Case Study · Half Price Banners

Half Price Banners Brought Web-to-Print to BigCommerce. Here Is How.

Half Price Banners had a BigCommerce store that worked. What they did not have was a design tool that worked with it — one that let customers configure products online and feed directly into their production workflow.

BigCommerce web-to-print integration

API-driven DesignO implementation

Large-format printing online

Talk To Experts Get Free Demo Now

Half Price Banners Brought Web-to-Print to BigCommerce. Here Is How.

20+ Years

Of large-format printing expertise

Half Price Banners has been producing custom banners, flags, and signage for over two decades — the web-to-print implementation brings that capability fully online

BigCommerce

Native integration

DesignO connects directly to the Half Price Banners BigCommerce store — no separate platform, no manual handoff between design and checkout

API-Driven

Zero custom workarounds

DesignO's fully API-driven architecture integrates with BigCommerce out of the box — the design tool works within the existing store environment from day one

Print-Ready

Output on every order

Every completed design produces a file ready for production. The customer's configuration in the browser is the file that goes to press

Client Overview

Most Web to Print Tools Do Not Work With BigCommerce. DesignO Does.

Client

Resto Display LLC (Half Price Banners)

Industry

Large Format Printing · Custom Banners, Flags & Signage

Region

Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Business Type

B2B and B2C — custom banners, flags, signs, apparel, and displays for events, businesses, schools, and organisations

Scope of Work

DesignO integration with BigCommerce via API, browser-based product personalisation, print-ready file output

Engagement

Web-to-print implementation

The Challenge

A BigCommerce Store That Could Sell. Not One That Could Let Customers Design.

Half Price Banners has been producing custom large-format print products for over twenty years. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, they operate an on-site production facility and serve a wide range of customers — businesses, schools, churches, non-profits, and event organisers — all of whom need custom-printed banners, flags, signs, and displays.

Their BigCommerce store handled the e-commerce side of the business well. Product catalogue, pricing, checkout, order management — the infrastructure was solid.

The gap was on the design side. Customers ordering custom banners or flags needed to be able to configure their product — upload artwork, set dimensions, see what they were getting — before placing an order. Without a design tool integrated into the store, that process required manual back-and-forth: customers submitting files separately, the team creating proofs, approvals going back and forth before production could start.

The requirement was specific. Half Price Banners needed a web-to-print design tool that would sit inside their BigCommerce storefront — not alongside it, not as a separate system, but fully integrated so that a customer could design and order in a single uninterrupted flow.

The challenge was finding a solution built to work that way. Most web-to-print tools are built for Magento or WooCommerce. BigCommerce integration, when it exists, often requires custom development or workarounds that create gaps between the design tool and the store's native checkout and order management. Half Price Banners needed something that worked natively.

The Solution

DesignO on BigCommerce. No Workarounds. No Gaps.

The Right Architecture for a Non-Standard Integration

The foundation of the implementation was DesignO's API-driven architecture.

Most web-to-print design tools are built as plugins for specific platforms — they work well in those environments and require significant custom development everywhere else. DesignO is built differently: it is fully API-driven, meaning it connects to any e-commerce platform through a standardised integration layer rather than a platform-specific plugin.

For Half Price Banners on BigCommerce, this meant the integration could be built cleanly from the start — no custom workarounds, no disconnects between the design tool and the store's native functionality. DesignO connected to the BigCommerce environment via API and the design tool became a native part of the storefront.

Products Live for Online Design

With the API integration in place, DesignNBuy configured DesignO across Half Price Banners' product range. Customers can now select a product, choose their size, upload artwork or design from scratch, and see a live preview — all within the BigCommerce store.

Products now available for online design and ordering:

Custom Banners

Vinyl banners, fabric banners, indoor and outdoor formats — configured online with custom dimensions, artwork upload, and live preview before ordering.

Flags & Displays

Feather flags, retractable banners, tension fabric displays, and wall flags — personalised in the browser with accurate product preview and ordered direct.

Apparel & Accessories

Custom t-shirts, table covers, and branded merchandise — designed online with logo upload and sent to production as a print-ready file.

Design to Order in One Flow

The critical requirement was that the design tool and the checkout were part of the same flow — not two separate steps that the customer or the team had to bridge manually.

With DesignO integrated via API into BigCommerce, a customer who completes their design moves directly to checkout through the standard BigCommerce order flow. The design file travels with the order. There is no separate file submission, no manual handoff, no gap between what the customer configured and what arrives in production.

The output file is production-ready at the point of order. No preparation step required between the customer's confirmation and the start of production.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

If Your E-Commerce Platform and Your Design Tool Are Not Talking to Each Other, Someone on Your Team Is Bridging the Gap Manually.

A design tool that sits outside your storefront is not a web-to-print solution. It is an extra step. The test is whether a customer can design, approve, and order in a single connected flow — and whether the file that comes out the other end is ready for production.

BigCommerce web-to-print integration is not a standard capability

Most web-to-print solutions are built for Magento or WooCommerce. If you are running BigCommerce, a plugin-based tool will either not exist or will require custom development to connect properly. An API-driven solution removes the platform dependency — the integration is built on the connection, not the plugin.

A disconnected design tool creates a manual step on every order

When the design tool and the store are separate systems, something has to connect them — usually a person. Files get submitted separately, orders need to be matched to artwork, proofs go back and forth outside the platform. Each of those steps is time your team spends not producing.

The checkout and the design tool should be one experience

A customer who designs a product and then has to leave the tool to place an order has already encountered unnecessary friction. The design flow and the checkout flow should be the same flow — and the order that enters production should carry the file the customer approved, automatically.

Why It Matters

Web-to-Print Works When the Design Tool Disappears Into the Platform.

API-driven means platform-agnostic

A fully API-driven design tool connects to any e-commerce environment — not just the platforms it was originally built for. For businesses running BigCommerce, Drupal, or a custom-built store, that distinction matters. The integration works with the platform, not against it.

No customisations means faster implementation

When the integration architecture is sound, the implementation does not require custom development on either side. DesignO connected to Half Price Banners' BigCommerce store without bespoke workarounds — the tool was configured to their product range and live without a long custom build preceding it.

Print-ready output is the completion of the workflow, not an afterthought

Online ordering solves the intake problem. Print-ready output solves the production problem. Both are required for the workflow to be genuinely automated. A design tool that produces a file the customer approved, ready for the press, removes the step between order confirmation and production start.

Large-format printing has specific configuration requirements

Custom dimensions, material choices, finishing options, artwork bleed and safe zones — large-format products require more configuration at the point of order than standard print products. A design tool built for this category handles those requirements within the ordering flow rather than pushing them into a manual pre-press step.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Most web-to-print design tools are built as platform-specific plugins — primarily for Magento and WooCommerce. BigCommerce has a different architecture, and plugin-based tools either lack native BigCommerce support or require significant custom development to connect properly. DesignO's fully API-driven architecture removes this constraint — the integration is built on the API connection rather than a platform plugin, so it connects to BigCommerce the same way it would to any other platform.

It means DesignO communicates with the Half Price Banners BigCommerce store through a standardised API layer rather than a platform-specific plugin. In practice, this means the design tool sits natively inside the storefront — customers design and order in a single flow, files travel with the order automatically, and there is no manual handoff between the design tool and the store's checkout and order management.

No. DesignO's API-driven architecture meant the integration with BigCommerce did not require custom workarounds on either side. The tool was configured to Half Price Banners' product range and operational requirements within the standard implementation.

The design file travels with the order through the BigCommerce order management system. It arrives in production as a print-ready file — no separate file submission, no manual preparation step, no gap between the customer's approved design and the start of production.

The full range of Half Price Banners' configurable products — custom vinyl banners, fabric banners, feather flags, retractable banners, tension fabric displays, custom t-shirts, table covers, and more. Customers can upload their own artwork, set dimensions, choose finishes, and see a live preview before ordering.

Trusted by 2000+ Print Businesses

If Your Web-to-Print Tool Does Not Fit Your Platform, the Platform Is Not the Problem.

DesignO integrates with any e-commerce environment via API — BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify, or custom-built. The design tool works inside your store, not alongside it.

Talk To An Expert