Getting Listed: How to Land a Spot in the BigCommerce App Marketplace
Great software is hard to come by, but a great platform can be even rarer in the world of ecommerce.
Being a successful open platform means giving developers a rock solid foundation, handing them the tools to run with it, and enabling creative features and solutions that site owners didn’t even know they needed.
Our core software is clearly critical for any merchant selling on BigCommerce, but what’s becoming more and more apparent over time is the added value that extensions can bring to online stores of all sizes and verticals.
Nearly 60% of active BigCommerce stores have at least one app installed, and among those stores, most have 3 or more apps.
Cumulative installs of apps on the BigCommerce platform are also at a record high and growing by an average of 3.7% each month over the past 12 months, in the neighborhood of 2,700 net new installs a month. In March alone, we had 8,400+ app installs across the App Marketplace.
What does all of this mean for app developers? BigCommerce users are looking for integrations now more than ever, and lots of them.
BigCommerce App Marketplace
Over the past couple of years, we’ve made huge investments across the board on driving engagement and creating opportunity within the App Marketplace. From revamping the Marketplace, to opening a wealth of new API resources (and more to come), we’re committed to empowering a world-class app store.
As a veteran BigCommerce team member and the manager for the Marketplace Operations team, I focus my time and effort on making sure our partners get what they need to enter and be successful in our Marketplace. My team reviews and publishes new apps and integrations every month, and we continually iterate on our standards for the Marketplace as our platform grows and merchant needs change.
From my experience working with partner developers, I’ve learned a lot about what sets an integration apart from competitors and what BigCommerce store users expect out of an app.
Today I want to take you beyond our standard requirements for Marketplace approval and give you some insight into the best way to make an impact in the ecosystem.
What You Should Know While Building
Once you’re an approved Technology Partner and ready to start developing your app, there are some key points you want to keep in mind as you build.
1. Make installation & setup simple & user-friendly.
One of the most important considerations for your app should be ease of use, starting with the first interactions your users have with it. Reducing friction in the installation and setup flow will make sure that new users aren’t getting stuck before they’ve even started.
Take advantage of our Single-Click authentication flow so there’s a lower risk of installation failures, and include a smooth onboarding process to walk merchants through the setup as soon as they’re in. Consider auto-creating accounts, or filling in form fields with details from the store, and make sure to use our Scripts API and Widgets API to programmatically handle any front-end components for your app.
2. Research ways to extend your offering on the BigCommerce platform.
While you’re planning your app, take some time to research how to most effectively build it to address merchant needs and make the most of the BigCommerce platform. Follow the Changelog and the BigCommerce Developer Blog to hear about our most recent API releases — we’re on a hot streak of new releases right now and you could be the first to make something brand new with them. Don’t forget to consult the Community too and take a look through our Ideas page to see if there are features you could easily roll into your integration — it’s free real estate!
3. Developer Docs are your friend.
Our recently-remodeled Developer Portal a great source of information for almost any question you have around our API resources. Even if you’re familiar with using our APIs, they’re a great way to learn about new resources, find fields you might not be aware of, or see updated versions of existing resources. For instance, our V3 Catalog API makes huge improvements over the V2 version in the way integrations can interact with a store’s products, plus added support for variants that isn’t available in V2! We’re quick to release new docs as new resources become available as well, so make sure to check back or watch our changelog.
Submission Checklist
Now that your app is built and you’re ready to submit, it’s a good time to go through our Approval Requirements to ensure your review and launch will go as smoothly and quickly as possible. We’ll be testing not only the functionality of your app, but also how well it works with the BigCommerce platform, how it makes use of our APIs, and whether or not the listing itself meets our standards. Everything we look for is outlined in this doc, so there should be no surprises when the review feedback comes back to you. But if you have questions on the requirements doc, now would be the perfect time to reach out with a support case through the Partner Portal!
How to Submit Your App
Now comes the easy part! Submitting your app is a simple process handled all within your Dev Tools dashboard.
1. Submitting your app for review.
Once you’ve completed your app and filled in your Partner ID, click over to the “Submit” step in the app editor and hand it over to our team for review.
2. The BigCommerce review process.
Our team will then go through our User Acceptance Testing and listing review for your submission. This includes installing the app, testing the functionality, checking compatibility with our platform features and storefront, and going over the content of your listing.
3. Feedback.
After the initial review is complete, we’ll reach out with any feedback we have to get the app and listing ready for approval. We’ll email the primary contact on your Tech Partner account, along with the user who submitted the app, and we’ll work with you from there to get everything updated and in line with our requirements.
4. Approval and publishing your app.
When it’s time to publish the app, our team will flip the switch and get your app available for installation and publicly available on the BigCommerce Marketplace! Have a specific go-live date in mind? Give us a heads up when the app is submitted so we can work with you to hit your goal.
Conclusion
The BigCommerce Marketplace is the #1 source of trusted integrations for our merchants, and getting your app listed is essential to being a successful app provider for anyone using our platform.
While we’re dedicated to publishing only high-quality apps and fairly prescriptive in how we expect your app to work with our platform, we’re also ready and willing to work with you to meet our standards. At the end of the day, we want to be your partner in this and will do whatever we can to broaden our ecosystem and make you successful in the process.
So when you’re ready to integrate with BigCommerce, take your time and develop the best app you can offer, and we’ll be waiting to celebrate your launch with you.
