That distinction matters because plenty of redesigns hurt performance. Merchants change templates, rewrite navigation, swap app behavior, and launch new page layouts all at once. Then sales dip, no one can tell what caused it, and the redesign that was supposed to help becomes a cleanup project.

If your goal is more revenue, the redesign has to be disciplined. Better design can improve conversions, but only when it supports how people actually shop, compare, trust, and buy.

What a conversion-focused redesign actually changes

A cosmetic refresh and a conversion-focused redesign are not the same project. A cosmetic refresh updates fonts, color, imagery, and layout style. That can help if the store looks dated or inconsistent, but visual polish alone rarely fixes a weak add-to-cart rate.

A BigCommerce redesign for conversions starts with buyer behavior. Where are people dropping off? Which pages underperform? Are shoppers confused by category structure? Do product pages bury key information? Is mobile navigation slowing down product discovery? Is the checkout experience creating hesitation before payment?

Those are conversion questions, not design questions. Design is the tool used to answer them.

In practice, the highest-impact redesign work usually touches a few core areas. Site navigation has to reduce decision fatigue. Collection and category pages need to help people sort, filter, and compare without getting lost. Product detail pages need stronger hierarchy so price, benefits, options, shipping expectations, and purchase actions are easy to process. Trust signals need to show up where buying decisions happen, not just in a footer. And mobile has to be treated like the primary shopping environment, because for many merchants it is.

Why some BigCommerce redesigns underperform

Most underperforming redesigns fail for very predictable reasons.

The first is scope overload. Merchants try to solve branding, UX, content, integrations, SEO, merchandising, and checkout flow in one giant launch. That creates too many moving parts. If results improve, it is hard to know why. If results get worse, it is even harder to diagnose.

The second is copying another brand’s design without matching the business model behind it. A high-AOV furniture brand and a fast-turn consumables brand need different paths to purchase. So do DTC and B2B stores. A design that works elsewhere may be completely wrong for your catalog, your buyer, or your operational reality.

The third is treating the homepage as the center of the redesign. Homepages matter, but they are often not the main conversion bottleneck. Many shoppers enter through product pages, category pages, search, email campaigns, or ads. If those pages stay weak, a beautiful homepage will not move revenue very far.

The fourth is failing to respect platform behavior. BigCommerce gives merchants flexibility, but that does not mean every customization is smart. Heavy scripts, awkward app layering, and theme changes that fight native functionality can create performance and maintenance issues that erode the gains you were trying to make.

Where to look first in a BigCommerce redesign for conversions

The most useful redesigns start with evidence. Not vague impressions. Actual points of friction.

Navigation and category structure

If shoppers cannot quickly understand where to go, the store loses momentum early. This is common in stores with growing catalogs, overlapping categories, or legacy menus that were built around internal logic instead of customer intent.

A redesign may need to simplify menu labels, consolidate collections, improve on-site search behavior, or change how filtering works on category pages. For B2B stores, it may also mean making part numbers, bulk ordering cues, or technical specs easier to surface.

Product detail pages

For many stores, the product page is where conversion wins or losses happen. If that page forces shoppers to hunt for information, scroll through clutter, or guess at fulfillment details, hesitation goes up.

A stronger PDP usually has tighter hierarchy, better image sequencing, cleaner option selection, clearer availability messaging, stronger value communication, and trust elements placed near the purchase decision. Reviews, returns, shipping timing, payment options, and product-specific FAQs all matter – but they need the right placement. More content is not always better. Better organized content is.

Mobile buying flow

A desktop mockup can look excellent and still fail where most customers shop. On mobile, every extra tap counts. Sticky add-to-cart behavior, option selectors, image loading, review access, and thumb-friendly navigation all affect conversion.

This is where redesign decisions need restraint. Fancy motion, oversized media, and overbuilt content blocks often create more friction than value on small screens.

Cart and pre-checkout confidence

Not every redesign reaches the cart, but if abandonment is high, it should. Unexpected shipping surprises, weak savings communication, unclear promo code handling, or distracting cart experiences can undermine the rest of the funnel.

Sometimes the issue is not design alone. It may be pricing strategy, shipping thresholds, or offer structure. But the redesign should support those business rules instead of obscuring them.

Design should follow the store’s sales model

This is the part merchants often skip. Conversion design is not universal because buying behavior is not universal.

If you sell low-consideration products with repeat purchase potential, speed matters more than storytelling. If you sell high-consideration items, education and reassurance may matter more than getting people to checkout in two clicks. If you run a B2B catalog, clarity around specs, account access, quote requests, and volume pricing may drive more value than a consumer-style visual overhaul.

That is why a redesign needs business context before it needs visuals. Average order value, traffic mix, repeat customer rate, margin structure, product complexity, and support load all shape what a better conversion path looks like.

A store with strong traffic but poor PDP engagement needs a different redesign than a store with solid PDP views but weak cart conversion. Same platform, different problem.

How to approach redesign without creating avoidable risk

A redesign does not need to be reckless to be effective. In fact, the best projects usually avoid dramatic reinvention.

Start by identifying which templates and journeys actually matter most. For many merchants, that means category pages, PDPs, and mobile navigation before anything else. Then define what success means in measurable terms. Higher conversion rate is one metric, but it may also be higher add-to-cart rate, improved mobile revenue per visitor, lower bounce on key landing pages, or stronger average order value.

From there, prioritize changes that remove friction instead of adding novelty. Cleaner product messaging, better option layouts, smarter content hierarchy, and stronger trust placement often outperform bigger visual swings.

It also helps to reduce project sprawl. When one senior BigCommerce expert owns strategy, implementation, and refinement, the work tends to move faster and with fewer translation errors. That is one reason some merchants choose a specialist model over a layered agency setup. Fewer handoffs usually means clearer decisions.

If you are working on a redesign in stages, that is not a compromise. It is often the smarter path. A phased rollout gives you cleaner feedback and better control over performance.

What to ask before you redesign

Before you approve new comps or theme changes, ask a few hard questions.

• What is the specific conversion problem this redesign is solving?
• Which pages carry the most revenue influence today?
• What has data already told you about friction points?
• Are you changing core buyer journeys, or just updating presentation?
• What happens if performance drops after launch? Do you have a clear way to isolate the cause?

Those questions can save a lot of money. They also keep the project grounded in commercial outcomes rather than subjective preferences.

A redesign should not leave you with a prettier version of the same bottlenecks. It should make the store easier to shop, easier to trust, and easier to buy from.

That takes judgment more than flash. On BigCommerce, the merchants who get the best redesign results are usually the ones who stay focused, respect the platform, and treat conversion as a systems problem – not a mood board exercise.

If your store has outgrown its current layout, that does not automatically mean you need a dramatic rebuild. You may need sharper structure, better merchandising, cleaner product pages, and a more disciplined path to purchase. That is less exciting than a full visual reinvention, but it is often what moves revenue. And revenue is the point.

Ready to redesign your BigCommerce website to increase sales? Working with a trusted partner makes all the difference. I’ve worked with over 700 BigCommerce merchants since 2011 and can help you plan and implement an effective new look for your store. Contact me and let’s talk about your project.

The post BigCommerce Redesign for Conversions That Works appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

That sounds simple, but most conversion issues are not caused by one dramatic mistake. They come from small breakdowns across the storefront – slow category pages, weak product messaging, confusing filters, clumsy mobile layouts, or a checkout flow that introduces doubt at the worst possible moment. The good news is that BigCommerce gives merchants a strong foundation. The challenge is using it with discipline.

How to improve BigCommerce conversion without guessing

The fastest way to waste time is to chase random best practices. A high-converting apparel store does not behave like a B2B parts catalog. A high-AOV brand may need more education before purchase, while a replenishment brand may need speed above all else. Conversion work only pays off when it matches how your customers actually buy.

Start by looking at where buyers stall. If product page traffic is healthy but add-to-cart is weak, your issue is usually offer clarity, product trust, or merchandising. If carts are full but checkout completion is poor, the friction is later in the funnel. If mobile traffic is high and revenue lags desktop by a wide margin, your mobile experience likely needs attention before anything else.

This is where merchants often get burned by broad agency advice. Generic recommendations sound polished, but they do not tell you what to fix first. Good conversion work is ordered. It starts with the bottleneck that affects the most revenue.

Fix the storefront friction that costs sales first

Your homepage matters, but it is rarely the main conversion lever. Most buyers enter through category pages, product pages, search, shopping ads, email, or branded campaigns. The stores that convert well keep those entry points clear and efficient.

Category pages need to help people narrow options fast. If filters are missing, buried, or inaccurate, shoppers bounce. If product cards do not communicate enough information, users are forced into extra clicks. On BigCommerce, even small merchandising improvements can have an outsized effect here – stronger thumbnail strategy, clearer pricing display, visible product attributes, and better sorting logic all reduce effort.

Site search deserves the same scrutiny. If people search and get thin results, irrelevant matches, or no useful fallback paths, they leave with high intent and low patience. Search behavior is one of the cleanest signals of purchase intent, so if your store search experience is weak, that is usually low-hanging revenue.

Mobile deserves its own review, not a quick responsive check. A design can technically work on mobile and still convert badly. Look for oversized banners pushing products too far down the page, sticky elements blocking content, variant selectors that are awkward on touchscreens, and add-to-cart buttons that require extra scrolling. Mobile conversion improves when the path feels shorter, not when the store simply shrinks to fit a smaller screen.

Product pages are where BigCommerce conversion is won or lost

For many merchants, the product page is the real sales page. That means it has to answer questions in the order buyers actually ask them.

First, can the shopper understand the product quickly? The product title, imagery, price, availability, and core value should be obvious within seconds. If a buyer has to hunt for basic facts, you are already creating drag.

Second, can they trust what they are seeing? This is where many stores underperform. Thin descriptions, weak imagery, vague shipping information, and missing return details create uncertainty. Conversion drops when customers feel they are filling in blanks themselves. Strong product pages remove that mental work with useful images, practical copy, size or spec clarity, and visible policies.

Third, can they make a decision without interruption? Variant selection is a common failure point. When size, color, configuration, or pack options are hard to understand, conversion suffers. For some stores, swatches and visual selectors help. For others, plain language and better inventory messaging matter more. It depends on the product, but the principle is the same: decision-making should feel easy.

Social proof also matters, but only when it supports the buying decision. Reviews can help, especially for consumer products, but they are not magic. A B2B buyer may care more about specifications, lead times, and compatibility than star ratings. Do not force every product into the same conversion playbook.

Improve checkout by removing doubt, not just clicks

Merchants love to talk about cart abandonment as if it is a checkout design issue alone. Often it is not. People abandon because total cost surprises them, because delivery timing is unclear, because they are not ready to commit, or because the site has not earned enough trust yet.

That said, checkout still needs to be clean. On BigCommerce, you want as little interruption as possible between cart and payment. Unexpected fields, distracting coupon boxes, unclear shipping methods, and payment limitations can all hurt completion rates.

A few details carry more weight than merchants expect. Showing estimated delivery timing can reduce hesitation. Making guest checkout easy matters for first-time buyers. Offering the payment methods your audience expects matters too. A premium consumer brand may benefit from financing or accelerated wallets, while a B2B store may need purchase-order workflows or clearer tax handling. The right setup depends on your customer mix.

Cart pages also deserve more attention. If the cart feels like a dead end, buyers drift. If it reinforces value with clear totals, shipping expectations, and a smooth next step, it does its job. This is not about stuffing the cart with upsells. It is about keeping momentum.

Merchandising and messaging have to work together

A surprising number of stores treat conversion like a design problem when it is really a communication problem. A polished theme will not fix weak product positioning.

If your store sells on quality, show why the quality is worth paying for. If your advantage is speed, put fulfillment and delivery confidence front and center. If your catalog is complex, simplify how products are grouped and explained. Buyers do not convert because a page looks modern. They convert because the offer feels clear and credible.

This is especially true for stores with broad catalogs. When everything is presented with the same visual weight, nothing stands out. Good merchandising gives structure to choice. Bestsellers, bundles, comparison cues, recently viewed products, and logical cross-sells can all help, but only if they support the buying process rather than clutter it.

Use data, but keep your standards high

The best answer to how to improve BigCommerce conversion is usually not a dramatic redesign. It is a tighter operating standard.

Review heatmaps, session recordings, analytics, on-site search terms, and checkout drop-off points, but do not treat every metric as equally useful. A small sample can mislead you. A loud internal opinion can send you in the wrong direction. Pattern recognition matters more than isolated anecdotes.

Testing is valuable, but so is expert judgment. Not every store needs formal A/B testing software before making obvious fixes. If your product pages bury shipping info, if your mobile add-to-cart button is hard to reach, or if your category pages make filtering painful, you do not need months of experimentation to act. Clean up the friction first. Then test the finer points.

This is where specialized BigCommerce experience becomes practical, not theoretical. A merchant does not just need ideas. They need to know which fixes are straightforward inside the platform, which require theme or checkout customization, and which changes will create maintenance headaches later. That is often the difference between a nice recommendation and a real improvement.

How to improve BigCommerce conversion in the right order

If you are trying to prioritize, start with the highest-impact pages and the clearest friction. Look at mobile first if mobile traffic dominates. Look at product pages first if traffic is healthy but revenue lags. Look at checkout first if carts are strong but purchases stall. Work in sequence.

The disciplined approach is usually the profitable one. Fix the parts of the store that make customers hesitate. Tighten the message. Clarify the offer. Reduce the number of moments where a buyer has to stop and figure something out.

For merchants who are tired of vague advice and slow agency cycles, that kind of focused conversion work is usually where the real gains show up. Not in flashy presentations. In cleaner decisions, fewer leaks, and a store that does a better job of selling.

A better-converting BigCommerce store does not need to feel clever. It needs to feel easy to buy from.

Looking for a quick and strategic way to improve conversion in your store? My Power Block sessions are ideal for reviewing problem areas, identifying solutions, and implementing quick fixes.

The post How to Improve BigCommerce Conversion appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

No, AI can’t replace a professional web designer. But it can act like a brainstorming partner. With the right prompts, you can use ChatGPT to generate new navigation ideas, fresh layout concepts, and even content suggestions. Then, once you have some starting points, a BigCommerce expert can turn those ideas into a polished, professional site.

Why Use ChatGPT for Store Design?

The hardest part of improving your website is often just getting unstuck. ChatGPT is great at giving you options quickly. Want to see three different ways to organize your categories? Or examples of homepage layouts for a store like yours? A quick prompt can give you ideas you might not have thought of on your own.

And because ChatGPT speaks in plain language, you don’t need design training to understand what it suggests. That makes it a handy tool for merchants who feel “non-technical” but still want to play a role in shaping their store.

Example Prompts for Navigation

Your store’s navigation is one of the biggest drivers of conversion. If customers can’t find what they’re looking for, they leave. Using ChatGPT can help you test out different ways of organizing menus.

Try prompts like:

• “Suggest three navigation structures for a BigCommerce store that sells handmade jewelry.”
• “Create a mega-menu layout for a clothing store with men’s, women’s, and kids’ sections.”
• “What’s a simple navigation for a new store with fewer than 10 products?”

Once you have a few ideas, you can refine them with a designer or through BigCommerce theme customization so they fit your brand.

Example Prompts for Design Inspiration

Navigation is just the start. You can also use ChatGPT to explore layout ideas:

• “List homepage layout options for a skincare brand launching on BigCommerce.”
• “Suggest hero section ideas for an electronics store.”
• “Give me three product page templates that would increase trust for high-end furniture.”

You won’t get pixel-perfect mockups, but you will get inspiration. These concepts can help you think about what improvements feel right for your brand—and which don’t.

Where ChatGPT Falls Short

AI is great at giving you a list of ideas, but it doesn’t know your brand, your audience, or your specific goals. It might recommend a feature that looks good on paper but doesn’t fit your business.

That’s why it’s important to use ChatGPT as a starting point—not a final design. The magic happens when you take those raw ideas and hand them off to a BigCommerce agency who can implement them correctly.

From Ideas to Implementation

Here’s a simple workflow:

1. Use ChatGPT to brainstorm options for navigation, layouts, or content.
2. Pick out the ideas that feel strongest.
3. Work with a designer to translate them into a practical strategy for your store.
4. Implement by customizing your BigCommerce theme or having a designer create a new custom BigCommerce theme.

That way, you get the best of both worlds: the speed and creativity of AI, plus the polish and expertise of a professional.

Final Thoughts
ChatGPT won’t build your store for you—but it can help you think differently about design and navigation. If you feel stuck, try a few prompts and see what it comes up with. You might be surprised at the fresh ideas you can uncover. And when you’re ready to turn those ideas into reality, a BigCommerce expert can take it from there.

The post Using ChatGPT to Brainstorm Design & Navigation Improvements appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

If you’re running your store on BigCommerce, the good news is that the platform gives you a solid technical foundation. But design decisions still make or break how fast your store feels. The right choices can mean the difference between a smooth, professional shopping experience and a clunky site that frustrates customers.

Why Site Speed Impacts Conversions & SEO

Imagine walking into a physical store and having to wait for each shelf to appear before you can browse. That’s exactly what happens when a shopper visits a slow website. They may not stick around to see your great products—they’ll simply leave.

Google knows this too, which is why page load time and Core Web Vitals play into your SEO rankings. Faster sites get rewarded with better visibility. For BigCommerce merchants, that means a faster store isn’t just good for customers—it’s good for search traffic, too.

Design Decisions That Affect Speed

A lot of store owners assume speed is only a technical issue, but design matters in many ways:

• Images: Oversized or uncompressed images are one of the biggest culprits. Using modern formats like WebP and making sure your images are scaled correctly for the design can shave seconds off load times.
• Theme bloat: Many out-of-the-box themes come loaded with extra scripts, sliders, or widgets you don’t actually need. A BigCommerce theme customization project can strip out unnecessary code while keeping the features you want.
• Fonts & animations: Every font style you load adds weight. Animations look cool, but too many can slow down performance—especially on mobile.

A clean, lightweight design almost always performs better than one weighed down with bells and whistles.

Balancing Beauty and Performance

It’s tempting to want a flashy homepage full of sliders, carousels, and moving parts. But those extras can come at the cost of speed. Minimalist layouts—done well—look modern and actually convert better because they let the product shine.

If you’re attached to a design element that slows things down, ask yourself: is this helping customers buy, or is it just taking up space? A BigCommerce expert can often suggest alternatives that keep the look you want without dragging down performance.

Tools & Testing You Can Use

You don’t need to guess whether your site is fast enough. Free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTMetrix give you a clear picture of what’s slowing things down.

The trick is knowing how to interpret the results. Some fixes are as simple as compressing images. Others might require digging into the theme files or reworking how scripts load. This is where partnering with a BigCommerce partner can help. They can diagnose what’s slowing your store and make design changes without breaking functionality.

When It’s Time for a Redesign

Sometimes, no matter how many tweaks you make, the theme you’re using just isn’t efficient. That’s when a BigCommerce redesign or even a custom BigCommerce theme makes sense. Starting fresh with a lighter, cleaner design gives you long-term performance benefits and sets you up for growth.

The key is not just making the store faster—it’s making it faster in a way that still reflects your brand and makes customers feel confident.

Final Thoughts
Speed is one of the most overlooked parts of ecommerce design. Yet it’s one of the easiest ways to improve conversions and sell more. If your BigCommerce store feels sluggish, start by looking at your design choices. A few small tweaks—or a bigger redesign—could make the difference between visitors bouncing and customers buying.

I’ve helped dozens of BigCommerce merchants increase conversion and customer engagement with my redesign services. Contact me to schedule a free discovery call >

The post Speed Matters: Design Optimizations That Make Your Store Faster & Sell Better appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

The BigCommerce checkout is intentionally locked down for good reason: it’s one of the highest-converting checkouts in the industry, and a single change can disrupt that delicate balance. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with the default look and feel.

There are safe ways to customize your BigCommerce checkout — both simple and advanced — without accidentally breaking anything. Here’s how.

Start Simple: Use the Built-In Checkout Settings

The easiest (and safest) way to make changes is by adjusting the built-in checkout settings in your BigCommerce dashboard. Just go to:

Settings > Advanced > Checkout

From there, you can configure several key options:

• Enable guest checkout – Recommended for higher conversion rates.
• Customer login settings – Choose whether to prompt existing customers to log in.
• Customer comments – Enable a comment box at checkout.
• Terms and conditions + privacy policy – Require customers to agree before completing their purchase.
• CAPTCHA – Only use this if you’re dealing with fraud. It can hurt conversions. A fraud prevention app is usually a better solution.
• Persistent cart – Allow carts to be saved across devices.
• Passwordless login – Lets returning customers log in via an email link.
• Shipping option order – Control the display order of your shipping methods.
• Address autocomplete – Enable Google autocomplete to speed up checkout.
• Multiple shipping addresses – Not recommended unless you have a custom shipping setup.
• Coupon/gift certificate display – Adjust how this field appears.
• Digital wallet and field label visibility – Fine-tune your layout.
• Order confirmation email settings – Choose the email address that customers see.

These settings can go a long way toward improving the checkout experience without any coding.

Use Your Theme Settings for Visual Tweaks

Most themes include basic visual customization options specifically for the checkout page. You’ll find these under:

Storefront > Theme > Customize > Optimized Checkout

Here, you can:

• Change logo placement
• Select fonts for headings and body text
• Set primary and secondary button colors
• Adjust colors for links, form fields, and background

These changes can help your checkout page better match your brand while still using the default structure that BigCommerce has optimized for conversions.

Advanced: Use CSS to Customize Fonts, Colors, and More

If you need more visual control than the theme editor provides, you can safely apply custom CSS to the checkout page — but proceed carefully.

Here’s how:

1. Go to Storefront > Theme, click Advanced, and make a copy of your theme if you haven’t already.
2. Navigate to Templates > Pages > checkout.html
3. Find the section under {{{head.scripts}}} and add:

<style>
  /* Your custom CSS here */
</style>

4. Use your browser’s Inspect tool to find the exact elements you want to style.
5. Add your custom CSS between the <style> tags.
6. Click Save & Apply File.
7. Test your checkout thoroughly on desktop and mobile to ensure nothing breaks.

A little CSS goes a long way, but it’s also easy to accidentally hide or mis-align something, so always test your changes to ensure everything looks and works as intended.

Advanced: Customize Checkout Text and Labels

If you want to change the wording on your checkout or order confirmation page (things like “Shipping Method” or “Thank You for Your Order”), it’s possible — but it requires a little more digging.

Here’s what to do:

1. Navigate to Lang > en.json in your theme files.
   (If your store uses a different language, select that instead.)
2. Most themes don’t include checkout-specific translation keys, so you may need to pull them from the BigCommerce GitHub repo:
   • Use this link: en.json checkout translations
3. Copy the key(s) for the text you want to change.
4. Paste them at the bottom of your theme’s en.json file.
   • Don’t forget to add a comma after the second-to-last closing bracket to avoid breaking the file.
5. Make sure indentation and hierarchy match the rest of the file.
6. Click Save & Apply File, then test your checkout to ensure everything displays correctly.

Pro tip: This is also a handy way to add a bit of personality to your checkout (like changing “Shipping Method” to “Choose Your Delivery Option”) just keep it clear and customer-friendly.

Bottom Line

BigCommerce gives you plenty of ways to customize your checkout — you just need to choose the right level of customization for your skills and your store.

Start with the built-in settings. Move into theme options and CSS if needed. And only go into language file edits if you’re comfortable making code changes (or have a BigCommerce developer on call).

Need help figuring out how to get the checkout experience just right? I’ve helped dozens of stores balance branding with best practices, and I can help you avoid the common mistakes that hurt conversions. Feel free to contact me for a checkout audit.

The post How to Customize the BigCommerce Checkout Page (Without Breaking Anything) appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

Here’s what I recommend including on your BigCommerce category pages to create a more conversion-friendly experience based on what I’ve seen work across hundreds of stores.

Layout Basics: Start with a Solid Foundation

Let’s start with the essentials. These are elements every category page should have:

• A clear, concise category name at the top so shoppers immediately know where they are. Your category name is also the page’s H1, so it’s important for SEO.
• Sort options, like sorting by newest, bestsellers, or A–Z. This is especially helpful for larger catalogs, or repeat customers who want to easily see what’s new.
• Product grid or list view, depending on your product type:
  • Grid view is great for visual products where images do the selling (like apparel or decor).
  • List view is better if your product photos don’t tell the full story — for example, hardware or industrial products. List view typically includes a snippet of the product description.
  • Some themes allow customers to toggle between both.
• Pagination at both the top and bottom of the page makes it easier to browse without excessive scrolling.

Conversion-Boosting Elements to Consider

Once you’ve nailed the basics, it’s time to add the elements that can boost engagement and sales:

• Filter sidebar (faceted search) – This is a must for stores with a large catalog. Filters should match what your shoppers actually care about (size, color, brand, etc.). And make sure your filter experience works well on mobile.
• Items per page selector – Some themes offer this; it can help users browse more efficiently.
• Category description – Good for SEO and user experience. You can:
  • Place a short version above the product grid (helpful for quick context or a brief FAQ).
  • Use a longer version at the bottom of the page to avoid pushing products down, especially on mobile.
• Lifestyle banner – This works well for lifestyle or high-end products where context matters. If you use one, keep it short and wide (around 2000x500px) so it doesn’t eat up half the page.
• Subcategory icons – Only use these if:
  • Your subcategories aren’t obvious by name alone
  • You have good photos that clearly represent each subcategory. Otherwise, skip them — they can clutter the page if they don’t add value.

Product Listings That Encourage Clicks (and Purchases)

What you display for each product on the category page can make a big difference. Here’s what I suggest including where appropriate:

• High-quality photos, all in the same orientation (square is best). This makes for a cleaner grid and easier visual scanning.
• Second image on hover – Great for showing different angles or details without the shopper needing to click. A big win for apparel and accessories.
• Brand name – Useful if you carry multiple brands and don’t include the brand in the product title.
• SKU – Important for B2B or technical products where shoppers may search by item number or need help differentiating very similar products.
• Product rating – Builds trust and helps highlight customer favorites.
• Quick View – Lets shoppers read more and even buy without leaving the category page. It keeps them in browsing mode and can help increase average order value.
• Add to Cart button – Only use this if your products don’t have options. Otherwise, it will just take users to the product page anyway. (Some themes do allow for option selection from the category page, but it’s not common.)
• Variant indicators – For products that come in multiple colors or styles, showing swatches or a “+ more colors” badge encourages clicks and gives a better sense of selection.
• Wish List button – Lets shoppers save items for later without leaving the page.
• Compare button – Only useful if your products have technical specs that people want to compare. Keep in mind: BigCommerce’s default compare tool doesn’t include Custom Fields, which is where most specs live. You can customize it to show this info, but it requires a BigCommerce developer to implement.

Bottom Line

Your BigCommerce category pages are more than just a list of products. They’re where a lot of your shoppers make their first decisions about what to click, what to compare, and what to buy.

The best-performing stores treat category pages like a curated shopping experience, not just a catalog dump. By combining clear layout structure with thoughtful features, you can guide shoppers more effectively and drive better results.

Need help auditing your own category pages or implementing some of these enhancements? I’ve worked with stores of all sizes and can help you figure out what’s worth upgrading based on your catalog, customer behavior, and theme limitations. Contact me to schedule a call or get a free quote.

The post What to Include on Your BigCommerce Category Pages for Better Conversion appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

AI is already reshaping the landscape of e-commerce, introducing a new era of efficiency. Beyond traditional automation, businesses are harnessing the power of AI for tasks that demand creativity and a nuanced understanding of language. But can AI really help you elevate and streamline your content creation? BigCommerce certainly thinks so.

Leveraging BigCommerce’s BigAI Copywriter Tool

BigCommerce recently released their revolutionary AI writing tool – BigAI Copywriter. This tool is designed to make crafting product descriptions a breeze, combining speed, precision, and customization.

Speed and Precision

BigAI Copywriter doesn’t just write; it writes fast and accurately. With the ability to generate high-quality product descriptions in a matter of moments, the tool ensures efficiency without compromising quality.

Customization for Brand Voice

Maintaining a consistent brand voice is crucial. BigAI Copywriter understands this, offering customization options to align product descriptions with your brand’s unique tone. This allows your brand’s personality to shine through every product description.

The Importance of Connecting with Your Customers

Well-crafted product descriptions aren’t just about the products; they’re about connecting with your audience. The impact of engaging and informative content goes beyond just a sale – it builds trust and enhances the overall customer experience. But writing compelling product descriptions takes time that many merchants simply don’t have. This is especially true for anyone planning to launch a new BigCommerce store.

That’s what makes BigAI Copywriter such an incredible feature. It isn’t just another tool – it’s your virtual wordsmith. It simplifies and speeds up the time-consuming task of writing engaging product descriptions. So, instead of churning out basic content, you can now create extraordinary copy with a touch of AI magic.

BigAI Copywriter is only available for BigCommerce merchants using the V3 product management experience.

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When was the last time you updated your homepage carousel banners? Or changed your featured products? Does your Facebook or Twitter page still have the original cover image you uploaded when you created those accounts? Now is the time to update your high-visibility photos and images to give your brand an instant new look and re-engage returning customers and social media fans.

Clear Out Old Inventory

The more products you have, the more difficult it is for shoppers to find the item they want to buy. De-clutter your category, search and brand pages by removing poorly-selling of low inventory products from their primary category, marking down their price and adding them to a Sale or Clearance section. You can use your BigCommerce store’s built-in reports or Google Analytics to identify products that either don’t sell very often or get a lot of traffic without any conversions. Clearing out products frees up dollars to invest in new inventory and will save larger stores valuable shelf space.

Refresh Content and Meta Tags for SEO

It’s no secret that search engines like fresh content. Make a plan to rewrite any text content on your homepage and category pages so that Google will re-evaluate your website’s organic value and relevance. I also suggest updating meta titles and keywords for major pages like your homepage, category pages, brand pages (if you use them) and top-selling product pages. When you’re done, make sure to login to your Google Console (Google Webmaster Tools) and resubmit your sitemap so that Google knows to come check out your new content.

Scrub Your Email List

If you do a lot of email marketing, it’s worth scrubbing your list of un-engaged subscribers every so often. Over time, some customers will stop opening your emails but won’t bother to unsubscribe, while others will change their email addresses, leaving you with ghost subscribers. This dilutes your open and click-thru statistics, making it more difficult to measure and compare campaign results. Most email providers allow you to search for un-engaged subscribers or create segments of subscribers who haven’t opened any emails for a period of time. If you’re hesitant to remove them from your list entirely, you can move them to a separate list that you target only for important messages like holiday sales.

Toss Out Bad Strategies

If you’re like me, you’re always testing new strategies, new marketing channels and new apps. If they aren’t breaking the bank, it’s easy to forget about them – whether or not they’re really working. Spring is a great time to review your business processes, marketing campaigns and 3rd party apps to see what has value and what doesn’t. By shedding old strategies that don’t add to your bottom line, you can focus in on what’s meaningful, save time and money, and put your business in a better position for peak selling seasons.

The post E-Commerce Spring Cleaning: 5 Tips to Refresh and Renew Your Online Store appeared first on Duck Soup E-Commerce.

One limitation of BigCommerce that some store owners find frustrating is the inability to create additional content fields for products. For example, you may want to have a 1-2 sentence overview of the product at the top of the page while keeping the full product description further down. Or you may want to display information like ingredients, a size chart or usage instructions separately from the main description.

There’s one field which can be used to display additional product content, and that’s the Warranty field. It’s unique per product and it accepts HTML code, making it quite flexible in terms of the type of information you can display.

You’ll find the Warranty field on the Other Details tab when editing a product. It doesn’t have a nice text editor like the product description field, but there’s a workaround if you need to add more than straight paragraph text and you’re not comfortable with HTML. Simply create your Warranty field text in the product description text editor and then switch to HTML view by clicking the HTML icon located at the far right of the bottom row of text editor icons. Copy the HTML and then paste it into the Warranty field.

Once you’ve added your content, you’ll probably want to hide or change the heading that says Warranty Information on the product page:
For Stencil themes, go to Storefront > Themes, click on Advanced and then select Edit Theme Files. You may need to make a copy of your theme if you haven’t already done so. To change the heading from Warranty Information to something else (like Size Charts or Ingredients), click on the lang folder and select en.json. Do a search for “warranty” and replace the text “Warranty Information” with your new text (within the quotes).

For Blueprint themes, go to Storefront and click on Template Files in the left navigation. Scroll down to Panels and click on the plus to expand the list. Scroll down to ProductWarranty.html and replace %%LNG_ProductWarranty%% with your desired heading text.

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Every product has a field for Search Keywords which hooks into your website’s search box. Many store owners misunderstand this field and think it’s related to SEO (search engine optimization) and helping products appear in Google or Bing search results. In reality, this field allows you to control when to include products in your website’s search results.

Search keywords have two great uses. The first is for synonyms. For example, if you sell clothing, your products may come in multiple colors. If those colors have specific names like “teal”, “aquamarine” or “navy”, you can enter the generic color “blue” in the search keywords field to ensure those items come up when a shopper searches for “blue shirts”. This is also useful for products that can be referred to by multiple names – you never know which one a shopper is going to use in the search box.

The other cool use for Search Keywords is creating temporary or seasonal collections. Rather than creating a whole category, you can use a unique search term to group products that can be linked to from a banner or social media. For example, you may want to highlight products for summer travel. Add the words “summer travel” in the Search Keywords field for the appropriate products and then do a search on your website for the same phrase, making sure to put it in quotes. Copy the URL of the search results page and you can use it for a carousel banner on the homepage, on Facebook or in an email newsletter. If you don’t like the look of the long URL, use Bit.ly to create a short link that masks the full URL.

To add Search Keywords, edit a product and then click on the Other Details tab. You’ll find the field in the Other Details section. This field is also available in the product export and import file, so you can easily make bulk updates when you need to add search keywords to many products at once.

This post is an excerpt from my new book, 60 Killer BigCommerce Tips & Tricks for Managing Your Store Like a Pro, now available in paperback and Kindle format from Amazon.com.

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