The summary of ‘BigCommerce Town Hall – February 29, 2024’

The video showcases BigCommerce's Town Hall event updates, emphasizing profitability, customer success, and unique solutions like Composable Commerce and headless architectures. The speaker discusses Catalyst as a fast storefront experience, enhanced by GraphQL APIs, PayPal's Fast Lane, and successful merchant engagements with brands like Mauno and Muji. Significant focuses include educational programs, trend predictions for 2024, and upcoming updates like Catalyst for composable builds and AI tools. The video also covers leveraging Amazon for site traffic, payment localization, multi-storefront capabilities, updates on PayPal Fast Lane, advanced permissions, multi-warehouse inventory management, and app marketplace enhancements. The use of Catalyst across industries and the invitation to join the online community are highlighted, signifying a versatile and cutting-edge e-commerce approach tailored for diverse businesses.

00:00:00

In this part of the video, Drew introduces the BigCommerce Town Hall event where customers and partners are updated on platform enhancements. CEO Brent Bellum discusses BigCommerce’s focus on profitability and customer success, contrasting with competitor price increases. The company achieved profitability in Q4 2023 and emphasizes growth through creating value. Significant improvements in sitewide and checkout conversions for enterprise customers are highlighted. Composable Commerce and headless solutions are mentioned, catering to businesses with unique user experiences or complex requirements.

00:10:00

In this segment of the video, Catalyst, a reference composable architecture based on Next.js and React, is introduced, allowing for the quick setup of a Sandbox or starter store within 60 seconds. This architecture is pre-integrated with various popular content management systems and solutions. Additionally, advancements in GraphQL APIs have been made to enhance the checkout and product pages. The segment further discusses the introduction of PayPal’s Fast Lane feature for accelerated checkout, as well as the successful ramping up of volumes by big B2C and B2B merchants. Several big brands like Mauno, Muji, and others are launching on Big Commerce, showcasing the platform’s versatility. Lastly, unique implementations like BitKey’s self-custodial crypto storage and various innovative storefronts, including a European car brand and a wholesaler of Cutting Edge Fabrics, are highlighted.

00:20:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the launch of a new educational program focusing on publishing and education dating back to 1975. They highlight several B2B companies, such as a seller of HVAC parts and a supplier of cutting and welding machines, emphasizing BigCommerce’s expertise in industrial B2B categories. The video transitions to Melissa Dixon announcing an improved blog experience consolidating product updates on the main BigCommerce blog. Additionally, predictions and trends for 2024 are discussed, along with the launch of new video series like B2B Bites and Revenue Expansion. Other resources highlighted include a BOPUS guide, a B2B playbook, and a customer spotlight on the beer bat brand. Troy from the product team then teases upcoming updates, such as Catalyst for composable builds, instant commerce, advanced B2B features, and new AI tools.

00:30:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the introduction of Catalyst, an open-source product on GitHub designed to streamline headless e-commerce experiences based on BigCommerce’s expertise. Catalyst aims to provide a fast storefront experience and emphasizes performance, SEO optimization, and user accessibility. The default version is intentionally unstyled to enable customization for each brand, offering a quick deployment option with all essential e-commerce features already implemented. The speaker also mentions the ongoing and upcoming features of Catalyst, including multi-storefront support and emphasis on customer login areas, multi-Geo selling, and integrations with popular technology partners. Additionally, the segment highlights the technical underpinnings of Catalyst, such as a perfect Lighthouse score, GraphQL API enhancements, and a react component library for easier development. The speaker encourages viewers to explore more about Catalyst on their website and showcases its value in enhancing the e-commerce and fulfillment experience for consumers through instant Commerce.

00:40:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses how leveraging Amazon can drive site traffic to brick and mortar stores, presenting a new opportunity. They highlight that brands with 5 to 10 physical locations in the US can benefit from this approach, emphasizing the importance of having products in the right price range to drive conversions. The speaker goes on to explain the requirements for getting started, such as onboarding with the Feedonomics team to understand business needs and integrate systems. Real-time synchronization is discussed, emphasizing its importance in resolving issues like price and availability discrepancies and enhancing customer experience. The speaker then introduces Google AI-powered product recommendations and updates on the integration of Fast Lane by PayPal to improve the checkout process.

00:50:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker talks about the new features and improvements in the PayPal Fast Lane system for efficient checkout processes. They emphasize creating a seamless quoting process in the B2B Edition with Quotes 2.0, aiming to save time for sales reps and improve workflow. Additionally, the video discusses enhancements in transactional email automation, company credit availability, custom shipping for quotes, shopping list and item notes, and international expansion strategies for personalized localized storefront experiences to cater to diverse markets.

01:00:00

In this segment of the video, the focus is on payment localization and tax settings for multi-storefront brands. The speaker discusses the rollout of a new payment user interface allowing unique configurations per channel, catering to different payment methods and currencies. The localization of taxes is highlighted, showcasing how prices can be displayed inclusive or exclusive of taxes based on the shopper’s region to provide a personalized front-end experience. Additionally, updates on data processing changes by Google for users in the European economic area are mentioned, emphasizing the importance of collecting consent for analytics and advertising purposes. The integration with Google Analytics is updated to support the consent mode functionality. The segment closes with a mention of introducing predictive analytics using BigQuery ML, encouraging partnerships with brands interested in leveraging this tool for customer segmentation and lifetime value prediction based on store data.

01:10:00

In this segment of the video, the main points covered include:
– The feature of creating shipments using a barcode scanner on Android, soon to be available on iOS.
– Advanced permissions launched for employees to manage keys and installations.
– Updates on enhancements for creating shipments, such as sorting packing lists and viewing gift wrapping info.
– Discussion on multi-warehouse inventory management and backorder functionality.
– Plans for developing bundling and temporary sale prices, including custom order statuses.
– Best practices to avoid credit card chargebacks and fraud.
– Options for point-of-sale systems, improving custom checkout pages, and expanding the app marketplace.

01:20:00

In this part of the video, key points include the discussion on new capabilities in the apps Marketplace, such as automated billing for developers. This feature will enable app developers to easily add their billing onto a Big Commerce bill, streamlining the process for both developers and customers. Additionally, plans for redesigning gift certificates to support multiple storefronts were mentioned, with current solutions available in the app marketplace. Further discussions focused on potential improvements to the page builder for blogs and landing pages, as well as the differentiation between Catalyst and Stencil as offerings for different customer needs. Plans to migrate stores to local hosting servers for faster page speed were highlighted, along with efforts to attract third-party developers through platform enhancements, commercial incentives, and community engagement.

01:30:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the demand for compostable Catalyst in various industries. They mention that the demand is more about the stage a customer’s business is at, rather than being industry-specific. The Catalyst technology is designed for businesses with a cutting-edge approach and a sophisticated development team. The speaker explains that Catalyst is industry-agnostic and suitable for both B2C and B2B businesses. The segment concludes with an invitation to join the online community and a thank you to all panelists, customers, and partners.