Design & Development
The nuts and bolts of an ecommerce site are design and development. We address design innovation and trends — including layouts, colors, photography, logos, video, and more. We explain the basics of code — HTML, CSS, JavaScript — as well as platforms, themes, plugins, open source, and related topics.
Code | Design & Dev Tools | Platforms & Apps | Schools & Resources | Typography & Fonts | User Experience-
Schools & Resources
12 Graphic Design Books to Build a Brand
July 5, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Graphic design impacts a brand's identity and thus its success. Here's our selection of a dozen books from leading designers.
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Design & Dev Tools
6 AI Presentation Tools for Webinars, Promos, More
June 20, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Creating attractive presentation decks has never been easier with sophisticated AI tools. We take a look at six compelling options.
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Schools & Resources
13 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2023
June 12, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Every quarter we publish a rundown of new books that could help merchants. This installment includes titles on B2B marketing, decentralized platforms, sustainable business models, brand development, and more.
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Design & Dev Tools
6 Image-to-text Tools, AI-powered
June 6, 2023 • Ann Smarty
AI-powered tools can now analyze an image and describe it in words — handy for alt text, article drafts, and more.
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Design & Dev Tools
22 Free Web Design Tools from Spring 2023
June 6, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Here's our latest quarterly rundown of free tools for design, illustration, imagery, typography, and much more.
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Design & Dev Tools
AI Basics for a Competitive Advantage
June 5, 2023 • Armando Roggio
Understanding the limits and workings of generative AI is the first step in harnessing its benefits for business.
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Schools & Resources
Is College Necessary for Business?
May 26, 2023 • Eric Bandholz
Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI's Sam Altman are college dropouts. We asked Brandon Chicotsky, a professor of marketing at Texas Christian University, if college is worth the time and money.
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Design & Dev Tools
AI Audio Tools for Meetings, Podcasts, Text-to-speech
May 23, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Artificial intelligence is powering many sophisticated audio tools. In this post, we test tools for transcribing and editing meetings and podcasts and for generating audio from text.
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Platforms & Apps
20 Recommerce Brands, Marketplaces, Platforms
May 22, 2023 • Sig Ueland
The business of buying and selling used goods supports environmental sustainability while offering quality products at reduced prices. The industry is booming.
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Design & Dev Tools
Testing 7 AI Logo Generators
May 16, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Can AI-driven logo generators produce quality results? We test seven tools with varied outcomes.
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Schools & Resources
19 Free Web Design Courses: UX, Graphics, Code, More
May 1, 2023 • Sig Ueland
There's no shortage of free resources to learn techniques for layout, images, typography, composition, color, and much more, including the code to implement it.
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Schools & Resources
7 Resources for AI News, Updates, Ideas
April 25, 2023 • Ann Smarty
Developments in artificial intelligence occur at a breakneck pace. Here are seven go-to resources to keep up.
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Platforms & Apps
19 Tools to Write, Publish, Sell Ebooks
April 17, 2023 • Sig Ueland
There have never been more or better tools to help publish and distribute ebooks. Here's our comprehensive rundown of platforms for writing, designing, and selling.
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: April 16, 2023
April 16, 2023 • Sig Ueland
This installment of our twice-monthly rundown includes updates on Amazon selling, email marketing, checkout options, generative AI prompts, and much more.
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Design & Dev Tools
15 Free Themes for WooCommerce
April 4, 2023 • Sig Ueland
WooCommerce is flexible, powerful, and free, with many plugins and themes to enhance and improve it.
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: April 3, 2023
April 3, 2023 • Sig Ueland
This installment of our twice-monthly rundown includes updates on social commerce, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, buy-now-pay-later, product analytics, digital file storage, and more.
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Typography & Fonts
The Right Font Drives Conversions
March 29, 2023 • Barbara Carneiro
Fonts connect a brand with its audience, enhance the user experience, and drive conversions. Here are six ecommerce examples.
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Schools & Resources
12 New Ecommerce Books for Spring 2023
March 27, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Every quarter we publish a rundown of new books that could help ecommerce merchants. This installment includes titles on strategy, branding, B2B, storytelling, and more.
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Design & Dev Tools
20 Free Web Design Tools from Winter 2023
March 20, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Here's our quarterly rundown of handy tools, apps, and fonts for merchants. This installment includes free image generators, no-code builders, mockups, and more.
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: March 15, 2023
March 15, 2023 • Sig Ueland
This installment includes updates on drop shipping, returns management, one-click insurance, upsell and cross-sell solutions, customer video chats, payment tools, and more.
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Design & Dev Tools
A Web Designer’s Tech Stack
March 6, 2023 • Barbara Carneiro
A web designer's tools facilitate project management, internal dialog, and close communication with clients. The actual design is often the easy part.
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: March 1, 2023
March 1, 2023 • Sig Ueland
This installment of our twice-monthly rundown includes updates on shipping, domains, website builders, chatbots, analytics, grocery tools, and more.
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Platforms & Apps
11 Podcast Platforms to Host, Distribute, Monetize
February 27, 2023 • Sig Ueland
By 2024 500 million folks worldwide will listen to podcasts annually. Here are 11 comprehensive platforms to host your episode files, distribute them across the internet, and monetize them with ads, donations, and subscriptions.
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Design & Dev Tools
20 Free Ecommerce Icon Sets
February 21, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Professional icons can engage shoppers and assist in navigation, checkout, and more. Here's our all-new update of ecommerce icons for most every need.
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: February 15, 2023
February 14, 2023 • Sig Ueland
This installment of our twice-monthly series includes updates live video commerce, shipping services, social commerce, and more.
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Platforms & Apps
4 Ecommerce Growth Levers
February 7, 2023 • Armando Roggio
Ecommerce success depends on compelling products that consumers want to buy. Beyond that are critical foundational levers — technology, people, content, and money.
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Platforms & Apps
15 Group Messaging Mobile Apps
February 6, 2023 • Sig Ueland
The rise of remote employees requires specialized tools for team collaboration and communication. Here are 15 of those tools in our all-new update of a popular resource.
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: February 1, 2023
February 1, 2023 • Sig Ueland
This installment of our long-running series includes new services for digital wallets, in-video search, shipping, SEO, headless development, omnichannel fulfillment, and more.
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Platforms & Apps
13 AI Chatbots for Business
January 31, 2023 • Sig Ueland
ChatGPT demonstrates the stunning benefits of artificial intelligence. Many other providers offer impressive AI-driven tools for customer service, process automation, and more. Here are 13 of them.
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Design & Dev Tools
21 Productivity Tools for 2023
January 24, 2023 • Sig Ueland
Staying organized and productive has never been easier. Innovative apps help manage time, collaboration, workflows, projects, and more. Many offer free versions for individuals.