Why should you make the switch? Stencil isn’t just a different BigCommerce framework — it’s an upgrade and a better overall foundation for your ecommerce site. For some, Stencil is faster, more efficient to build with, and easier to work with compared to Blueprint.
If you’re looking for a more-technical review of Stencil for BigCommerce, check out our blog article about the differences and advantages of selecting: BigCommerce – What Stencil Does to “Build” a Theme
7 Major Benefits of BigCommerce Stencil
1. AMP FOR MOBILE
A strong benefit as Google up-ranks sites that are AMP enabled, and of course this feature alone makes your site load super fast. Having AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) on your website provides a better mobile browsing experience, compared to traditional responsive HTML.
2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
With Stencil we can develop locally and show you changes prior to deployment to production.
3. VERY FAST TEMPLATES
Everything is bundled, minified, and parsed into a very small package.
4. EASIER CONTENT MANAGEMENT
To manage content, you may end up messing with panels, snippets, and HTML markup in Blueprint. Stencil has its own sub-templates. In general, the files are laid out for a better user-experience and it is easier for developers to make changes. BigCommerce Stencil also has a translation file for content that is contained within the theme itself.
5. HANDLEBARS AND MORE API’S
Part of the BigCommerce Stencil template framework is the inclusion of Handlebars and the inclusion of more API content.
6. STENCIL IS FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENT
Web pages on Stencil load much faster, and faster pages mean better rankings and happier customers. For example, a 1-second delay in loading time can result in a 7% reduction in conversions, meaning if your ecommerce store does $10,000 a day, a 1-second delay could cost you more than $250,000 a year. Stencil websites typically load almost a full second faster than Blueprint websites.
7. LOGIC
Stencil uses Handlebars templating language, which makes it logic-based as well as flexible enough to work with. It has rich options for front-end development, which are driven by JavaScript events. It’s the best option for local development and redesign, as it is done with minimal coding.
Stencil isn’t just a different BigCommerce framework — it’s an upgrade and a better overall foundation for your ecommerce site. Essentially, the top features of BigCommerce Stencil are:
- Stencil is framework, not a set of loosely connected templates
- Theme’s can be packaged up as single units
- Use of WebPack is available
- Logic in theme files
- Use of local development
- A sleek and modern technology stack
- Potential for continuous delivery and continuous integration (CI/CD)