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Hi there, hope you're having a great Friday!
This is Colm and Simon from CommerceGurus, with a handpicked weekly roundup of eCommerce articles.
In their latest analysis, the Baymard Institute evaluated the UX of product pages across leading eCommerce sites.
The findings reveal that only 49% of these stores offer a "decent" or "good" UX on their product pages.
Nearly all customers interact with product pages before making a purchase and despite some improvements since previous years, there remains significant room for enhancement.
Key suggestions include ensuring that product pages clearly communicate the value proposition by using high-quality, detailed product images and videos.
Including prominent, transparent information on pricing, shipping, and return policies helps build trust and reduce purchase hesitation.
Read Baymard's 15 Pitfalls and Best Practices for Product Pages
WooCommerce 9.7 was released this week, and it includes a number of enhancements.
A notable update is the enhanced shipping method display in the Cart and Checkout blocks, allowing merchants to provide detailed shipping information, including method descriptions and estimated delivery times. This feature enables customers to have clearer expectations during the checkout process.
It also introduces a modernized, React-based Payments settings interface, initially rolling out to 50% of new stores.
This redesigned interface offers clearer gateway status indicators, contextual guidance, and relevant payment solution suggestions.
As always with a major release we highly recommend testing this on a separate staging site first, rather than deploying it immediately to a live store. See our WooCommerce update guide for more.
Discover WooCommerce 9.7
Oddit regularly posts interesting before and after makeovers on X and I liked this example of improvements made to the homepage of an eCommerce brand.
The original had a full screen image which made the white heading text difficult to read and focus on. It also includes arrow buttons so I expect that it was originally a slider or carousel.
By reducing the aspect ratio to be more of a square, the messaging is a lot clearer underneath. Including social proof such as the number of 5-star reviews is also an excellent idea to reassure new customers.
And the 'Free Shipping' and '30-Day Returns' messages below the call to action buttons bolsters the impact even further.
Check out Oddit's Before and After
Paolo Galeone has explored AI-assisted coding to improve the frontend of his SaaS platform.
Despite only having backend expertise, AI helped him solve frontend design challenges, giving him the ability to redesign the landing page and app interface.
Galeone compares Claude (IBM) and Gemini (Google), finding Claude faster for coding but limited in context, whereas Gemini, though slower, handled more complex tasks.
AI helped accelerate development where he had expertise but required careful review in unfamiliar areas. His experience highlights the need for precise prompts and strong code review practices.
Read about Paolo's Journey with Cline and LLMs
I enjoyed this essay from Gita Jackson in which she critiques the current state of the internet. She recalls the early web as a vibrant space where people built unique websites on platforms like Angelfire and Geocities, fostering creativity and individuality.
Today’s internet is largely confined to social media platforms such as Facebook and X, where user expression is dictated by algorithms and monetization strategies rather than genuine personal engagement.
She calls for a return to personal website creation, suggesting that everyone should reclaim their online presence by building and hosting their own sites.
Make Your Own Website in 2025
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Have a great week and best of luck with your projects!
Colm and Simon from CommerceGurus
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