Get Started¶
Welcome to the eShopping theme by PapaThemes! This page is the big picture — what you need to do, in what order, before you start tweaking individual pages.
If you'd rather jump straight to a specific page, use the menu on the left.
The 5-step setup at a glance¶
| # | Step | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Install the eShopping theme | BigCommerce Storefront → My Themes | ~2 min |
| 2 | Pick a demo variant | Theme Editor → Variations | ~1 min |
| 3 | Import the matching demo data | https://bc-tools.papathemes.com | varies by catalog size |
| 4 | Add the hero carousel slides | BigCommerce admin → Marketing → Carousel | ~5 min |
| 5 | Customize colors, banners, content in Page Builder | Storefront → My Themes → Customize | as long as you like |
After step 3 your storefront already has the demo products, product sliders, and marketing blocks in place. The hero carousel is the one piece that isn't auto-imported — you add its slides manually in the BigCommerce admin under Marketing → Carousel (see step 4 below). Once that's done, your storefront matches one of the four demo stores. Step 5 is where you make it your own.
How the demo content is built
The theme's own configurable sections (hero, trust strip, sliders, etc.) need no extra app. The demo home pages and footer marketing blocks, however, are AI HTML Generator | PapaThemes widgets — provided by the PapaThemes app, which you must install for them to render fully — and the importer in step 3 creates them for you. The home-page hero is the built-in BigCommerce Carousel, shown when the Show carousel setting is on (it is on in every demo variant); no app is needed for the hero. The AI HTML Generator marketing blocks are managed in Page Builder. The hero carousel slides are not created by the importer — you add them yourself in the BigCommerce admin under Marketing → Carousel (step 4 below).
Step 4: Add the hero carousel slides¶
The importer in step 3 brings in your demo products and marketing blocks, but it does not create the hero carousel slides — BigCommerce manages those separately. Until you add at least one slide, the hero area at the top of the home page stays hidden, even though Show carousel is already on.
To match the demo:
- In your BigCommerce admin, go to Marketing → Carousel.
- Add one slide per demo banner, using the demo's heading, button link, and image for your variant. Your variant's home-page guide lists the exact headings, links, and images to use:
- Save. Reload your home page — the hero now appears.
The Show carousel toggle must be on
The hero is gated by BigCommerce's standard Show carousel setting (Theme Editor → Home page section), in addition to having at least one slide. It's on by default in every demo variant, so copying a demo just works. If you've added slides but still see no hero, check that Show carousel is enabled.
Don't want a hero?
Leaving the Carousel empty simply hides the hero. The rest of the home page (product sliders, marketing blocks, brands, blog, newsletter) renders normally without it.
Before you begin — checklist¶
You'll need:
- A BigCommerce store (any plan).
- Admin access (Store Owner or a role with Theme management and Storefront permissions).
- A BigCommerce API account for the BC Tools importer. The importer needs read/write access to the resources it imports — typically themes, page-builder widgets, products, categories, and brands. Always follow the scope list shown in BC Tools and BigCommerce's own API account documentation, since those are the authoritative source.
- Roughly 30 minutes of focused time for the initial setup — this is just a ballpark and varies with how many products and images your chosen demo imports.
Use a staging channel if your store is already live
If your store already has live customers, create a secondary channel (Channel Manager → Add channel → Storefront → Stencil) and install the theme there first. You can preview the entire setup on a *.mybigcommerce.com URL without disturbing your live site, then promote to live only when you're ready.
How the demo home page is assembled¶
It helps to know what you're actually setting up before you dive in. Every eShopping demo home page is built from a mix of built-in pieces and the AI HTML Generator | PapaThemes widget (the latter provided by the PapaThemes app):
- Hero — the built-in BigCommerce Carousel. It appears when two things are both true: BigCommerce's standard Show carousel setting is on, and at least one slide exists. Both are already in place in every demo variant — the display setting is on by default, so you only need to add slides. The importer does not create slides, so you add them yourself under Marketing → Carousel — see Step 4.
- Marketing blocks (the value-prop callout below the product sections, the "about" block under the newsletter, and the footer tagline) — AI HTML Generator | PapaThemes widgets, which require the PapaThemes app installed. The importer in step 3 creates these for you with demo-ready copy; you can then edit them directly in Page Builder.
- Product sliders, brands carousel, blog, newsletter — rendered by the theme and controlled by the theme's own settings, which the demo variant pre-configures for you.
Beyond your store you need the BC Tools importer in step 3, which loads the demo products and widget content in one pass, plus the PapaThemes app for the AI HTML Generator marketing blocks.
What's next?¶
Pick one of the four guides below — each one is a complete, copy-the-demo walkthrough for that variant.
- Install the theme
- Choose your variant
- Import demo products and widgets
- Then jump to your variant's home-page guide: