Closed Beta ProgramsPowered By

Development and Launch Checklist

Beta

This checklist comprises all of the work that needs to be done by both BigCommerce and a Powered by partner prior to launching an initial release of the partner’s Powered by integration. It also identifies dependencies and workflows where applicable.

Initially it is to serve primarily as a technical checklist for all of the development work required of a Powered by integration, but can be expanded to include operational, legal, or other steps in the launch process.

Understanding this Checklist

In order to best use and understand the development and launch checklist, please use this reference:

  • Owner(s) - persons responsible for completing the specific task. Please note if a different person is responsible for a sub task
  • BC Support - persons at BC who can provide support into this action item for the partner, if needed.
  • Due Date - date on which task must be completed. Only shown if there is a due date
  • Tasks - action items to be completed
    • Required - items that must be completed
    • Optional - items that can be completed, dependent on the partner’s needs / decisions

BigCommerce Checklist

Any tasks that need to be completed by BigCommerce solely.

  • Send API doc to Partner
    • Owner: Powered by PM
  • Create franchise in BMP staging environment
    • Owner: Powered by PM
    • Due Date:
    • Tasks
      • Write down credentials: client_id, client_secret, and franchise_id
      • Securely send credentials to partner - FTP, snail mail, key
      • Provide partner with plan SKUs
      • Set up fake payment method in Zuora
  • Set up franchise in BMP production
    • Owner: Powered by PM
    • Due Date:
    • Tasks
      • Get critical partner info:
        • Select subscription plans
        • Selected partner app(s)
        • Partner contact details
        • Payment method
        • Bill Cycle date
      • Collect and send data
        • Write down credentials: client_id, secret, and UUID
        • Securely send credentials to partner - FTP, snail mail, key
        • Provide partner with plan SKUs
  • Enter Partner’s payment method in Zuora
  • (optional) Upload Partner template to Zuora for invoice
    • Owner: Powered by PM
  • (optional) Set up billing and merchant activity reporting
    • Owner: Powered by PM
  • Conduct final UAT (user acceptance testing) in staging
    • Owner: Powered by PM / Eng Mgr / QE
    • Tasks
      • Follow test plan and report any bugs

BigCommerce + Partner Checklist

Any tasks that need to be done collaboratively between BC and the Partner.

  • (optional) Set up pre-launch weekly or bi-weekly meeting/stand up for operations, product, and engineering discussions
  • Co-branding design
    • Owners: BC PM, Partner PM, BC Design, Partner Design / Marketing
    • Tasks
      • Determine what assets need to be co-branded: emails, etc.
      • Design for co-branded assets
      • Content for merchant facing communications
  • Conduct final UAT (user acceptance testing) in staging
    • Owner: BC PM, Partner PM, BC QE, Partner QE
    • Tasks
      • Walk through flow from partner to merchant onboarding in CP with partner

Partner Checklist

Any tasks that need to be done by the Partner solely. The large bulk of this work will be integrating the API into the partner’s codebase. This can be done in several ways and will be determined by the type of implementation the partner chooses.

  • Determine plans and pricing
    • Owner:
    • BC Support: Powered by PM, Billing Ops, Powered by partner manager / team
    • Tasks:
      • Determine pricing for BC plans, according to contract requirements, bundling options, etc.
      • Determine pricing for additional BC services - domains, SSLs, Insights
      • Map internal product offerings to BC product offerings
      • (optional - only for ecommerce partners) Map existing ecommerce plans to BigCommerce plans
  • Determine flow for merchants logging into BC store
    • Owner:
    • BC Support: Powered by PM
    • Tasks
      • Determine how partner’s merchants will be able to log into their BigCommerce store (support and ideas can be provided by BC)
      • (optional) Integrate the “Create Store Login” endpoint (dependent on above task)
  • Provide billing requirements - any docs required outside of PDF invoice? Any special data fields that need to be on invoice?
    • Owner: Partner biz dev / finance team?
    • BC Support: Powered by PM, Billing Ops
  • Determine store lifecycle management process - will partner suspend stores? Cancel stores? Change plan types for a store?
    • Owner:
    • BC Support: Powered by PM
  • Core API development (Account & Store Creation).
    • Dependencies:
      • Determine partner implementation flow
      • Determine store lifecycle management process (specifically, changing plan type)
    • Owner: Partner engineering + product team
    • BC Support: Powered by PM & Engineering Manager
    • Required Tasks - all endpoints required to successfully create a BigCommerce store for a merchant
    • Optional Tasks - all endpoints that can be used to more deeply integrate with the BC Powered by API, but are not required to successfully create a store for a merchant. Please see API documentation for example use cases or reach out to BC team for support.
  • Secondary API development (Store Management)
    • Owner: Partner engineering + product team
    • BC Support: Powered by PM & Engineering Manager
    • Dependencies:
      • Determine partner implementation flow
      • Determine store lifecycle management process
    • Required Tasks
    • Optional Tasks