BigCommerce regularly provides updates to the platform to add additional functionality, increase performance, improve the customer experience, and implement suggestions from store owners. Consistent updates are just one of the many reasons eCommerce store owners choose the platform over others.
Some legacy BigCommerce store owners have received notification that a major update is coming to the Product Experience – the area in the store’s control panel where new products are created and existing ones are managed.
In 2019, BigCommerce updated the products area to support additional features such as omnichannel support, API accessibility, SKU-level attributes, variants management, and more. Since then, new stores have already been onboarded with the new Product Experience, but older stores will need to migrate to the new version.
You may be wondering how to tell what Product Experience version your store is currently running. That’s pretty simple to determine. The quickest way is to simply log in to your store’s control panel, click on products, then click on an individual product as if you were going to edit it.
If your store has product details split up into separate tabs, such as Images & Video, Inventory, and Options & SKUs, you’re on Product Experience v2 and are subject to upgrade.
If your store has product details, which are edited on a single page, with a side menu for easy navigation to specific areas, you’re currently using Product Experience v3 and are all set!
For more information on what differs between v2 and v3, please reference the support document located here.
If your store is subject to upgrading from v2 to v3, there are some very important considerations, and some work, to consider on your end. First off, you will need to update your entire product catalog by following the steps outlined in the notification you received from BigCommerce.
BigCommerce recommends the following if you are subject to upgrade:
You should stay on v2 if:
- You have a well-established catalog of option sets and options that you do not want to remake.
- You want to import and export option sets via CSV.
- You want to add images from the Image Manager to products via the control panel.
- You want to import, export, assign SKUs, and track inventory on all option types.
- You want to specify the fields used for automatic SKU generation by the Auto-SKU Generator.
- You want to selectively create variants for products.
- You manage your catalog through the API. Shared options and modifiers can be managed only through the control panel.
You should switch to v3 if:
- You want to view, add, and edit all product details on a single page in the control panel, instead of separate tabs.
- You want to add customs information to products without using the API.
- You want to manage a product’s options from the product page, with the option of creating or using shared options.
- You want to create products with options that would otherwise exceed the 600 SKUs per product platform limit by using modifier options.
- You want automatic SKU generation upon creation of variant options, rather than manually entering SKUs or setting up a formula for SKU generation in the Auto-SKU Generator.
- You want product option data values entered explicitly, rather than inherited from the parent product.
- You want to assign specific sale or MSRP prices to individual variants of a product.
Of course, BigCommerce is recommending that all users upgrade to the v3 Product Experience, but they also understand that legacy merchants may have specific reasons not to. At this time, there has been no indication that v2 will be completely sunsetted and merchants will be required to upgrade, however, as time goes on that possibility cannot be ruled out.
We encourage store owners who are currently using v2 to consult with BigCommerce support should they have any questions about the upgrade process and whether or not it’s right for their store. If you need to upgrade, Your Store Wizards offers a complete white-glove BigCommerce v2 to v3 Product Experience Upgrade service.
Scott Sanfilippo began his eCommerce journey in 1994 by co-founding one of the Internet’s first online retailers, TheFerretStore.com, which was acquired by PetCo in 2006. In 2001, he co-founded the eCommerce design and marketing firm Solid Cactus, which was acquired by web.com in 2009. Today, Scott is the General Manager of Your Store Wizards and lives in Delray Beach, FL. Scott can be contacted at scott@yourstorewizards.com.