BigCommerce, renowned for its robust built-in features and extensive BigCommerce apps, provides a solid foundation for online stores. These apps and integrations offer an extra layer of functionality to meet different business needs. However, the abundance of options can make it challenging to identify the most suitable ones. Don't worry, though. We've got your back! This article contains information related to:
- Apps for marketing;
- Apps for managing inventory;
- Apps for customer service;
- Apps for shipping;
- Apps for store design;
- Apps for reviews;
- Success stories from BigCommerce app users.
So, buckle up and get ready to discover the game-changing BigCommerce apps that will help you rock your sales!
BigCommerce Apps for Marketing
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of generating traffic and conversion. Here are some of the best BigCommerce applications to elevate your marketing efforts.
1. Mailchimp
Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to engage your audience and nurture customer relationships. And when it comes to email marketing, Mailchimp is a trusted and feature-rich platform. With Mailchimp, you can easily create and automate email campaigns designed to drive results. The app provides a comprehensive suite of features, including automated email workflows, personalized content, and in-depth analytics, allowing you to tailor your messages to specific customer segments.
For example, you can set up abandoned cart reminders to recover lost sales or send welcome emails to new subscribers, introducing them to your brand and products. Mailchimp empowers you to connect with your audience at every touchpoint, fostering loyalty and boosting conversions.
What's even better for BigCommerce users is that Mailchimp integrates seamlessly and offers a free plan. This means you can harness the power of email marketing without incurring additional costs, making it a budget-friendly option for businesses of all sizes.
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2. Klaviyo
While email marketing platforms like Mailchimp are excellent for general email campaigns and automation, Klaviyo takes a more data-centric approach. It focuses on leveraging customer data to create highly personalized experiences that drive deeper engagement and higher conversions.
With Klaviyo, you can go beyond basic segmentation and create dynamic customer segments based on a wide range of data points, including purchase history, browsing behavior, email engagement, and more. Imagine sending tailored product recommendations, exclusive offers, or timely reminders based on each customer's unique interactions with your store. This level of personalization helps you maximize sales per customer and fosters stronger customer relationships.
Klaviyo also goes beyond email, offering features like SMS marketing and advanced analytics to help you optimize your strategy across multiple channels. While Mailchimp offers a broader range of marketing tools, Klaviyo's focus on data-driven personalization makes it a powerful choice for eCommerce businesses looking to maximize customer lifetime value.
And to make it accessible to all businesses, Klaviyo offers a free plan for BigCommerce users with up to 250 contacts. This allows smaller companies to start harnessing the power of personalized marketing without any initial investment.
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BigCommerce Apps for Inventory Management
Beyond marketing, efficient inventory management is crucial for any successful eCommerce business. Keeping track of stock levels, streamlining order fulfillment, and ensuring accurate inventory data across multiple channels can be a complex task.
Luckily, BigCommerce offers apps designed to simplify and automate these processes. Let's explore two powerful options:
3. Brightpearl
While BigCommerce marketing apps like Mailchimp and Klaviyo focus on customer engagement and driving sales, Brightpearl tackles the operational side of your eCommerce business. It's a comprehensive platform that seamlessly connects all the moving pieces of your online store, from inventory management and order fulfillment to accounting and reporting.
Brightpearl excels at managing inventory, sales, and fulfillment, ensuring your operations run smoothly, especially as your business scales. One of Brightpearl's standout features is its multi-channel management capability. This is particularly valuable for businesses operating multiple BigCommerce stores or selling across different marketplaces. With Brightpearl, you can integrate and manage all your sales channels from a single platform, saving you time and reducing the risk of errors.
Imagine generating consolidated sales reports, processing orders, and tracking inventory across all your stores without having to switch between different systems. Brightpearl streamlines your operations, freeing you up to focus on growth and strategy.
Brightpearl's app for BigCommerce uses custom pricing, so to get a quote tailored to your specific needs, you'll need to contact the company directly.
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4. Inventory Source
If your business model relies heavily on dropshipping, Inventory Source is a game-changer. While Brightpearl offers a comprehensive suite of features for managing various aspects of your business, Inventory Source focuses specifically on automating and simplifying dropshipping operations.
This app automates crucial tasks like product uploads, inventory syncing, and order routing. Imagine connecting to hundreds of dropshipping suppliers and seamlessly adding their products to your BigCommerce store. Inventory Source does the heavy lifting, ensuring your product information, pricing, and inventory levels are always up-to-date, reducing manual errors and saving you countless hours.
Inventory Source also offers advanced features like customizable product listings, flexible pricing strategies, and precise SKU filtering to help you curate and manage your product catalog effectively. With its automated dropshipping capabilities and user-friendly interface, Inventory Source is a valuable tool for BigCommerce merchants looking to scale their dropshipping businesses efficiently.
The app offers a variety of pricing tiers to suit different needs, from a free plan to paid plans starting at $99 per month. With a stellar user rating of 5 out of 5 stars, Inventory Source is highly regarded by BigCommerce store owners who rely on dropshipping.
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BigCommerce Apps for Customer Service
Exceptional customer service is more than just resolving issues; it's about building relationships and creating a positive experience that fosters loyalty. In the world of eCommerce, where competition is fierce, providing top-notch customer support can be a key differentiator. Fortunately, BigCommerce offers apps that can supercharge your customer service efforts.
5. LiveChat
First up, we've got LiveChat – the powerhouse of real-time customer engagement! This nifty tool seamlessly integrates with BigCommerce and takes your customer support to a whole new level.
LiveChat enables users to provide personalized recommendations and discounts to boost conversion rates. The app features automated messaging based on user behavior, increasing engagement.
LiveChat also employs AI-powered tools to summarize chat discussions and streamline communication. This all-embracing solution enhances both customer support and sales efforts. Plus, with plans starting at just $24 a month and a 14-day free trial, what's not to love?
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6. Smile.io
While providing excellent customer service through live chat is essential, building long-term loyalty is equally important. That's where Smile.io comes in. Unlike LiveChat's focus on real-time engagement, Smile.io helps you create and manage rewarding loyalty programs that incentivize repeat purchases, referrals, and positive engagement with your brand.
With Smile.io, you can design custom loyalty programs tailored to your business goals. Track customer points, offer rewards for referrals, or create exclusive VIP tiers with special perks. The platform's user-friendly interface makes it easy to set up and manage your programs, and you can even brand them with your logo, graphics, and custom content for a consistent experience.
Smile.io's features not only encourage repeat purchases but also turn your satisfied customers into brand advocates. By offering rewards for referrals and social shares, you can tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing and expand your reach organically.
Smile.io offers a range of paid plans to suit different business needs, starting from $49/month for the Starter plan and scaling up to $999/month for the Plus plan, with a Growth plan in between at $199/month.
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BigCommerce Apps for Shipping
In the world of eCommerce, shipping isn't just about getting products from point A to point B: it's a crucial part of the customer experience that can significantly impact satisfaction, loyalty, and your bottom line.
If you want to enhance your shipping operation, here are the top BigCommerce shipping apps for your reference:
7. Readycloud CRM
Besides the best BigCommerce apps for customer service, ReadyCloud CRM takes a holistic approach to enhancing customer relationships. It offers a comprehensive suite of features, but its core strengths lie in simplifying shipping and returns.
ReadyCloud CRM helps you optimize shipping costs by offering discounts on Priority Mail and integrating seamlessly with major carriers like UPS and USPS. You can even pre-print return labels to include in shipments or generate them on demand, making returns hassle-free for your customers. And because it integrates with popular marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, ReadyCloud CRM keeps all your shipping operations centralized, no matter where you sell.
To experience the benefits firsthand, ReadyCloud CRM offers a 14-day free trial for BigCommerce users. After the trial, the service is available for a reasonable monthly fee of $24.
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8. ShipperHQ
While ReadyCloud CRM excels at streamlining shipping and returns, ShipperHQ takes a more customizable approach, focusing on giving you granular control over your shipping options and strategies. This powerful BigCommerce shipping app helps you create a more transparent and flexible shipping experience for your customers, ultimately increasing average order value and customer satisfaction.
With ShipperHQ, you can tailor shipping rates, rules, promotions, and configurations to match your specific business needs. You will also be able to offer real-time carrier quotes, present accurate delivery date and time estimates, and set up customized shipping rules based on product dimensions, weight, destination, and more. ShipperHQ puts you in the driver's seat, enabling you to optimize costs, improve delivery accuracy, and create a more satisfying checkout experience for your customers.
ShipperHQ's robust platform integrates with over 50 carriers and boasts 16 years of global shipping expertise. This means you get reliability, scalability, and expert support, making it an ideal solution for businesses with complex shipping requirements. You can try ShipperHQ for 15 days at no cost, after which the monthly subscription fee is $75.
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BigCommerce Apps for Store Design
Creating a visually appealing and user-friendly online store is crucial for attracting customers and driving sales. While BigCommerce offers a solid foundation for design, apps can take your storefront to the next level.
In the following lines, we will review two popular BigCommerce apps that can help you create a stunning and effective eCommerce website:
9. Shogun Page Builder
Shogun Page Builder is a powerful tool that empowers BigCommerce store owners to design engaging and professional-looking landing pages, product pages, and even entire websites – all without writing a single line of code. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes building pages a breeze. Simply select the elements you need (text, images, videos, buttons, etc.) and arrange them to create your ideal layout.
But Shogun Page Builder goes beyond just basic design. It offers advanced features that can significantly boost your conversion rates. One of its most valuable tools is the A/B testing functionality for landing pages. By creating two versions of a page and tracking how users interact with each, you can identify which design elements drive the most clicks, engagement, and ultimately, sales. This data-driven approach to optimization helps you refine your pages for maximum impact.
To give you a taste of its power, Shogun Page Builder offers a free 10-day trial. Afterward, you can continue using the service for a monthly fee of $39.
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10. Inkybay
On the flip side, Inkybay is a BigCommerce app that tackles a specific need: product customization. This innovative app brings a new level of engagement to your BigCommerce store by enabling customers to personalize products with their designs, text, and images.
Inkybay BigCommerce app provides a user-friendly design interface that empowers customers to unleash their creativity and create truly unique items. This not only enhances the customer experience but also opens up new revenue streams by offering personalized goods.
From a business perspective, Inkybay simplifies the production process. Its print-ready vector output ensures that designs are production-ready, reducing errors and saving time. The app's powerful admin panel gives you full control over pricing, clipart, templates, fonts, and product options. You can even set up different printing methods (screen printing, DTG, sublimation, embroidery) to accommodate diverse customization requests.
Inkybay offers a free 7-day trial for BigCommerce users. After the trial, the app is available for $19.99 per month.
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BigCommerce Apps for Reviews
In the competitive world of eCommerce, customer reviews can provide potential buyers with valuable insights into the experiences of others. By showcasing positive feedback and managing reviews effectively, you can build trust and credibility, ultimately boosting sales.
What apps BigCommerce can help you utilize this digital word-of-mouth? Let's explore two options below:
11. Fera Reviews
Fera Reviews is a versatile BigCommerce app designed to elevate how you display customer feedback in your online store. It transforms ordinary reviews into compelling testimonials with eye-catching widgets that can be easily embedded throughout your site.
But it doesn't just end there; Fera Reviews will streamline your entire process of collecting and managing feedback. You can import existing reviews from platforms like Google My Business and Facebook, giving potential customers a comprehensive view of your brand's reputation. Fera also automates the process of requesting reviews from customers after they make a purchase, ensuring you're consistently gathering fresh testimonials.
And to cater to different preferences, Fera supports various review formats, including product-specific reviews, overall store ratings, and even photo and video testimonials. These diverse formats add authenticity and visual appeal, making your reviews more engaging and persuasive.
The best part? You can start harnessing this review revolution with Fera's powerful tools right away. There's no upfront cost to get started, and for just $29 a month, you'll unlock all the features of this app.
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12. Trustpilot
While Fera focuses on showcasing reviews within your BigCommerce store, Trustpilot takes a broader approach. It's a well-established review platform that helps businesses collect and manage reviews across multiple channels, building a strong online reputation.
Trustpilot's seamless BigCommerce integration makes it easy to encourage customers to leave reviews after they've made a purchase. By automating review invitations and sending follow-up reminders, you can significantly increase the number of reviews you collect. These reviews are displayed on your Trustpilot profile, which can be linked to your BigCommerce store, providing potential customers with valuable social proof before they even visit your site.
One of the biggest advantages of using Trustpilot is its brand recognition and trustworthiness. Customers are more likely to trust reviews on a dedicated platform like Trustpilot, knowing that they are verified and unbiased. Trustpilot reviews can also boost your visibility in search results, as they contribute to Google Seller Ratings, which can appear in your Google Ads.
And here's a bonus: the Trustpilot app for BigCommerce is completely free to use!
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Success Stories of Businesses using BigCommerce Apps
BigCommerce and its suite of apps have been instrumental in the growth and success of many businesses. A prime example is AS Colour, founded in 2005 by Lawrence Railton. This company has leveraged BigCommerce's platform to expand its high-quality clothing blank business globally. Operating five warehouses across four countries, AS Colour utilizes apps like Shogun for creating beautiful content pages and ShipperHQ for managing international shipping logistics.
Another success story is Just Sunnies, an eyewear seller that began in 2007. They've used BigCommerce to enhance its omnichannel presence. With a vast catalog of over 13,000 sunglasses from more than 130 brands, Just Sunnies employs apps like Klaviyo to personalize customer communications. This tool allows them to send tailored emails with order updates, product recommendations, and targeted marketing messages.
These examples above show how BigCommerce apps help businesses grow, serve customers better, and increase sales. Companies can use these tools to manage more extensive operations and create a smoother customer shopping experience.
Best BigCommerce Apps: FAQs
What are the must-have apps for new BigCommerce stores?
While the specific apps you'll need may depend on your business's unique requirements, here are some essential apps we recommend starting with:
- A marketing tool like Mailchimp or Klaviyo
- A customer service app such as LiveChat
- A shipping management app like Readycloud CRM
- A review management app like Trustpilot
- A store design app like Shogun Page Builder
How do I choose the right apps for my BigCommerce store?
To select the best apps for your Bigcommerce store, follow these key steps:
- Identify your specific business needs;
- Read user reviews and ratings;
- Consider your budget and the app's pricing;
- Check for compatibility with other apps you're using;
- Take advantage of free trials when available;
- Assess the app's support and documentation.
Can I use multiple apps for the same function?
While it's possible to use multiple apps for the same function, it's generally not recommended. Using multiple apps for the same purpose can lead to conflicts, data inconsistencies, and increased complexity. It's usually better to choose one comprehensive app that meets most of your needs for a particular function. If you do decide to use multiple apps, ensure they integrate well with each other and don't cause performance issues for your store.
Final Words
With BigCommerce apps, you can stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing eCommerce industry. They provide the agility and efficiency you need to thrive in this fast-paced world. After all, finding the apps that work for you is more important than picking the most popular ones. Take your time, experiment, and don't be afraid to switch things up as you grow.
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