bc-catalog

BigCommerce Catalog Management

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://docs.bigcommerce.com/developer/api-reference/rest/admin/catalog/brands for Catalog API reference
2. Web-search site:developer.bigcommerce.com catalog products variants options for product data model
3. Web-search bigcommerce product options vs modifiers for variant architecture

Product Data Model

Product Hierarchy

Product
├── Options (define variant axes — e.g., Color, Size)
│   └── Option Values (Red, Blue, Small, Large)
├── Variants (specific combinations — Red/Small, Blue/Large)
│   ├── SKU, Price, Weight, Image
│   └── Inventory per variant
├── Modifiers (non-variant options — e.g., Engraving Text)
│   └── Modifier Values
├── Images (gallery images)
├── Videos
├── Custom Fields (key-value pairs shown on product page)
├── Metafields (hidden structured data for integrations)
└── Reviews

Products

Core fields:

• name, type, sku, description
• price, sale_price, retail_price, cost_price
• weight, width, height, depth
• is_visible, availability, condition
• categories — array of category IDs
• brand_id — associated brand

Product types: physical, digital

Options vs Modifiers

Feature	Options	Modifiers
Creates variants	Yes	No
Affects SKU	Yes	No
Affects inventory	Yes	No
Example	Color, Size	Gift wrapping, Engraving text
API path	/products/{id}/options	/products/{id}/modifiers

Variants

Each unique combination of option values creates a variant:

• Own sku, price, weight, image_url
• Own inventory_level and inventory_warning_level
• Identified by id and array of option_values
• Up to 600 variants per product (3 options × ~200 values)

Categories

Hierarchy

Categories are tree-structured:

• parent_id — 0 for top-level, otherwise parent category ID
• sort_order — display order
• is_visible — visibility on storefront
• Can nest multiple levels deep