Building a support assistant that quotes your real policies
A support assistant is only safe when it answers from your actual policy text and refuses everything else. The refusal is the feature, not the limitation.
6 min read
Published under this byline
Newest first. Every post says which service it comes out of, and none of them are written by somebody who has not done the work.
Choosing WooCommerce hosting that actually works
WooCommerce hosting is judged on four things most plans never mention: PHP workers, object caching, database performance and who applies the patches.
6 min read
Agency, freelancer or in-house: how to staff ecommerce work
A comparison of the three ways to resource ecommerce development, including the situations where hiring us would be the wrong decision.
6 min read
AI product descriptions that don't damage accuracy
How to generate product copy from real specification data without publishing plausible fiction about physical items you then have to ship.
6 min read
Custom WooCommerce plugins vs stacking third-party ones
When to write your own WooCommerce plugin and when to install one, plus the test we apply before adding any third-party code to a client's store.
6 min read
The Shopify apps quietly slowing your store down
Most slow Shopify stores are slow because of apps, not code. Here is how to audit what each one costs you, and what to do before optimising a single line of Liquid.
6 min read
When headless commerce is worth it — and when it isn't
Headless commerce gives you complete frontend control and the highest performance ceiling. It also removes the theme editor and makes every change a developer task.
6 min read
What to automate in an ecommerce business first
A ranking of ecommerce automations by build effort against realistic payback — including the two things clients ask for first that we recommend doing last.
10 min read
Running WooCommerce properly: hosting, caching and security
The infrastructure a WooCommerce store actually needs, why shared hosting fails it, and the maintenance routine that keeps a self-hosted store from becoming a liability.
10 min read
Shopify vs WooCommerce: which should you actually choose?
A decision framework based on customisation depth, total cost of ownership and who carries the maintenance burden — not on catalogue size or revenue.
10 min read
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