Big Cartel
Know who's browsing your shop and what catches their eye. Add Positive User to your Big Cartel store and start tracking every visitor, capturing leads through chat or forms, and automating follow-ups that turn casual browsers into repeat buyers. One script in your theme layout, no plugin to install.
Give Your Independent Store a Marketing Edge
Track Every Visitor Across Your Store
From the moment someone lands on your Big Cartel shop, Positive User records their journey: which products they view, how long they stay, what device and location they come from. Every visitor gets a profile in your dashboard, ready to be activated in campaigns or shared with your team.
Capture Leads Without a Built-In Login System
Big Cartel stores don't have customer accounts or login functionality. Positive User fills that gap. Use the chat widget or popup forms to collect emails and names from visitors browsing your products. Each submission lifts an anonymous visitor into an identified contact, automatically merged with their full browsing history.
Automate Follow-Ups That Match Your Brand
A visitor checks out your latest collection, opens the chat, and shares their email. Positive User creates their profile, tags their interests, and enrolls them in a welcome sequence. If they browse but don't buy, trigger a friendly reminder. If they ask about a sold-out piece, alert yourself directly. Your follow-up game catches up with your craft.
Three simple steps to get started
Copy Your Script
In your Positive User app, go to Settings > Setup & Integrations > Basic Integration. Copy the widget script containing your API key and app domain. That's the only piece of code you'll touch.
Add to Big Cartel
Log into your Big Cartel admin (yourshop.bigcartel.com/admin). Go to Customize Design > Advanced > Layout. Switch from the Default tab to Custom, scroll to the bottom, and paste the script just before the closing </body> tag. Save your changes.
Verify Tracking
Visit your Big Cartel store, then check the Contacts section in Positive User. A new anonymous visitor record should appear within seconds. You can also open your browser console and type civchat to confirm the Positive User widget is loaded. Tracking is live.
Popular implementation guides
- Installing Positive User on Big Cartel: Step-by-step walkthrough of adding the tracking script to your Big Cartel theme layout. Read Guide →
- Integration via Script Implementation: Detailed reference for the widget script: basic vs. advanced setup, attribute passing, and verification methods. Read Guide →
- How to Add New Contacts: Learn how contacts are created in Positive User, from anonymous tracking to form submissions to manual import. View Tutorial →
- How Does Emailing Work?: Set up email follow-ups for leads captured on your Big Cartel store: templates, sending rules, and deliverability basics. View Tutorial →
- Pop-ups and Forms: Create lead capture forms and pop-ups that work alongside the tracking script on your store pages. View Tutorial →
- Chat Widget Settings: Configure the live chat widget appearance, behavior, and visibility to match your Big Cartel store's look and feel. View Tutorial →
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need coding skills to set this up?
Very minimal. You paste a pre-built script into Big Cartel's theme layout editor. The editor is accessible through the admin panel and no external tools or FTP access are needed.
Does the script load on all pages automatically?
Yes. The Big Cartel layout file wraps every page of your store. Adding the script before the closing tag means it fires on your homepage, product pages, collection pages, contact, and any other page rendered by Big Cartel.
Will the script slow down my store?
No. The script loads asynchronously and does not block page rendering. It has no measurable impact on your store's loading speed.
Big Cartel doesn't have customer accounts. How do I identify visitors?
All visitors start as anonymous profiles. They become identified contacts when they interact with the Positive User chat widget, submit a popup form, or fill out a contact form. From that moment, all of their previous anonymous activity is automatically merged into the identified profile.
Can I track which products a visitor views?
Yes. Positive User records every pageview, including individual product pages. You can see the full browsing path in each contact's profile timeline and use product page visits as triggers for automations or segmentation rules.
Can I hide the chat widget and use only tracking?
Yes. In your Positive User app, go to Settings > Chat Widget Settings > Widget Visibility, and set the widget state to "Hidden." Tracking continues in the background while the chat bubble disappears from your store.
Does this work with Big Cartel's checkout process?
Big Cartel handles checkout internally, and purchase data is not captured by the Positive User script directly. To sync order information, connect Big Cartel to Positive User through Zapier or another automation tool that supports order webhooks. The tracking script continues to cover everything pre-checkout (browsing, cart additions, chat interactions).
What if I switch my Big Cartel theme?
Changing themes in Big Cartel may reset your custom layout code. After switching themes, go back to Customize Design > Advanced > Layout, switch to Custom, and re-add the Positive User script before the closing tag. Keep a copy of your script in a safe place so re-adding it takes seconds.
Can I use the advanced script to pass buyer data?
If your Big Cartel theme provides access to customer variables (such as buyer email after checkout), you can pass them through the window.civchat object. In practice, Big Cartel exposes limited customer variables out of the box, so most stores rely on chat or popup form submissions for identification rather than the advanced script. Our team can help you scope what's available in your specific theme.
Is the data GDPR compliant?
Positive User provides tools for consent management, data access requests, and deletion. Pair them with a cookie consent banner on your Big Cartel store to build a compliant setup for your visitors. You remain responsible for collecting and managing consent in line with the regulations that apply to your business.