How to Add a Tracking Script in BigCommerce Script Manager

Before you start: what Script Manager needs

BigCommerce's help article on Script Manager opens with the main requirement: "This feature is only available to stores using Stencil themes." Stencil is BigCommerce's current theme framework, and most stores built in recent years use it. BigCommerce's developer documentation adds that Blueprint, the older theme framework, "does not support rendering scripts inserted using the Scripts API or the Script manager."

Have the script ready before you open the control panel. In marketingLABO, for example, you register your site with its name and URL, and the dashboard then shows your tracking tag with a Copy tag button and the instruction to paste it right before </head> on every page. On BigCommerce, that becomes the header placement in Script Manager, which we set in Step 3.

Script Manager, Footer Scripts or an app?

There are three ways a script can end up on a BigCommerce storefront, and it helps to know which one you are using.

Step 1: Open Storefront > Script Manager

1. Sign in to your BigCommerce control panel.
2. Go to Storefront > Script Manager.
3. Look at the list first. BigCommerce says the overview shows "the script's name, the date of installation, the location of the script in the storefront, header or footer," and whether it came from an app or was entered manually. Check that the tool you are installing isn't already there.
4. Click Create a Script.

If your store has more than one storefront, the path is different. BigCommerce's article notes: "Script Manager and other storefront-specific settings can be found within Channel Manager." Open Channel Manager, choose the storefront you want to track, and open its Script Manager from there. Each storefront has its own list, so a script added to one isn't added to the others.

Step 2: Name and describe the script

1. Script name is required and is for your own reference. Use something you will recognize later, such as "marketingLABO tag" or "Heatmap tool (added Oct 2026)".
2. Description is optional. A one-line note on what the script does and who added it saves time when someone reviews the list a year from now.

Step 3: Set Placement to the header

The Placement field decides where on the page the script goes. BigCommerce's instruction is short: "Select whether the script should be in the header or footer of the page." On Stencil themes, header scripts are output by the theme in the page head, and footer scripts near the end of the page.

marketingLABO asks for its tag right before </head> on every page, so choose the header. You can't pick an exact line inside the head with Script Manager; the header placement is the equivalent.

One technical detail, in case your theme has been customized: BigCommerce's developer docs explain that Stencil templates must include the Handlebars expressions for head and footer scripts, and that if an expression is missing from a page, "scripts with that location won't render on that page." Stock Stencil themes include them. If a developer has heavily edited your templates and the script doesn't appear, this is one thing to ask them about.

Step 4: Choose which pages the script runs on

The Location field (BigCommerce's help article uses this name for which pages the script runs on) has four options. Here is how BigCommerce describes each one:

The developer documentation for the same settings gives a little more detail. It lists the storefront scope as excluding Checkout, My Account, Login, Payment Methods and Order Confirmation, while the all-pages scope covers most storefront pages, including Cart, Category, Checkout, My Account, Login, Product, Search and the 404 page.

All pages or Storefront pages?

Many vendors simply say "choose All pages," and for some tools that is right. Before you pick it, know what it adds: the checkout and order confirmation pages. BigCommerce treats checkout and My Account as payment pages, and its help article states that to comply with PCI DSS requirements, "you must include at least 1 integrity hash" for scripts used to customize your payment pages. An integrity hash is a fingerprint of the exact script file; if the file changes, the browser blocks it until you add the new hash from the provider.

So the choice comes down to whether your tool needs to run during checkout and whether it gives you an integrity hash for that:

For marketingLABO, choose Storefront pages. marketingLABO doesn't read order data on BigCommerce, so there is nothing for it to do on checkout, and keeping third-party scripts off payment pages is a simple way to keep your PCI checklist short. Your heatmaps, visitor history and banner targeting still cover the pages where shoppers browse and decide, including the cart.

Step 5: Pick the script category

The Script category field is easy to skim past, but it decides whether the script runs for shoppers who use your cookie consent banner to opt out. BigCommerce explains: "When enabled, the cookie consent banner allows shoppers to opt-out of categories of cookies and scripts used by the store." There are four categories:

The detail to know: "Uncategorized scripts default to this category," meaning Essential. A tracking tag isn't essential for your store to work, so leaving it on Essential is usually the wrong choice if you serve shoppers in places with consent rules, because essential scripts run whether or not the shopper agreed.

For a visitor analytics and heatmap tag such as marketingLABO, Analytics is the category that describes the main job. Pick the one that honestly fits what your tool does, and expect the trade-off: shoppers who opt out of that category won't be tracked, and anything that depends on the tag, such as pop-up banners from the same tool, won't run for them either. That is expected behavior with consent, not a broken install.

Step 6: Script type, contents and load method

The rest of the form is about the code itself. BigCommerce's instruction for Script type is: "Select whether you are linking to a script by a URL or manually entering in the script."

BigCommerce describes the load methods this way. Async: "The script will be fetched in parallel to parsing and evaluated as soon as it's available." Defer: "The script will execute in the order it appears on the page." Default: "This setting will load the script according to the default attribute settings found in browsers." Many tracking snippets already set their own loading behavior inside the code, which is why Default is a safe choice when your vendor doesn't specify one.

Step 7: Save, then check that it works

Click Save. The script now appears in the Script Manager list with its placement. BigCommerce notes that "Scripts have a cache time of 20 seconds," so wait a moment before you test. Then confirm it loads on the live store:

1. Open your store in a private window. This shows the storefront the way a new shopper sees it and avoids mixing your test with an existing session.
2. Accept the cookie banner if you have one enabled and set a non-essential category. Otherwise the script may be waiting for consent.
3. View the page source (Ctrl+U on Windows, Option+Cmd+U in Chrome on Mac) and search for a recognizable part of your snippet, such as its domain.
4. Click through several page types: the home page, a category, a product and the cart. With Storefront pages selected, the snippet should be on each of them.
5. Use your tool's own check. In marketingLABO, open any page of your store, then press Check tracking in the dashboard. If nothing has arrived, the dashboard suggests confirming the tag is right before </head> on every page and your changes are saved, then reloading your site and trying again.

After a few minutes of browsing, look for your own visit in the tool. In marketingLABO, the visitor history timeline should list each page you opened, in order.

If the script doesn't load: a troubleshooting table

Editing and removing scripts

Scripts you created yourself show up as user-created in Script Manager, and you can edit or delete them. Scripts created by apps are read-only. A few habits make this list easy to manage:

1. Edit a script from its action menu to change the placement, pages or category, or to paste an updated snippet from your provider.
2. Delete a script from the action menu, or open it with View and delete it there, then confirm. Unused scripts still load for every shopper, so remove tools you have stopped using.
3. Don't delete app scripts by hand. BigCommerce warns that removing a third-party script before uninstalling its app can cause unexpected behavior. Uninstall the app instead.

A note on headless storefronts

This guide is for Stencil storefronts. BigCommerce also supports Catalyst and other headless front ends, where the store's pages are built by a separate application. BigCommerce's documentation says Script Manager scripts are supported on Catalyst, but page loading works differently there. marketingLABO's tag is designed for regular page loads, so we don't offer an install guide for headless BigCommerce storefronts.

What a head tag can do on BigCommerce, and what it can't

Once the snippet loads on your storefront pages, a page-level tool sees what shoppers do on those pages. With marketingLABO on a BigCommerce store, that means:

1. Analytics and heatmaps. Reports by traffic source, page and conversion, plus per-page heatmaps of time on page, scroll depth and clicks. Product pages are a good place to start. See our guide to website heatmaps for how to read them.
2. Visitor history. A per-visitor timeline of the pages they viewed.
3. Micro-conversions. Count goals by number of pages viewed, a specific URL, time on page or return visits. Reaching the cart page is a reasonable signal of intent.
4. Pop-up banners. Show a banner immediately, after a delay, at a scroll depth or on exit intent, targeted by page URL, visit count, days since last visit, pages viewed or not viewed, and traffic source. Banners come in modal, floating and bar styles, and there are e-commerce templates for coupons, free shipping and sign-ups.

And what it doesn't do: marketingLABO isn't a BigCommerce app and doesn't connect to your store's catalog or orders, so it doesn't read cart contents, cart value, products or payments. A "cart reminder" banner in marketingLABO works by page behavior, for example showing a message to returning visitors who viewed the cart page, not by what is in the cart. For revenue and order counts, keep using BigCommerce's own reports.

Common mistakes

Quick checklist

1. Store uses a Stencil theme.
2. Correct storefront selected (Channel Manager on multi-storefront stores).
3. Snippet copied directly from your tool, pasted once via Create a Script.
4. Clear script name and a short description.
5. Placement: header.
6. Location: Storefront pages (or what your vendor requires, with any integrity hash).
7. Script category matches what the tool does.
8. Load method left on Default unless your vendor says otherwise.
9. Verified in a private window on home, category, product and cart pages, plus your tool's own tracking check.
10. Old copies removed from Footer Scripts.

FAQ

Do I need to edit my theme files? No. Script Manager adds the script for you on Stencil themes. Theme editing is only relevant if a developer has removed the template expressions that output scripts.

Can I track checkout with marketingLABO? We recommend not placing the marketingLABO tag on checkout. It doesn't read order data, and keeping third-party scripts off payment pages avoids the integrity hash requirement. Use BigCommerce's reports for orders.

I also run a Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or WooCommerce site. Is it similar? The goal is the same (the tag in the head of every page), but the steps differ. See adding a tracking script to Shopify, adding custom code to the head of a Wix site, Squarespace code injection and adding a script to the head of a WooCommerce store.

marketingLABO's Free plan includes one site with analytics, heatmaps and visitor history, plus one form and one pop-up banner, with no time limit and no credit card required. Compare plans in the pricing section, or sign up free to get your tag.

Sources

All checked on October 12, 2026.

1. BigCommerce Help Center: Using Script Manager
2. BigCommerce Dev Center: Scripts API