From Marketing to Fraud Prevention, Here Are 10 Crucial Apps That Your BigCommerce Website Needs
One of the main keys that helped BigCommerce quickly become a successful and popular ecommerce platform, even against giants such as Shopify and Magento, is their standard list of readily-available features and functions. This is excellent for the self-starter who wants to hit the ground running with their brand new ecommerce website. On the other hand, there’s only so much that can be done with the stock features.
Like Shopify, BigCommerce also has its own app and add-on marketplace to expand upon the already-useful stock features. The BigCommerce Apps Marketplace allows store owners to fully customize most every aspect of their websites; from analytics to marketing, B2B to rewards programs, inventory management and shipping, security and fraud protection and more. There are over 800 apps currently available in the BigCommerce Apps Marketplace and while each one can provide your store with increased functionality, we’ve found 10 of the most important and useful apps that every BigCommerce web store could use going into 2020–including, your own website.
#1: Sellbrite (Multi-Channel Selling)
Third-party selling allows for companies both big and small to expand their customer bases while piggybacking on the brand recognition of these super retailers. In turn, these third-party super retailers benefit from additional product being showcased on their respective websites without having to physically store them on their own locations. For online businesses looking to either venture into the world of third-party marketplaces or for companies wishing to maximize the productiveness of their third-party efforts, Sellbrite is a sales channel provider with a simple and easy-to-use interface that caters to all levels of user experience. Sellbrite connects your BigCommerce product catalog with third-party sellers and can bulk upload your entire inventory to such marketplaces as eBay and Amazon in mere seconds. Sellbrite gives you the ability to monitor, revise, and resist your products from a single location, as well as the dexterity to open multiple sales channel accounts under a single master account. Customize and create product rules and variations, synchronize your entire inventory based on user-set rules, and expand your sales potential with Sellbrite Multi-Channel eCommerce Software.
Click here to learn more about Sellbrite.
#2: Yotpo (Product Reviews)
User-generated content, or UGC, encompasses images, videos, blogs, or written content created by users of an online system that is then publicly shared with other users. For ecommerce, UGC is extremely valuable as it allows for shoppers to interact and share information with other online shoppers as well as the retailer. Yotpo takes user-generated content such as product reviews and uses it to drive traffic which, in turn, increases conversion rates and boost sales. Placement of Yotpo’s customizable widgets onto your BigCommerce store’s product pages can increase conversion rates up to 120%. It is a mobile-friendly interface, which allows it to reach the increasing base of mobile web shoppers through tablets and smartphones. Additional features include social curation and social media integration, allowance of user-generated photo posting, coupons, SEO aids such as Rich Snippets and Google Seller Ratings, and more.
Click here to learn more about Yotpo.
#3: MailChimp (EMail Marketing)
Your store may offer the absolute best deals and lowest unbeatable prices on popular items or be the last holdout on hard-to-find, last-chance products. However, without proper marketing, your website has very little chance of being discovered by the millions upon millions of potential customers. Like any company, marketing and advertising is important in getting your name out to the public and announcing your presence to the masses. With online marketing, there are options in paid search and social media but the oldest and most effective is direct EMail. MailChimp is one such EMail marketing provider that seamlessly integrates with your BigCommerce store. With MailChimp, you can create focused, targeted campaigns to advertise sales promotions, featured products, and recommended upsells to a list of registered subscribers. MailChimp’s detailed ROI reports can help determine which sales methods are effective and which aren’t.
Click here to learn more about MailChimp.
#4: ShipStation (Shipping & Fulfillment)
ShipStation takes the hassle out of shipping and fulfillment by allowing mass processing and printing of shipping labels in a single batch, eliminating the need for manual entry. Plus, for stores who also sell on third-party sites, ShipStation lets you add as many shipping channels as necessary into a single account. Whether you sell on Amazon, Easy, eBay, or other third-party marketplaces, ShipStation can synchronize all of the orders and shipping data according to each marketplace’s set rules and shipping guidelines. ShipStation supports USPS Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, DHL, Canada Post, and other major parcel services. ShipStation can also retrieve real-time shipping rates to help you find the best prices from each carrier. Because it is cloud-based software, no physical software is needed to install and ShipStation works on both Windows PC and Mac OS operating system platforms. Log onto your account through any web browser and start shipping today.
Click here to learn more about ShipStation.
#5: ShipperHQ (Live Shipping Rate Calculator)
For additional shipping and logistics control, ShipperHQ provides online businesses with the ability to fully control and customize their shipping rates, preferred carriers, shipping methods, and unique shipping rules based on your own rate structure. ShipperHQ grants access to in-depth configurable features such as fully-customizable rate management, multiple carrier support, enterprise-level logistics, LTL freight, multi-origin and dropshipping, and accurate transit and delivery date estimation to let customers know when to expect their packages to arrive. ShipperHQ is the industry’s most sophisticated shipping rate calculator and rules engine. Pricing packages are available for all levels of business performance, from low-level beginners to professional enterprise-level corporations.
Click here to learn more about ShipperHQ.
#6: Privy (Customer Retention/Conversion Optimization)
You put a lot of hard work into your ecommerce business and website. It would be nice if people actually paid attention. Unfortunately, not everyone who finds your site is going to be convinced to stay. This is what’s known as the bounce rate. Bounce rate represents the percentage of your website’s visitors who enter, do nothing, and then quickly leave without any further interaction. Yes, it’s discouraging when a portion of your potential audience/customer base doesn’t have the attention span to appreciate your business and branding but it’s something that happens with every ecommerce website in every field. The average bounce rate in all of ecommerce is a staggering 45.68%. Several factors play into this, ranging from design to user experience to basic price shopping. As much as you’d like, you can’t change everyone’s minds. But, what you CAN do is try and cut down the bounce rate by engaging with your website visitors before they have the chance to leave. We’re not talking about browbeating them into staying and shopping, but gentle reminders and incentives to keep browsing your site with the ultimate goal of turning a conversion. Privy can reduce your bounce rate by monitoring certain on-page behaviors such as cart abandonment and responding with automated popups and announcements. Create special offers and unique coupon codes; send EMail newsletters and cart recovery messages; direct your customers to featured products; run targeted ads and sales; and boost conversions by personalizing the user experience. Privy generated $2.5 billion in revenue for merchants in 2019 and drove over 3 million checkouts every month. Plans start at the basic free service and move forward to more advanced paid versions.
Click here to learn more about Privy.
#7: Google Ads & Shopping (Google Shopping Integration)
Google is the world’s most popular and widely used search engine. As such, most ecommerce sites, SEO, and marketing rules all revolve around and depend on the Google algorithm. Google Ads and Google Shopping are some of the easiest and most effective ways to boost sales and conversions, target specific customers, and get your business and branding out to the public. The Google Ads & Shopping app for BigCommerce uses Clever Ecommerce to create and optimize Google Ads, upload your inventory onto the Google Shopping marketplace and create specialized Google Shopping campaigns for targeted customer response. Google Ads & Shopping is an excellent way to maximize your marketing efforts while also competing against the larger companies.
Click here to learn more about Google Ads & Shopping.
#8: Signifyd (Fraud Prevention)
All businesses—both traditional retail locations and Internet-based storefronts—are faced with the threat of monetary loss. Whether it be through chargebacks, mistaken credit card declines, fraudulent orders, and/or fraud investigation; every business must deal with transactional anomalies and discretions regardless of industry or field. Rather than manually tend to every single order in search of suspicious activity, Signifyd automates your BigCommerce store’s back office administration area and filters potential problem transactions away from the legitimate ones. Signifyd’s advanced programming allows for it to easily detect and flag possible threats before they have a chance to process, drastically reducing the risk of lost revenue and goods while increasing payment and product shipping efficiency.
Click here to learn more about Signifyd.
#9: Smile.io (Customer Rewards)
Like the previously mentioned Privy, Smile.io is used to help with customer retention and conversion optimization, but Smile.io puts emphasis on customer loyalty rewards programs for your frequent shoppers. Entice new customers and reward longtime shoppers with Smile.io’s loyalty points program. Using gamification to engage visitors, Smile.io gives your users points for performing actions like creating a customer account, placing an order, or sharing on social media. These points can be redeemed for coupon codes, free gifts at checkout, and other goodies to incentivize customers to interact with your site. Smile.io’s referral program creates social proof with word-of-mouth marketing and friend referrals. Performance can be tracked with in-app analytics. The VIP program gives your best customers added perks and you can entice your customers to progress through advanced VIP tiers. Plus, Smile.io has 1-click app integrations to the top marketing tools already in your employ.
Click here to learn more about Smile.io.
#10: MiniBC (Recurring Payments and Credit Card Vaulting)
For regular retail shoppers, online retailers choose not to store their customer’s payment information as means to ensure total security and to eliminate the possibility of identity theft through their services. Business-to-business shoppers (B2B) are a different type of customer. They tend to purchase more frequently, in larger quantities, on a consistent schedule. In this case, it’s for the benefit of both the supplier and the subscription-based B2B client that this process is streamlined through recurring payments and credit card vaulting. MiniBC offers automated recurring payments and credit card vaulting for B2B purposes, but executes without directing customers away from your BigCommerce store. Vaulting and billing is fully-PCI compliant, easily integrates with BigCommerce, and supports popular payment gates such as Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, Authorize.net, eWay, and Cybersource.
Click here to learn more about MiniIBC.
Remember: this is YOUR website. How it functions is entirely up to you and the lengths you are willing to go in order to accomplish your goals. At Diztinct, we feel that these 10 popular apps are the most effective enhancements your online retail site could use. Each company represented here has a proven track record of achievements and performance. If you have prior history with a competitor’s software and you feel that it best addresses your business demands and specifications, by all means, continue using it. If you are unsure of which service provider offers the most appropriate package to accommodate your needs, you can explore the BigCommerce Apps Marketplace, communicate with other BigCommerce users in the BigCommerce Community Forum, research your options online through articles and independent blog posts, or consult an official BigCommerce design partner such as Diztinct.
Diztinct is a design partner for both BigCommerce and Shopify. We offer design, development, and marketing services for online merchants of all sizes. We would be happy to help you with any and all of your BigCommerce or Shopify needs. Contact us today.