eCommerce

Hiring BigCommerce developers: what to check before you sign

10 min readBy Jaskirat Singh Talwar

A pen resting on a closed folder beside an open parcel box on a meeting table

Hire a BigCommerce developer on evidence, not on a sales page. Ask for live BigCommerce stores they built, check their listing in BigCommerce's own partner directory, and make them say in writing whether your store will be a Stencil theme or a headless Catalyst build, which features will come from Marketplace apps and which will be custom code, how products, customers, orders and old URLs will move, and who will own the store account, the code and the API credentials at the end. A developer who answers those clearly, before the contract, is usually the one who will deliver.

Key takeaways

  • Check experience where BigCommerce publishes it: the partner directory lists tiers and services, including store migration and theme customisation. A listing is a starting point, not proof; ask for live stores.
  • Decide Stencil or Catalyst early. Stencil is BigCommerce's theme framework; Catalyst is a headless storefront on Next.js that needs its own hosting and a team that knows React.
  • Prefer a Marketplace app where one does the job well; pay for custom integration only where your process is genuinely different.
  • Your business should be the Store Owner on the BigCommerce account and should hold the code repository and API credentials. Developers get user accounts with only the permissions they need.
  • A migration plan without a full URL redirect map is not a plan.

What does a BigCommerce developer actually do?

Most BigCommerce work falls into five kinds, and many developers are strong in only one or two:

  1. Themes: building or changing a Stencil theme, or building a headless storefront on Catalyst.
  2. Store set-up: catalogue structure, checkout options, customer groups and settings.
  3. Apps and integrations: connecting the store to an ERP, fulfilment, marketing or payment tools, or writing a BigCommerce app.
  4. Migrations: moving products, customers, order history and URLs from another platform.
  5. Support: fixes, updates and new features after launch.

Ask which of these the developer has done on BigCommerce specifically, and match that to your project. A theme specialist is not automatically a good choice for an ERP integration. Our own BigCommerce development service covers all five: Stencil themes, store set-up, apps and integrations such as shipping and fulfilment with platforms like ShipHero, migrations from other platforms, and support for live stores.

If you are still deciding whether BigCommerce is the right platform at all, read our comparison of BigCommerce and Shopify first; this guide assumes the platform is chosen.

How do you check real BigCommerce experience?

Start with BigCommerce's partner directory. As of November 2026 it lists three agency tiers. In BigCommerce's words, Elite partners "have a proven track record of success launching Enterprise stores on the BigCommerce platform", Preferred partners "offer a full suite of services and are ecommerce experts", and Partners "have a strategic interest in offering BigCommerce as a solution to their clients". You can filter by services such as Store Migration, Theme Customization, ERP and PIM/OMS.

Then go past the listing:

  • Ask for two or three live BigCommerce stores and what exactly the developer did on each (theme, integration, migration).
  • Ask to see code. A theme repository or a pull request from a past project, with client details removed, tells you more than any portfolio.
  • Ask who will do the work. The person on the sales call is often not the person writing the code.
  • Ask for a reference from a store of similar size, and ask that store what happened after launch.

A small or new firm can be a good choice without a high tier; a high tier does not guarantee the person assigned to you. Use the directory to shortlist and the questions above to decide.

Stencil theme or headless Catalyst: which will they build?

This decision changes the cost, the hosting and the kind of developer you need, so get it in writing.

Stencil theme Catalyst (headless)
What it is BigCommerce's theme framework, hosted by BigCommerce An open-source storefront framework on Next.js and React, using the GraphQL Storefront API
Hosting Included with the store Vercel or another host that supports Next.js; BigCommerce's own Storefront Hosting is in closed beta as of November 2026
Skills needed Stencil, Handlebars templates, front-end work Next.js, React, GraphQL, deployment
When it fits Most stores, including large catalogues Custom experiences a theme cannot deliver, or a team already working in Next.js

Catalyst is MIT-licensed and ships with a home page, faceted search, product pages, cart, redirected checkout and customer accounts (BigCommerce, Catalyst). That is a strong start, but it is still an application someone has to host, update and monitor. If a developer proposes headless, ask what the theme route cannot do for you, and who pays for and maintains the hosting after launch.

Marketplace app or custom integration?

Use an app when one does the job; build custom when your process is different or no app fits. BigCommerce's documentation describes the ways an integration can connect to your store (BigCommerce, types of apps; BigCommerce, API accounts):

  • Single-click apps install through OAuth: the store owner or an authorised user clicks Install and grants the permissions the app asks for. Apps approved by BigCommerce's Marketplace team are listed on the App Marketplace.
  • Unlisted apps are approved but not listed; only a store with the app's direct installation link can install one, which suits a private integration built for one business.
  • Store-level API accounts are created in your control panel for one integration on one store, by the store owner or a user with the store-level API account permissions. Revoking access means deleting the API account.

Questions to ask: which apps they propose and what each costs per month, what the custom code will do that an app cannot, which API scopes the integration needs (read-only where possible), and how errors are logged and retried. For any credential, ask who generates it and how it is revoked when the developer's work ends.

Our published work shows what a good integration looks like, even though these projects are on Magento and Shopify rather than BigCommerce. For Prime Scuba, a dive-gear retailer, we built a separate catalogue manager that sends products to the store through a queue-based connector with an id map and an audit log (Prime Scuba case study). For Beliri, a designer-goods marketplace, we built a Shopify connector with app install through OAuth, product and privacy webhooks and a scheduled product import (Beliri case study). Ask any BigCommerce developer the same things: how changes are queued, how records are matched between systems, and where you can see what was sent.

How should data migration and redirects be handled?

Ask for a written migration plan before you sign. It should cover:

  1. What moves: products and variants, categories, customers, order history, reviews and content pages. Our service page lists products, customers and order history as the core of a move to BigCommerce.
  2. What does not move: for example, whether customer passwords and saved payment cards can be carried over or customers must reset them, and how customers are told.
  3. A test migration on a non-live store, checked by you, before the final run.
  4. A full URL map from every old product, category and content URL to its new one, loaded as 301 redirects.
  5. A cut-over plan with a freeze on catalogue changes and a final delta import.

BigCommerce manages redirects under Settings, 301 Redirects, with CSV import. The store must be on a paid plan, the user needs the 301 Redirects permission, and "Wildcard 301 redirects cannot be created natively". A redirect can point at a fixed URL or at a product or category, so it follows that item if its URL changes later; with several storefronts, redirects are managed per storefront domain (BigCommerce Help Center, 301 redirects). Our guide to 301 redirects explains why a missing map costs search traffic.

We have run this kind of move on other platforms. For one online retailer we built a responsive Magento theme and then migrated the store from Magento 1 to Magento 2, including theme, data and customisations, and handled order export and fixes afterwards (Magento 1 to 2 migration case study). The aftermath is where weak migrations show, so ask how long the developer stays on after cut-over.

Who should own the accounts and the code?

You should. Specifically:

  • The BigCommerce account. BigCommerce describes the Store Owner as "the primary user for your entire BigCommerce account"; only that user can reach billing, change the plan, buy domains or SSL certificates and assign high-risk permissions (BigCommerce Help Center, Store Owner). Create the store under your business email, and add developers as users with limited permissions. If a developer created it, ownership can be transferred by the current owner, or through BigCommerce support if the developer who holds it is unresponsive.
  • The theme and custom code in a repository your business owns, with the developer added as a collaborator. At Impinge, you own the theme code and customisations we write for you, and the contract should say the same for any developer you hire.
  • Apps and credentials. Ask whose BigCommerce developer account an app is registered under, and keep a list of every API credential with its scopes.
  • Third-party accounts (payment provider, shipping, email, analytics) in your name, not the developer's.

What support should you expect after launch?

Agree it before launch, not after the first problem. Ask for: who you contact and how fast they respond, how theme updates and app updates are tested, who watches integration errors, how small changes are priced, and what documentation you receive at handover (theme structure, integration flows, credentials list, redirect file).

Which questions should you ask, and what are the red flags?

Questions to ask:

  1. Which live BigCommerce stores have you built, and what did you do on each?
  2. Stencil or Catalyst for us, and why?
  3. Which features come from apps, at what monthly cost, and which are custom?
  4. What exactly moves in the migration, and how will you test it?
  5. Can we see the URL redirect map before launch?
  6. Who will be the Store Owner, and where will the code live?
  7. Who is doing the work, and who supports us after launch?

Red flags:

  • They want to be the Store Owner, or to keep the code in their own account.
  • No redirect map, or "Google will figure it out".
  • Headless proposed without a reason a theme cannot meet.
  • A fixed price before they have seen your catalogue, integrations or current platform.
  • Live stores they cannot show, or work they cannot describe in detail.
  • Shared logins instead of named user accounts.

FAQ

Should I hire a freelancer or an agency for BigCommerce?

Either can work. A freelancer suits a defined theme change or small fix. An agency suits a migration or integration that needs design, development, testing and support together. Judge both by live BigCommerce work, code you can see and clear ownership terms.

Does a BigCommerce partner tier matter?

It helps you shortlist. BigCommerce describes Elite partners as having launched Enterprise stores and Preferred partners as offering a full suite of services. It does not tell you who will work on your store, so still ask for live stores and code.

Is a headless Catalyst store better than a Stencil theme?

Not by default. Catalyst gives full control of the storefront in Next.js but adds hosting, deployment and maintenance. Stencil is hosted by BigCommerce and suits most stores. Choose headless only for something a theme cannot do.

Will we lose search traffic when we move to BigCommerce?

You risk it if old URLs are not redirected. A full map of every old product, category and content URL to its new address, loaded as 301 redirects before launch, is the main protection. BigCommerce cannot create wildcard redirects natively, so plan patterns at the domain level if needed.

What should the contract say about ownership?

That your business is the Store Owner, that you own the theme code and customisations written for you, that the code lives in a repository you control, and that all credentials are listed and handed over or revoked when the work ends.

Sources (10 links)
Share this article