The road to eCommerce success is paved with defunct legacy themes and platforms. The Magento 1 platform and Blueprint theme are two of the latest examples of legacy technology that outlived their usefulness and will no longer receive technical support.  

Merchants looking for a long-term solution for their stores should consider upgrading to the BigCommerce Stencil theme. We’ll give you three good reasons why.

1. Minimal Coding and Faster Changes

BigCommerce Stencil framework lets designers and developers redesign the store with minimal coding. Part of the reason is the Browser Sync app BigCommerce includes with the theme. The unique feature of this app is that it enables changes and reviews in real-time, across various devices. That means a developer can line up a tablet and cellphone and see his or her changes instantly on all devices. It’s a considerable time saver.

Content is simple to edit because there is no coding required. Change headers, links, or any sitewide messages directly in the theme editor.

2. Build Locally to Save Time

Developers can build an entire website offline on their local computers. Building locally saves a tremendous amount of time and frustration. Stencil has built-in flexibility where multiple developers can work on the same project simultaneously.

Another advantage of Stencil is that it eliminates the need for a “Global Variable.” It’s a programming function common in older themes like Blueprint and responsible for many bugs.

Developers now have the freedom to make changes wherever necessary, using the Handlebars.js language, an extension to the Mustache templating language. They can write less code and reuse variables, significantly reducing the chance for bugs.

3. Better Efficiency and Faster Speeds

The Stencil theme comes equipped with YAML. YAML is an abbreviation of “YAML Ain’t Markup Language.” It’s a programming language which is human-friendly and plays well with other languages, reducing programming time.

It also helps page speed. Here’s why. If you want to load only part of a catalog, say 15 items from a list of 1,000. With the old Blueprint theme, it required loading the entire catalog and then hiding what you didn’t want the user to see. Loading everything slows down page speed significantly.

The new theme loads only the portion of the catalog necessary for display. It works with the data in an easy to use, more efficient format.

Stencil also features AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for the best mobile browsing experience. Google up-ranks sites that are AMP enabled, so the site loads faster and ranking higher than non-AMP sites.

Stencil Makes Modern Stores Scalable

Changing to the Stencil theme means your store has the most advanced, up-to-date features. Your development team can respond faster to customer demands and technological changes in eCommerce.

The store-frontend framework provides many options. Wholesalers and retailers can customize their storefront aesthetic and functionality with minimal coding.

There are not that many developers who have Stencil experience. However, our team is certified with BigCommerce. Drop us a line if you have questions or are considering upgrading your store.