How do you keep support fast and consistent across one or more BigCommerce stores without growing the team? You connect BigCommerce to eDesk, pull every message and order into one inbox. Then you let smart routing, templates, and AI drafts handle the repetitive work so agents focus on real fixes.
In this must-read guide, we’ll cover setup, time-saving automations, snags to avoid, and the metrics that actually help you scale smoothly.
Why can BigCommerce support get so messy across stores?
Ever feel like managing support across multiple BigCommerce stores is a total mess? You’re not alone.
When you factor in multiple store views, sales channels, and different geographic regions, even the simplest tasks suddenly become a headache. Your support teams end up bouncing between different mailboxes, desperately trying to keep track. They’re forced to copy and paste order numbers into endless browser tabs, and when volume spikes, service level agreement (SLA) visibility just vanishes.
Your customers expect quick, effortless answers. But if your agents have to scramble across different screens just to piece together the customer’s order history, tracking details, and past conversations, replies slow down to a crawl. This leads to frustrated buyers who are quick to move on to a competitor.
Holiday shoppers made 54.5% of online purchases on smartphones in 2024.
What makes eDesk and BigCommerce a dream team for sellers
When BigCommerce and eDesk team up, they can act as an incredibly powerful solution for sellers. The centralized inbox acts as the single source of truth, consolidating every customer message, order detail, and buyer history from all your storefronts into one dashboard.
This integration is key to efficiency because it keeps your agents informed. It constantly syncs crucial data (including order status, shipping updates, and detailed customer information), allowing your team to answer questions based on solid context, not guesswork.
Beyond simple consolidation, eDesk helps you manage volume intelligently. First, you can set up Rules to automatically tag tickets by store, language, or topic, ensuring they are instantly routed to the correct queue or team member. Second, you can use templates to ensure every reply is consistent and on-brand.
Plus, built-in AI drafting can generate complete first replies for common issues, often including critical details like tracking numbers or return steps right away.
In short, this partnership transforms fragmented support into a smooth, consistent, and highly responsive operation.
How to connect BigCommerce and eDesk
Setup is straightforward and takes just a few simple steps:
- Install and authorize the BigCommerce connector for each store view so eDesk can read orders and match messages.
- Forward support email and marketplace messages into eDesk so everything lands in one queue.
- Map store views to queues or tags to keep routing and reporting clean.
- Test an order-linked ticket to confirm agents can see items, courier, and tracking without leaving the thread.
CarParts.com cut first-response times 10.3% and handled 12% more tickets without extra headcount after deploying eDesk across teams.
Five automations that will save you time every day
Handling support across multiple BigCommerce stores can feel like a game of catch-up, with simple tasks devouring precious hours.
But working harder isn’t the move here. The way forward is automating the repetitive stuff. Here are five automations that will save you time every day, turning chaos into control:
Auto-triage by store and intent
Stop wasting time manually sorting emails. You can create simple rules that recognize the store, language, and core topic the moment a message hits your inbox, routing it to the right place automatically.
Think about it: specific fashion returns go straight to the sizing expert, while complex wholesale questions land with the pricing team. Over time, these tags turn into a live, invaluable map of customer demand, making your staffing and long-term planning much easier.
Instant “Where’s my order” (WISMO) replies with tracking
WISMO questions are the ultimate time sink. Instead of typing out the same reply over and over, meet those repetitive requests with an instant, ready-made answer. This reply automatically includes the carrier, current status, and a clear delivery window.
eDesk pulls the live tracking data right into the message, lets you add any specific policy exceptions, and still leaves space for your agent to add a quick human note. This simple step drastically cuts down on back-and-forth and keeps nervous customers calm.
Returns and exchanges in two clicks
When it comes to returns, consistency is so important for both your team and your books. Equip your agents with simple outcome macros, like “label issued”, “partial refund with reason”, or “replacement confirmed.”
You can tie each macro to the perfect template and tags, ensuring your audit trail stays clean and your weekly reporting is completely painless.
AI first drafts that include context
Never stare at a blank screen again. AI can assemble the backbone of a great reply for you, pulling in the customer’s specific order details and the relevant policy rules, so the agent only needs to add that essential human touch.
Proactive status nudges that prevent tickets
The best ticket is the one that’s never created. Set up simple, event-based messages that gently nudge buyers at key moments in their journey. A shipping notice with a clear Estimated Time of Arrival slashes WISMO tickets.
A delivery confirmation with quick care tips reduces returns. And a polite “running a little late” heads-up prevents anxiety and complaints before they start. These small, thoughtful touches truly add up when you’re managing volume across multiple stores.
The average checkout asks buyers to complete 11.3 form fields, which slows conversions and drives questions.
Common seller mistakes and how to avoid them
Scaling support across BigCommerce stores tends to break in small, predictable ways, from scattered inboxes to duplicate threads and fuzzy policies.
Here are five traps sellers make all the time, and how you can avoid each stumbling block.
Splitting queues by inbox instead of intent
Agents end up bouncing between storefront mailboxes and instantly lose the thread of the conversation. The same customer might appear in three places, and replies start contradicting one another. SLAs slip because no one has the full customer picture in one view.
The fix: Keep one central inbox and route tickets based on the customer’s intent (e.g., Returns, Pricing, Shipping) using clear queues and SLAs.
Letting duplicates pile up
A single buyer might email, open a chat, and then message a marketplace about the same order. Your team answers twice, wastes time, and risks giving conflicting updates. This clutter hides real priority tickets and silently drags down first response time.
The fix: Auto-merge channels by order ID and customer email so every related message automatically joins a single, chronological timeline.
Inconsistent policies across brands
If one brand approves refunds in a day while another takes a week, agents are forced to guess the outcome, and customers start comparing notes online. Trust drops, and training takes longer because the rules change based on the logo.
The fix: Write one core returns and replacements playbook with standard outcomes, then simply layer the unique brand tone on top.
Manual lookups in BigCommerce
If agents are forced to copy order numbers between tabs, every reply takes longer than it should. This invites errors, severely slows down new hires on busy days, and customers feel the drag when simple questions require multiple checks.
The fix: Surface the order, items, tracking, and customer history inside the ticket and map all necessary fields once during the integration setup.
No ownership on delayed tickets
Threads stall out when the original agent is off, but the timer keeps counting. Buyers chase you down, turning what should have been an easy win into a frustrating escalation. Queues age silently and your reviews ultimately take the hit.
The fix: Add aging rules that automatically escalate stalled tickets to a named owner at set time thresholds (e.g., 4 hours, 24 hours).
Quick recap and what to do this week
Remember:
- A single, shared inbox for all your BigCommerce stores instantly eliminates missed tickets and the frustration of duplicate work.
- When volume spikes, structured queues, smart tags, and ready-made templates are infinitely better than messy, ad-hoc forwarding.
- Delivering lightning-fast first responses immediately cuts down on those repetitive “Where’s my Order” (WISMO) messages and boosts customer satisfaction.
- AI-powered drafts dramatically accelerate reply times and ensure a consistent, professional tone, all while preserving the necessary human element.
What to do next:
- Link every BigCommerce store view immediately and map each one to its dedicated queue or smart tag for zero-effort organization.
- Build these three core templates right now: WISMO with tracking, return approved, and partial refund (with a clear, standardized reason).
- Activate AI first-reply drafting specifically for your WISMO and returns tickets to drastically cut down handle time and speed up replies.
- Define tags for your top five recurring support topics and set up simple rules to auto-route each one to the right team member.
- Next Friday, review your core metrics (first response time, resolution time, and refund reasons) and commit to improving just one process.
Want agents answering with order context every time? Book a free demo and we’ll show you how to centralize messages, add AI, and scale support across every BigCommerce store.
FAQs
How does eDesk match BigCommerce orders to tickets across multiple stores?
The integration matches by order ID, buyer email, and marketplace reference, then pulls items, shipping status, and prior history into the thread. Agents can see everything in one place even if the buyer wrote from a different channel. That keeps context intact and stops duplicate effort.
Can we keep brand voices separate while using one inbox?
Yes. Store-level tags trigger the right signature, tone templates, and knowledge base articles for each brand. Routing can still send tickets to brand specialists, while your team benefits from shared SLAs, dashboards, and macros that keep quality high.
What about SLA management during peak season?
Set SLAs by queue or tag and add alerts for tickets near their deadline. For common intents like WISMO, let AI draft replies that already include tracking so you hold time to first response steady even when order volume jumps.
Does this work with marketplaces and chat alongside BigCommerce?
Absolutely. Bring Amazon, eBay, Shopify, TikTok Shop, and live chat into the same inbox so you keep a single customer view. The same automations apply across channels, which simplifies training and reporting.
How long does setup take for a typical multi-store team?
Teams usually connect a store view in minutes, then map queues, tags, and templates in a short working session. Plan a quick test run with a real ticket and confirm agents can reply with tracking and policy details without leaving the thread.
