FAQs

Every SparkLayer plan from Starter to Enterprise works with BigCommerce. See Plans and features and the SparkLayer pricing page (opens in a new tab).

When you sign up, our team contacts you to discuss the most suitable plan. Billing is monthly, with the option to pay annually.

You can install SparkLayer on BigCommerce without choosing a plan first. Our team then contacts you about next steps. Once your plan is active, we can move you up or down a plan as your needs change.

In the BigCommerce App Marketplace (opens in a new tab). See Install SparkLayer on BigCommerce.

SparkLayer needs BigCommerce customer groups, so it works on BigCommerce Plus, Pro and Enterprise. You need an active BigCommerce store.

Yes. On a development or test store, we can turn on a developer mode so you can use SparkLayer before you start a billing plan. Contact us to set this up.

Yes. You can install SparkLayer on your existing retail BigCommerce store and run both from it. We call this a hybrid setup. When B2B customers sign in, they see the SparkLayer frontend interfaces with their prices and ordering options. Try it on our BigCommerce demo store.

Yes, free of charge. To ask our team, click Request installation at Storefront,Widgets (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab)Opens in your SparkLayer DashboardTakes you straight to Storefront › Widgets to do this now, whichever platform you're on. Opens in a new tab., or Install SparkLayer for me in the app in BigCommerce. We can usually do this within 1–2 working days. We then offer an onboarding session to walk you through how everything works. See Request free installation.

Yes, SparkLayer works with all BigCommerce themes, including fully customised ones. Our team can add the code snippets for you, free of charge.

The SparkLayer widgets (B2B pricing, the cart and the My Account area) only load when a customer in a B2B customer group signs in. Everyone else sees your store as it is today, so you control exactly who sees B2B prices and can place B2B orders.

Yes. SparkLayer can run alongside it, so you can try SparkLayer first and uninstall the other app when you're ready. If the other app changed your theme's code, you can ask its developer to remove those changes, but you don't have to.

Yes, when they choose Pay Online by Card at the SparkLayer checkout. They're then taken to the BigCommerce checkout, which shows every payment method you've set up in BigCommerce (such as PayPal or Affirm). Any payment method BigCommerce supports can be used this way.

A few options work well together:

• Limit what a customer group can see. In BigCommerce, edit the customer group and, under Group Access, untick Customers in this group can see products in all categories across all channels. Then tick only the categories the group should see.
• Create a B2B-only collection and send customers to it when they sign in. B2B-only products need to be separate products in BigCommerce, each with its own SKU.
• Leave products out of your price lists. If a SKU has no B2B price, B2B customers can't buy it.
• Customise your theme to hide or show products with custom code.

Yes. An automatic price list can use your BigCommerce prices (such as your retail price) and apply a discount, for example 20% off. It can also allow for your BigCommerce tax setup, whether your prices include or exclude tax. See Managing pricing.

You can't on BigCommerce. BigCommerce doesn't allow stock to go below zero, so SparkLayer can't take orders for stock that isn't available yet. See BigCommerce limitations.

You can still show stock status messages and "due in" dates, so customers know when stock arrives. See Stock display.

Yes. SparkLayer matches B2B prices to products by SKU, so a product without a unique SKU can't show B2B prices. You can add SKUs to products one at a time, or in bulk with BigCommerce's product import or bulk edit.

Not completely. When retail and B2B run from the same store, they share the same stock. SparkLayer can reserve stock for retail customers, which stops B2B customers ordering too much of a product. But BigCommerce has no way to stop retail customers ordering from your stock.

To separate stock fully, either create B2B-only products, or set up a separate store for your B2B customers.

Yes, if you use both storefronts for wholesale. Edit the product in your BigCommerce admin and select both storefronts as sales channels. See also the multi-storefront notes in BigCommerce limitations.

Use SparkLayer Forms: build an application form, embed it on your registration page, and approve each applicant into a customer group. See Use SparkLayer Forms on BigCommerce for what's different on BigCommerce.

You can also customise your existing registration page with custom code, or use one of BigCommerce's recommended form builder apps (opens in a new tab). To review applications yourself, add approved customers manually in Customers.

See Customers and the Launch checklist.

No. SparkLayer only loads when a B2B customer signs in; for retail customers, no SparkLayer code loads at all. For B2B customers, the widgets load asynchronously, so the effect on page load times is negligible.

We recommend talking to a BigCommerce expert developer before changing your theme. They can use this Stencil code to show content only to signed-in B2B customers:

{{#contains (toLowerCase customer_group_name) "b2b"}}

  <!-- This content will only show for logged in B2B customers -->

{{/contains}}

In Orders, like any other order. Their status depends on the payment method:

• Card payments (Pay Online by Card): Awaiting Fulfillment.
• Offline payments (Pay on Account and Pay by Invoice): Awaiting Payment. Update the status once you've received payment.
• Quotes (Request for Quote): Incomplete.

See How B2B orders arrive in BigCommerce.

SparkLayer shows a B2B order as Shipped when both of these are true in BigCommerce:

• The order is marked as Shipped.
• The order has a shipment assigned to it.

Until then, the order stays as Processing.

Yes. Open the order in Orders in your BigCommerce admin and edit it as you would any other order, before it's fulfilled.

SparkLayer doesn't send invoices itself. Use an invoicing app for BigCommerce, or send invoices from your existing finance system.

Yes. You can set minimum and maximum quantities for a product or a variant, including with BigCommerce's own Minimum and Maximum Order Quantity setting: see Quantity rules. For the whole order, set order limits on a customer group in Customers,Groups (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab)Opens in your SparkLayer DashboardTakes you straight to Customers › Groups to do this now, whichever platform you're on. Opens in a new tab.: a minimum or maximum order total, or a minimum or maximum number of items. See Set order limits.

In your BigCommerce admin, go to Settings,Order Notifications.