How to install live chat on BigCommerce

To install live chat on BigCommerce, navigate to Storefront and then Script Manager to create a new script. Set the location to Footer and the page visibility to All pages. Paste your snippet into the script box and save. This method prevents your chat widget from being deleted when you update your store theme in the future.

How do I put the chat code on my BigCommerce store?

The process is fast if you know where to look. I have spent years setting up tools for different businesses, and BigCommerce has a specific way of handling third-party code that you need to follow. Do not go looking for your theme files yet. There is a better way.

First, log in to your BigCommerce control panel. On the left-hand menu, look for the section labeled Storefront. Click that, and then select Script Manager from the list that appears. This is the central hub for any code you want to run on your site.

Once you are in the Script Manager, click the button to Create a Script. You will need to give it a name, such as LastWorker Chat, so you can find it later. Under Location, select Footer. Under Discovery, select All pages. For the Script type, choose Script.

Paste your specific embed code into the text box. It will look like this:

<script src="https://lastworker.com/widget.js" data-agent-id="YOUR_AGENT_ID" async></script>

After you paste it, hit Save. Your chat widget should now appear on your storefront. I always recommend opening your site in a private window to confirm it loaded correctly.

Why should I use the Script Manager instead of editing my theme?

This is the part that most guides forget to tell you. I have worked with shops where the owner spent hours customizing their theme files, only to have a single theme update wipe out every bit of their work. It is a terrible feeling to wake up and realize your chat tool has been broken for three days because of an automated update.

BigCommerce themes are updated frequently by their developers to fix bugs or add features. When you edit the HTML files of your theme directly, those files are replaced during the update. The Script Manager is a separate layer. It tells BigCommerce to inject your code into the page regardless of what version of the theme you are running.

I have watched good leads die in a voicemail box because a tool stopped working and nobody noticed. Using the Script Manager is a simple way to make sure that does not happen to your chat widget. It is the only supported route for a reason.

How many members of my team can use the chat?

In my eighteen years of running customer operations, I have seen a lot of software companies try to trap small businesses with per-seat pricing. I ran a regional dental practice with eleven front desks. If I wanted every person at those desks to be able to help a customer, most software would have charged me for eleven separate accounts.

When I look at the twelve most popular tools in the market today, eight of them use a per-seat model for their entry-level plans. For example, Help Scout allows five users on their free plan, but once you grow, you are paying $25 per user. Front starts at $25 per seat and limits you to ten seats on their basic plan. Zendesk and Intercom do not even offer a free version.

LastWorker does things differently. You get unlimited teammates and unlimited conversations for free. I have been in the position of writing phone scripts at 2am because I couldn't afford to give everyone access to the right tools. You should not have to choose which employee is allowed to help a customer based on your monthly budget.

What is the cost of running this chat tool?

I am not a brochure, and I believe in being honest about how costs work. Live chat and email support are free forever with LastWorker. This includes the shared inbox, contacts, tickets, a knowledge base, and a public help center. You do not even need to put a credit card on file to start.

However, there are costs if you choose to use certain advanced features. If you want a phone number for your business, that costs $1 per month. If you want to send an outbound SMS, it is $0.03 per segment. Inbound SMS messages are free.

The biggest area where people get confused is AI. Most tools today try to force AI on you or use it as a reason to charge a high subscription fee. We keep AI off by default. Everything starts as a manual channel where a human answers. If you decide to use AI to generate a reply for a chat, email, or text, we charge $0.04 for that reply. If you use an AI to answer a phone call, it is $0.10 per minute.

This is a fair way to do business. You only pay for what you actually use. You do not have a monthly subscription hanging over your head.

How does the free tier compare to other options?

I spent some time looking at the competition to see how their free tiers actually function. Out of the twelve tools I tracked, only eight have a free option. Most of those eight have very tight limits that a growing BigCommerce store will hit almost immediately.

Tidio, for instance, limits you to 50 billable conversations a month. If you have a busy weekend or a successful ad campaign, your chat widget will simply stop working until the next month starts. Crisp gives you a free tier, but it limits you to 100 customer profiles and gives you no email inbox at all.

Then there is the branding issue. Tools like HubSpot and Tawk.to put their own logos and badges on your site unless you pay to remove them. While Tawk.to is generous with its features, that badge is always there.

LastWorker provides the shared inbox and the knowledge base without those types of conversation caps. I have seen shops start on a free plan with a different tool, get used to the workflow, and then get hit with a $45 or $50 monthly bill just because they hired a third employee. I prefer a system where the tools stay out of the way of your growth.

Can I use this for phone calls as well?

While the focus for many BigCommerce users is the live chat widget, you can also manage your phone calls through the same system. In the service businesses I managed, the phone was always the biggest source of stress. We had two restaurant locations, and if the host was busy seating a table, the phone just rang and rang.

With LastWorker, you can get a phone number for $1 a month. If you want to use the AI answering service, it costs $0.10 per minute. This includes the carrier costs.

I have spent a lot of time watching people wait on hold. It is bad for business. Having a system where an AI can pick up, answer basic questions about your store hours or shipping policies, and then pass the ticket to your inbox is a much better experience for the customer. It is certainly better than a voicemail box that nobody checks until Tuesday morning.

Should I turn on the AI features immediately?

I always tell people to start manual. There is no "seamless" transition to AI that works perfectly on day one without any oversight. You should answer the first few dozen chats yourself or have your team do it. This helps you see exactly what your customers are asking.

Once you have a good handle on the common questions, you can use the knowledge base feature, which is also free. You can write out your answers there. Only after you have those basics down should you think about the AI.

Because the AI is off by default, you do not have to worry about it generating strange responses or charging you money without your permission. It is a tool you pick up when you are ready, not something forced on you by the software provider.

The goal is to stop losing leads. Whether those leads are coming from a BigCommerce product page or a phone call, they need a fast response. Setting up the script manager today takes five minutes, and it ensures that you are ready to talk to your customers whenever they are ready to buy.

I have sat in the back office of a dental clinic and watched the numbers. Response time is the single biggest factor in whether a person books an appointment or buys a product. If you wait an hour, they have already moved on to the next tab in their browser. Getting this widget live is the first step in making sure you are the one who gets the sale.