How to Create a BigCommerce API Access Token

April 18, 2023/in BigCommerce, eCommerce, Small Business /by Kevin Richards

Create an API access

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.

Thank you!

Redesign & Platform Migration with Ultra-White

March 30, 2023/in BigCommerce, Design, Small Business /by Kevin Richards

How can a website can be transformed from outdated to modern and mobile-friendly?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.

View the PDF One-Sheet

Work with us

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.

How to Choose the Best eCommerce Platform 2023

December 14, 2022/in BigCommerce, Design, eCommerce, Mobile Web Design, SEO, Small Business /by Kevin Richards

Social Media Marketing & eCommerce in 2022: What to Expect

December 13, 2021/in eCommerce, Marketing, Small Business /by Kevin Richards

We’ve seen social media change the way we go about marketing and advertising our businesses to the world. Social media is an incredible avenue to maintain top of mind awareness with your shoppers.

Influencer Marketing will Evolve

Influencer Marketing has taken the internet by storm. While it was once a trend, it’s more common than ever before. Influencers are typically experts on the platforms you see them on, they already have an engaged audience, they know what kind of content their audience is interested in, and they know that they can influence their audience with the information they put out.

Many micro-influencers have a relationship with their audience that mimics the “regular guy/gal” brand archetype, making them more relatable and leading their audience to trust their opinions and recommendations. This is a great way for a business to leverage brand awareness and grow their audience even more.

Short-form Video Content will Continue to Rise

Many of us heard of Tik Tok at the start of the global pandemic and vowed to ourselves that we would never download it. As we’re over a year into the global pandemic, many of us can’t stand by that statement anymore. We’ve been consumed by the hilarious, relatable, and educational videos that are widely spread across the internet.

Short-form video content takes less time and space to create and it also falls in line with the current fast paced attention spans of online audiences. Long-form videos can offer much depth about a product, brand, or service to your audience but ask yourself….who has time to watch one five-minute video when they could watch 15 short videos in the same time and take in MUCH more?

Mobile Optimization will be EVEN MORE Critical

Consumers spend more and more time on mobile devices every day. As buying power continues to grow amongst Millennials and Gen Z audiences, mobile friendly websites will generate more revenue than slower, non-optimized online stores.

Mobile optimization not only encompasses your website, but also things like email marketing, for example. Consider ways that you can deliver a mobile email experience to subscribers.

Social Responsibility will be Prioritized

We are all aware of the global pandemic that started in 2020. This along with other world events, caused social responsibility, ethics, and transparency to matter much to consumers more now than ever before. Consumers care about brands that care about them, their employees, and shared causes.

You may see that some businesses have already begun to shift their social media marketing strategies to focus more on inclusive initiatives, promotions and offerings all while highlighting causes or missions they support.

It’s all About the SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to how discoverable your website and content is. SEO is not new in the slightest, but you can expect to see SEO be ingrained within much, if not all of your marketing tactics and strategies.

Virtual Events are Here to Stay

We’ve had the entire year of 2021 to work through the kinks of what business will look like in 2022. As we saw many virtual events in 2020 and 2021, 2022 will be more of a hybrid approach. Expect to see businesses using more physical opportunities for their audience in 2022. Although there may be less virtual events, that DOES NOT mean that virtual events are null and void.

Social Media Marketing is (if not already) going to be HUGE for your business in 2022. Get ahead while you can and schedule your FREE consultation with us, NOW!

2021 Holiday Checklist

December 6, 2021/in Design, eCommerce, Marketing, Mobile Web Design, Small Business /by Kevin Richards

Who doesn’t want a successful, stress-free holiday season? You, us and shoppers alike!

To set yourself up for the best holiday season yet to come, we’ve put together a checklist so that you can be on top of all things business and eCommerce this holiday season.

Monitor your Online Tactics & Strategies

Continuously monitor your Website, Advertisements, Social Media profiles, SEO, Marketing Promotions, and Sales to make adjustments as they may be needed.

Update and Test NOW

If your website needs fixes, improvements and/or updates, the time to make those changes was yesterday. Wait no longer because the holiday rush is already upon us. This includes making changes to design, too to get visitors in the holiday spirit!

Your website will see a significant increase in traffic in the next few weeks, so your website needs to be able to support that. Tell us…would you wait for more than 8 seconds for a website to load? Images can slow your website down quite a bit, so you want to make sure they’re all optimized to yield the fastest loading time. Don’t delay Santa’s shopping by making him wait for slow images to load on your website.

You should be testing things like: the checkout process, shipping calculators, mobile displays, site navigation, all payment methods, coupon and discount codes, any CTA’s, and all outbound and internal links.

Create Marketing Campaigns

Consider promotions like free shipping, seasonal add-ons, free gifts with a certain purchase, or discounts on orders over a certain amount as part of your Holiday Marketing Campaign. Incentivize early shopping as much as you can in your marketing collateral.

Know your Top Sellers

You should have a good idea about which products are most popular and sell out quickly. Use this information to ensure your inventory is what it needs to be for all the goods to be purchased. Furthermore, think about making these top sellers a priority in your holiday marketing and promotions.

Consider adding gift cards as an option for buyers! Also, use your top selling insight to upsell and bundle products.

Prioritize Security

Cybercriminals create mischievous ways to access customer information and that could lead to a lot of harm for your business. Take the time to assess your website security to ensure the best security for your business and customers alike.

Manage Expectations with Communication

Its cliche, but communication is key. Make things as easy as possible for your customers. Be proactive and advertise shipping dates so they can get their purchases on time, send email reminders as the holidays approach, and speak up about returns. Clear communication will give your customers the confidence they need to become a repeat customer.

TIP: The best place on your website to place important information would be on the homepage, landing pages, product pages, and shopping cart pages.

Provide Tracking Information

As much as your business may be obsessing over delivery dates, your customers are too. Provide your customers with tracking numbers so that they can easily track their orders via UPS, FedEx, etc..

Save yourself the stress and check these items off of your to-list now! If you’re thinking you may need some help with some of these items, go ahead and schedule your FREE consultation with us, today!

How to Sell B2B Ecommerce and Take Your Business to the Next Level

April 21, 2021/in eCommerce, Small Business /by Kevin Richards

What is B2B e-commerce?

B2B e-commerce, short for business-to-business electronic commerce is the sale of goods or services between businesses via an e-commerce portal. Because orders are processed digitally, buying efficiency is improved for wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors and other types of B2B sellers.

Businesses often buy goods in bulk for a lower price and turn around to sell them at retail value. The goods are usually purchased directly from the manufacturer or distributors. This is wholesale, and is a popular form of B2B.

Manufacturers produce finished goods on a large scale by utilizing parts and raw materials in combination with manual labor and machines. In a B2B model, the finished goods are sold to other manufacturers or wholesalers.

A distributor is a person who works closely with manufacturers in an effort to bring visibility to the goods they are producing, with the goal of increasing sales. In an e-commerce model, the logistics of the sale happen online, often through an e-commerce platform. Many manufacturers work with distributors, and taking things digital creates a greater opportunity for growth. Just like other B2B models, distributors are working to shorten the lead time from sale to delivery and create a customer experience that beats customer expectations.

B2B and B2C e-commerce may look the same, but they are quite different. Business buyers and retail consumers have different purchasing needs. Here are some differences:

Buying Impulsively vs. Buying Rationally – B2C buyers will buy on impulse and make one-off purchases, B2B buyers plan for purchases and make recurring purchases
Single Decision Maker vs. Multiple Decision Makers – B2C purchases are decided upon by the buyer, B2B purchases often involve several layers of approval and may involve different departments
Short-term Customer Relationship vs. Long-term Customer Relationship – B2C purchases are often one-off purchases, B2B purchases are based on long-term and on-going relationships

Why should you have a B2B e-commerce website?

You can reduce the overall cost of selling your product to customers, and B2B can even allow you to also move into B2C to sell directly to retail customers.
Your sales will increase tremendously. According to nChannel, B2B eCommerce is predicted to reach $1.8 trillion and account for 17% of all B2B sales in the US by 2023. The industry is twice as big as B2C. And just like B2C, more sales continue to shift from in-person to online.
B2B also increases order values and higher conversion rates. Since they buy in bulk, an average order value of a B2B transaction is around $491, opposed to $147 for B2C. And, conversion rates are higher. B2B websites report average conversion rates at 10%, while B2C experiences are around 3%.
You can grow your customer experience. With an entire catalog of products online, customers have access to more diverse product options than they did before. This also makes it easier to compare and contrast products and provides them access to earlier versions of products to test and trial before purchasing.
Lastly, you have the ability to sell to a lower margin, which allows you to gain smaller clients, and reach more customers.

What to look for in a B2B e-commerce platform

Price lists: Provide “members only” pricing, manage lists of pricing at SKU level, and give wholesale customers a discount when buying in bulk.
Group pricing: Apply discounts only to select groups across categories and certain products.
Manage your customers by location, behavior, etc.
Faceted search: Allows merchants to refine product searches based on multiple attributes like price, color, size and reviews.
Restricting users from being able to access certain content, which will help prevent competitors from seeing the pricing.
Allow customers to quickly reorder when they need to.

B2B e-commerce is still a small part of the overall B2B market but is fast growing. If you don’t set up at B2B website your competitors eventually will. Now is the time to move and be first or early to market.

Ventura Web Design & Marketing has been offering e-commerce and digital marketing services since 1997. Along the way, we have learned a thing or two about how to sell items online. Our dedicated design, development and marketing team would love to work with you.

Contact us online or by phone to find out how your business can take advantage of B2B e-commerce. The phone number for our Tampa office is (813) 556-7990 and the number for the Las Vegas office is (702) 515-2057.