BigCommerce is a powerful platform out of the box, but its real magic comes from the ecosystem of apps that extend its functionality. The right combination of apps can transform an ordinary online store into a high-performance e-commerce engine that drives growth, simplifies operations, and delights customers.
With hundreds of apps in the BigCommerce marketplace, choosing which ones to invest in can feel overwhelming. Based on our experience helping clients succeed with BigCommerce, here are ten apps that consistently deliver strong value for mid-market and B2B e-commerce businesses.
1. Klaviyo for Email Marketing
Email marketing remains one of the highest-ROI channels in e-commerce, and Klaviyo is the gold standard for serious online stores. Its deep integration with BigCommerce allows for sophisticated segmentation based on browsing behavior, purchase history, customer lifetime value, and dozens of other variables.
With Klaviyo, you can build automated flows for cart abandonment, browse abandonment, post-purchase follow-ups, win-back campaigns, and birthday celebrations. The platform’s real-time analytics show exactly which campaigns are driving revenue, making it easy to optimize.
For most BigCommerce stores doing more than $500K in annual revenue, Klaviyo pays for itself many times over.
2. ShipperHQ for Advanced Shipping
Shipping is one of the most critical (and frustrating) aspects of e-commerce. ShipperHQ adds advanced shipping logic to BigCommerce, including:
- Real-time rates from multiple carriers
- Rate calculations based on cart weight, dimensions, destination, and product attributes
- Free shipping thresholds with promotional triggers
- Customer-specific shipping rules
- Multi-warehouse routing
For businesses with complex shipping needs, hazardous materials, oversized products, multiple fulfillment locations, ShipperHQ eliminates the workarounds that frustrate customers and erode margins.
3. Searchspring for Site Search and Merchandising
Site search is consistently one of the highest-converting features on any e-commerce store. Searchspring replaces BigCommerce’s native search with an AI-powered solution that includes:
- Intelligent search suggestions and autocomplete
- Personalized search results based on customer behavior
- Visual merchandising controls for category pages
- A/B testing of search and category configurations
- Detailed search analytics
For stores with large catalogs, Searchspring’s impact on conversion rates can be dramatic. It’s an investment that pays for itself quickly through higher average order values and conversion improvements.
4. Yotpo for Reviews and User-Generated Content
Reviews drive purchase decisions. Yotpo makes it easy to collect, manage, and display reviews, photos, and videos from your customers. It also includes:
- Automated review request emails
- Visual UGC galleries
- SMS marketing capabilities
- Loyalty program features
For brands building authentic relationships with customers, Yotpo’s UGC capabilities create social proof that converts browsers into buyers.
5. Avalara AvaTax for Sales Tax
Sales tax compliance is a constant headache, especially with economic nexus rules requiring registration in many states. Avalara AvaTax automates tax calculations at checkout, files returns, and manages exemption certificates.
For multi-state and international businesses, AvaTax eliminates the risk of incorrect tax collection while saving hours of manual work each month. It also integrates seamlessly with NetSuite, ensuring tax data flows consistently across systems.
6. NetSuite Connector by Celigo
For businesses running NetSuite as their ERP, the Celigo NetSuite connector is essential. It automates the flow of:
- Orders from BigCommerce to NetSuite
- Customers and customer updates
- Product and inventory sync
- Fulfillment status and tracking back to BigCommerce
- Refunds and cancellations
While Celigo’s pre-built connector handles many use cases well, businesses with unique requirements often benefit from custom integration work. Working with experienced developers who specialize in BigCommerce NetSuite integration(opens in new tab) ensures the integration aligns with your specific business processes.
7. Bundle B2B for Wholesale Functionality
For B2B businesses, Bundle B2B adds powerful wholesale capabilities to BigCommerce:
- Customer hierarchies with multiple buyers per account
- Approval workflows for purchase orders
- Custom catalogs and pricing per customer
- Quote management
- Quick reorder capabilities
- Net terms and credit limits
For wholesalers and distributors moving from offline ordering processes to digital, Bundle B2B accelerates the transition dramatically. Combined with custom development work, it can power sophisticated B2B portals that rival custom-built solutions at a fraction of the cost.
8. Smile.io for Loyalty Programs
Customer retention is more profitable than acquisition. Smile.io makes it easy to build loyalty programs that drive repeat purchases:
- Points-based reward systems
- Referral programs
- VIP tiers
- Birthday and milestone rewards
For brands with strong customer relationships, a loyalty program can significantly increase customer lifetime value. Smile.io‘s integration with BigCommerce makes implementation straightforward.
9. Justuno for Conversion Optimization
Justuno provides on-site personalization, exit-intent popups, email capture, and conversion optimization tools. With advanced targeting based on visitor behavior, traffic source, geography, and cart contents, you can deliver the right message to the right visitor at the right time.
For e-commerce sites investing in paid traffic, conversion optimization tools like Justuno significantly improve ROI by capturing more revenue from existing traffic.
10. Custom BigCommerce Apps
The ten apps above are widely used and broadly applicable. But every business has unique needs, and sometimes off-the-shelf apps don’t quite fit. This is where custom development comes in.
Custom BigCommerce apps(opens in new tab) can deliver capabilities tailored to your specific business model: specialized configurators, custom integration points, proprietary loyalty mechanics, or unique B2B workflows. While custom development requires more investment than installing a pre-built app, the payoff in differentiation and operational efficiency can be substantial.
How to Evaluate BigCommerce Apps
With so many apps available, how do you decide which ones to invest in? A few principles:
- Solve real problems, not hypothetical ones: Don’t install apps for problems you don’t actually have.
- Calculate ROI: Each app has a cost, both monetary and operational. Estimate the value it will deliver before committing.
- Beware of overlap: Many apps offer overlapping features. Don’t pay for the same capability twice.
- Check the integration depth: An app that integrates deeply with BigCommerce (and other tools like your ERP) is more valuable than one that lives in isolation.
- Test in staging: Use BigCommerce’s staging environment to test apps before deploying to production.
App Strategy and Stack Architecture
Beyond individual app selection, smart e-commerce leaders think about their overall app stack architecture. Questions to consider:
- How do these apps integrate with each other? With your ERP?
- What’s our total monthly spend on apps, and is it justified?
- Are there apps we should retire because we no longer use them or because better options exist?
- What’s our process for evaluating new apps that come to market?
A well-architected app stack reinforces your strategy. A poorly managed one becomes a sprawl of redundant tools that drain budget without delivering proportional value.
When to Build vs. Buy
For most needs, off-the-shelf apps are the right choice. They’re cheaper to acquire, faster to deploy, and maintained by the vendor.
But for capabilities that are core to your competitive differentiation, or that require unique business logic, custom development may be warranted. Building proprietary functionality on top of BigCommerce’s robust API is a viable strategy for companies that have the resources to invest.
The decision often comes down to: is this capability table stakes, or is it a differentiator? Table stakes capabilities should be bought. Differentiators may be worth building.
Getting Help
Selecting, implementing, and managing BigCommerce apps is part technology and part strategy. Many companies benefit from external expertise to optimize their app stack and ensure investments deliver value.
At Anchor Group, our BigCommerce practice has helped clients across industries get the most from the platform. We can help you evaluate apps, build custom solutions, integrate with NetSuite and other systems, and design a stack architecture that scales with your business.
The right apps don’t just add features, they multiply the value of your BigCommerce investment. Treat your app strategy as a core part of your e-commerce planning, not an afterthought, and you’ll see the difference in conversion rates, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
