BigCommerce Development
Playceholdr provides BigCommerce development for brands, retailers, distributors and B2B businesses across New Zealand and Australia.
We work on BigCommerce stores where the requirements go beyond installing a theme. Custom storefronts, complex catalogues, APIs, ERP and third-party integrations, B2B requirements and the technical architecture behind businesses that need ecommerce to connect properly with the rest of their operation.
BigCommerce is a flexible platform. The important part is using that flexibility without making the store unnecessarily difficult to operate.
BigCommerce developmentBigCommerce development built around the business
The difficult part of an ecommerce build is rarely creating another product page.
Products may come from an ERP. Different customers may see different pricing. Inventory could be spread across warehouses. Orders may need to move into fulfilment or accounting systems automatically. A B2B customer might need an entirely different experience from someone buying retail.
We start by understanding those requirements before deciding how the BigCommerce implementation should work.
That means looking at the catalogue, customer types, pricing, fulfilment, existing systems, internal processes and the people who will actually manage the store once it launches.
From there, we can work out what BigCommerce already handles well, what should be configured differently and where custom development or integration genuinely adds value.
The objective is not to make the solution more technical than it needs to be. It is to make the complicated parts of the business easier to operate.
Complexity usually sits behind the storefront.
Custom BigCommerce storefront development
A BigCommerce storefront should not have to look or behave like every other store on the platform.
We develop storefronts around the customer experience, brand and functional requirements of the business while keeping the underlying implementation maintainable.
Depending on the project, that might involve extending an existing storefront, developing custom themes and components, or using a more composable approach where the requirements justify it.
BigCommerce supports several storefront approaches, including Stencil themes, Catalyst and headless implementations using its APIs. The right approach depends on how much flexibility the business genuinely needs, rather than which architecture sounds most sophisticated.
The same principle applies to front-end functionality.
If something can be achieved cleanly using the platform, we use the platform. If the customer experience or business logic requires something more specific, we build around it.
Stencil themes
Custom theme development on the platform’s established front end, where the storefront requirements are well served by BigCommerce’s own templating.
Catalyst
A more modern component-based storefront for businesses that need front-end flexibility without a fully bespoke headless build.
Headless
A separate front end built against the BigCommerce APIs, where the customer experience or wider systems genuinely require it.
APIs, integrations and ecommerce systems
For many of the BigCommerce businesses we work with, the storefront is only one part of a much larger system.
Products, customers, pricing, stock and orders may already live across ERP, PIM, accounting, warehouse, fulfilment or CRM platforms.
We design integrations around clear ownership of the data.
Which system creates a product? Which one owns inventory? Where is pricing maintained? When an order is placed, where does it need to go? What happens when one of those systems is temporarily unavailable?
Those questions matter more than simply connecting two APIs.
BigCommerce provides REST and GraphQL APIs for managing storefront and commerce data, which gives us flexibility when connecting the platform to wider business systems.
The aim is a system that is understandable, recoverable and maintainable, rather than a collection of integrations that nobody wants to touch six months later.
Ownership, not connections
Every integration we design starts from the questions above. The map below is how those answers get recorded before any development begins.
BigCommerce for complex catalogues and ecommerce operations
BigCommerce can be particularly useful where catalogue and operational requirements are more involved than a straightforward consumer store.
The technical solution still needs to remain practical for the internal team.
A powerful ecommerce platform loses much of its value if every merchandising, catalogue or content change requires a developer.
We therefore design the implementation around both the customer buying from the store and the people responsible for running it.
BigCommerce B2B development
BigCommerce also has a strong B2B ecosystem for businesses selling to companies, trade customers and distributors.
BigCommerce B2B Edition supports company accounts, user roles, quotes, invoices and other B2B workflows, with APIs available for building custom storefront experiences and integrations around those capabilities.
The important distinction is that B2B functionality should be designed around the way the business already sells, not simply switched on because the platform supports it.
Moving to BigCommerce
Sometimes the project starts with a business already committed to BigCommerce.
Other times the work begins with deciding whether BigCommerce is actually the right platform.
A move from another ecommerce system can involve:
Platform selection should happen before implementation.
BigCommerce experience
Our BigCommerce experience includes work involving complex B2B ecommerce, custom functionality and wider systems integration.
Where the ecommerce operation involves ERP data, complicated pricing, trade customers or catalogue structures that do not fit neatly into a standard storefront, we focus first on understanding how those systems fit together before development begins.
BigCommerce development capabilities
Custom BigCommerce development
Custom functionality and storefront development around the requirements of the business.
BigCommerce storefront development
Custom storefronts using the most appropriate BigCommerce front-end approach for the project.
BigCommerce integrations
Connecting BigCommerce with ERP, PIM, CRM, fulfilment, accounting and other business systems.
BigCommerce API development
Custom applications, middleware and data flows using BigCommerce APIs.
BigCommerce B2B
Company accounts, trade ordering, quoting, pricing and wider B2B functionality.
Complex catalogue development
Product and catalogue structures for businesses with more involved merchandising, pricing or operational requirements.
BigCommerce migrations
Moving products, customers, content and wider ecommerce data into BigCommerce while accounting for integrations and SEO.
Ongoing BigCommerce support
Development, optimisation, integrations and ongoing technical work after launch.
Common questions
What does a BigCommerce developer do?
A BigCommerce developer works on the technical implementation behind a BigCommerce store.
That can include storefront development, custom functionality, APIs, integrations, catalogue architecture, B2B functionality and the wider systems the ecommerce platform needs to connect with.
The work becomes particularly important where the business has requirements that cannot be handled cleanly through standard configuration alone.
Do you work with existing BigCommerce stores?
Yes.
We can work on an existing implementation, take over a store built by another team or develop a new BigCommerce solution from the beginning.
Where we inherit an existing store, the first step is usually understanding the current theme, custom code, apps and integrations before changing anything substantial.
Do you build BigCommerce B2B stores?
Yes.
We work with businesses selling to trade and wholesale customers and can implement B2B requirements on BigCommerce.
For projects where B2B is the main requirement, we normally begin with the account structures, pricing rules, ordering workflows and integrations rather than starting with the storefront.
Can BigCommerce integrate with our ERP?
Usually, yes.
The exact approach depends on the ERP, the available APIs and which information needs to move between the two systems.
We start by defining ownership of products, customers, pricing, inventory and orders before designing the integration.
Shopify or BigCommerce?
It depends on the business.
The right answer comes from catalogue structure, customer types, pricing, B2B requirements, integrations and what the internal team needs to manage.
Because we work across both platforms, we can assess the requirements before recommending one. See also our Shopify development work.
Looking for a BigCommerce development partner?
Get in touchYou might be replacing an existing ecommerce platform, improving a BigCommerce store that has become difficult to maintain, building a complex B2B experience or trying to connect ecommerce properly with the systems behind the business.
We can work from discovery and solution architecture through development, integration and launch, or take on a more focused piece of an existing BigCommerce environment.
The first step is understanding what the platform needs to do for the business.