Installation

Prerequisites

• A BigCommerce store with admin access
• A Gmail or Outlook mailbox that receives customer purchase orders (for example orders@yourstore.com)
• BigCommerce customer accounts whose email addresses match the senders of those order emails (B2B buyers must send from a registered address)
• Products in your catalog with SKUs that match what customers include in their emails

Step 1 — Install the app

1. In BigCommerce Admin, go to Apps → Marketplace
2. Search for Order to Email and click Install
3. Review permissions and click Confirm

During installation, the app will automatically:

• Connect to your store via OAuth
• Apply default settings so the dashboard is ready to configure
• Start a 14-day trial (if this is your first install)

Step 2 — Open the app and connect your inbox

1. Go to Apps → My Apps
2. Open Order to Email

3. Open Inbox Reader in the app sidebar

4. Click Connect Gmail or Connect Outlook

5. A sign-in window will open — allow popups if your browser blocks it

6. Sign in with the mailbox that should receive customer orders

7. Approve the requested access when prompted

8. When connected, you should see the mailbox address and a Last polled timestamp on the Inbox Reader page.

Step 3 — Configure email processing

Still on Inbox Reader, scroll to Email processing and:

1. Turn on Enable email processing
2. Set the Gmail label or Outlook folder to monitor (default: INBOX)
3. Choose unread only or all messages in that folder
4. Optionally set From address contains or Subject contains filters
5. Configure On success actions (for example mark as read, move to a Processed folder/label)
6. Configure On failure actions (for example move to an Errors folder, notify staff by email)
7. Click Save Changes

Polling runs automatically in the background once a mailbox is connected and email processing is enabled.

Step 4 — Verify in BigCommerce Admin

In the app, confirm on Inbox Reader:

• Your mailbox shows as connected
• Last polled updates over time (polling runs on a schedule)
• Enable email processing is on

In BigCommerce Admin, confirm:

• Test senders exist as customers with matching email addresses
• Products referenced in emails exist with matching SKUs

Step 5 — Test end-to-end

From a customer email address that exists in BigCommerce, send a purchase order to your connected inbox. Include SKUs, quantities, and shipping details. A PO number in the subject or body (for example PO#, PO:) is captured when present.

Wait for the next poll cycle (or check Last polled in the app), then in BigCommerce Admin go to Orders and confirm:

• A new Pending order was created
• Line items, quantities, and SKUs match the email
• The customer is matched correctly

If processing fails, check your On failure settings and any staff notification email. Common causes: no matching customer, invalid or missing SKUs, or the email could not be parsed.

Uninstalling

1. In BigCommerce Admin, go to Apps → My Apps
2. Find Order to Email and click Uninstall
3. BigCommerce will remove the app’s connection