As eCommerce activity continues to surge, many businesses are looking for new ways to market to their customers, improve the overall shopping experience, and maintain a reliable order fulfillment process. How can your business do this? It’s simple — integration for BigCommerce puts the tools you need right at your fingertips.
What is BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is an online eCommerce platform that allows businesses to properly build and customize their stores. The platform offers thousands of tools to get your business set up and running seamlessly. Allowing you to eliminate the need to manage your business manually. From sales strategies to shipping and fulfillment software, BigCommerce gives an online store the ability to grow and scale.
Why consider using an integration for BigCommerce?
Why is it important for a business to integrate with BigCommerce? The short answer is that it allows merchants to build and innovate their online business. However, there’s so much more to it. With different apps and integrations available, businesses are now able to customize their online shopping experience to their liking based on their consumers’ habits.
With an enormous number of integrations available, you might ask yourself which one is best for your online store. A reliable way to start is to learn about the different categories of integration. From there, you can focus on the best app to help boost your sales.
Types of integrations
- Marketing
- Analytics
- Point-of-sale (POS)
- Checkout
- Shipping & fulfillment
Within each type of integration, there are subcategories that help a business personalize its online shopping experience. For example, ShipStream, which we here at Red Stag Fulfillment use in our warehouse, allows a business to manage their inventory, update shipping preferences, and even connect with some shipping carriers, like FedEx and UPS. Look for options that solve the challenges you face.
Marketing
Marketing integrations can be essential for an online business to grow. Whether your business needs additional marketing efforts pushed toward their products or needs a way to incentivize their existing customers to shop, marketing integration tools are an efficient way for a business to manage and market their business . For example, Google Shopping by Sales & Orders allows your business to generate and send product feeds to your core marketing channels.
Yotpo Loyalty and Referrals allow businesses to build tailored, customer-centric loyalty, and referral programs that can acquire new customers and also entice existing customers to come back to shop. With VIP tier options, you can offer exclusive promotions that can drive customer engagement and increase sales. And considering that repeat customers on average spend 33% more than new customers, customer loyalty programs can make a huge difference to your eCommerce company’s bottom line.
Analytics
For a business to properly understand the current state of their company, analytic integration is needed. Analytic integration is a method that brings information from different sources, combines it, and translates it to key performance indicators (KPIs). With BigCommerce, businesses have the ability to manage their business performance by using plug-ins to analyze and grow their sales. For example, the PayHelm Accounting & Reporting platform allows your business to analyze sales, manage shipping costs, and much more.
Point-of-Sale (POS)
POS integration is a plug-in that helps any business process and track orders. With this system, businesses can sell their products in more places. You can also use POS systems to manage inventory and reduce the risk of overselling. Plus, you can add multi-channel promotions and leverage customer data to further improve the customer experience. By using point-of-sales integrations, businesses are able to provide a seamless experience for both the store and the customer.
Checkout
The checkout process is vital for any online business. Checkout integrations allow the customer to stay on-site when purchasing a product rather than be redirected to a 3rd-party vendor. For any business, check out plug-ins are crucial to eliminate fraud and validate addresses. These platforms can also be useful for international shipping and fundraising efforts, like rounding up to the nearest dollar. For example, the RoundUp app includes a feature to allow customers to round up to the nearest dollar in checkout to a charity of your choice. With different options, your business is able to find the integration that best suits you.
Shipping & Fulfillment
For many online businesses, the ability to pack, ship, or even store products can be a pain point. With shipping and fulfillment integrations available, stores are able to take the back seat and allow these plug-ins to get your product to your customers. As previously mentioned, here at Red Stag Fulfillment, we use an in-house warehouse management system (WMS) called ShipStream. ShipStream gives Red Stag the ability to manage our warehouses and fill orders in a timely and efficient manner. All you have to do is connect to the platform to provide order information, such as shipping methods and deliveries of inbound goods. When using ShipStream, you have the ability to connect to Shopify through a native plug-in and to others, such as Magento, CartRover, and even BigCommerce, through third-party APIs.
Find the best integration for BigCommerce for you
There are different types of integration that BigCommerce offers within their platform, and finding the best customization for your business can be challenging. Figuring out the types of integrations available can help you make the best decision for your online store. Like many decisions you make for your company, researching is the only way to successfully find the best fit for you.
While you research, read our blog to help you find the best eCommerce platform for your online business. And if you are ready to move forward with a 3PL partner that will take the fulfillment burden off your shoulders, contact our expert team today. We’ll ensure you have the best fulfillment integrations in addition to premiere warehousing and shipping services — even if you don’t choose us!
