Notes on growing online

Clear thinking on brand, design and technology to help your business grow online. What we learn building websites and stores, no filler.

Shoppín, the Escarlata mascot, stands on a round plaza next to a signpost with three arrows (cream, gold and pink), each pointing down a path of stepping stones in the same colour, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

Which ecommerce platform should you choose in 2026?

Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento... Before you compare features, there are a few questions about your business that narrow the list on their own. Here are the criteria that actually matter when choosing an ecommerce platform.

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Shoppín in a sweatband sprinting with speed lines behind it, toward a clay stopwatch pointing to the fast zone and a gold lightning bolt, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

How Much Online Store Performance Really Matters

A tenth of a second moved retail conversion by 8.4% across 20 million sessions. A complete guide to online store performance: what Google measures with Core Web Vitals, why your Lighthouse score misleads you, and what to fix first.
A clay shopping basket with handles, filled with parcels, gift boxes, a sneaker, a phone box and a bottle, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

How to Optimize the Shopping Cart on Your Online Store

Seven out of ten carts get abandoned, and a good share of the damage happens on the cart page itself. A guide to optimizing your online store's shopping cart, with verified research from Baymard Institute.
The Shopify and WooCommerce logos made of clay, facing each other on two podiums: the green Shopify bag on a solid block and the purple Woo on a stack of parts, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

Shopify vs WooCommerce: Which Platform Should You Choose for Your Online Store?

WooCommerce is free and Shopify starts at $25 a month, but that comparison is misleading. Real costs, transaction fees, maintenance, traffic spikes and the documented limits of each platform, with verified numbers, so you can choose with your eyes open.
Four clay steps with fewer spheres on each one and, on the highest, a red shopping bag character with star eyes celebrating with its arms up, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

How to Improve Your Online Store's Conversion Rate

Out of every hundred people who visit your store, about two buy. This is the complete guide to improving your online store's conversion rate: hidden costs, speed, checkout, site search and trust, with verified data from Baymard, Google and the NRF.
Five clay blocks with app icons (search, workflow, payment card, translation and book) stacked in a pyramid, with Shoppín, a scarlet shopping bag with star eyes, standing on top with its arms raised, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

Five free apps every Shopify store should have

The App Store has thousands of apps, and most stores end up with a stack of third-party ones that slow them down. These five free apps are made by Shopify itself, which is the whole point.
A clay shop with a striped awning and a display window, sending parcels toward a desk globe on a white stand, on a scarlet background
Ecommerce

The benefits of selling online

More customers shop online every year, and ecommerce keeps taking a bigger share of retail. Here's why an online store is no longer optional for your business.
An open clay laptop whose screen pops out like a pop-up book into a shop with a scarlet roof, a striped awning, a display window and an open door; Shoppín steps out onto the keyboard waving, next to two parcels, on a scarlet background
Brand

Do you still need a website in 2026?

Social media isn't yours. Your website is. Here's why owning your own site is still one of the most profitable decisions for your brand in 2026.