How to Customize the BigCommerce Checkout Page (Without Breaking Anything)

If you’ve ever thought, “I want to tweak my checkout page, but I’m scared I’ll mess something up,” you’re not alone.

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.