learn more about the Ship Items action.
Order Actions In Bulk
Three actions can be performed in bulk:
Print Invoice
Print Packing Slip
Resend Invoice
To perform a bulk action, check the box to the left of each desired order, then select the action from the Choose an action drop-down menu and click Confirm.
This how-to guide is to help you understand the order process on Big Commerce. It will explain order statuses, changing an order status, and how they can be used during the fulfillment process.
How To View Your Orders
To view your orders and order statuses go to Orders and click on View.
Order Status
Order statuses are generally automatically updated when a customer or store user does an action. These statuses can be manually changed if needed. Below is a list of order statuses.
New orders that have been paid for will have a status of “Awaiting Fulfillment” (physical products) or “Completed” (downloadable products)
Pre-orders or backorder will have a status saying pending, awaiting payment, or awaiting fulfillment.
Here’s a list of all order statuses and their definitions:
Pending — Customer started the checkout process but did not complete it. Incomplete orders are assigned a “Pending” status and can be found under the More tab in the View Orders screen.
Awaiting Payment — Customer has completed the checkout process, but payment has yet to be confirmed. Authorize only transactions that are not yet captured have this status.
Awaiting Fulfillment — Customer has completed the checkout process and payment has been confirmed.
Awaiting Shipment — Order has been pulled and packaged and is awaiting collection from a shipping provider.
Awaiting Pickup — Order has been packaged and is awaiting customer pickup from a seller-specified location.
Partially Shipped — Only some items in the order have been shipped, due to some products being pre-order only or other reasons.
Completed — Order has been shipped/picked up, and receipt is confirmed; client has paid for their digital product, and their file(s) are available for download.
Shipped — Order has been shipped, but receipt has not been confirmed; seller has used the Ship Items action. A listing of all orders with a “Shipped” status can be found under the More tab of the View Orders screen.
Cancelled — Seller has cancelled an order, due to a stock inconsistency or other reasons. Stock levels will automatically update depending on your Inventory Settings. Cancelling an order will not refund the order. This status is triggered automatically when an order using an authorize-only payment gateway is voided in the control panel before capturing payment.
Declined — Seller has marked the order as declined for lack of manual payment, or other reasons
Refunded — Seller has used the Refund action. A listing of all orders with a “Refunded” status can be found under the More tab of the View Orders screen.
Disputed — Customer has initiated a dispute for the method of payment used for the order.
Manual Verification Required — Order on hold while some aspect (e.g. tax-exempt documentation) needs to be manually confirmed. Orders with this status must be updated manually. Capturing funds or other order actions will not automatically update the status of an order marked Manual Verification Required.
Partially Refunded — Seller has partially refunded the order.
Changing An Order Status
As mentioned earlier most order statuses will automatically be changed when a customer does an action on the store, but there are a few instances where items will have to be changed manually. For example, shipping items will change an order’s status to Shipped, whereas a Cancelled or Declined order status has to be manually applied.
To manually change a status:
Go to Orders
Click on View
Change the status in the order status drop-down menu
When a status is changed the customer will receive an email notification. You can select which statuses trigger these emails in your checkout settings.
Order Status Workflow
While every business is different and you may find a different process that works for you here is an efficient way to handle incoming orders step by step.
You receive a new order
2. On your orders screen, you will see there is a new order with the status Awaiting Fulfillment
3. You package the order and purchase the appropriate shipping label. You take the package to a shipping provider or schedule a pickup. In either case, you manually update the status to Awaiting Shipment, which indicates the order is ready to leave your business
4. Once the shipping company has possession of the item you go into Orders and click on View then click on the Ship Items button which changes the status to Shipped
5. Optionally, you could confirm receipt by the customer by emailing them the tracking number or other methods — then manually update the order status to Complete.
Status Change Notifications
You can select which order statuses trigger an email notification to your customers by editing your order notification settings. This is in addition to the Order Confirmation email (also known as the Invoice email), which is sent automatically. You can customize the email templates for both the Order Confirmation and Status update messages by going to Storefront and clicking on Email Templates in the control panel.
Order status notifications are universal and apply to all customers. For example, you can’t specify that a particular customer group doesn’t get a particular status notification.
Customizing An Order Status Label
You can customize the order status labels to something more specific to your business. For example, you could update the Awaiting Shipment status (which represents that an order has been pulled and packaged, and is awaiting collection from a shipping provider) to Package ready to be picked up by FedEx. This will not give it any additional functionality but can be used to provide more specifics for your customers or fulfillment team.
Here are the steps to rename an order status:
Go to Orders
Click on Order Status
Click Edit, and the fields will become editable text fields. You’re able to customize your Order Status labels up to 200 characters in length.
Once you’re satisfied with the changes click Save
If you’d like to change a status back to the original status click the ellipses and select Restore to Default.
*Note- If your label is longer than 30 characters, it will be trimmed in the control panel but will show as full length to your customers.
Editing your store is crucial not only from an organization standpoint but from the customer side as well. You want your store to be as up to date as possible for customers while being accurate for you and your record-keeping. This how-to guide will discuss how to edit individual items and bulk items.
How To Edit A Product
Go to Products
Click on View
Use the search box to find a product or scroll to find it in the list
Click the products name to edit it or use the Action icon and select Edit
Bulk Editing Products In The Control Panel
These are the product details that can be edited in the control panel:
Product Name
Brand
Categories
SKU
UPC/EAN
Default Price
Sale Price
Track Inventory (No tracking, Product level, or Variant level)
Stock Level
Visible (on/off)
Featured (on/off)
Free Shipping (on/off)
If your product has a variant these are the details that can be edited:
SKU
UPC/EAN
Default Price
Sale Price
Stock Level
For products that have many bulk items, you will want to use the Bulk Edit. To find the Bulk Edit option
Go to Products
Click on View
Select the items you would like to edit
From the options drop-down menu click Bulk Edit
Click Confirm
Your editable items will be listed like this:
If you would like to view items with variants click the blue “+” icon.
To edit a cell simply click on it.
For variant details that are editable (like price and stock) but have not been defined, those cells will appear grayed out.
If not defined, the variant price will inherit the price of the base product and stock defaults to 0.
Some variant details (like category and brand) are not editable at the variant level, so they also appear grayed out.
You can also click and drag on the small square icon in the lower-left corner of the field to make changes in bulk to specific product variations. This is useful when you want to add sale prices to only specific products or product variants.
To undo any changes click Discard.
If you would like to commit to the changes click Save.
Contact Us
Now that you’re an expert on how to edit your products you can leave the marketing-related e-commerce factors to us. Contact us online or by phone. The number for the Tampa location is 813-556-7990 and the number for the Las Vegas location is 702-515-2057.