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-
Design & Development
6 Uncommon Marketing Tactics to Try This Christmas
September 26, 2017 • Armando Roggio
A good marketing plan can include a mixture of tried and true tactics and, also, somewhat unusual or uncommon promotions. With the 2017 Christmas shopping season closing in, your marketing department ...
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Platforms & Apps
From Shopping Cart to Ecommerce Platform and Back Again?
September 21, 2017 • Armando Roggio
Ten or 15 years ago many of the companies selling goods and services online would have described their ecommerce software as a “shopping cart.” Now, changes in software development could ...
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Schools & Resources
12 New Ecommerce Books for Fall 2017
September 18, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Fall is here, and with it comes a new batch of ecommerce books. There are titles on podcasting, invention, global ecommerce, creating a brand message, and using data for success. I ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: September 17, 2017
September 17, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-September from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on advertising, productivity apps, payment solutions, and live ...
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Design & Dev Tools
21 Free Web Design Tools, Summer 2017
September 13, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Enhance your website with free elements and tools from the design community. Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from summer 2017. There are designer and developer ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: August 30, 2017
August 30, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for late August, from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on daily deals, instant pickup, voice-based shopping,
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Code
Understanding Code Deployments, for Ecommerce
August 24, 2017 • Eric Davis
“Code complete” is a common saying among software developers when they have finished a development project. But code complete doesn’t mean everything is done. Once developers have written code for a ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: August 16, 2017
August 16, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-August from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on customer reviews, same-day delivery, fraud protection, digital ...
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Platforms & Apps
21 Apps for BigCommerce, to Extend and Enhance
August 14, 2017 • Sig Ueland
In 2012, BigCommerce launched an integration fund, which lead to hundreds of third-party apps for its platform. Recently BigCommerce launched an expanded partner program with new certification tiers —certified, premier,
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Platforms & Apps
Omnichannel Commerce Needs a New Kind of CMS
August 11, 2017 • Armando Roggio
Businesses striving to provide shoppers with omnichannel experiences need to find new ways to manage, store, and present product information. Commerce is changing. For retailers, shoppers now have many ways to ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: August 1, 2017
August 1, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for late July from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shoppable images and video, ecommerce personalization,
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Platforms & Apps
Which Comes First, the Ecommerce Platform or the Developer?
July 31, 2017 • Armando Roggio
Your ecommerce business needs a new platform and a developer — but in what order? An ecommerce platform is the software your business will use to conduct online transactions and a developer ...
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User Experience
SEO: Design for People, Develop for Bots
July 21, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown
One of the frequent reasons given for ignoring search engine optimization is this: “We’re not selling to bots, we’re selling to people.” This argument highlights an ignorance of the role ...
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Code
Confessions of an Ecommerce Developer
July 17, 2017 • Eric Davis
Web developers have standard processes and techniques to get their jobs done. They also have informal habits and opinions that influence their work — the kinds of things that no ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: July 17, 2017
July 17, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-July from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping services, coding, ecommerce personalization, challenging Amazon,
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Code
Static Site Generators an Option for Ecommerce Blogs, Content
July 13, 2017 • Armando Roggio
Static site generators offer an alternative to content management systems like WordPress or similar and may produce faster-loading web pages that are more secure and less complex to maintain. Static ...
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Platforms & Apps
20 Free Shopify Apps, to Extend and Enhance
July 10, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Launched a decade ago, Shopify was born out of an effort by its founders to sell snowboards online. After building their shop, they realized other stores were in need of ...
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Schools & Resources
9 Trusted SEO Blogs
July 9, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown
Search engine optimization is always changing, requiring constant investigation to keep up. One of the best ways to identify new trends, in addition to research and analysis on your own ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: July 3, 2017
July 3, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of ecommerce-related product releases and updates for late June. There are updates on shipping solutions, influencer marketing, payment processors, text analytics, marketing research, and Amazon’s newest ...
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Design & Development
Imgix C.E.O. on Real-time Image Optimization
June 23, 2017 • Armando Roggio
Images are vital for ecommerce. Images on a home page, category pages, and campaign landing pages — they all help engage shoppers. But here’s the challenge: Are you optimizing those ...
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Code
To Prevent Software Failures, Use Automated Testing
June 22, 2017 • Eric Davis
The larger your ecommerce store grows, the more complex the software behind it becomes. Even if you outsource your store development or use a hosted platform, this complexity will affect ...
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Schools & Resources
10 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2017
June 18, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of new ecommerce books for your summer reading. There are titles on podcasting, video marketing, entrepreneurship, disruption, global ecommerce, and valuing digital businesses. I compiled this list ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: June 15, 2017
June 15, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-June from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping solutions, artificial intelligence, email campaigns, product ...
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Design & Dev Tools
20 Free Web Design Tools, Spring 2017
June 12, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Making use of free elements and tools from the design community is an easy way to add value to your website. Here is a list of new web tools and design ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: June 1, 2017
June 1, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for late-May from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping solutions, electronic payments, security, voice-activated shopping,
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Code
How to Implement Ecommerce Personalization
May 24, 2017 • Eric Davis
Personalization is a growing trend in ecommerce. Shoppers want to see relevant marketing, products, and offers. When they receive them, they typically respond by purchasing more. The idea around personalization is ...
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Platforms & Apps
10 Free Themes for Magento
May 22, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Magento is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms, with more than 250,000 merchants and 150,000 developers, providing a vast assortment themes and extensions. The Community and Enterprise editions of ...
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: May 16, 2017
May 16, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for May from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on automated marketing, shipping, Instagram promotions, mobile shopping,
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Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: May 1, 2017
May 1, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of product releases and updates for late April from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on a subscription marketplace, artificial-intelligence-based marketing and ...
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Code
How a Web Developer Estimates Completion Time
April 26, 2017 • Eric Davis
It’s common for software developers to underestimate the time it takes to create a new feature. It’s one of the realities of software development. In this post, I’ll explain how a ...