Problem Statement

A leading Australian property developer launched a new e-commerce platform in 2023 to bridge the gap between its physical retail network and the growing demand for digital shopping. The goal was to create a scalable, multi-brand online marketplace that would support both national and local retailers, offering a broad range of products from fashion to homewares. 

With a catalog of over 33,000 products and numerous sellers, the platform required a flexible, modern digital infrastructure. The client chose BigCommerce to power the storefront, ensuring seamless integration with their backend marketplace operations. 

The project scope included: 

• A dynamic, user-friendly front-end tailored for large product volumes 
• Advanced visual merchandising tools 
• Streamlined navigation and product discovery 
• A transparent checkout experience aligned with a multi-seller environment 
• Easy-to-manage content tools for internal marketing teams 
• Full blog content migration from Marketplacer without SEO impact 

This initiative demanded custom development, UI/UX enhancements, and strategic integrations; all while delivering a premium, localized online retail experience. 

Our Solution

We collaborated closely with the client to build and launch a new BigCommerce storefront that is scalable, customizable, and optimized for both customer engagement and operational flexibility. 

Content Agility with Custom Page Builder Widgets: We developed custom BigCommerce Page Builder widgets, enabling the client’s marketing team to manage content such as promotional banners, featured collections, and informational pages independently, without needing constant developer support. 

Seamless Browsing with InfinityLoad : To enhance category navigation and reduce friction: 

• We replaced default pagination with a custom InfinityLoad system, using AJAX to load products dynamically as users clicked the “Load More” button. 
• This approach maintains page context, reduced bounce rates, and improved mobile usability. 
• Leveraged BigCommerce APIs for asynchronous product retrieval. 

Interactive PLP Swatches for Better Variant Visibility : We implemented color swatches directly on Product Listing Pages (PLPs): 

• Variants were pulled from the product catalog in real-time. 
• On hover or click, product images update instantly to reflect the selected variant.  
• This reduced click-through necessity and improved user engagement during product browsing. 

Enhanced Product Detail Pages (PDP): We built enriched PDPs leveraging product metafields: 

• Displayed structured content like size guides, shipping policies, return info, and key product features. 
• Includes an interactive color Swatch selector directly on the PDP. 
• Integrated upsell promotional messaging using brand-specific metafields. 
• Developed a custom image gallery with a minimalist lightbox for improved visual presentation. 

Marketplace-Aware Cart & Checkout: Given the multi-seller setup, we enhanced the cart and checkout experience by: 

• Grouping items by seller, offering transparency into costs and simplifying the customer journey. 
• Displaying seller-specific tax, shipping, and discount breakdowns. 
• Maintaining a streamlined, one-page checkout to minimize abandonment. 

Blog Migration via Custom Scraping & API : To retain SEO performance and valuable content: 

• We scraped blog content (HTML, images, metadata) from the legacy Marketplacer site. 
• Used BigCommerce’s REST API to import posts into the new CMS. 
• Preserved SEO-critical elements like canonical URLs, metadata, and image assets. 
• Ensured formatting fidelity and a seamless user transition. 

Outcome and Business Impact

• Seamless Digital Expansion: We successfully launched the new e-commerce platform, extending the client’s physical retail presence online and offering over 33,000 products from multiple sellers with no disruption to operations.
• Improved User Experience : InfinityLoad, interactive swatches, and rich PDP content provided a more immersive and efficient shopping journey, especially for mobile users.
• Operational Agility : The client’s internal teams now have full control over content updates, product merchandising, and promotional campaigns, reducing reliance on developers and speeding up time-to-market.
• Checkout Clarity in a Multi-Seller Environment: By displaying detailed seller-specific cost breakdowns at checkout, we ensure transparency and trust, improving the overall buyer experience and minimizing cart abandonment.
• Preserved SEO Value: Blog migration retained full SEO integrity, allowing the site to continue benefiting from legacy search rankings and organic traffic post-replatform.
• Scalable Architecture: The modular frontend and seamless API integrations ensure that the platform is well-equipped to scale, onboard new sellers, expand product categories, and evolve as the business grows.