Skip to main content

BigCommerce Purchase Promotions Setup

Written by Aldin Rey

Requirements

Before you begin, make sure:

  • You’re using BigCommerce

  • Your products and variants have unique SKUs (recommended for accuracy)
    ​

  • You are not using a legacy Blueprint theme
    → If you are, please contact support for assistance

Step 1: Create a Promotion

  1. Create a new promotion

  2. Select Purchases → BigCommerce

Step 2: Connect Your Store & Import Products

  • If your store is already connected, it will appear at the top

  • If not, connect your store before continuing

Next, choose how products will qualify:

  • All products qualify (default)

  • Only specific products qualify

If selecting specific products:

  1. Click Update Products

  2. Select "Products and Variants"

Your products and variants will appear on the right-hand side once imported.

Step 3: Select Eligible Products

Choose which products or variants qualify for the promotion.

  • Only selected items will earn entries

  • Orders containing non-selected items will not qualify

Step 4: Configure Promotion Details

Fill out the following:

  • Promotion title

  • Start and end dates

  • Number of winners

  • Store URL

Important:


Set Raffle Tickets Enabled = NO


(Raffle tickets are intended for nonprofit use only)

Step 5: Set Entry Rules

By default, customers earn:

  • 1 entry per $1 spent

You can customize this by:

  • Adjusting the entry rate

  • Changing currency (top right corner)

  • Scheduling bonus periods with increased entry values

  • Adding bonus entries for orders over a certain amount

Note:


If a purchase does not qualify, the widget will inform the customer on the confirmation page.

Step 6: Add Bonus Actions (Optional)

You can reward customers with additional entries for completing actions after purchase (e.g., social sharing).

Configure these in the Social Actions section.

Step 7: Customize the Experience

Before saving your promotion:

  • Upload images for the post-purchase widget

  • Add your official rules

  • Customize widget design in the Design section

  • Enable email notifications to send customers their entry totals

Once complete, click the green Done button to save.

Step 8: Install the Promotion

If you’d like help, we offer free installation support—just contact us.

To install manually:

  1. Go to the Install tab in your dashboard

  2. Choose Widget or Lightbox

  3. Copy the code under Step 1: Install to Checkout

Step 9: Add Code to Checkout

In your BigCommerce store:

  1. Go to
    ​Settings → Data Solutions (formerly Web Analytics) → Affiliate Conversion Tracking

  2. Paste the code

  3. Click Save

Step 10: Add Code to Your Theme

  1. In BigCommerce, go to:
    ​Storefront → Script Manager → Create a Script

  2. Paste the ViralSweep theme script into the Script contents field

Configure:

  • Name: ViralSweep

  • Location: Head

  • Pages: All pages

  • Category: Essential

  • Type: Script

Paste the code and click Save

Step 11: (Optional) Add to Customer Accounts

If your store uses customer accounts and you want users to view entries after logging in:

  1. Copy code from Step 3: Install to Account Page

  2. In BigCommerce, go to:
    ​Storefront → Advanced → Edit Theme Files → Templates → Pages → Account → Orders → All.html

  3. Paste the code before the closing </main> tag

  4. Save changes

If you don’t need this feature, skip to Step 12.

Step 12: Test Your Setup

You’re all set! 🎉
​

To confirm everything is working:

  • Make a test purchase

  • View the order confirmation page

You should see:

  • The widget displaying entries earned

  • Or raffle ticket numbers (if enabled)

If installed for accounts, users can also log in to view their entries.

💡 When do entries appear? Entries are awarded at the time of order placement and may take a few minutes to appear in your entrants list. There is no shortcut for testing — the order must be fully submitted through checkout.

🔍 Entries not recording? Here’s what to check

If purchases are completing but entries aren’t appearing in ViralSweep, work through these steps in order.

Step 1: Verify your products are imported and eligible

Go to your promotion → Edit → Products.

  • If no products are listed, click Update Products to run the catalogue sync

  • Once imported, make sure the products customers are buying are selected as eligible

  • Only purchases of selected products will generate entries — orders containing only non-selected products will not qualify

Step 2: Old or discontinued products showing in the list

If the catalogue sync imported products you no longer sell, you have two options:

  • Deselect them manually — uncheck the products you don’t want to be eligible

  • Redo the catalogue sync — click Update Products again to re-import your current product catalogue, then re-select your eligible products

Step 3: Verify the checkout code is installed correctly

In BigCommerce, go to Settings → Data Solutions (formerly Web Analytics) → Affiliate Conversion Tracking and confirm the ViralSweep promotion code is saved there. If it’s missing or incorrect, re-paste it and save, then test with a new order.

Step 4: Can’t find the store connection?

The store connection is inside your purchase promotion settings — not in the main account settings. Open your purchase promotion and look at the top of the page to see your connected store or connect a new one.

Step 5: Products won’t sync despite the API showing as connected

If your API key shows as active with Read/Write permissions but the product sync still fails, contact support with your promotion ID and store URL. Our team can investigate the connection directly.

Running alongside a sweepstakes promotion

Many sweepstakes regulations require you to offer a free method of entry alongside any purchase-based promotion. To do this in ViralSweep, you run two separate campaigns at the same time: your BigCommerce purchase promotion and a regular sweepstakes promotion, and connect them so that entries from both campaigns are combined into one shared entrants list.

Both promotions must have the same start date. Only sweepstakes promotions with a matching start date will appear as available options to connect.

How it works:

  1. Create your BigCommerce purchase promotion (this guide).

  2. Create a separate sweepstakes promotion for free entry methods (e.g. social follows, newsletter signups). Set the same start date.

  3. Run both promotions simultaneously.

  4. Open your BigCommerce purchase promotion, click Connect, select the sweepstakes promotion, and click Confirm. Entries from both promotions will appear together in a combined entrants list.

For full step-by-step instructions, see Connect a Purchase Promotion to a Regular Sweepstakes Promotion.

Legal Disclaimer

ViralSweep provides tools to run purchase-based sweepstakes and raffles, but laws regarding promotions vary by location.
​

ViralSweep does not guarantee legal compliance.
​

It is your responsibility to ensure your promotion follows applicable laws and regulations, including providing a free alternate method of entry where required.
​

If you need legal compliance support for promotions in the United States or Canada, please Book A Consultation.

Need Help?

If you have questions, we’re here for you.
​

Start a chat by clicking the icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen to connect with our support team.

Related Articles
Did this answer your question?