Adding products is one of the most important tasks for any e-commerce merchant using the BigCommerce platform. Properly filling out product details and attributes ensures your items show up correctly for customers browsing your online store.
In this article, we’ll walk through the steps for adding both simple and configurable products in BigCommerce.
Get Started by Accessing the Product List
First, log in to your BigCommerce admin portal and navigate to the Products menu. Here you’ll see summary cards for existing products. To add a new item, click the “Create Product” button.
Alternatively, you can import products in bulk by exporting a CSV template, entering data, and uploading the file. But for now, we’ll focus on adding products manually.
Step 1: Select Product Type
On the New Product page, you’ll need to choose whether you want a:
- Simple product– For selling individual product variations. Most physical/digital goods fit here.
- Configurable product– For selling a base product with customer-selected options like size, color, etc. Ex: T-shirts, shoes.
- Bundled product– For selling a bundle of individual simple products together.
Let’s walk through adding a simple product first.
Step 2: Enter Product Name and Description
In the product name field, add a descriptive but catchy title using keywords that customers would search for. Keep it under 150 characters.
In the description editor below, write a detailed paragraph summarizing the product, key features/specs, usage scenarios, and anything else the customer might want to know. Use bullet points and formatting for readability.
Upload any relevant images here too – make sure you have high-quality photos that accurately showcase the product. Include multiple angles/views if necessary.
Step 3: Add Price, Inventory, and Visibility Details
In the right Product Details pane:
- Retail Price– Base listed price for customers. Can be overridden with pricing rules.
- Cost Price– Optional internal value to track profit margin.
- Inventory Tracking– Enable if selling tangible goods. Then enter the number available.
- Product Availability– Choose whether the item shows as “In Stock” or “Out of Stock”
- Product Visibility– Choose whether the product appears in public catalog areas.
These settings help configure pricing, inventory tracking if selling physical goods, and overall visibility to customers browsing the store.
Step 4: Classify the Product With Categories
To make products easy to discover in your storefront, you need to categorize them appropriately. Under the Product Categories section:
- Use the dropdown to select which primary category or categories make sense for this item. Ex: Animals & Pet Supplies > Dogs for a dog toy product.
- Optionally tag the product with additional categories to refine its classification. Ex: Also include material type like Plush.
Properly categorizing products helps visitors filter and find what they need on your BigCommerce store.
Step 5: Define Product Options (Optional)
If selling variations of the product based on attributes like size, color, etc., you can enable product options:
- Click Add Option to define a selectable facet like Color
- Enter applicable values that customers can choose under values (Red, Blue, etc.)
- Enable Add to product URL parameter to append their selection as a query parameter
This allows presenting one base product page that customers can customize before adding to their cart.
For simple products without major variations, you can skip this step. Options become more relevant for configurable products covered later.
Step 6: Add Additional Information
Some optional additional fields you can populate are:
- Weight– Important for shipping physical products
- Brand name– For filtering by brand
- Alternate names/numbers
- Meta description for custom snippet in search engines
- Custom fields to capture extra data not in the default schema
Fill these in as needed to provide complete data for your product. When done, click Create Product, and your new item will be live in your catalog!
Creating Configurable Products in BigCommerce
Configurable products enable customers to select attributes/options and see corresponding prices update in real time. For example, allowing choice of size and color when buying a t-shirt.
Here are the key steps to set one up:
- Select Configurable Product when first creating the new item
- Define your selectable options under Product Options (Step 4 from the simple product workflow)
- Head to the Configurations section:
- Choose Single Variant or Variant Matrix mode
- Map defined options to variants with combinations and prices
- Images can also vary per variant
- Customize how options display on the storefront
- Other product details, as usual
In the Configurations section, you’re essentially defining all the customizable variations and applicable pricing that your customers can select on the frontend.
BigCommerce does the heavy lifting, stitching together the right variant images, description, weight, etc., dynamically based on the options selected.
This allows great flexibility in selling products like apparel, shoes, or anything with customer-selected attributes, driving what exact item they purchase.
Configurable Product Variant Modes in BigCommerce
When building the customized configurations for a complex product, BigCommerce offers two approaches:
Single Variant Mode
Best for simpler products with just a small number of SKUs. Define each variant individually.
Variant Matrix Mode
Enables efficient definition of a Cartesian product of all combination possibilities between options:
Forexamplee as one facet with values S/M/L intersected by Color as a second facet, Red/Blue/Green.
Rather than manually enumerating all 9 variants, the matrix is dynamically created based on the attributes defined. Much more efficient for a large number of potential configurations.
In reality, rarely will every single intersecting combination exist – you can leave cells blank where invalid.
Populating Configuration Details
However you choose to define variants, filling in the metadata is similar:
- Price– Can override base or have price modifiers per option
- Inventory– Track for each variant
- Images– Can vary per configuration
- Description– Can customize with attributes selected
And any other fields relevant to the options selected by the customer. Taxes and shipping rules may also refer to metadata within configurations.
With all underlying SKUs mapped to customer-facing options, the buying journey can now dynamically present exactly what the shopper chooses.
Displaying Configurable Products
Several storefront tweaks enable showcasing these products properly:
- Template edits to allow customer selection of options and see updated price, image, etc.
- Option labels and presentation
- Adding to cart behavior with or without pre-selections
- Wish list capability
BigCommerce includes built-in support for these flows without heavy coding. Especially when using the Dawn or Forto themes.
Now that you understand the moving pieces behind configurable products, setting one up on your own store should feel far less daunting!
You can build highly customized purchasing experiences similar to those on leading e-commerce brands today.
Why Choose Anchor Group?
When undertaking complex BigCommerce development projects, working with an experienced implementation partner like Anchor Group pays dividends over going it alone.
A few key reasons Anchor Group stands apart:
Hands-On BigCommerce Experience
With over 10 years of building on BigCommerce and involvement in their Solution Partner program, Anchor Group brings deep familiarity that generic web dev agencies lack. They’ve migrated dozens of brands onto the platform. And completed intricate theme customization, headless integrations, custom functionality like visualization tools, and complex catalog setup.
Industry Knowhow
Anchor Group focuses solely on e-commerce implementations across major platforms like BigCommerce, Shopify Plus, Techhuda, and Magento. This lets them cater solutions directly to the needs modern online merchants grapple with daily in various verticals. Whether tactical feature development or broader omnichannel strategy, they contextually understand the space.
Technical Chops
Having tackled intricate projects like Progressive Web Apps, React frontends wired to headless backends, and interactive 3D/AR visualization capabilities, Anchor Group’s development team brings sophisticated technical skills. They architect performant, scalable solutions tailored for individual business needs on BigCommerce.
Focus on ROI
Rather than an endless project funnel, Anchor Group aims to transfer skills to in-house teams wherever possible. They structure engagements targeted around demonstrable ROI – whether boosting conversions, lowering operational overhead, or platform migration savings. Future innovation and extensibility remain top of mind as well.
The Bottom Line
Don’t settle for just any generalist web agency – seek out experts focused squarely on the e-commerce domain. Anchor Group fits that bill for merchants seeking an accomplished BigCommerce implementation partner. Reach out today to explore how they can translate your brand vision into reality through indicative technology solutions.
Conclusion
Whether selling simple standalone products or complex configurable items, properly entering and managing your catalog is critical for any merchant’s success on BigCommerce.
Follow the steps outlined here when first adding new products manually. Otime theyim,e also consider ways to streamline large catalog imports.
Categories appropriately aid discovery across built-in facets and filters. And invest time upfront modeling your configurable products and variants to enable dynamic customer personalization in the buying flow.
If the complexity ever feels overwhelming, don’t hesitate to consult an e-commerce agency familiar with BigCommerce optimizations. Their experts can help translate product visions into reality across the platform.
