Getting Started
Products on BigCommerce
Before we start working with the Catalog API, it is essential to understand how BigCommerce views products. The list of terms below explains the different types of products that can be available in a storefront’s catalog.
Products
Products are the primary catalog entity. The primary function of any ecommerce platform is to sell products on the storefront and other selling channels.
Products can either be Simple or Complex.
Simple Products
Simple products do not have any variant options or modifier options, and therefore cannot be configured or modified before they are added to cart.
A simple product has a base variant.
Complex Products
Complex products have at least one option: either a variant option, modifier options, or a combination of both.
Digital Products
Digital products are purchasable items that do not have a physical representation and are not shipped to the customer.
Examples would be PDF manuals, ebooks, music files, or tickets.
Downloadable Product Files
Downloadable product files are intended for products of the “digital” type, typically for selling some kind of media file or software.
Physical Products
Physical products are typically products that exist in a physical form, have a weight, and sell with the intent of shipping them to customers.
Products in a Multi-Storefront Setting
The cardinal rule of multi-channel sales - products must be explicitly assigned to a channel to be sold on that channel.
In a multi-storefront setting, each storefront has its own channel. A channel has its own collection of categories, a category tree, and list of products. A product can be assigned to multiple channels, but each product must have an assigned channel in order to be sold on that channel. A channel can be used for regions sold in or brands.
The diagram below shows the relationship between a store, a channel and product in a multi-storefront setting.
The Nuances of Channel Assignments
A product assigned to a storefront channel can be sold on that channel, discovered in search and accessed by direct link, unless that storefront’s settings otherwise disable direct links.
Removing a product from a channel will make that product unavailable on the given channel. The product will remain categorized, but it will not be available using category filters, search, or direct link.
Removing a product from a category does not remove it from the channel. Use the Channel Assignments API (covered later in this course) to revoke channel assignments.
Removing a product from one or all channel’s categories without revoking the channel assignment will remove the product from the category views and filters, but shoppers will still be able to access the product by search or direct link. This may be useful for sales campaigns that send shoppers a direct link to purchase a specific product.
Channels include settings, sites, metafields, and other resources. See the BigCommerce Channels Overview for details.
Getting Started
Now let’s start working with the Catalog API. The first step is generating API tokens. These tokens are used to configure your REST client and authenticate your API calls.
In the first lab activity of this course you will generate tokens, install and configure the Postman REST client, send a request to GET products and create a simple product.
