How to add UGC and shoppable video to a BigCommerce store
A BigCommerce install is one script tag in the Stencil theme and a product feed. Here is what goes where, what works on day one, and what still needs the platform to catch up.
The BigCommerce merchant had four thousand tagged Instagram posts, a Stencil theme nobody on the team had opened in a year, and a developer quote for "a UGC section" that ran to three weeks. The section shipped in an afternoon. The three weeks had been the theme surgery, not the widget.
In this article
BigCommerce merchants ask the same two questions in the first ten minutes: where does the script go, and will it slow the page down. The answers are the footer template and no. The rest of this piece is the order of operations, with the honest line on what the platform does and does not let a widget do.
Where the script goes in a Stencil theme
Open the theme editor, choose Edit Theme Files, and find the footer template under templates/components/common/footer.html (some themes use layout/base.html for global scripts). Paste the Idukki loader script just before the closing body tag. The loader is a single deferred request of about 79 KB gzipped; it does not block render and it mounts nothing until it finds a placeholder.
<!-- Idukki loader: once per site, in the footer template -->
<script async src="https://widget.idukki.io/idukki.js"></script>
<!-- Placeholder: anywhere a gallery should render -->
<div data-ugc="idukki" data-guid="YOUR-WIDGET-GUID"></div>For a homepage gallery, the placeholder goes in templates/pages/home.html. For a product-page gallery, it goes in templates/pages/product.html, usually below the description tabs, and you add data-filter-pid with the product id so the gallery shows only posts tagged to that product. BigCommerce exposes the id in Stencil as product.id, so the attribute reads data-filter-pid="{{product.id}}".
Getting the catalog in so posts can be tagged
Idukki tags posts to products by matching against your catalog, so the catalog has to exist in the dashboard first. BigCommerce exports products as CSV from Products, then Export; the Idukki import accepts that file directly and maps SKU, name, price, image and URL. If you already run a Google Shopping feed, paste its URL instead and set a re-sync schedule; that keeps prices and stock current without another export.
Once the catalog is in, AI tagging suggests matches for each approved post and you confirm or correct them in bulk. The tagging model and its costs are covered in the build-versus-buy cost model; for a BigCommerce catalog of a few thousand SKUs the first pass usually finishes inside an hour.
What works on day one, and what waits on the platform
| Capability | BigCommerce today | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Galleries, carousels, reels, review walls | Yes | Any layout, any page, via the placeholder div |
| Product tagging and click tracking | Yes | From CSV or feed import |
| Rights requests and moderation | Yes | Platform independent |
| Add to cart inside the gallery | Yes | The widget detects BigCommerce and adds to its cart. A failed add opens the product page. |
| Order attribution to a post | Yes | Connect an API account in settings. Orders are matched by the cart and customer ids the widget recorded. |
| Core Web Vitals impact | None measurable | Deferred loader, reserved gallery height |
The afternoon plan
- 1Connect Instagram or TikTok and let the first pull finish (a few minutes).
- 2Approve twenty to thirty posts so the first gallery is not empty.
- 3Import the catalog by CSV or feed URL; run AI tagging on the approved posts.
- 4Create a homepage gallery and a product-page gallery in the dashboard; copy each guid.
- 5Paste the loader in the footer template, the placeholders in home.html and product.html; publish the theme.
- 6Open the embed page in the dashboard and wait for the install check to turn green.
Download the BigCommerce UGC setup checklist
FAQs
Does Idukki have a BigCommerce app in the marketplace?
Not yet. The Idukki BigCommerce app is in early access. We send each store the install link. Any store can install today with a script tag in the Stencil theme.
Will the widget hurt my Core Web Vitals?
The loader is deferred and the gallery reserves its height before content arrives, so it does not shift layout. The widget speed programme post has the measured numbers.
Can shoppers add to cart without leaving the gallery on BigCommerce?
Yes. The widget detects a BigCommerce storefront and adds to its cart. If an add fails, it opens the product page.
Sources
Continue reading
2 pieces in this clusterThese long-form pieces on the Idukki blog link back to this article, go deeper on the cluster.
- Buyer's guides
The best shoppable video platforms in 2026: nine compared, on any store platform
Nine shoppable video platforms, from Videowise and Bambuser to Smartzer and Idukki. Compared on store platforms, cart, live, rights, price and page weight. We make Idukki.
- Industry playbook
UGC widget for WooCommerce and WordPress: install, tag, measure
WordPress gives you three ways to place a UGC gallery: a theme footer script, a Custom HTML block, or a shortcode. Here is which to use, how product tagging works with WooCommerce, and what add-to-cart does on Woo today.
More from Rohin Aggarwal
- Industry playbook
The Furniture UGC playbook: scale, material and the six-month review
Furniture is high-AOV, long-consideration and brutally expensive to return. UGC captured six and twelve months after delivery closes the sale and cuts returns.
- Industry playbook
The Baby + Kids UGC playbook: parents buy safety, not aesthetics
Baby and kids shoppers are risk-averse, evidence-driven and spend longer on PDPs than any other vertical. Age-of-child filters and labelled expert UGC convert them.
- Industry playbook
The Consumer Electronics UGC playbook: unboxing is the new spec sheet
A £200 to £3000 gadget gets watched on YouTube for an hour before anyone clicks buy. Spec sheets and UGC together close the sale. The full playbook.