Glossary

We know the discourse of ecommerce changes over time. If we find a word choice in our vocabulary doesn’t make sense anymore, we'll change it.

1, 2, 3

2-step verification: Use “2-step verification.” Don’t use “2 step verification” or “two-step verification.”
3D Secure: 3D Secure is a fraud protection layer available to users as long as they’re using a participating payment gateway. Treat 3D Secure as a proper noun and capitalize accordingly.

A

able to

Avoid using sentences using “You will be able to….” Instead, just say “You can….” It’s shorter and easier to scan.

add

Use “add” when referring to the act of putting a thing with another group of things. Compare this with “connect,” which refers to the act of joining two things together.

For example, users can add products to their catalog. They can also connect their BigCommerce site with a marketplace, like Amazon or Facebook.

App Marketplace

App Marketplace is a proper noun. Capitalize both words.

B

back

“Back” means, “I want to return to the previous step in this workflow without quitting the current process.” Don’t use “back” in place of “cancel.”

BigCommerce

Use BigCommerce. Don’t use Bigcommerce or Big Commerce. And never abbreviate as BC.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

Treat “Buy Now, Pay Later” as a branded, proper noun and use title case.

buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS)

“Pick up” is a verb and should be two words, no hyphen. “In-store” is an adjective describing the type of pick up. In the UK, “buy online, pick up in-store” is called “click and collect.”

At BigCommerce, the default language for UX writing is American English. Accordingly, always use “buy online, pick up in-store.”

Don’t abbreviate as BOPIS.

C

cancel

“Cancel” means, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Any in-progress changes should be discarded as a result of clicking the button.

Don’t use “stop,” “pause,” “terminate” or “nevermind” and don’t use “cancel” in place of “back.”

catalog

A catalog is a collection of virtual representations of a merchant’s saleable products for a channel, stored within the BigCommerce platform. A catalog contains products. Products can be both physical and digital. For the latter, think music downloads, digital images, treatments, services, etc. A collection of products, sorted by the user for merchandising purposes, is called a category.

category

A collection of products, sorted by the user for merchandising purposes.

channel

A place where a BigCommerce user can market and sell goods. Channels include storefronts, marketplaces, advertising and social media.

Channel Manager

Channel Manager is a proper noun. Capitalize both words.

check out, checkout

Use check out (verb) when referring to the act of paying for items and creating an order.

Use checkout (noun) when talking about the place shoppers go to pay for items and create an order.

Use checkout (adjective) when describing the type of page or process.

Never use check-out.

Ready to check out?
When you’re done shopping, proceed to the checkout.
Navigate to the checkout page.

click

Since we don’t know if a user is on a desktop or mobile device, avoid using “click” when instructing the user on how to complete an action within the UI. Whenever possible, write around the issue with generic verbs like “choose,” “select” or “pick.”

Avoid using “hit.”

clickthrough, click-through

Use “clickthrough” (noun) when referring to an instance or multiple instances of clickthrough. Use “click through” (verb) when referring to the act of following a link or button to another site or location.

Don’t use “click-through.”

close

Use “close” instead of “exit” for modals and pop-ups.

connect

Use “connect” when referring to the act of joining two things together. Compare this to “add,” which refers to the act of putting a thing with another group of things.

For example, users can add products to their catalog. They can also connect their BigCommerce site with a marketplace, like Amazon or Facebook.

When writing about an integration between BigCommerce and another third party technology, you’ll probably be using “connect.”

continue

“Continue” means “I want to go forward a step in this workflow,” like an onboarding, for example.

Do not use “next.”

control panel

Control panel is not a proper noun. No need to capitalize. Of course, always capitalize the first letter of the first word if it appears at the start of a sentence. Keep in mind, there are very few instances when you’ll need to refer to the control panel by name. Most of the time you’ll just say “store.”

create

Use “create,” as opposed to “save,” as the CTA when creating a product, customer, setting, object, item etc. for the first time. When making changes to something that already exists, use “save” as the CTA.

customer

Use “customer” when referring to our users’ end-user: the customer. You can use “customer” and “shopper” interchangeably. Just keep in mind, depending on the context, there can be a subtle difference between a shopper and a customer. A shopper is a visitor to a merchant’s storefront who hasn’t necessarily purchased anything.

To avoid confusion, try not to use “customer” to refer to BigCommerce clients. Use “merchant,” “retailer” or “brand” instead.

D

delete: Use “delete” for destructive behaviors. Don’t use “remove” or “dismiss.”
deploy: Use “deploy” when talking about a one-way connection between applications. If one application sends data to another, one time or on an occasional basis, it’s deploying.
details: On its own, as a clickable, UI item, use “details.” Don’t use “information” or “info.”
Dev Center: A resource center for developers looking to make their own solutions using the BigCommerce platform. Dev Center is a proper noun, so capitalize both words.
disable: Use “disable” when referring to the act of turning something off. Don’t use “turn off” or “deactivate.”

E

ecommerce: Use “ecommerce” (or “Ecommerce” if at the start of a sentence). Never use “e-commerce” or “eCommerce.”
edit: Use “edit” when referring to the act of changing previously entered information. Don’t use “change,” “modify,” “update” or “manage.”
email: Do not use “e-mail.” For form field labeling use “Email” instead of “Email address.”
enable: Use “enable” when referring to the act of turning something on. Don’t use “activate,” “deactivate,” “turn on” or “turn off.”

F

finish: Use “finish” as the final CTA in a multi-step workflow, like an onboarding flow, for example.

G

got it: “Got it” means “I understand.” Clicking “got it” is merely an acknowledgment on the part of the user. No change or action should take place as a result of clicking the button.

H

headless: A technology stack that uses a third party solution to create and maintain the shopper-facing front-end of a user’s store, while using BigCommerce for the administrative back-end.
homepage: Use “homepage,” one word, not “home page.”

I

in stock: No hyphen.
in-store: Use “in-store” when describing where something exists or takes place; e.g., “pick up in-store” or “in-store special.” Don’t use “in store.”
internet: Do not capitalize unless at the start of a sentence.

J

K

Knowledge Base: Treat “Knowledge Base” as a proper noun and capitalize both words. Don’t abbreviate as “KB.”

L

Learn more

Use “Learn more” when linking from the control panel to an article in the Knowledge Base.

log in, login

Use “log in” as a verb describing the act of entering one’s username and password to access an account.

Use “login” as a noun referring to the credentials used to log in.

Never use “log-in,” “sign in” or “sign-in.”

M

Multi-Storefront: Multi-Storefront should be capitalized when talking about the specific BigCommerce solution. If speaking about the technology in general, then use lowercase “multi-storefront.”
multi-channel: As in “multi-channel marketing” or “multi-channel fulfillment,” should be two words, hyphenated.

N

need: Use “need” instead of “must” when referring to something merchants or shoppers “need” to do.

O

OK

“OK” means “Yes, I want to do this.” Never use “okay” or “Ok.”

omnichannel

As in “omnichannel marketing,” should be one word. Don’t abbreviate as “omni.”

onboarding

Primarily refers to the new user workflows and helpful tips shown to merchants on the homepage of the Control Panel. Can also refer to the steps taken to connect a channel in Channel Manager.

Optimized One-Page Checkout

Treat as a branded, proper noun and capitalize accordingly.

optional vs. required

Label optional fields. Don’t label required fields. More often than not, a given settings page will have more required fields than optional fields. As such, it makes more sense to denote any optional fields as those are the ones deviating from the merchant’s expectations. Not to mention, it’s less cluttered looking than labeling all the required fields.

Also keep in mind, if a given setting has a default option, it’s not an optional setting and shouldn’t be labeled as such.

P

page

Avoid using “webpage” and “web page.” Use “page” instead.

Page Builder

Used to create and edit pages on a BigCommerce site. Treat Page Builder as a proper noun and capitalize accordingly.

phone

Use “Phone” instead of “Phone number” when labelling form fields.

pick up, pickup

“Pick up” is always a verb, as in “buy online, pick up in-store” or “in-store pick up” or “ready for pick up.”

“Pickup” can be an adjective or a noun. For example, “pickup methods.” In this example “pickup” is acting as an adjective modifying a noun. What kind of methods are these? They are pickup methods.

“Pickup” as a noun refers specifically to a type of vehicle. For example, Philip drives a pickup truck.

Never use “pick-up.”

please

Use “please” only when asking the user to go out of their way to do something. For example, “Please update your credit card info.” Otherwise, it’s okay to just ask the user to perform basic, everyday actions.

pre-order

Don’t use “preorder” or “pre order.”

product

A virtual representation of something a merchant sells on their BigCommerce store. A catalog contains products. Products can be both physical and digital. For the latter, think music downloads, digital images, treatments, services, etc. A collection of products, sorted by the user for merchandising purposes, is called a category.

Product Filtering

Product Filtering is a proper noun when referring to the specific BigCommerce tool. If you’re talking about the general concept, don’t capitalize.

Q, R, S

save: Use “save” when applying changes or saving edits to a product, customer, setting, object, item etc that already exists.
Script Manager: Treat as a proper noun.
select: Use “select” when referring to the act of selecting something in the UI, like a menu item. Avoid using “choose.”
setup, set up: Use “setup” (noun) when referring to an arrangement of things, usually settings. Use “set up” (verb) when referring to the act of creating a setup.
shopper: Use “shopper” when referring to our users’ end-user: the shopper. You can use “customer” and “shopper” interchangeably. Just keep in mind, depending on the context, there can be a subtle difference between a shopper and a customer. A shopper is a visitor to a merchant’s storefront who hasn’t necessarily purchased anything.
Stencil: BigCommerce’s theme engine. Stencil is a proper noun so capitalize accordingly. When referring to themes created using Stencil, use “Stencil theme.” Don’t use “Stencil Theme” or “Stencil-based theme.”
store: An online business built on the BigCommerce platform. Use “store” when referring to the administrative portion of a BigCommerce site and “storefront” when referring to the shopper-facing portion.
storefront: The shopper-facing part of a user’s online store. A store may have more than one storefront for different regions and customer segments (by way of Multi-Storefront).
Style Editor: The Style Editor was phased out with the introduction of Page Builder. Only use “Style Editor” when talking about legacy themes.
subtotal: Use “subtotal,” one word. Don’t use “sub-total.”
Support PIN: Don’t use “support PIN,” “support pin,” “Support Pin” or any combination thereof. Also, PIN is an acronym for personal identification number so definitely don’t use “Support PIN number” as that would be redundant. Treat Support PIN as a proper noun and capitalize accordingly.
sync: Use “sync” when talking about a two-way connection between applications. If two applications share data back and forth, they are syncing.

T

tap: Use “tap” when writing instructions specifically for the mobile app. Otherwise, write around the issue with generic verbs like “choose,” “select” or “pick” instead.
theme editor: The theme editor was phased out with the introduction of Page Builder. Only use “theme editor” when talking about legacy themes.
third party: An external partner. Don’t use “third-party.”
two-factor authentication: If abbreviating use “2FA.”

U

username: One word, not “user name.”

V

variations: Different versions of the same design theme; e.g., different color schemes. To avoid confusion with product variants, don’t use “variants” or “versions” when talking about design themes.
variants: Different product options; e.g., color and size.
view: Use “view” when referring to the act of examining the contents of a UI item. Don’t use “read,” “open,” “preview,” “see” or “expand.”
website: One word, no space.
wishlist: Do not use wish list.

X, Y, Z

ZIP code: ZIP is an acronym so capitalize accordingly.
Zoom2u: Zoom2u is an on-demand, same-day express courier‎ in Australia. Treat Zoom2u as a proper noun and capitalize accordingly.

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