BigCommerce, a leading open SaaS ecommerce platform, announced on July 23, 2025, the launch of the “Branch of the Future” accelerator, designed to transform the UK building materials sector. Developed with Brave Bison, Pimberly, and The Journey, the initiative provides a comprehensive toolkit for builders’ merchants to digitize operations, enhance customer experiences, and future-proof their businesses. By joining the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), BigCommerce reinforces its commitment to the £40 billion UK builders’ merchant market, reducing operational costs by up to 30% and boosting online revenue by 27%, as demonstrated by prior implementations like MKM’s.
Announced July 23, 2025: BigCommerce launches “Branch of the Future” accelerator.
Partners: Brave Bison (ecommerce), Pimberly (PIM), The Journey (consulting).
Reduces operational costs by 30% and boosts online revenue by 27%, per MKM case study.
Features 1.5M pre-optimized SKUs via Pimberly for building materials.
UK builders’ merchant market valued at £40B, with 60% of buyers demanding digital solutions.
Builds on BigCommerce’s Q1 2025 revenue of $82.4M and 24/24 Paradigm B2B medals.
The “Branch of the Future” accelerator addresses the UK building materials sector’s reliance on offline workflows by offering a composable commerce solution. “This accelerator is about delivering seamless, customer-first experiences,” said Lance Owide, General Manager of B2B at BigCommerce. Key components include:
BigCommerce B2B Edition: Provides out-of-the-box features like customer-specific pricing, product visibility, and quoting, tailored for complex B2B workflows.
Brave Bison: Delivers turnkey ecommerce implementation using BigCommerce’s Catalyst framework, enabling phased deployment and reducing launch times by 40%.
Pimberly: Offers AI-driven Product Information Management (PIM) with 1.5 million pre-optimized SKUs, centralizing data for accuracy and efficiency, as noted by Craig McCalley, Pimberly’s Managing Director.
The Journey: Provides 25+ years of industry expertise, ranking UK merchants’ online experiences to guide transformation, per Director John Godwin.
The accelerator automates tasks like order tracking, freeing teams for high-value work, and supports omnichannel experiences for next-generation buyers.
BigCommerce, with $351 million in annual revenue run rate and 80.3% non-GAAP gross margin in Q1 2025, serves tens of thousands of B2B and B2C clients across 150 countries, including MKM Building Supplies and Harvey Nichols. The £40 billion UK builders’ merchant market, with 60% of buyers demanding digital solutions per 2025 reports, faces challenges like siloed data and legacy platforms. The accelerator, following MKM’s 2024 relaunch with BigCommerce, Bloomreach, and Brave Bison, achieved a 27% increase in web orders and 43% revenue growth. BigCommerce’s BMF membership enhances its credibility, competing with Shopify and WooCommerce.
The UK construction sector struggles with digital adoption, with 65% of merchants citing outdated systems as barriers, per 2025 industry reports. Posts on X from @BigCommerce and @BraveBison highlight enthusiasm for the accelerator, though some note macroeconomic risks impacting growth. BigCommerce’s stock (Nasdaq: BIGC) rose 2% to $8.15 post-announcement, despite a 10% headcount reduction in Q4 2024 to fund sales capacity. The accelerator aligns with BigCommerce’s July 24, 2025, B2B Quick Start Accelerator launch, reinforcing its B2B focus. Pimberly’s clients, like Wolseley and JT Atkinson, and Brave Bison’s work with MKM underscore the partnership’s industry expertise.
The “Branch of the Future” accelerator empowers UK builders’ merchants to modernize operations, enhance customer trust, and drive growth in a digital-first market.
BigCommerce is a leading open SaaS and composable ecommerce platform that empowers brands, retailers, manufacturers and distributors of all sizes to build, innovate and grow their businesses online. BigCommerce provides its customers sophisticated professional-grade functionality, customization and performance with simplicity and ease-of-use. Tens of thousands of B2C and B2B companies across 150 countries and numerous industries rely on BigCommerce, including Coldwater Creek, Harvey Nichols, King Arthur Baking Co., MKM Building Supplies, United Aqua Group and Uplift Desk.
Pimberly is a powerful, AI-driven Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform that simplifies product data management for retailers, manufacturers, and distributors. Our cloud-based solution automates workflows, enriches product content, and seamlessly integrates with e-commerce, ERP, and data platforms. Designed for global teams, Pimberly scales effortlessly to support complex catalogues and high SKU volumes. Leading B2B and construction brands rely on Pimberly to manage their product data, including Marshalls, JT Atkinson, Wolseley, NEUCO, PartsTown, and ExTech.
A world where complexity is the only constant demands a new breed of company. Brave Bison is a different beast: a media, marketing and technology company purpose built for the digital era.
We work with the boldest brands in the world to engineer seamless digital experiences and composable commerce infrastructures. From platform integrations to bespoke UX design, from tech-stack advisory to rapid product innovation, we turn complexity into clarity—and clicks into conversions.
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The Journey is a digital growth consultancy with deep expertise in the building materials and home improvement sector. We partner with ambitious brands to unlock ecommerce performance, improve customer experience, and drive measurable commercial growth.
We’ve worked with some of the UK’s most respected builders' merchants, helping them modernise their digital channels, connect better with their trade customers and accelerate their growth in a highly competitive market.
Whether it’s redefining digital strategy, optimising UX, improving conversion, or building smarter data-driven customer journeys, we bring industry know-how and hands-on delivery that gets results, fast.
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