Notes from the build
What we're learning building an AI that runs real stores — shipped features, honest numbers, and the occasional wrong turn.
User-generated content: how to ask for it honestly
How to ask customers for photos and reviews, the permission you need before publishing them, and why writing or buying them is never worth it.
Read articleProduct video for ecommerce: what to shoot on a phone
The five product videos worth a phone and an afternoon, the order to shoot them in, and the ones that quietly waste a whole weekend.
Read articleHow to connect a custom domain to your store
What a domain and DNS actually are, the records involved, why propagation is slow, and the eight steps in the order that avoids a certificate error.
Read articleLegal requirements for an online store: an orientation
There is no universal checklist. The eight areas to ask about, what varies by country, and what to bring to a professional. Not legal advice.
Read articleSales tax for online stores: the concepts, not the rates
Nexus, origin versus destination, registration, collection and remittance, explained without a single rate or threshold. Orientation, not tax advice.
Read articlePrivacy policy for ecommerce: what yours has to cover
The data a store collects without anyone noticing, the sections a policy needs, and why a copied policy is worse than none. Orientation, not legal advice.
Read articleEcommerce security best practices for small stores
HTTPS, passwords, 2FA, staff access and the card data you must never hold, ordered by what actually loses small stores their accounts.
Read articleLow transaction fee ecommerce platforms: how to tell
A platform's transaction fee is not your processing rate, and "0% transaction fees" usually means "if you use our processor".
Read articleHow to migrate ecommerce platform without wrecking SEO
Products, customers, orders, URLs, email and DNS — in the order that works, with the redirect map done before the cutover.
Read articleAll-in-one vs best-of-breed: when integration wins
One integrated platform beats a specialist stack when your constraint is labor, not capability. Here is where that flips.
Read articleDo I need a custom domain for my store?
Yes, once you sell to strangers, run ads or send email. A free subdomain is fine only while you are testing demand.
Read articleEcommerce platform fees explained, line by line
Seven lines take money from a sale. Here is each one, plus a worked example of what is left of a $40 order at three volumes.
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