When building new features on Shopify, there are typically three paths to consider: native functionality, prebuilt apps, or custom development. Each comes with tradeoffs in cost, complexity, and control. This framework helps teams make smarter implementation decisions—starting with what’s built in and escalating only when necessary.

Discover the best approach for adding new features to your store

When we think of technical debt, we often imagine rushed code, skipped tests, or brittle architecture. But one of the most quietly damaging sources of technical debt is rarely discussed: inadequate design QA.

Learn the technical differences between categories and attributes

When merchants consider moving to a SaaS platform like Shopify or BigCommerce, they’re typically looking to reduce costs, improve platform stability, and empower non-technical teams to manage content and configurations. SaaS platforms address these needs through one key principle: standardization. By enforcing consistent architecture, security protocols, and integration patterns, platforms like Shopify make it easier for merchants to scale confidently while offloading technical complexity.

See how standardization in SaaS drives security, speed, and savings

I’m excited to share something I’ve been working on: BigCommerce Toolkit, a command-line interface (CLI) for working with the BigCommerce API. It’s built for developers and store managers who prefer the command line — especially those who appreciate tools that feel Unix-native: composable, scriptable, and transparent.

Easily interface with BigCommerce from the command line

I am often asked by our clients and their partners, “Can you provide guidance on the size or dimensions of the images we should use?” The answer is quite simple: Most modern themes are designed to support any image uploaded into the page builder. Using a technology called object-fit, an image can be sized to either cover the available space or be contained within it. Here’s a brief overview of how object-fit works and why specifying exact pixel dimensions is impractical.

Learn how modern image specifications are determined