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Notes from the Team

Thoughts on eCommerce development, lessons from projects, and the occasional technical deep-dive.

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Agentic Commerce13 May 2026

Shopify Quietly Auto-Shipped /llms.txt, /agents.md and /.well-known/ucp — Engineering Override Guide (2026)

Shopify now ships /llms.txt, /agents.md and /.well-known/ucp by default. Engineering guide: defaults, overrides via templates/llms.txt.liquid, Markets fixes, CI.

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Product22 May 2026

Anchor Loyalty is Live on the Shopify App Store (2026)

Anchor Loyalty & Rewards is now on the Shopify App Store. Points, VIP tiers, two-sided referrals, and a signed API for Hydrogen and headless stores.

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Shopify Plus13 April 2026

Shopify Plus Official UK Pricing 2026: From £1,800/mo Real Costs

Official Shopify Plus pricing for UK 2026: base licence from £1,800/mo, GMV-tier scaling, app stack, retainer, and the year-one hidden costs Shopify's official price list doesn't show.

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Strategy31 July 2026

Restricted Product Ecommerce Platform Selection Guide (2026)

Choosing a restricted product ecommerce platform requires underwriting first — compare BigCommerce and Shopify setups for CBD and vape in 2026.

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AI Commerce29 July 2026

Generative Engine Optimization Ecommerce: 2026 Playbook

5 schema and feed optimizations for generative engine optimization ecommerce visibility — turn product catalogues into AI citations in 2026.

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AI Commerce28 July 2026

Best AI SEO Tools: Engineering Decision Guide (2026)

Dashboards flag 90% of missing structured data but fix zero lines of code — evaluating the best ai seo tools for enterprise commerce stacks in 2026.

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Strategy24 July 2026

Algolia Pricing eCommerce: The Real Cost Guide (2026)

Evaluating algolia pricing ecommerce plans in 2026 — how record limits and search request overages impact your monthly bill, plus open-source alternatives.

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Engineering22 July 2026

Shopify Ecommerce Platform Detection Methods (2026)

The core shopify ecommerce platform detection methods used in 2026 — from analyzing X-ShopId HTTP headers to tracking headless Storefront API endpoints.

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Shopify20 July 2026

Shopify Digital Products Licence Delivery: Build vs Buy (2026)

A guide to Shopify digital products licence delivery in 2026 — comparing off-the-shelf download apps vs custom Webhook-driven key generation engines.

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Shopify Plus17 July 2026

Shopify POS Omnichannel Inventory: Engineering Guide (2026)

Why native Shopify POS omnichannel inventory sync breaks at scale — how to design locations API buffers, click-and-collect, and OMS fallback in 2026.

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Shopify Plus15 July 2026

Klarna Clearpay BNPL Engineering: A UK Shopify Guide (2026)

Handling £100+ AOVs with Klarna and Clearpay — how to engineer robust capture, refund, and reconciliation pipelines on Shopify Plus in 2026.

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AI Commerce13 July 2026

pgvector eCommerce Product Search: Supabase Setup (2026)

How to build pgvector ecommerce product search with Supabase — bypass Algolia fees with a hybrid Postgres FTS and HNSW index architecture in 2026.

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AI Commerce12 July 2026

How to Improve Brand Visibility in AI Search Engines (2026)

How to improve brand visibility in AI search engines in 2026: three levers that win citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews, plus a 30-day plan.

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Engineering11 July 2026

Royal Mail API Integration Shopify: UK Carrier Patterns (2026)

Royal Mail API integration for Shopify — Pro Shipping vs Click & Drop, plus Evri and DPD UK patterns for sub-200ms label flows and rate shopping (2026).

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BigCommerce10 July 2026

Shop Pay for BigCommerce: Engineering Decision Guide (2026)

Using Shop Pay for BigCommerce via the Wallet API — how off-Shopify checkouts handle UK instalments, real-time events, and asynchronous webhooks in 2026.

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Strategy8 July 2026

Is Volusion Still Good? Replatform Decisions (2026)

Is Volusion still good for £1M-£10M GMV stores? We analyze legacy API constraints, PCI DSS 4 risks, and migration costs to BigCommerce in 2026.

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Engineering6 July 2026

Stripe Connect: Engineering Marketplace Payments (2026)

Stripe Connect custom vs express models — how to build a multi-seller payment engine with £0.20 payouts and automated split logic in 2026.

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BigCommerce4 July 2026

BigCommerce SEO: Fixing Stencil & Crawl Traps (2026)

Resolving 3 BigCommerce SEO crawl traps in Stencil themes — how to fix duplicate faceted URLs and canonical drift for enterprise stores in 2026.

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Security1 July 2026

Strong Customer Authentication: 3DS2 Engineering Guide (2026)

How to stop strong customer authentication from destroying up to 15% of checkout conversions using advanced 3DS2 exemptions and modern gateway APIs in 2026.

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Headless29 June 2026

Headless CMS in Production: 3 Architectural Patterns (2026)

Choosing a headless CMS for £5M+ stores: a raw comparison of Sanity, Contentful, and Storyblok performance trade-offs in 2026.

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Engineering27 June 2026

Shopify Returns RMA Integration: Engineering Custom Flows (2026)

A production-grade shopify returns rma integration requires idempotent middleware — prevent inventory drift and stop double-refund bugs in 2026.

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Shopify Plus24 June 2026

Shopify Editions Spring 2026: Rebuilt Hydrogen & UCP

With 150+ updates, Shopify Editions Spring 2026 decouples Hydrogen from Remix and pushes B2B features to all plans — what engineers must build in 2026.

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Strategy24 June 2026

Is Your Magento 2 Upgrade Cost Worth It? A 2026 Guide

The real Magento 2 upgrade cost runs between £15,000 and £45,000 — why the recurring 2.4.7 patch cycle makes replatforming the smarter choice in 2026.

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Engineering22 June 2026

Klaviyo Deliverability Shopify: Engineering Guide (2026)

Optimise your klaviyo deliverability shopify setup with a 100% aligned domain — debug webhook latency and secure inbox rates — 2026 guide.

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Headless19 June 2026

Apple Pay Google Pay eCommerce 2026: Native vs Headless Guide

Native and headless wallet wiring contrasted — configure Apple Pay and Google Pay across Next.js and Liquid with under 100ms checkout latency in 2026.

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Strategy18 June 2026

Magento Alternatives: Engineering Decision Guide (2026)

Evaluating magento alternatives for £1M-£50M GMV brands — an engineering comparison of Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, and commercetools in 2026.

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Engineering15 June 2026

Supabase Shopify Backend: Side-Car Architecture (2026)

Why a £30K-£120K headless build needs a dedicated DB — modelling custom schemas and real-time inventory with a Supabase Shopify backend in 2026.

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AI Commerce12 June 2026

Claude Fable 5 eCommerce: Hype vs Production (2026)

Claude Fable 5 eCommerce pricing of $10/$50 per million tokens presents a steep contrast — here is how to deploy this frontier model in production in 2026.

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Shopify Plus10 June 2026

Recharge vs Shopify Subscriptions: 2026 Engineering Guide

Recharge vs Shopify Subscriptions in 2026 — an engineering breakdown of API limits, payment token migrations, and the £100K GMV threshold where native fails.

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Shopify Plus10 June 2026

Magento to Shopify Migration: Replatform Timeline (2026)

A Magento to Shopify migration typically costs £30K-£120K — how to execute the replatform, map EAV data, and preserve SEO rankings in 2026.

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BigCommerce8 June 2026

Volusion to BigCommerce Migration: Technical Guide (2026)

How to execute a Volusion to BigCommerce migration in 2026 without losing SEO equity. Learn to map legacy ASP URLs and clean V1 vs VOLT data.

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Headless5 June 2026

Shopify Hydrogen Blue Green Deploy: Zero-Downtime Guide (2026)

Oxygen vs Vercel edge latency comparison — how to run a shopify hydrogen blue green deploy with a 10% canary split for zero-downtime releases in 2026.

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Engineering3 June 2026

GitHub Actions eCommerce CI CD: Production Blueprints (2026)

A 3-step github actions ecommerce ci cd setup blocks credential leaks — learn how we implement OIDC and Shopify CLI v4 for resilient deploys in 2026.

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BigCommerce2 June 2026

BigCommerce 2026 Pricing Changes: New Plans, GMV Caps & Fees

BigCommerce's June 1 2026 update renames every plan, cuts GMV thresholds, and adds a 2.0%/1.0%/0.6% Open Payment Provider fee. The real cost and what to do.

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Engineering1 June 2026

GA4 BigQuery Export Ecommerce: Production Pipeline (2026)

A production-grade ga4 bigquery export ecommerce pipeline processing over 10M events — how we bypass daily limits and partition datasets in 2026.

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Security29 May 2026

PCI DSS 4 Headless eCommerce: SAQ Scoping Guide (2026)

How headless engineering teams clear PCI DSS 4 headless eCommerce audits in 2026 — navigating SAQ-A vs SAQ-A-EP and securing Hydrogen or Catalyst.

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Strategy27 May 2026

Adyen vs Stripe UK: Enterprise Payment Guide (2026)

Choosing Adyen vs Stripe UK for a £10M+ GMV store — why interchange++ pricing and fraud platform depth dictate your checkout margin in 2026.

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Headless25 May 2026

Shopify Hydrogen Winter 2026: Production Migration Guide

Migrating from Remix to React Router v7 in Shopify Hydrogen Winter 2026 can cut build times by roughly 30% — here is our technical playbook.

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Shopify24 May 2026

Shopify Customer Accounts API: Passwordless in Production (2026)

A 35% drop in login friction with the shopify customer accounts api — how to implement passwordless login and UI extensions in 2026.

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Engineering22 May 2026

Server-Side Tracking on Shopify Plus: GTM + Stape (2026)

Server-side tracking on Shopify Plus in 2026 — GTM server container, Stape vs self-hosted, Meta CAPI, Google Ads enhanced conversions migration steps.

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Engineering22 May 2026

Shopify CLI 4.0 Breaking Changes: Engineering Migration (2026)

Shopify CLI 4.0 ships SemVer, auto-upgrades, --force flag removal. CI/CD migration steps + the deprecated commands you must replace in 2026.

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Product22 May 2026

Anchor Loyalty is Live on the Shopify App Store (2026)

Anchor Loyalty & Rewards is now on the Shopify App Store. Points, VIP tiers, two-sided referrals, and a signed API for Hydrogen and headless stores.

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Security21 May 2026

GitHub VS Code Extension Breach 2026: Engineering Response

GitHub's May 2026 internal breach started with a poisoned VS Code extension on an employee device. Engineering response and policy lessons for teams.

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Engineering18 May 2026

Storefront API Cart Warnings: Handling Location Restrictions (2026)

The new PRODUCT_UNAVAILABLE_IN_BUYER_LOCATION warning code — handle cross-border cart state without leaking conversion — required for headless builds in 2026.

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BigCommerce16 May 2026

PIM for BigCommerce: Integration Patterns at 50K+ SKUs (2026)

How to integrate Akeneo, Plytix, Pimcore, and Salsify with BigCommerce in 2026 — handling delta syncs, MSF attribute mapping, and rate-limit recovery.

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Engineering14 May 2026

Shopify GraphQL Admin API: Production Rate Limit Strategy (2026)

How to manage Shopify GraphQL rate limits — handle the 1,000-point standard bucket, throttleStatus retries, and Bulk Operations — in 2026.

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Engineering13 May 2026

Shopify Dropshipping at Scale: When DIY Apps Break (2026)

The 3 breaking points of Shopify for dropshipping — why DSers and Spocket drop orders at 500/day — and how to build custom middleware in 2026.

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Agentic Commerce13 May 2026

Shopify Quietly Auto-Shipped /llms.txt, /agents.md and /.well-known/ucp — Engineering Override Guide (2026)

Shopify now ships /llms.txt, /agents.md and /.well-known/ucp by default. Engineering guide: defaults, overrides via templates/llms.txt.liquid, Markets fixes, CI.

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Engineering11 May 2026

Shopify AI Toolkit in Production: 19 Skills and Safe Execution (2026)

The 19 skills in the Shopify AI Toolkit — how to safely scope the --allow-mutations flag and run Claude Code against live stores — 2026 engineering guide.

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BigCommerce11 May 2026

BigCommerce Web Development: Stencil vs Catalyst Costs (2026)

BigCommerce web development decision tree — when Stencil themes win, when Catalyst makes sense, and why headless builds typically cost £60K-£120K in 2026.

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Headless9 May 2026

Hydrogen MCP → UCP Migration: Production Cutover Before June 15

Storefront Catalog MCP became UCP on April 22, 2026. The endpoint, tool names, and response schema all changed. Migration steps for Hydrogen before June 15.

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Shopify Plus8 May 2026

What is Shopify Plus: UK Engineering Decision Guide (2026)

What is Shopify Plus? A direct breakdown of UK pricing (typically £1,800/month), the 11 million Wasm instruction limit, and when the platform pays off in 2026.

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AI Commerce5 May 2026

OpenAI Privacy Filter: Production Implementation Guide (2026)

How to deploy OpenAI's 1.5B parameter Privacy Filter in your Shopify stack to redact PII, secure API keys, and maintain UK GDPR compliance in 2026.

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AI Commerce5 May 2026

Introducing Workspace Agents in ChatGPT: Commerce Implications (2026)

Consumer agentic checkout stalled, but internal AI workers are here. How to safely connect ChatGPT workspace agents to your Shopify Plus Admin API via MCP in 2026.

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AI Commerce1 May 2026

Introducing GPT-5.5: Engineering Agentic Commerce (2026)

Introducing GPT-5.5 and the Agentic Commerce Protocol — how 1M-token context windows turn ChatGPT into a native checkout channel for Shopify Plus — 2026.

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Engineering30 April 2026

Shopify Dev Assistant in Production: Engineering Workflow Efficiency

An engineering perspective on integrating the Shopify Dev Assistant and MCP server into production teams to streamline Shopify Functions and Polaris development.

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Automation27 April 2026

Shopify Flow AI Assistant Prompt Guide & Agent Trigger Patterns

Copy-paste prompts for the Shopify Flow AI assistant — email-chain automation, VIP tagging, fraud holds — plus the flowTriggerReceive agent-trigger architecture.

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Headless26 April 2026

Catalyst vs Hydrogen 2026: Next.js vs Remix Headless Compared

BigCommerce Catalyst (Next.js) vs Shopify Hydrogen (Remix): 2026 performance, build cost and hosting trade-offs, and which headless framework fits your build.

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Engineering22 April 2026

Scaling Shopify Storefront MCP in Production

Auth, caching, rate-limiting, and multi-tenancy patterns for a Shopify Storefront MCP server — what scales, what breaks under bursty agent traffic.

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Engineering17 April 2026

Shopify Functions in Production 2026: 5 Patterns That Scale

Five Shopify Functions patterns that survived Black Friday 2026: binary testing, metaobject access, the 11M instruction budget, cart-transform caching, deployment workflow.

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AI Commerce17 April 2026

Agentic Commerce Protocols: ACP, MCP, UCP

ACP, MCP, and UCP — the three protocols that now mediate how AI agents buy from Shopify, BigCommerce, and enterprise stores. What each is and what to implement.

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AI Commerce17 April 2026

Shopify MCP Server: Production Implementation Guide (2026)

Shopify MCP server setup: 4 native servers (Storefront, Customer Account, Checkout, Dev), verification from Claude and Cursor, and custom build cost £15K-£45K in 2026.

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AI Commerce16 April 2026

Optimising Shopify for AI Search: ChatGPT & Perplexity

ChatGPT Shopping, Perplexity Shop, and Google AI Mode recommend products directly. The structured data, feeds, and on-page signals that move the needle in 2026.

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Security15 April 2026

Security Headers for eCommerce: The Checklist

The 9 HTTP security headers every eCommerce store needs in 2026 — CSP, HSTS, COEP, COOP, and the Magecart-specific configs that block live skimmer attacks.

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Performance14 April 2026

Mobile PageSpeed Fixes for Slow eCommerce Stores

Most eCommerce stores score under 50 on Google's mobile PageSpeed test. The 12-step fix list we use to consistently hit 90+ on Shopify and BigCommerce in 2026.

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Shopify Plus13 April 2026

Shopify Plus Official UK Pricing 2026: From £1,800/mo Real Costs

Official Shopify Plus pricing for UK 2026: base licence from £1,800/mo, GMV-tier scaling, app stack, retainer, and the year-one hidden costs Shopify's official price list doesn't show.

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Salesforce12 April 2026

Salesforce Commerce Cloud vs Shopify Plus

When SFCC justifies its cost over Shopify Plus and when it doesn’t — TCO ranges, integration depth, B2B/B2C complexity, and the migration math for 2026.

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Engineering11 April 2026

How Much Does a Shopify Custom App Cost to Build?

What a Shopify custom app actually costs in 2026 — £4K to £250K+ ranges, the six variables that move the price, and the scoping questions that produce a firm number.

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NetSuite10 April 2026

NetSuite SuiteCommerce: Connecting Store to ERP

For businesses where inventory accuracy and financial integration matter more than a pretty checkout. Here's what SuiteCommerce actually does well.

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Integration9 April 2026

Integrating Shopify with NetSuite: A Practical Guide

The most common integration we build. Here's how to get orders, inventory, and customer data flowing reliably between Shopify and NetSuite.

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Headless8 April 2026

Shopify Hydrogen 2.0: Is It Finally Production-Ready?

Hydrogen 2.0 in 2026 — what’s mature, what still bites, and whether the Remix + Oxygen stack is finally ready for production Shopify Plus storefronts.

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Compliance5 April 2026

European Accessibility Act: eCommerce Compliance

The European Accessibility Act is now in force. Here's what eCommerce stores need to fix for compliance and why accessibility is good for business.

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Shopify2 April 2026

Building Subscriptions on Shopify: What Actually Works

A practical guide to building subscription commerce on Shopify — comparing apps, custom builds, and the trade-offs of each approach.

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Automation30 March 2026

Shopify Flow: Beyond the Basics

Advanced Shopify Flow automation patterns that replace expensive apps and save hours of manual work every week.

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BigCommerce26 March 2026

Multi-Storefront on BigCommerce: Architecture

How to architect multi-storefront setups on BigCommerce — sharing catalogues, managing pricing, and avoiding common pitfalls.

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Shopify22 March 2026

Shopify's 100 Variant Limit: Real Solutions That Work

Practical solutions for Shopify's 100 variant limit, from combined listings to custom apps. We explain when each approach makes sense.

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UX20 March 2026

Shopify Search at Sub-100ms: Algolia vs Search & Discovery (2026)

eCommerce search under 100ms — Algolia config, Shopify Search & Discovery API limits, 1536-dim vector embeddings, and buy-vs-build decision points for 2026.

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Automotive18 March 2026

Year/Make/Model Filtering on Shopify for Auto Parts (2026)

Build Year/Make/Model fitment filtering on Shopify with metaobjects and metafields — the data model, search layer, ACES/PIES, and what it costs. A 2026 engineering guide.

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Architecture15 March 2026

Is Headless Commerce Worth It? A Practical Guide

When headless commerce actually pays off vs. when it adds complexity — real cost ranges, team requirements, and platforms worth considering in 2026.

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Social20 January 2026

TikTok Shop and Shopify: What Brands Need to Know

TikTok Shop is growing fast. Here's what we've learned about integrating it with Shopify and whether it's worth the effort.

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AI8 March 2026

AI Search Isn't Magic: What Actually Works

We've tested plenty of AI search tools. Here's what we've learned about what actually improves eCommerce search and what's just expensive hype.

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Shopify28 February 2026

Shopify Checkout Extensions: What You Can Do Now

The old checkout.liquid is gone. Here's what Checkout Extensibility actually lets you do, with examples from real projects.

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Strategy20 February 2026

Selling Internationally: Markets vs Multi-Store

Should you use Shopify Markets or run separate stores for each country? Here's how to decide based on your actual situation.

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Strategy12 February 2026

BigCommerce or Shopify? How to Actually Decide

We work with both platforms daily. Neither is better—they're different. Here's how to choose the right one for your situation.

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Performance5 February 2026

Your Shopify Store Is Probably Slow

Most Shopify stores we audit have the same problems: too many apps, bloated themes, and unoptimised images. Here's how to fix them.

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Architecture28 January 2026

Composable Commerce Explained: When MACH Pays Off (2026)

Composable commerce in 2026: what MACH actually means, when best-of-breed stacks beat monolithic Shopify Plus or BigCommerce, and the operational cost most posts skip.

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B2B12 January 2026

Running B2B on Shopify Plus: What Works

Shopify's B2B features have matured significantly. Here's what works well, what still needs workarounds, and how to set it up properly.

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Migration5 January 2026

Ecommerce Platform Migration Checklist (2026)

An ecommerce platform migration checklist that protects revenue: redirect mapping, data cleanup, a parallel-run cutover, and the 90-day metrics that prove it worked.

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Product20 December 2025

Building Anchor: What We Learned About Loyalty Apps

Most loyalty apps feel bolted-on. We spent six months figuring out how to build one that actually fits into the Shopify experience.

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Strategy10 December 2025

When Does Shopify Plus Actually Make Sense?

When does Shopify Plus actually make sense? The Plus-only capabilities, an honest cost breakdown, and the revenue band where the upgrade pays back. 2026 guide.

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