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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.
This WooCommerce article recaps conversations with 225 commerce leaders at Stripe Sessions 2026.
The biggest theme was that AI agents are rapidly becoming a new sales channel, with shoppers increasingly relying on AI tools to discover, compare, and purchase products.
For merchants, this means thinking beyond traditional search engines and marketplaces, and ensuring product data, catalog information, pricing, and brand messaging can be understood by AI systems.
Many of the fundamentals remain the same. Strong product data, accurate inventory, clear pricing, customer reviews, and useful content are becoming even more important because AI agents rely on that information when making recommendations.
Stores best positioned for the next phase of eCommerce won't necessarily be those with the biggest ad budgets, but those that make it easiest for AI systems to understand and recommend their products.
WooCommerce is already working with Stripe's Agentic Commerce initiatives, which are designed to help stores surface products inside AI-powered shopping experiences without requiring custom integrations for every new platform.
Read AI is Shifting Commerce - Here’s What 225 Leaders Told Us They’re Betting On
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Baymard's latest research highlights a surprisingly common product page mistake: hiding product image thumbnails without making it obvious that more images exist.
When shoppers don't realise there are additional images available, they often miss important information such as dimensions, product features, comparison shots, or usage examples.
In testing, this regularly led users to conclude that key information wasn't available and, in some cases, abandon otherwise suitable products.
The fix is relatively simple. Baymard found four approaches that work well: display all thumbnails when possible, use clear carousel arrows, add a "+5" style thumbnail, or show a partially visible thumbnail that hints additional images are hidden.
If you've invested time creating detailed product photography, make sure shoppers can easily discover every image you've provided.
Always Signpost Hidden Thumbnails in Image Galleries
(The article can be read with a free Baymard account)
In this interview, Danny Winer, CEO of HexClad, sharedthe interesting story behind building the cookware brand into a business valued at over $1 billion.
A recurring theme is the power of brand storytelling. Rather than selling cookware as a commodity, HexClad focused on creating a distinctive identity, memorable design, and a strong emotional connection with customers.
He also reflects on lessons learned from earlier business failures, including a juicer startup that taught him the importance of listening to consumers rather than forcing an idea onto the market.
The discussion covers how the brand approaches promotions without damaging its premium positioning, and the importance of thinking long-term, as well as the emphasis on patience.
Building a successful brand isn't about chasing short-term wins, but consistently earning customer trust.
Watch From Failure to a Billion Dollar Brand
Transitions.dev is a growing collection of UI animations and transition effects for web designers and developers.
The site showcases everything from page transitions and hover effects to loading states, menus, modals, and micro-interactions, making it easy to discover polished animation patterns that help interfaces feel more refined and responsive.
Rather than starting from scratch, designers and developers can browse real examples, see how they work, and use them as inspiration for their own projects.
It's a handy resource for anyone who wants to add a little more personality and polish to their websites without overdoing the animations.
Explore UI Animations at Transitions.dev
This is a free screen recording and editing app for Mac (for now, a Windows version is planned) aimed at creators, developers, founders, and anyone making product demos, tutorials, or walkthrough videos.
It automatically adds many of the effects that normally require manual editing, including smart zoom animations, cursor highlights, click effects, background styling, and camera overlays.
Take a look at Screen Forge
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Have a great week and best of luck with your projects!
Simon and Colm from CommerceGurus
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