In early 2021, BigCommerce made significant updates to its product catalog, transitioning from version 2(v2) to version 3(v3). Our BigCommerce application was built on top of the new structure provided by v3, which means we cannot support merchants using catalog v2.
You can find more information about the changes to product catalogs and the process of migrating here.
Summary of essential changes
| Area | V2 | V3 |
| Product Variants | Products could have SKUs created with a subset of product options. | Every purchasable entity, including the product itself, is now considered a variant. This change enhances inventory management by allowing the use of the variants endpoint to manage inventory levels. Each combination of option values must be created as a variant |
| Options and Modifiers | Options were organized into option sets, which were then applied to products. Creating options involved multiple steps: creating the product, creating the options, creating an option set, assigning the option set to the product, and creating adjustments using rules | Options are directly attached to products, eliminating the need for option sets. Options are divided into two types: Variant options (which have unique SKUs and track inventory) and Modifier options (which allow customization without inventory tracking). This simplifies the creation and management of variant prices and modifier adjusters |
| Navigation in BigCommerce | Navigation through product sections was done using tabs at the top of the screen. | Navigation is listed along the left side of the screen, which was intended to improve the experience for mobile users. However, this change has been criticized for making it difficult to access off-screen sections without extensive scrolling. |
| Product Management in BigCommerce | Product details were laid out in a series of tabs. | All product information is displayed on a single screen with a left navigation area linking to each section |
How do I know which I am using?
The easiest way to spot the difference is going into BigCommerce and editing a product.
If it looks like this, you are on BigCommerce products v3 and are all set.
If it looks like this, you are on BigCommerce products v2 and will need to do a migration. You can find more information about the changes to product catalogs and the process of migrating here.