BigCommerce Announces Key Design Agency Partnerships and Unveils New Framework for Custom Storefront Development

Company inks 12 new agency partners worldwide; expands global network of BigCommerce certified design experts

AUSTIN, Texas — December 15, 2015 — BigCommerce, the leading commerce platform for fast-growing and mid-market brands, today announced it has signed a strategic partnership with recognized design expert Pixel Union. As part of the agreement, the companies announced plans to deliver a re-architected, modern storefront development framework in Q1 2016, providing brands and developers with access to powerful storefront and theme development capabilities for faster and more cost-effective site creation on the BigCommerce platform. BigCommerce also announced it has signed and certified 12 new agency partners — including Ecommerce Partners, Interstellar and Springbox — expanding its global network of BigCommerce Experts to more than 350 partners worldwide.

“Leading retailers are increasingly choosing cloud-based tools to power their online stores, and BigCommerce is one of the leaders of this movement,” said Ben Moore, CEO of Pixel Union. “This new framework makes storefront development easier and faster — a win for merchants and developers alike — while giving merchants the ability to build iconic brand experiences at a fraction of the cost as compared to on-premise platforms.”

For theme and frontend developers, the new BigCommerce development framework offers a host of unique features and benefits over competitive solutions, including:

Rapid local development and redesign environment. With the new framework, BigCommerce is the only hosted platform to offer a local development environment, the ability to develop with a live store catalogue, and rapidly preview and make changes.
Flexible, logic-based templates using familiar coding languages. Developers can create in preferred and well-known coding languages, including Handlebars and Node.js, avoiding the learning curve associated with proprietary development languages.
“Browsersync” preview and cross-device testing. Available as a standard feature within the new development environment, developers will be able to preview site changes instantly across mobile, tablet and desktop devices through native access to Browsersync capability.

“This new development framework will enable our customers and partners to create a new class of immersive and beautiful storefronts, coupling powerful design and merchandising capabilities with BigCommerce’s leading SEO tools and cloud-based infrastructure,” said Russell Griffin, vice president of enterprise sales and design and solution partnerships for BigCommerce. “Additionally, our growing partner network highlights that the industry’s foremost agencies are increasingly choosing BigCommerce, providing our customers with access to decades of expertise and leadership in ecommerce design.”

The new theme framework is now available for select developer early access. Design and development agencies interested in learning more about developing on BigCommerce can register to become a partner and gain access to training and resources at www.bigcommerce.com/partners.

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