Documentation
Guide
Every column, every command, and every measured BigCommerce behaviour that shapes them. Written from a live store rather than from the API reference, so where the two disagree, this says which one is true.
These pages are the reference the app itself uses. Nothing here is aspirational: each behaviour was measured against a real BigCommerce store, and where the platform does something surprising — a category delete taking its children with it, a product update appending images instead of replacing them, a blog post refusing anything but RFC 2822 dates — it is written down with the response that proved it.
If you are new, read the dry run first. It is the one feature worth understanding before you write anything to a store you care about.
Getting started
Connecting your storeHow to create a BigCommerce API token, which scopes each feature needs, and the difference between disconnecting, rotating and revoking it.
The dry runEvery import can be previewed without writing anything. The dry run is not a simulation of the importer — it is the importer, with the writes intercepted.
Results and historyHow to read what a run actually did — the status, the badges, the per-row log, and the results file that lets you fix failed rows and re-import the same sheet.
Import types
ProductsEvery column the product importer reads, how rows are matched to existing products, and what BigCommerce does with variants, images, videos, modifiers and metafields that its own documentation does not mention.
CategoriesBuilding and moving a BigCommerce category tree from a spreadsheet — path-based hierarchy, renames, moves, and why a DELETE takes the whole subtree with it unless you say otherwise.
Web pagesImporting BigCommerce storefront pages from a spreadsheet — the four writable page types, resolving a parent by name, and the Blog index page that refuses its own type back.
Blog postsImporting BigCommerce blog posts from a spreadsheet — the one date format the platform accepts, why there is no Summary column, and what happens when two posts share a title.
RedirectsBulk-importing 301 redirects into BigCommerce from a spreadsheet — the destination types, why there is no "custom" type, and why the site id should be left blank.
BrandsEditing BigCommerce brands in bulk — the SEO fields, the exact-match name filter that keeps "H&M" and "H & M" apart, and why an imported brand image comes back with a different URL.
CustomersImporting BigCommerce customers, their addresses and custom attributes from a spreadsheet — identified by email, and with the one column that emails them called out.
Customer groupsCreating BigCommerce customer groups from a spreadsheet — discount rules, category access, and why one row describes one discount.
Price listsBulk-importing BigCommerce price lists and per-variant price records from a spreadsheet — why prices are variant-level only, why currency is part of a record's identity, and why the jobs run one at a time.
CouponsBulk-importing BigCommerce coupons from a spreadsheet — the five discount types, why an update must always re-send what the coupon applies to, and why expiry dates need one specific format.
Product reviewsBulk-importing product reviews into BigCommerce from a spreadsheet — how a review is matched when it has no unique key, why every row needs a product, and how the export avoids walking your whole catalogue.
Gift certificatesBulk-importing BigCommerce gift certificates from a spreadsheet — why the Balance column is the one that matters, why the API sends no email, and the two date formats for one field.
Editing and export
Catalog and bulk editBrowsing a BigCommerce catalog and changing one field across every product a filter matches — why a bulk edit is an ordinary product import, and why there is no "select all".
The product inspectorOpening one BigCommerce product in Ottermerce — what it shows, the one thing it edits, and why everything else sends you to BigCommerce.
MetafieldsDefine BigCommerce metafields once — with a content type, option values and storefront access — and fill them in on every product with the right input and real validation.
ExportExporting BigCommerce products, categories, pages, blog posts, redirects, brands and customers as CSV or Excel — with the same column names the importer reads, so the file goes straight back in.