Big Cartel Features Update: What's New in 2020

You already know the ways that 2020 came at all of us fast and unexpectedly, but through it all, the Big Cartel team pulled off some pretty great stuff. We're proud of how BC employees balanced taking extra time to take care of themselves and their loved ones with showing up to build tools and answer questions to keep your shops up and running.

Our team has also transitioned to launching Beta features, meaning that we update your shop's capabilities more often, in smaller ways. It helps you by giving you new tools sooner, and helps us build better features by getting feedback from real, working shop owners. Plus it's more fun for the person who gets to announce the new stuff (hi, it me), because you can see more of this year's work.

In case you've been busy dealing with... gestures at the world in general, here's what we added to your shop this year:

New Theme

When you set up your shop, you can choose from one of many free, built-in design templates or themes that help you get started on deciding the look of your shop. Our latest addition is Roadie, which has some great bells and surprisingly nice whistles created with bands and record labels in mind.

Sales Tax Autopilot

Big Cartel now automatically calculates and collects sales tax on all U.S. bound orders. We calculate and remit these funds on your behalf, because we know this can be a confusing and stressful part of running a shop.

Product Data Importing

For folks who've already set up a shop on another platform, we've made it easier to switch to Big Cartel or add it to your online lineup. Import product data with just a few clicks, rather than manually adding one item at a time.

Subscriptions Beta

While we don't often use business phrases like "diversify your revenue streams," subscriptions can be a great way to diversify your revenue streams. They create an opportunity for devoted fans to help sustain the creators and brands they love, no strings attached.

Shipping Profiles Beta

There's a new way to calculate shipping prices, based on the requests from shops that wanted to offer different shipping methods or speeds to their shoppers. Shipping Profiles standardize your shipping prices (meaning they're not a specific price per product) and focus on shipping destinations and methods. It's another Beta feature, which means we ain't done yet, but it's worth looking into if you offer an Express Shipping add-on for holiday shoppers.

Upgrades for All Plans

Oh, did we mention that we added some bonuses to every single dang shop without changing our prices? In March, we announced Plan Upgrades that applied to all new and existing Big Cartel shops.

For our paid plans, we increased the product count across the board. The Diamond plan now includes 250 products (up from 100). The Platinum plan has room for up to 50 products (up from 25), and we threw in product option groups (that's when you can have more than one drop-down option) for good measure.

With the free Gold plan, you can now create discount codes, use those handy product option groups, and there's a place to add shipment tracking for orders. And it's still free.

As we approach the busy holiday season, many shops look to update and optimize for buyers, and then focus on promoting and shipping while their website does its thing. This is a friendly reminder to take a fresh look at which features you're using, and consider what other tools might set you up for success.