SwiftOtter eCommerce Resource Library

A side-by-side comparison of WooCommerce and BigCommerce covering features, scalability, B2B support, and which platform fits your needs.

A guide to standing out in modern eCommerce: composable architecture, customer experience, and what separates growing brands from stagnant o…

Free eBook on solving persistent Adobe Commerce and Magento 2 problems. A practical debugging guide for developers working on complex storef…

Digital Trails is a free platform comparison and maturity model for outdoor apparel, hunting, fishing, and firearms merchants.

Free guide: improve eCommerce product descriptions with AI. Covers prompt strategies for Claude and ChatGPT to improve SEO, clarity, and str…

Quickly understand the the process of migrating from Magento 2 to BigCommerce and how it will affect your ecommerce experience.

Quick determine which platform is ideal for the next iteration of your eCommerce website.

Here's a free 66-page eBook that is your bible for digital transformation in the B2B space. Your recipe to effectively scaling your eCommerc…

How eCommerce merchants can prepare for a potential UPS strike: communicating delays, setting up carrier alternatives, and protecting sales.

A common Magento fix for decimal attributes truncates data and breaks tax calculations. Here is the safer approach using a frontend model.

Why reviewing Magento modules before installation protects your store from performance issues, security vulnerabilities, and code conflicts.

What Adobe Edge Delivery Services is, how it fits into the Adobe commerce ecosystem, and what merchants and developers need to know about ad…

What Adobe Commerce Optimizer is, how it improves site speed and stability, and which merchant types it is built for without heavy developme…

When your eCommerce site goes down, every minute counts. Walk through diagnosing the problem, communicating with customers, and recovering f…

How to make your eCommerce site ADA compliant: WCAG standards, the legal risk of non-compliance, audit approaches, and practical fixes to im…

A review of the top Shopify 3D product configurators, including best-overall, best for customization, and how each one integrates with your …

SwiftOtter Adobe Commerce and Magento 2 audits identify performance issues, security vulnerabilities, and quality problems before they becom…

Why eCommerce personalization builds customer trust, which techniques work at different levels of maturity, and common mistakes to avoid.

When an Adobe Commerce build goes sideways, here is how to diagnose what went wrong, reset the project, and get back to a stable, working st…

Hyva is a strong Magento frontend but not for every store. Five situations where merchants should pause before committing to the switch.

Which outdoor sporting goods brands changed platforms in Q2 2024, the stats behind the moves, and five migrations worth examining more close…

Which outdoor sporting goods brands changed eCommerce platforms in Q1 2024, what they moved to, and what it signals about the industry.

Shopify, BigCommerce, and Adobe Commerce compared for multi-brand eCommerce: inventory sync, admin efficiency, pricing structures, and limit…

An honest look at whether WooCommerce works for firearms merchants, covering payment processing, compliance, platform philosophy, and altern…

Five reasons Hyva remains the strongest frontend investment for Adobe Commerce: faster load times, cleaner code, and a growing ecosystem of …

An honest look at whether Hyva is right for your Adobe Commerce store. We compare it against Luma, Porto, and PWA to help you decide.

How to diagnose and recover from a revenue drop after an Adobe Commerce migration, with analysis of common causes and a path back to stabili…

Five problems Adobe Commerce Optimizer addresses, from slow storefronts to heavy customization overhead, explained for merchants evaluating …

How to implement Colorado's retail delivery fee in Adobe Commerce, including tax connector support, compliance requirements, and recommended…

The best resources for learning BigCommerce development, from official documentation and partner training to community channels and practica…

A demo of the new Adobe Commerce Storefront, the official Luma replacement. See the updated design, performance improvements, and admin expe…

How to set up and manage company hierarchies in BigCommerce B2B Edition, including what to expect and how to configure them for complex acco…

An honest look at Adobe Commerce Live Search: what it does well, where it falls short, and the advantage most merchants overlook before deci…

Adobe Commerce as a Service is Magento 2 rearchitected for SaaS delivery. Here is what that means for customizations, upgrades, and your roa…

A full demo of Adobe Commerce as a Service covering the new architecture, frontend performance, admin updates, and Composable Catalog.

Twenty real eCommerce product configurator examples showing how brands use interactive tools to improve buyer confidence and increase conver…

Practical eCommerce articles for merchants covering platform decisions, B2B strategy, AI adoption, site performance, and industry-specific c…

If your Adobe Commerce site is underperforming, the cause could be the platform, your agency, or your processes. Here is how to tell the dif…

Shopify website costs depend on your plan, design complexity, and apps. This guide breaks down what you should expect to budget at different…

Adobe Commerce project costs vary widely by requirements, integrations, and agency. This guide covers the real cost drivers and what to watc…

What to look for in an Adobe Commerce partner: technical depth, how they scope projects, and how they communicate throughout delivery.

Most brands ask if an agency has integrated their ERP. That question misses the point. Here is what to ask to find a partner built for compl…

A review of the top eCommerce platforms for firearms retailers and gun stores, covering compliance, payment processing, and 2A merchant supp…

How to evaluate Shopify development agencies by niche, specialty, and fit. A practical guide to finding the right partner for your build or …

How to evaluate BigCommerce development agencies by niche, specialty, and fit. A practical breakdown to help you find the right partner.

Comparing OroCommerce, BigCommerce B2B Edition, and SparkLayer for B2B buyer portals. Covers workflow fit, ERP requirements, and platform su…

Five questions every eCommerce CEO should ask their agency about AI: how they measure ROI, protect your data, and what good AI guidance look…

Vague product descriptions hurt conversions. Learn how to use AI to improve eCommerce copy for SEO, structure, and buyer confidence the righ…

Adobe Commerce 2.4.8 brings PHP 8.4 support, security patches, and B2B updates. Here is what merchants need to know before planning their up…

Layout XML files control a page's content. It's fairly easy to sleuth out which layout filename controls which URL path, but some patterns a…

Here's how to make better, more bug free code. And, when we do have bugs, here's how to solve those problems, pronto.

Getting started on Magento 2 is not easy: we will point you in the right direction.

So you’ve decided to take the first steps toward learning how to “do BigCommerce development.” You may need to start with a mindset shift.

Virtual types in Adobe Commerce can seem intimidating, but they’re nothing to fear. Learn what they are and how to work with them confidentl…

Are you using view models in your Adobe Commerce presentation layer, or still creating custom block classes for every need? There’s a better…

Know the difference between _module.less and _extend.less in Magento. Avoid compile errors from theme-specific references in the wrong file.

When creating a Magento config setting, ask if it’s sensitive or env-specific—then declare it in di.xml to keep it out of versioned files.

Using Adobe Commerce Cloud? Simplify your workflow with the Synchronize action for code and data changes that need to flow downstream.

Adobe Commerce’s Page Builder offers powerful drag-and-drop content types, and you can extend them or create your own with the right compone…

You probably use view.xml only when you have to. Define your own vars to add presentational flexibility to custom Adobe Commerce features.

The magento/magento2-base Composer package works behind the scenes in Adobe Commerce. Learn its implications for your version control workfl…

Syncing code and data between environments is a fact of dev life. Adobe Commerce has many moving pieces, develop a consistent workflow to sa…

Magento collection processors may seem scary, but they’re a great example of ‘one class, one job’ composition and less complex than they app…

GraphQL caching boosts headless Adobe Commerce performance. Learn the right Varnish config, back-end setup, and front-end request format.

GraphQL resolvers in Magento are flexible, but traditional API habits can hold you back. Break free from the ‘one request, one resolver’ men…

Don’t forget to generate a whitelist file with setup:db-declaration:generate-whitelist when using Magento declarative schema. Here’s why.

We’re continuing our look into generated classes in Adobe Commerce, and this time we’re going to examine the neglected and oft forgotten sib…

Make feature toggles part of your Magento development mindset. Use Store Config settings to disable code effects without reverting changes.

You know to use class constants instead of hard-coded strings in PHP, but did you know you can do the same in Magento XML files?

We leverage our deep Magento 2 experience to present the pros and cons of how you can modernize your website.

Learn the good and bad of Hyva in this unbiased review by SwiftOtter. We compare Hyva, Luma, Porto and PWA.

See Adobe Commerce as a Service in action. Explore the new architecture, frontend performance, admin updates, and Composable Catalog Data Mo…

Learn the core concepts of Knockout JS.

A deeper dive into BigCommerce’s ‘open SaaS’ backbone: the APIs and toolset you’ll use extensively throughout your developer journey.

The Magento Solution Specialist exam is tough to crack. Joseph walks you through what it takes—he helped write the exam.

Here is everything you need to know to get Magento certified. We have been intimately familiar with the exam development process.

Interviews can be terrifying. They don't have to be. Joseph walks you through the eight steps to leapfrog to the front of the pack.

Are you ready to level up your career? We can help you. Join our certification challenge to get this kicked off!

A survey of 400+ eCommerce developers on tools, environments, and workflows. Discover what the community uses and improve your own dev confi…

Learn how to use Magento 2's @magentoConfigFixture annotation to set store config values in integration tests without manual setup and clean…

Add custom CSS style options to Magento 2's WYSIWYG editor so content managers can apply pre-defined classes without developer help. Simple …

Learn how to implement CSS Grid in Magento stores for responsive layouts, faster prototyping, and smaller stylesheets. Includes IE fallback …

Join SwiftOtter's exclusive Slack community for expert answers to complex e-commerce, business, and development questions. Cut through the n…

A deep dive into Magento 2's CSS architecture flaws and proposed improvements, including BEM naming, inline media queries, SVG icons, and CS…

Find the right Adobe Commerce certification for your skill level. Compare 6 exams from Associate to Architect with difficulty ratings and st…

Learn how to efficiently increase MySQL auto-increment values across multiple tables using a stored procedure.

Protect yourself from data breaches and long-term liability by avoiding botched upgrades.

Master the intricacies of Magento development and template paths.

Explore the benefits and drawbacks of working with an SVG icon system.

Explore an incredibly simple approach to leveraging Magento 2's Javascript framework to add our own custom Javascript.

Here's how to make better, more bug free code. And, when we do have bugs, here's how to solve those problems, pronto.

Harness the power of Adobe Commerce (Magento 2) and BigCommerce through these actionable ideas

Here's how the pieces fit together (with a downloadable map), describing Adobe Commerce, Experience Optimizer, Experience Manager and more.

Make sure you have a good handle on the mechanics of enabling/disabling modules in Adobe Commerce, and the implications.

Joseph has done it, you can do it, too. Here's everything you need to know about ensuring your Magento 2 or Adobe Commerce certification rem…

Let's zoom in a to survey the major tools and concepts you’ll need to familiarize yourself with for your BigCommerce journey!

I hope you're making consistent use of PHP type-hints in your Magento code. But don't throw the habit of variable annotations out the window…

In this short series, we’re going to look at the different kinds of auto-generated PHP classes in Adobe Commerce. First up: interceptors!

We’re continuing our look at generated classes in Adobe Commerce, and in this segment we’re examining factories.

In this last entry in a series looking at generated classes in Adobe Commerce, we’re examining extension classes.

Prepare for certification success with SwiftOtter's live study group program

SwiftOtter has tracked all Magento to Adobe Commerce certification updates very closely. Here are our updates.

Learn about Adobe's recent changes to certification tests and titles. Two new titles and two new addendums.

This sheds light on what your colleagues use to write code.

How structured problem-solving improves your eCommerce performance, makes you more valuable to your team, and sets you up for advancement.

What eCommerce merchants should know about Google's antitrust case, plus practical lessons from a recent website launch.

Why the homepage is often the least important page on your eCommerce site, and what pages actually drive traffic and convert buyers.

Five practical eCommerce tune-up tips you can implement yourself, covering performance, UX, SEO, and catalog hygiene across major platforms.

How a clear value proposition changes the way buyers evaluate your store, and what to do if yours is vague or missing entirely.

Why Adobe Commerce carries a high total cost of ownership, and the strategies merchants use to manage licensing, hosting, and development ex…

The different buyer types who use B2B websites, what each one needs from the experience, and how to design a site that works for all of them…

Three strategies to improve a slow or clunky eCommerce experience and break free from the outdated technology holding your store back.

How to prepare your eCommerce store for the holiday season: delivery accuracy, site security, and customer experience basics that protect re…

Three practical ways to improve product discoverability on your eCommerce site, reduce frustration, and keep buyers engaged long enough to c…

How optimizing image sizes and formats improves eCommerce site speed, Core Web Vitals scores, and overall page performance.

What the Interaction to Next Paint metric is, why it matters for eCommerce UX, and how to diagnose and improve your INP score.

How an overloaded Google Tag Manager setup can hurt your SEO, and the steps to audit and streamline your tags to recover performance.

How to find and track conversion rates in Google Analytics 4, including the new Key Events system and what changed from Universal Analytics.

How to use an eCommerce maturity assessment to establish your current baseline and build a shared vision for where your store needs to go ne…

Confusing product lines frustrate buyers and kill conversions. Learn how categorizing by application instead of brand name improves the expe…

A practical guide for eCommerce managers on how to scope, prioritize, and build custom features without overbuilding or blowing the budget.

How category drilldowns and filtering structures help customers find products faster and reduce the friction that kills conversions.

How to decide whether to build or buy an eCommerce feature, with guidance on scoping, evaluating third-party tools, and avoiding costly miss…

Three promotion types that increase Black Friday sales and average order value, with video tutorials for Shopify, BigCommerce, and Adobe Com…

Three ways AI can improve eCommerce productivity and two common traps to avoid, plus a look at AI-powered tools and supply chain challenges.

SwiftOtter Customer Discovery AI replaces outdated site search with a conversational experience that helps buyers find products faster and c…

SwiftOtter is a Certified BigCommerce Partner with deep experience in B2B, migrations, and complex catalog needs. Built to grow with your bu…

A practical guide to AI in eCommerce: what generative AI, machine learning, and automation each do, where they fall short, and how to drive …

AI is reshaping how buyers find products and most brands are not ready. This eCom Buzz covers the AI-first discovery shift and four ways to …

Learn how website speed affects sales, SEO, and UX. See the ROI of performance optimization with benchmarks and a Google Lighthouse and CrUX…

Technical users aren't just browsing—they're building your success. Learn how to meet their exact needs and make their job (and yours) easie…

Unlock the secret to standing out in ecommerce with a clear value proposition that sets you apart from the competition.

Strategies for designing seamless B2B eCommerce UX for quoting and direct checkout. Empower buyers, reduce friction, and optimize sales cycl…

Optimize your eCommerce return page UX. Learn how a frictionless, transparent return process reduces frustration, builds loyalty, and drives…

Looking for a PDF catalog replacement? Learn how manufacturers replace static PDFs with searchable, ERP-integrated digital catalogs and pric…

Guide to optimizing mobile UX for fashion and apparel eCommerce. Design intuitive mobile sites that engage shoppers and drive higher convers…

Transform your dealer map from a static list into a conversion tool. Design maps that are accurate, mobile-friendly, and buyer-journey integ…

Proven UX strategies to help B2B buyers find products without a part number. Learn about visual search, guided filtering, and eCommerce sear…

Layout XML files control a page's content. It's fairly easy to sleuth out which layout filename controls which URL path, but some patterns a…

Virtual types in Adobe Commerce can seem intimidating, but they’re nothing to fear. Learn what they are and how to work with them confidentl…

Are you using view models in your Adobe Commerce presentation layer, or still creating custom block classes for every need? There’s a better…

Know the difference between _module.less and _extend.less in Magento. Avoid compile errors from theme-specific references in the wrong file.

When creating a Magento config setting, ask if it’s sensitive or env-specific—then declare it in di.xml to keep it out of versioned files.

Using Adobe Commerce Cloud? Simplify your workflow with the Synchronize action for code and data changes that need to flow downstream.

Adobe Commerce’s Page Builder offers powerful drag-and-drop content types, and you can extend them or create your own with the right compone…

You probably use view.xml only when you have to. Define your own vars to add presentational flexibility to custom Adobe Commerce features.

The magento/magento2-base Composer package works behind the scenes in Adobe Commerce. Learn its implications for your version control workfl…

Syncing code and data between environments is a fact of dev life. Adobe Commerce has many moving pieces, develop a consistent workflow to sa…

Magento collection processors may seem scary, but they’re a great example of ‘one class, one job’ composition and less complex than they app…

GraphQL caching boosts headless Adobe Commerce performance. Learn the right Varnish config, back-end setup, and front-end request format.

GraphQL resolvers in Magento are flexible, but traditional API habits can hold you back. Break free from the ‘one request, one resolver’ men…

Don’t forget to generate a whitelist file with setup:db-declaration:generate-whitelist when using Magento declarative schema. Here’s why.

We’re continuing our look into generated classes in Adobe Commerce, and this time we’re going to examine the neglected and oft forgotten sib…

Make feature toggles part of your Magento development mindset. Use Store Config settings to disable code effects without reverting changes.

You know to use class constants instead of hard-coded strings in PHP, but did you know you can do the same in Magento XML files?

Make sure you have a good handle on the mechanics of enabling/disabling modules in Adobe Commerce, and the implications.

I hope you're making consistent use of PHP type-hints in your Magento code. But don't throw the habit of variable annotations out the window…

In this short series, we’re going to look at the different kinds of auto-generated PHP classes in Adobe Commerce. First up: interceptors!

We’re continuing our look at generated classes in Adobe Commerce, and in this segment we’re examining factories.

In this last entry in a series looking at generated classes in Adobe Commerce, we’re examining extension classes.

Join us as we discuss new features, a big problem on a client’s site, and a reminder to join the SwiftOtter Slack community.

Łukasz Bajsarowicz discusses Imposter Syndrome and burnout, two common feelings that most developers can relate to at some point.

Peter Jaap Blaakmeer, a developer for 15+ years, shares insights from his fascinating project of merging three Magento stores into one.

Joseph and Jisse explore product repositories, efficiency enhancements, and what sparked their social media disagreement on Smash the Bug.

Had a lot of bad days lately? Tech workers constantly face problems requiring creativity and critical thinking, which can lead to burnout.

On this podcast, Robert Rand discusses the current state of the Magento ecosystem after the Adobe Summit, and gives some helpful tips on age…

Junior developers are under-explored on this podcast. Alice Dean from Fisheye joins Smash the Bug to share her journey and tenacity.

Alexander Galdin, Frontend Developer at ITdelight, joins to discuss customizing Hyvä for merchants with boots-on-the-ground insights.

How do you take over a legacy project without disrupting the merchant or other developers? Hervé Guetin shares practical advice.

On this episode, Simon Frost gives us a sneak peek at his upcoming book, outlines his debugging process, and explains what it takes to becom…

January was a big month at SwiftOtter, lots of problems to solve and lessons learned. Join Joseph and Jesse to hear what they discovered.

On this podcast, Dan Andrei talks about his experience dealing with a massive eCommerce store that wasn't functioning well on Magento 2.3.6!

Talesh Seeparsan talks Magento site security on this episode, why it matters, how to approach it, and insights that change the game.

Ryan Keelaghan discusses large-scale upgrades, site security advice, and self-improvement tips for developers on this episode of Smash the B…

Peter Rusin tackles big challenges by building tools and sharing them with the community. He chats with Joseph about his Magento modules.

After exploring Hyvä themes and the Magento frontend’s future, we’re back to discuss the Magento open source revolution with Willem Wigman.

What is YOUR dream job? Are you prepared for that next interview? Are you being paid your worth? Do you feel valued by your employer?

Part 2 with Igor Miniailo on Smash the Bug. Igor dives deeper into the complexities of modularity, coupling, and cohesion in Adobe Commerce.

Igor Miniailo returns to Smash The Bug. He and Joseph discuss the difficulties of replicating issues and recent bugs his team has smashed.

Joseph and Jesse discuss resetting before a problem is solved, deep Xdebug stack traces, and the importance of visualizing data correctly.

Joseph and Jesse discuss the latest news, real-life agency challenges at SwiftOtter, and the importance of client communication.

Ruggero Landolina shares his story of rebuilding a Magento 2 website for a merchant in just 20 days on this episode of Smash the Bug.

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse (the dream team at SwiftOtter Solutions) talk about Hyva, BugUFO.com, and helpful strateg…

James Cowie shares tips on getting the most from code reviews, staying sharp with siloed knowledge, and being a successful developer.

Michal Biarda shares his passion for helping developers escape ‘spaghetti code’ and how his team has conquered cleaner coding practices.

Explore sticking points with Commerce Cloud, common deployment challenges, and how to avoid the problems people bring upon themselves.

Quick turnarounds are valued, but quality comes first. Why code reviews matter more than billable hours, profits, or short-term gratificatio…

Ivan Chepurnyi shares valuable tips from his experience that might help you fix whatever Magento performance issue you’re dealing with.

Matt Sherer shares his experience transitioning from senior developer to architect, what it really looks like, and what the role demands.

Eric Allatt, an 8-time certified Magento developer obsessed with performance, shares his module and tips on increasing site speed.

On this episode, Leon Helmus shares a few of the crazy circumstances he has worked through and the challenges he’s overcome in the recent pa…

Grab a seat and let’s talk about what’s in the near future for us developers, going into 2022, and the “how”, “why” and “when” behind code r…

Willem Wigman's disdain for Luma is what brought us Hyvä, a Magento front-end that makes sense. Why does it make sense? Let’s dive in and se…

Join us on this episode as we discuss developers mental health, integration testing, debugging, and some challenging experiences with Łukasz…

In this episode we get to hear from Eric Erway, Group Project Manager at Adobe Commerce, regarding the future of Magento/Adobe Commerce Open…

How far have YOU gone to smash a bug? Listen in to hear how Shawn Abramson worked on a bug that took him to a place he'd never been before.

Barny Shergold has been developing software for over 30 years. Join us on this episode to get his advice on how to reach your full potential…

Join us on this episode to hear Ray Bogman's insider perspective on where Magento is headed and why he's excited about it's future

Wahid Nory, an experienced developer out of The Netherlands explains a difficult challenge he faced with a merchant's shopping cart redirect…

Listen in for Ben Marks take on Magento vs. Shopware, and advice on what you should be learning. You might be surprised!

Join us on this episode for an exciting Magento improvement, developer tips, and another crazy bug story from Jesse!

Join Joseph and Jesse as they discuss some exciting, new features in the Magento 2.4.3 release, as well as an interesting problem Jesse rece…

In this podcast, Eduard Zuiev, shares his daily habits and his methods of growing as a developer. He also tells his mountaintop story!

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse play out an interview to inspire you and help you to prepare for the next big move in you…

Join us on this podcast as Max Chadwick shares advice on debugging, and how to improve your skillset.

On this episode of Smash the Bug, the one and only Phillip Jackson, is here to discuss the process of going from Junior to Master Developer.…

Sometimes the problems we face aren't with the code, but with ourselves, and we need to be open up about these challenges so that we can hel…

In this episode, we discuss with TJ Gamble what makes a developer irreplaceable and how to think about your journey as an Ecommerce professi…

Do you want to be a PHP Pro? Oscar Merida, is here to give us the "PHP pro tools" and remind us of some very useful resources we should be u…

Chris Anderson, Tech Lead at BORN Group talks about a difficult integration project and how developers really should be learning how to use …

Listen in as Joseph and Jesse talk about news from the Adobe Summit and discuss the many common production challenges that agencies experien…

Sarvagya Pandey talks about his experience with MSI and the difficult hurdles he has crossed in his career.

Join Joseph and Jesse as they talk about some big Magento/Adobe news, developer efficiency hacks and how to become a better problem solver.

Listen in as Joris Hart, CTO at ATI4 GROUP explains a major issue he had to work through with uiComponents and custom product options in Mag…