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Oct 16, 2026 • 8 min read

eCommerce Website Development for Pet Care Brands in the UAE

Aakash Ashok

eCommerce Website Development for Pet Care Brands in the UAE

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General

eCommerce Website Development for Pet Care Brands in the UAE

eCommerce Website Development for Pet Care Brands in the UAE Key Takeaways Your website should answer stock and delivery questions on its own, at any hour. Manual orders, no recurring orders, unsynced stock and one language show a website has been outgrown. Live stock, repeat delivery, pet profiles and Arabic pages come first. Local payment options close the sale. Shopify Plus fits focused catalogs. Adobe Commerce fits large regulated catalogs and wholesale dealers. Cost depends on catalog, integrations, custom logic, localization and migration. Imagine it is 11 p.m., and a customer is down to the last scoop of her pet’s food. She opens a pet care website, but it cannot tell her whether her usual bag is in stock or if it can arrive tomorrow. She sends a WhatsApp message to ask. Nobody answers. By morning, she had ordered from another store that gave her both answers in seconds. If you don’t want to lose customers like this, your website has to answer those questions on its own. A good eCommerce website for a pet brand shows live stock and delivery estimates on every product page, and lets customers reorder their regular food in one tap. Signs Your Pet Care Brand Has Outgrown Its Website Manual Order Entry Orders arrive by message and phone, and each one gets copied into a spreadsheet or your ERP manually. This can cause a wrong SKU or a missed delivery. No Recurring Order Automation Your website has no subscription engine and no reminders triggered by order history, so every refill depends on the customer coming back on their own. Repeat revenue then follows their memory, which makes it hard to forecast. Stock Not Synced Across Channels Your shop’s POS system and your website keep separate stock counts. So when the shop sells the last bag, the website still shows it as available. If a customer places an order, your team has to cancel or delay the delivery. A Single-Language Storefront According to CSA Research’s 2020 survey of 8,709 consumers in 29 countries, 76% prefer to buy products with information in their own language, and 40% will never buy from websites in another language. UAE customers shop in both English and Arabic, so a site in only one language can lose customers. The same goes for a site whose Arabic pages fall back to English at checkout or lack a proper right-to-left layout. UAE Pet Owners Are Already Online Pet owners in the UAE order food and pet-related products from their phones and computers. According to TGM Research’s 2023 survey, close to one in three UAE pet owners (30.7%) buy pet food from online stores. That is only a few points behind independent pet stores and small chains at 36.4%. Grooming is the other half of the routine, and the same survey found that 40.3% of owners use a groomer. Both habits tend to repeat. Food runs out every few weeks, and most pets need grooming on a regular cycle. An owner who already orders food from a phone will expect to book the groomer the same way, with no calls. The UAE market is moving in the same direction. Grand View Research puts UAE pet care eCommerce revenue at USD 171.6 million in 2023 and projects USD 308.7 million by 2030. A market growing like that invites new competitors, and the brands that give owners a better online experience will keep the repeat customers. Pet Care Website Features to Offer UAE Customers Live stock and delivery dates. You can connect the product page to your ERP or inventory system through an API or webhooks, so the stock figure updates when a unit sells in a shop or leaves a warehouse. An omnichannel commerce setup can keep that figure the same across your physical locations and your website. The delivery date can be calculated from your order cut-off time and your courier’s schedule for the customer’s location. Repeat delivery for products. Add a subscription engine that stores each customer’s delivery schedule and a tokenized payment method, then creates the order automatically on the next ship date. Include a self-service account page that allows customers to pause a plan or change the interval at any time. One profile for each pet. Create a profile for every pet with fields for species, breed, birth date, weight and health notes, and store it in custom customer attributes. Sync these records with your CRM and customer data platform, so orders and reminders read from the same record. A product finder quiz. Add a short quiz that maps each answer to product attributes in your catalog, such as life stage and dietary need, and returns a filtered list. Keep those attributes in clean, structured form in your product information management (PIM) system so the quiz can match them. Product details and filtered reviews. You can store ingredients and feeding tables as structured product data, as metafields on Shopify or product attributes on Adobe Commerce. Your PIM can manage them and publish a vet-checked version to each product page. The review form can collect breed and age as separate fields, so owners filter reviews for a pet like theirs. Loyalty points and referrals. You can add a rewards service that records points for every order and every referral, and let the checkout apply them as a discount. It can share customer IDs with your CRM and marketing automation, so reminders and offers match each customer’s history. Arabic and English pages. You can give each language its own URL with hreflang tags, so search engines show the right version to each shopper. The Arabic version can use a right-to-left layout built with CSS logical properties. Product data and order emails can be stored in both languages in the catalog. Codilar’s experience design process can keep the two versions consistent. Checkout for UAE payment habits. You can set up your payment gateway to accept cards and buy now pay later (BNPL) options through providers such as Tabby and Tamara. Cash on delivery can stay available, with an OTP or WhatsApp check before dispatch. Prices can display in AED with 5% VAT included, and order confirmations can carry the tax details. Picking the Right Platform for Your Pet Care Brand The right platform is the one that fits what your company needs today and where it is headed. Shopify, Shopify Plus and Adobe Commerce can all support a strong pet care brand. Each fits a different set of needs. Shopify and Shopify Plus Shopify suits a pet care brand that is starting to sell online or growing from a single storefront. Shopify Plus is its enterprise tier, with higher API limits and checkout customization. Shopify Plus runs as a hosted service. Shopify manages hosting and platform updates, so your team works on the catalog and customers. You extend it through apps and the Admin API. A subscription app handles repeat food orders, and a booking app handles grooming slots. When an app falls short, developers can build a custom app on the Admin API or add checkout logic with Shopify Functions. For a faster front end, Shopify’s Hydrogen framework supports a headless storefront. Codilar is an official Shopify Plus Partner. We connect Shopify Plus to your ERP and PIM systems, and we set up local payment gateways and courier integrations. Adobe Commerce A large catalog of regulated products or wholesale dealers with their own pricing are the usual signs to select Adobe Commerce. Its open architecture supports custom development, and the site can be built exactly as your business runs. By using custom modules and APIs, developers can customize price rules, approval workflows, and other operations. Within Adobe Commerce, you can find all B2B-specific functionalities like company accounts, shared catalogs, and custom price lists for each dealer. It also enables the use of multi-source inventory management, which allows storing products in several warehouses and retrieving the most relevant data for a particular client. You can host it on Adobe’s managed cloud or on infrastructure you choose, with a development partner like Codilar (an Adobe Solution Partner at the Gold tier) handling upgrades and maintenance. If you sell products directly to customers online and supply pet shops at wholesale prices, both can run from one catalog, and each dealer sees their own prices. Alt text: Chart comparing Shopify, Shopify Plus and Adobe Commerce for pet care brands, from simpler to launch to more custom control Compliance on Either Platform Pet food and pet health products carry specific UAE requirements, and your website should be set up to support them. Accurate product information. Product pages should show ingredients and the production and expiry dates, along with a photo of the Arabic label. Store each as a structured field so it stays consistent in search results, listing pages and the cart. Prescription step for veterinary products. Retail sale of veterinary products requires a prescription from a licensed vet under MOCCAE’s 2026 resolution. The checkout should hold these items behind a prescription upload or verification step. Both platforms can hold these details. Shopify Plus keeps them in custom product fields called metafields, and Adobe Commerce keeps them as product attributes. Pet Care eCommerce Cost and Timeline in the UAE Cost and timeline depend on how much you build in the first release and how many systems it connects to. Five factors move the numbers most: Catalog structure. The number of products and variants, and the attributes each one carries, such as ingredients and life stage. Integrations. Two-way sync with your ERP or inventory system, plus your order management system and delivery partner APIs. Custom logic. Subscription billing and dealer pricing rules. Localization. Arabic and English content with a right-to-left layout and bilingual emails. Data migration. Moving your catalog and customer data from an existing platform. A phased release plan limits risk, because each phase goes live and is tested with real orders. A Pet Care Website That Works at Any Hour Picture the 11 p.m. customer again. This time, they open your website and see that their usual bag is in stock and arrives tomorrow. They place the order in one tap. Nobody on your team had to be awake, and by morning the order was already packed. That is what good eCommerce website development for pet care brands delivers. Codilar helps pet care businesses get there with websites that show live stock and delivery dates and keep one profile for each pet across product or service orders and bookings. Our team also sets up Arabic and English pages and a catalog that holds the details UAE regulators expect, on the platform that fits your product range and team. Ready to turn late-night browsers into regular customers? Connect with our experts today! Frequently Asked Questions How much will an eCommerce website for my pet care brand cost? The cost depends on your catalog size, integrations, custom features, Arabic and English content and any data migration. Which platform should I choose for my pet care brand? We work with Shopify, Shopify Plus and Adobe Commerce, so we recommend the one that fits your catalog and operations. Shopify and Shopify Plus suit a focused catalog and a fast launch. Adobe Commerce suits large regulated catalogs and wholesale dealers with their own pricing. Can you connect the new website to my existing inventory system? Yes. We connect your website to your ERP or inventory system, so the stock figure updates when a bag sells in your shop and customers stop ordering items you no longer have. Can I sell to customers and pet shops from one website? Yes. Adobe Commerce supports company accounts and shared catalogs with custom price lists, so customers and dealers shop from one catalog and each dealer sees their own prices. Can you build my website in Arabic and English? Yes. We build both versions, with right-to-left layouts for Arabic product pages and checkout, so every customer shops in their own language.

Aakash Ashok

Oct 16, 2026 • 8 min read

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Adobe

BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento) Migration for Scaling Brands

BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento) Migration for Scaling Brands Key Takeaways Complex catalogs and B2B pricing strain BigCommerce at scale, and ERP and PIM connections add pressure. Adobe Commerce handles B2B pricing, approval workflows, and multi-store management natively. Your data migrates over, but the storefront, apps, and checkout need rebuilding. Four steps carry the project: catalog, integrations, data validation, and SEO redirects. Waiting makes the project bigger, so an early start gives you room to plan. BigCommerce is an excellent solution for growing brands, offering a strong starting point for early-stage and mid-market businesses building their online presence. However, when SKUs increase, when pricing rules get more advanced across segments, and when the need for ERP and PIM integrations increases, BigCommerce becomes more of a constraint. This is when many brands start thinking about eCommerce replatforming. If your store has a deep catalog and customer-specific B2B pricing, a BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento) migration is usually the right move. Adobe Commerce handles this complexity natively, so you don’t have to spend time on fixes. BigCommerce vs Adobe Commerce (Magento) Refer to the table below for a quick comparison of the two platforms. Alt text: Table comparing BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce (Magento) on platform model, customization, B2B, catalog, multi-store, pricing, and integrations. Read our blog on BigCommerce vs Adobe Commerce (Magento) for a deeper side-by-side comparison across pricing and scalability. Signs You've Outgrown BigCommerce A few patterns show up before a BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento) migration decision gets made. Catalog workarounds become routine: BigCommerce's data model struggles with highly configurable products and deep attribute sets. Dev requests keep hitting native limits: BigCommerce works well with its built-in features. When an idea falls outside them, developers have to build a workaround, and those may slow every request that follows. Multi-store operations get expensive: Running separate storefronts for different markets, each with its own pricing and localization logic, drains resources inside a rigid system. ERP and PIM integrations keep breaking: When ERP and PIM connections keep failing, the cause usually sits in the architecture under the storefront, so patching the integration only treats the symptom. BigCommerce's B2B Edition hits a ceiling: Customer-specific pricing, approval chains, and account-based purchasing are core B2B eCommerce requirements. BigCommerce's B2B Edition covers the basics, but complex versions of these workflows often require paid third-party apps to function. Growth keeps adding work: When scaling the business means stacking more workarounds, the platform and the business are no longer aligned. Why Adobe Commerce (Magento) Fits the Next Stage Scaling brands want every client to have a great experience, and those selling B2B feel that pressure most. A large buyer logs in expecting to see their own negotiated pricing and to send an order through their company’s approval process. Your website should handle that smoothly, from the first click. Adobe Commerce (Magento) makes that possible. Customer-specific pricing and approval workflows are native, so buyers get the right prices and the right process from day one. Your team can customize down to backend workflows, and a new market gets set up inside one centralized system, with no duplicate store to maintain. Large, highly configurable catalogs also stay manageable without the structural ceilings that show up on SaaS platforms. Even if B2B is only part of your sales today, it tends to grow with the business. Choosing a platform that already supports it means you won’t need another migration to get there. Which Parts of Your Store Move to Adobe Commerce (Magento) When migrating from BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento), your data moves across with careful mapping. The storefront and the apps behind it are rebuilt on the new platform. Transfers with mapping Products and SKUs, including pricing and inventory Customer records and order history (usually a recent window) Categories and catalog structure SEO metadata, where mapped correctly Gets rebuilt Storefront theme and design (BigCommerce themes can’t be carried over) Apps and app-based logic (each needs a native Adobe Commerce (Magento) feature or a custom-built equivalent) Checkout and payment configuration, along with tax rules Customer passwords (hashed differently between platforms, so customers typically reset them on first login) BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento) Migration Process BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce migration tends to run in four steps, and each one shapes the next. 1. Update your catalogs according to your new site structure How products are modeled in BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce (Magento) is fairly different. For variants and configurable options, Adobe Commerce (Magento) uses a flexible system, thus, attribute sets and categories need to be mapped and restructured. 2. Integrate ERP and PIM At this point in the migration, many stores connect their ERP or PIM (or both). These integrations are rarely done as-is. Codilar audits them and builds them again according to the Adobe Commerce (Magento) API. 3. Migrate and validate data After the API is built and integrated, the next step is to migrate the data. Validations are then run to check if the data import was done correctly. 4. Add SEO mapping and migration URL structures are different on the two platforms. Every live URL must be mapped to its new location on Adobe Commerce (Magento) and a 301 redirect implemented to ensure SEO is not broken. Migration Timeline Timelines depend mostly on catalog size and integration complexity. Small catalog, simple logic: roughly 6 to 8 weeks Mid-sized brand: roughly 8 to 12 weeks Enterprise or B2B: roughly 12 to 20+ weeks Mapping your existing integrations and data structures before development starts sets a realistic schedule early and keeps the project on track through go-live. Why Waiting Too Long Costs More When you don’t switch to a better solution that matches your needs when available, you’ll continue to accumulate issues that become harder to address. Custom integrations for ERP quickly break, and B2B buyers who want personalized pricing are left unfulfilled. A more flexible competitor may win that order. The migration also gets bigger the longer you wait. More data and more custom logic mean more to map and test, which stretches the timeline above. Starting early gives you room to plan. You can clean up old data and pick a launch date outside your peak season. Every fix you add now is one more thing to rebuild later. Contact Codilar today to discuss your migration and get pricing details for your store. FAQs Why should I migrate from BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce (Magento)? Brands migrate when they need deeper catalog customization and native B2B features than BigCommerce’s plan-based model can support. How long does a BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce migration take? Roughly 6 to 8 weeks for a small catalog, 8 to 12 weeks for a mid-sized brand, and 12 to 20+ weeks for enterprise or B2B stores. Catalog size and integration complexity drive most of the difference. Will I lose SEO rankings during the migration? Rankings are at risk mainly when the redirect map is incomplete. Mapping every live URL to a 301 redirect and carrying over page titles and meta descriptions helps protect them. Which data can be migrated from BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce? Your catalog and customer data move across with careful mapping, along with a recent window of order history and your SEO metadata. The storefront and apps are rebuilt on Adobe Commerce, and so are checkout and payment setup. Do I need a specialized migration partner? In most cases, yes. The two platforms model data differently, so catalog structure, integrations, and redirects all need an experienced hand. Errors in any of them tend to surface after launch, when they cost more to fix.

Aakash Ashok

Oct 16, 2026 • 6 min read

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Shopify

Shopify Canvas is Live: What It Can Handle and What It Cannot

Shopify Canvas is Live: What It Can Handle and What It Cannot Shopify launched Canvas on October 1, 2026, with the aim of letting any merchant build a fully custom online store, regardless of their design experience, coding skills, or budget. It is genuinely helpful for merchants starting from scratch. However, for merchants with established stores, existing app stacks, and third-party themes, Shopify Canvas raises an immediate concern of working with what is already in place. In this guide, discover what Canvas actually is, what it does not support at launch, and what that means for different types of Shopify stores. What is Shopify Canvas? Canvas is a new design surface for Shopify online stores, where every page of the store is laid out together in a single interactive, infinite workspace. Merchants pan across every page, zoom into any detail, and either click elements to edit them directly or describe changes to Sidekick in the chat. Sidekick's changes land in Canvas in real time. The preview in Canvas is the actual code that renders the store, with full interactivity, animation, and the ability to view pages across different products, collections, and screen sizes. As Ben Sehl, Director of Product at Shopify, confirmed at launch: "Today, an entrepreneur on Shopify can build a fully custom store in twenty minutes that's head and shoulders above what I built then." Sidekick works directly on the theme's files, guided by instructions and skills built specifically for store design. As it builds, it validates its code and reviews screenshots to verify how changes landed before returning the result to the merchant. Moreover, Sidekick has already made over 25 million edits to themes in the first half of 2026. Well, Canvas is still in early access and is being rolled out to existing stores progressively. It is available on desktop only, and merchants access it from Online Store > Themes in the Shopify admin. They can create a new theme in Canvas or duplicate an existing Shopify or custom theme while the original theme stays in the current theme editor, untouched. Shopify Canvas: What It Does Not Support at Launch In Shopify's official changelog, the company has been explicit about what Canvas does not support at launch. Third-party themes from the Shopify Theme Store: Canvas works with Shopify-built themes and custom themes only. A merchant whose store runs on a purchased theme from the Theme Store cannot use Canvas on it at launch. Markets: Merchants selling across multiple markets with market-specific pricing, languages, and domains cannot configure those settings in Canvas. International commerce configurations remain in the standard theme editor and admin. Rollouts: Canvas does not support Shopify's Rollouts feature for staged theme deployments. Merchants using Rollouts to test changes with a subset of traffic before publishing continue to manage that outside Canvas. Translations: Multilingual stores cannot manage translations in Canvas, retaining the language configurations outside its environment. App blocks and app embeds: Apps that add functionality to the storefront through theme app extensions do not work in Canvas at launch. This covers any app that integrates into the theme layer, including review apps, loyalty programs, upsell tools, and custom widgets. Theme updates: Themes edited in Canvas do not receive theme updates from Shopify. A merchant who builds or edits a theme in it takes on responsibility for maintaining that theme independently going forward. Is Canvas Right For an Established Shopify Store? Canvas is designed to help merchants build a store’s visual experience from scratch or make design changes without changing the store’s operational setup. However, for an established Shopify store, things get more complicated. A store that has been running for two or three years may already use a third-party theme, several apps, custom sections, and theme code from previous development work. It may also rely on app blocks and embeds, multiple languages, and market-specific configurations for international selling. At launch, Canvas does not support these setups. What you see in Shopify Canvas may not represent the storefront your customers currently use. Shopify has been clear that Canvas is still in its early stages. Its announcement says, “Canvas is not replacing the existing editor yet,” and acknowledges that there are still gaps to close, which makes the current limitations easier to understand. Canvas is an early-access tool, not yet a complete replacement for the existing Shopify theme workflow. Where Shopify Canvas Delivers Value Right Now For the right use case, Canvas delivers exactly what it promises. Below are three specific scenarios in which it works well today. Building a New Store From Scratch A merchant launching a new Shopify store without an existing theme, app stack, or market configuration gets the full Canvas experience. Starting from a description of their brand, Sidekick builds something concrete to react to and refines it through conversation. The twenty-minute custom store is a real outcome from a clean starting state. Redesigning Visual Identity on a Supported Theme A merchant who wants to significantly change how their store looks without touching its operational setup can use Canvas to iterate quickly. Sidekick remembers design preferences and carries forward earlier decisions throughout the conversation, so the merchant spends time making new decisions rather than restating old ones. Prototyping Before Committing to Development Canvas can be used to explore design directions before investing in custom development work. A merchant who wants to show a developer what they are aiming for can build that direction in Canvas and use it as a brief, compressing what would otherwise be a lengthy back-and-forth into something visual and immediate. Shopify Canvas Not Available for Your Store? Here Is What to Do The existing theme editor remains available and unchanged. Canvas does not replace it, so merchants using third-party themes, established app stacks, multi-market setups, or multiple languages can continue using the tools and workflows they already rely on. Shopify has clarified that several current Canvas limitations are planned for future releases, including support for third-party themes, Markets, translations, Rollouts, and app blocks. For now, the practical approach is to keep using the existing theme editor and revisit Canvas as these capabilities become available. For more complex stores, development work does not disappear either. Custom theme development, app integrations, multi-market configurations, checkout customization, and B2B functionality still require hands-on development. Canvas can simplify parts of the design process, but it is not a replacement for that work. Shopify Canvas is Early: Know What Shopify Said Shopify said it plainly at launch: "We're early here and Canvas is not replacing the existing editor yet. Things will change quickly, and there are gaps we still need to close. In the meantime, we're excited to build alongside you." This is the most accurate framing for any merchant evaluating Canvas today. It is a genuine capability in early access with a transparent and specific gap list. The merchants whose stores currently fall within that gap are those with established operations, third-party themes, complex app dependencies, and multi-market requirements. For such merchants, there is no need to rebuild around Canvas today, with the existing theme editor and development workflows remaining available while Shopify continues to expand Canvas. Looking for store configurations Canvas does not yet support? Connect to our Shopfy Plus specialists FAQs Q1. Can I use Canvas on my existing Shopify store or does it only work for new stores? Canvas works for both new and existing stores, but with an important condition. If the existing store runs on a third-party theme from the Shopify Theme Store, Canvas is not available for it at launch. It currently supports Shopify-built themes and custom themes only. For stores on a supported theme, merchants can duplicate the theme in Canvas and work on the duplicate while the original remains live and unchanged in the standard theme editor. Q2. Will my existing apps still work if I switch to Canvas? App blocks and app embeds do not work in Canvas at launch. Apps that add functionality to the storefront through theme app extensions, including review apps, loyalty programs, upsell tools, and custom widgets, are absent from the Canvas environment. The apps themselves are not affected, but they continue running on the live store. Q3. Can I edit the code Canvas generates or is it locked inside Canvas? Merchants cannot edit Canvas theme code directly in Canvas, as they would in a code editor, because it is handled through Sidekick's chat interface and direct block editing. However, the theme remains a real Shopify theme with real code. Merchants with edit-code permission can access the theme files through the standard code editor outside Canvas. Themes edited in Canvas do not receive theme updates from Shopify, so merchants are responsible for maintaining those themes going forward. Q4. Will every store built with Canvas look the same? Shopify has built Canvas with what it calls "a curated set of patterns to draw from and a mountain of opinionated eval data" to help Sidekick produce tasteful and distinct design directions. The design output depends entirely on how specifically the merchant describes their brand, vision, and preferences. A merchant who gives Sidekick detailed brand context, reference images, and specific direction will get a different result from one who uses generic prompts. Canvas is a starting point for iteration, not a template selector. Q5. Should I use Canvas to redesign my store before BFCM? Honestly, it depends on the store. For a new store or a simple store on a supported Shopify theme without significant app dependencies, Canvas can meaningfully accelerate a redesign. For an established store with a third-party theme, multiple apps, a multi-market configuration, or translation requirements, it does not support these features at launch. Making significant theme changes six weeks before BFCM on a tool described by Shopify as early access carries risk that is difficult to justify during the most commercially critical period of the year. The existing theme editor and standard Shopify customization tools are the safer path for established stores heading into peak season.

Nikki Kumari

Oct 6, 2026 • 8 min read

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Ecommerce Roundup

eCommerce Roundup September 2026

eCommerce Roundup September 2026 September 2026 arrived with the most severe security event in Adobe Commerce's history, a Shopify platform expansion that makes every eligible store reachable by AI agents at checkout, and the first major holiday season forecasts that confirmed what platform developments had been signaling all year. The brands that spent September firefighting a zero-day vulnerability are entering Q4 behind the ones that spent it preparing for BFCM. Here is everything that mattered. Platform Updates September 4 to 8: Adobe Commerce StyleSmuggler CVE-2026-75650 September 2026 is not a normal Adobe Commerce security month. Adobe released two separate security bulletins within 24 hours for Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source. It was an emergency Priority 1 update for CVE-2026-75650 on September 7, followed by the regularly scheduled September security update on September 8. The distinction matters because the monthly September patch does not include the CVE-2026-75650 hotfix. Both must be applied independently. Dutch e-commerce security firm Sansec confirmed the first exploitation of CVE-2026-75650, codenamed StyleSmuggler, at 22:20 UTC on September 4, 2026. The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 10.0, the maximum possible severity rating, and requires no authentication. It abuses Magento's template system through PHP code injection triggered by the Payment Transaction Failed Reminder email. A fully patched store running Adobe's July and August 2026 updates was compromised within hours of the first confirmed exploitation. Adobe published emergency security bulletin APSB26-146 on September 7, three days after the first confirmed exploitation. StyleSmuggler deploys a Rust-based Linux backdoor that disguises itself as a legitimate system process and restarts automatically via cron. Patching closes the vulnerability but does not remove an existing compromise. Any store that was accessible between September 4 and September 7 without the hotfix applied needs a forensic scan, full credential rotation, and confirmation that no secondary backdoors were installed. Also Read: Adobe Commerce StyleSmuggler CVE-2026-75650: What Every Merchant Must Do Right Now September 8: Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service September Release Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service published its September 8 release to Production, containing all changes from Adobe Commerce version 2.4.9. The update introduced new GET and PUT /V1/system/config REST API endpoints that allow integrations to read and update Commerce system configuration values programmatically. Development teams can now synchronize configuration across staging and production environments through API calls rather than manual Commerce Admin reconfiguration. Also Read: Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service: What the June 2027 Enforcement Deadline Means for Merchants September 15: Shopify Admin New Look Rolls Out Starting September 15, the Shopify admin began rolling out progressively to merchants with a redesigned interface covering color, typography, spacing, and icons. Search, notifications, and the store picker moved to side navigation. Sidekick moved from a side panel to a floating chat at the bottom of the screen. Apps using Admin UI extensions pick up the new styles automatically. Apps that use Polaris Web Components 1.0 remain unchanged until the developer chooses to migrate to Polaris 2.0. The rollout is progressive and merchants will see it at different times through October. September 21: Shopify Analytics Session Measurement Change Starting September 21, 2026, Shopify changed how it counts sessions in Analytics. Merchants comparing session data across this date will see a visible change in reported numbers that reflects the new measurement methodology rather than a real change in traffic. Any dashboard or reporting setup that trends sessions from September 21 needs to be annotated and rebaselined before BFCM planning decisions are made based on that data. September 25: Shopify Tax to Automatically Tax Return Shipping Fees from October 23 Starting October 23, 2026, Shopify Tax and Tax Platform will automatically tax return shipping fees like other shipping charges for US merchants. The change is automatic for merchants using Shopify Tax or Tax Platform, meaning no manual configuration is required. Merchants using manual workarounds to calculate, collect, import, or reconcile tax on return shipping fees should review those processes before October 23 to avoid double-counting tax on the same transaction. September 28: Shopify Opens Checkout to Browser-Based AI Agents On September 28, Shopify announced WebMCP support for checkout, including Shop Pay for all eligible merchants. Browser-based AI agents can now read the checkout, update order details, and complete purchases with buyer authorization. Shopify had previously supported WebMCP for storefronts and carts, allowing AI agents to search products and add items to the cart. The September 28 update extends that capability to full purchase completion. The announcement followed Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke's confirmation one week earlier of a partnership with Meta to enable Meta's Muse agent to shop and check out with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores. Shopify also confirmed that Instinct, a personal AI shopping agent, can now search Shopify's merchant network for live product information including prices, sizes, and availability. For merchants on Shopify, every eligible store is now reachable by AI agents from product discovery through purchase, with no additional configuration required. Also Read: Shopify Agentic Commerce: What It Means for Merchants in 2026 Industry Updates The 2026 Holiday Season Numbers: AI Drives the Forecast September brought the first major holiday season forecasts for 2026 and the numbers are the clearest signal yet that AI commerce is a present revenue channel. BFCM 2026 will be the first major shopping event where AI agents actively shop on behalf of buyers at scale. For Shopify and Adobe Commerce merchants, the commercial implication is specific. Product pages that AI agents cannot read will not appear in AI-driven holiday recommendations regardless of how strong the SEO or paid media investment is. The brands that invested in catalog readiness and structured product data in September are the ones that will appear in AI recommendations during BFCM and Cyber Week. The brands that did not will find their products absent from a channel that is already generating one in five visits. TikTok Shop Tightens Fulfillment and Seller Requirements TikTok Shop rolled out a Seller Center navigation update on September 7 that relocated where daily tools live, arriving alongside new order packaging requirements and updated shipping and fulfillment policies published September 3. TikTok Shop is now actively enforcing fulfillment metrics consistent with a delivery-performance marketplace: a Late Dispatch Rate at or below 4% and an On-Time Delivery Rate at or above 80%. For Shopify merchants selling through TikTok Shop, these requirements need to be operational before BFCM traffic arrives. A seller center that cannot meet the fulfillment standards during peak volume faces the same consequences as one that misses them during a normal week, at significantly higher cost to the business. Upcoming Events BFCM 2026: November 27 to 30 Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall on November 27 to 30, 2026. With eight weeks from today, the preparation window is closing. Adobe's forecast of $47.5 billion in Cyber Week online sales and 130% growth in AI-driven retail traffic confirm this will be the most commercially significant and technically demanding BFCM in eCommerce history. Merchants who have not confirmed checkout extensibility status, tracking pixel migration, infrastructure scaling, and AI product discovery readiness should treat October as the last viable preparation window before the November code freeze. Also Read: Shopify BFCM Checklist 2026: What Most Merchants Miss Until It Costs Them Shopify API 2026-10: October 1 The Shopify API 2026-10 version releases on October 1. Alongside this release, new carrier services created via the Admin API will no longer automatically add rates to the General shipping profile and will require manual configuration. API version 2025-10 is retired on October 16, 2026. Any custom apps or integrations built on that version will stop working after that date. Development teams should audit every custom integration before October 1 to confirm compatibility with 2026-10. Amazon Business Reshape: Nashville, October 2026 Amazon's fifth annual B2B commerce conference takes place in Nashville in October 2026. The event covers AI-driven procurement, quantity-tier pricing, and the expansion of B2B buyer-facing features to third-party sellers. For brands operating both B2B and DTC commerce, Reshape is the highest-signal Amazon event of the year for wholesale strategy.

Nikki Kumari

Oct 1, 2026 • 8 min read

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Shopify

Why Shopify Is the Best Platform for Startups and SMEs in the UAE?

Why Shopify Is the Best Platform for Startups and SMEs in the UAE? Let’s talk honestly for a moment. If you were launching a startup in the UAE today, whether it’s fashion, wellness, food, or hospitality, would you spend months building a complex custom platform? Or would you go live in a few weeks and start generating revenue immediately? That is exactly why Shopify in the UAE is growing at such an impressive pace. Recent market insights show that Shopify based stores in the UAE have grown by over 35% annually in the past three years. Globally, the Shopify web development service market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.3%. Venture capital funding into UAE eCommerce startups using Shopify has doubled in recent years, reaching nearly 500 million dollars. This is not a passing trend. It is a structural shift in how businesses launch and scale. Key Shopify Features Shopify isn’t just popular because it’s widely known. It’s popular because its features solve real problems that startups and small-to-medium businesses face every day. Here’s how Shopify makes life easier, and growth faster, for founders like you. Effortless Setup and Management One of Shopify’s biggest strengths is its ease of use. You don’t need to be a coder or hire expensive technical help to get started. Shopify’s intuitive dashboard lets you build and manage your store with a minimal learning curve, empowering founders to focus on selling rather than struggling with tech. The Shopify website builder gives you drag-and-drop control, meaning you can adjust layouts, menus, and content without touching a line of code. This quick setup and user-friendly design work especially well for startups with limited resources and tight timelines who want to launch fast and start earning right away. Beautiful, Mobile-Optimized Store Design Shopify offers a wide range of Shopify themes, professional, responsive templates that make your site look polished from day one. They are designed to work flawlessly across desktops, tablets, and mobile phones, ensuring every visitor enjoys a smooth shopping experience. Mobile optimization isn’t optional anymore. With the majority of online shopping happening from phones, having a store that adjusts beautifully across devices means better engagement and higher conversions. Built-in eCommerce Tools: No Add-Ons Needed Imagine launching a store that already includes powerful features like: SEO tools to improve your visibility in search engines Abandoned cart recovery to win back lost sales Discounts and promotions built straight into your dashboard Email marketing support to grow your audience These tools are part of Shopify’s core platform and save you from buying, integrating, and maintaining separate software. That kind of capability, without extra cost or complexity, is rare among eCommerce platforms and gives startups a major advantage. Secure, Reliable Payments and Checkout One of the most important parts of any Shopify website is how customers pay. Shopify supports Shopify Payments out of the box, which simplifies setup and reduces transaction complexity. It also connects with 100+ payment gateways, so your customers can use their preferred method no matter where they are. Security is baked into the platform. SSL encryption and PCI compliance come standard, meaning customer data stays safe and trust in your brand remains strong, which is critical for building credibility early on. Scalability That Grows With Your Business Startups don’t stay small forever. As your sales grow, Shopify grows with you. The platform allows for: Unlimited products and variants Easy upgrades to higher plans as you scale Add-ons from the Shopify App Store for additional functionality Multi-channel selling across social media and marketplaces You can start with a lean store and expand your features over time without switching platforms. This kind of flexibility is especially valuable for SMEs that may pivot, test new products, or enter new markets as they grow. Data-Driven Decisions with Analytics Knowing what’s working, and what’s not, is vital for any business. Shopify provides built-in analytics that show: Your best-selling products Traffic and conversion trends Customer behaviour Marketing effectiveness These insights help you make smarter decisions about inventory, pricing, promotions, and more, without needing a separate analytics tool. eCommerce Growth Tools and Multichannel Selling Shopify doesn’t just help you build a shop. It helps you sell everywhere. You can expand your reach by selling on: Facebook and Instagram TikTok and Google Shopping Amazon and other marketplaces This means you aren’t limited to just one storefront, you can tap into audiences where they already spend time. Market-Ready App Ecosystem The Shopify App Store is a powerful arsenal of tools that extend your store’s capabilities. There are thousands of apps that let you do everything from loyalty programs and subscriptions to advanced inventory and accounting automation. Instead of custom-building every feature you need, you can install apps that solve specific problems, often at a low monthly cost. Support and Community That Helps You Learn One of the most underrated features of Shopify is the support ecosystem. You get: 24/7 customer support for technical issues Comprehensive documentation and tutorials A massive global community of merchants who share strategies, fixes, and success tips For startups and SMEs, that safety net can make the difference between stumbling and scaling quickly. Reliable Hosting and Performance Shopify handles hosting, security updates, backups, and performance optimization for you. Your store stays fast and online without you having to manage servers or security patches. That reliability helps ensure your Shopify online shopping experience is seamless for customers every time. Final Thoughts Shopify gives startups the speed, flexibility, and built-in tools needed to launch and scale confidently. From secure payments to powerful analytics and multichannel selling, it provides everything required to build a strong eCommerce website in the UAE. With Codilar Technologies, an experienced Shopify partner, businesses gain expert Shopify developers who optimize performance, customize stores, and drive conversions. Shopify powers the platform. Codilar powers your growth. Is Shopify good in the UAE? Yes. Shopify in UAE is highly reliable, secure, and scalable. It supports local payment gateways, mobile optimization, and multichannel selling, making it ideal for businesses targeting UAE customers. Is Shopify better for small businesses? Yes. Shopify is excellent for small businesses because it is easy to use, affordable, scalable, and includes built in tools for marketing, payments, and analytics without heavy technical requirements. Which online platform is best in the UAE? Shopify is widely considered one of the best eCommerce platforms in the UAE due to its ease of setup, strong security, scalability, and support for local and international payment options. What is the most used platform in the UAE? Shopify is among the most used eCommerce platforms in the UAE, especially for startups and SMEs, due to its flexibility, reliability, and strong ecosystem of apps and partners. Which eCommerce platform is best in the UAE? Shopify is often regarded as the best eCommerce platform in the UAE for startups and SMEs because it combines simplicity, powerful features, secure payments, and scalability in one platform.

Meghna Vinod

Sep 30, 2026 • 6 min read

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General

From Offline to Online: eCommerce Website Development for UAE Manufacturers

From Offline to Online: eCommerce Website Development for UAE Manufacturers Key takeaways UAE buyers now research a manufacturer's website before calling or messaging. A missing or outdated website makes a manufacturer invisible or untrustworthy to new buyers. Buyers check trade licenses and certifications directly on the site before reaching out. A quality manufacturing eCommerce platform needs filtering, a configurator, ERP integration, PIM, and RFQ workflows. VAT display, e-invoicing readiness, and data protection all need to be built into the platform from the start. Most UAE manufacturers still close deals the same way: a distributor calls in the usual order, a buyer messages on WhatsApp, and a sales rep follows up by phone, but the buyer on the other end already checked them out first. Buyers now research a manufacturer online. They check the website and browse the product range, often comparing it against a competitor's site before ever picking up the phone or sending that message. By the time the call happens, a buyer has usually already judged the manufacturer by their website. This is why eCommerce website development for manufacturers in the UAE has become a priority. Why UAE Manufacturers Are Under Pressure to Go Online Manufacturers with no website at all are invisible to anyone outside their existing network. A buyer without an inside contact has no way to find them or confirm they actually make what's needed. Manufacturers who do have a site but haven't touched it in years face a quieter version of the same problem. Outdated product photos, discontinued items still listed, and missing certifications or specs all make the business look less reliable than it is. A buyer weighing two similar manufacturers trusts the one whose website answers their questions today. This trust gap starts the moment a buyer actually lands on the page. UAE Buyers Are Already Evaluating Manufacturers Online Once a buyer lands on a manufacturer's website, they're checking: Trade license and registration details Certifications relevant to their industry Track record with orders at their scale Product specifications, down to material grade or tolerance Answering these clearly on the page moves a buyer toward a call or an RFQ (request for quote), and in a competitive market, this extra step often decides who gets the order. B2B eCommerce Changes How Manufacturers Actually Sell A working B2B eCommerce platform changes how a manufacturing business sells: Routine reorders move online Sales teams spend more time on accounts that actually need a relationship Product and category pages keep drawing in buyers through search long after they're published Getting there takes a platform built around tiered pricing and made-to-order timelines. Must-Have eCommerce Requirements for UAE Manufacturers Advanced search and filtering Procurement teams search by material grade, tolerance, certification, or part number, and expect to land on the right product in a couple of clicks. The manufacturing site needs filtering built around these technical attributes, down to the exact spec a buyer is looking for. Product configurator A number of manufactured products cannot be sold as is. That means before estimating the selling price of such items, a buyer should choose the necessary options and settings, be it materials, size, colors, or technical specifications. An online configurator helps to get an up-to-date estimate of the purchase immediately after selecting the desired attributes. ERP integration A website showing different stock levels or pricing than what's actually in the warehouse damages buyer confidence fast. ERP integration syncs inventory, pricing, and order status between the systems running the factory and the website buyers see. Centralized product data Manufacturers often manage the same product information across multiple channels: the website, distributor portals, spec sheets, and certification documents. A PIM system centralizes this data so the spec sheet and the website always match. Mobile-optimized buyer portal Procurement managers check stock, reorder routine items, and track shipments from their phones just as often as from a desk, especially when managing multiple suppliers on the move. A properly optimized mobile commerce portal makes this genuinely usable, with the same functionality as the desktop site. RFQ and approval workflows Custom quantities, non-standard specifications, or high-value orders often need a formal request-for-quote process and internal sign-off before confirmation. This keeps non-standard purchases moving without forcing every order through a rigid checkout flow. Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform for Manufacturing Businesses The right platform depends on how complex the buying process is. Adobe Commerce Adobe Commerce fits manufacturers managing large technical catalogs, multi-tier distributor pricing, or operations across several regions. It handles deep, rule-based product configuration, connects naturally with Pimcore for centralized product data, and supports multi-storefront setups for manufacturers running several brands or regions from one backend. It also has more flexibility for custom or legacy ERP integrations, which suits established manufacturers with systems already built around older infrastructure. Shopify Plus Shopify Plus is suitable for mid-market manufacturers in the UAE that want to avoid the implementation time of an enterprise system while still providing buyers a positive experience. The platform offers B2B company accounts, standard ERP integration, self-serve ordering with net payment terms, and RFQ workflows without the cost and complexity of an enterprise-level solution. Alt: Table comparing Shopify Plus and Adobe Commerce for manufacturing eCommerce. Codilar works with manufacturers across both platforms, and a quick consultation is the easiest way to land on the right one. Staying Compliant While Selling Online in the UAE A manufacturing website isn't just a sales channel in the UAE. It also has to meet the country's own tax and data rules. A compliant manufacturing eCommerce platform needs to handle: VAT calculation and display: UAE VAT (around 5% on most goods) calculated correctly at checkout, with the tax registration number shown on every invoice. E-invoicing readiness: The UAE is moving toward mandatory e-invoicing for B2B transactions, and platforms need to be built with this shift in mind. Data protection for buyer information: Secure handling of company registration details, contact information, and order history, matters more for B2B sellers. A platform that can't handle these automatically turns every sale into a manual, error-prone process. Making the Move to Manufacturing eCommerce A manufacturing website that doesn't answer a buyer's questions, or doesn't exist at all, is quietly costing deals before a single call happens. A good manufacturing site should be organized around manufacturing’s selling process: technical cataloging, varying pricing levels, ERP connection, and the types of compliance specific to a market, which drives leads to buyers. So if your current website isn't doing that work, or there isn't one yet, a short conversation with Codilar's team is a great starting point! FAQs What should a UAE manufacturing website include? Buyers should be able to easily find products, technical specifications, certifications, and RFQ or contact options. For UAE manufacturers selling internationally, showing export markets and delivery capabilities helps too. Can a manufacturing eCommerce website integrate with an ERP system? Yes, it can. An eCommerce site can connect to an ERP in order to synchronize information about products, inventory, pricing, customer orders, and accounts. The exact integration depends on the ERP and the manufacturer's existing systems. How should UAE manufacturers handle customer-specific pricing online? The website should be able to offer different prices depending on the customer’s account or contract. It will be beneficial for manufacturers who work with business customers and dealerships and provide them with exclusive pricing. Can a UAE manufacturing website support RFQs instead of direct checkout? Yes. You can set up an RFQ workflow that would capture product specs, quantity, and destination information before submitting an inquiry to your sales team. Does a UAE manufacturing eCommerce website need to support e-invoicing? If the business falls within the UAE's e-invoicing requirements, its commerce and financial systems need to support them. The programme is being introduced in phases, with mandatory implementation beginning in 2027, depending on the business.

Aakash Ashok

Sep 25, 2026 • 5 min read

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Shopify

Shopify BFCM Checklist 2026: What Merchants Overlook Until It Costs Them

Key Takeaways: Confirm your Shopify Plus checkout is running on Checkout Extensibility 2.0, not legacy checkout.liquid. Verify every tracking pixel appears in Customer Events not on deprecated script tags Audit your app stack and disable non-essential apps before peak traffic hours Review auto-scaling scale-down policies and set CloudWatch billing alerts before November Complete all store changes and freeze code by November 14 Shopify BFCM Checklist 2026: What Merchants Overlook Until It Costs Them Most Shopify merchants heading into BFCM 2026 have already gone through the checklist. You might have already started optimizing site speed, setting up email flows, confirmed inventory levels, and planned discount strategy, but you would have overlooked the gaps that would cost you eventually. In this guide, uncover the four specific problems that consistently surface across every Shopify store plan during BFCM. These surface on Black Friday itself, when traffic is live, and something breaks that nobody expected. Shopify Checkout Running on Unsupported Code Most BFCM checklists mention optimizing the checkout, while missing to tell Shopify Plus merchants to confirm whether their checkout is actually running on Checkout Extensibility 2.0. The checkout.liquid migration deadline for Plus stores passed in August 2025, and a store still running legacy checkout customizations is running unsupported code. During the event, the store keeps processing orders. However, the custom logic, post-purchase flows and checkout modifications built on legacy code are not supported by Shopify. Under BFCM load, unsupported configurations fail in ways that are never revealed in staging environments on Shopify Plus stores. Your checkout, which works perfectly now, can break silently during the year's highest-traffic hours. To check, go to Shopify Admin→Online Store→Themes→Customize. If the checkout editor shows Checkout Extensibility options, the migration is complete. If it shows the legacy checkout.liquid editor, the store is running unsupported code six weeks before BFCM. BFCM Conversion Tracking May Already be Broken Most BFCM checklists say confirm your conversion tracking is set up. None of them tells merchants that if Google Ads or the Meta Pixel is still running via Shopify script tags, it stopped working on October 1, 2026. Shopify script tag deprecation means new script tag API writes ended on October 1. Merchants whose tracking pixels were installed via script tags have been running dark since that date. The BFCM ROAS data will show fewer conversions because tracking will stop firing. Smart Bidding optimizes against the conversion signals it receives. To check, go to Shopify Admin→Settings→Customer Events. Every active tracking pixel should appear here, and if a pixel is missing from Customer Events, it is either still on script tags or not firing at all. Google and Meta both have officially managed pixel apps in the Shopify App Store that handle the migration correctly. Cloud Bill Will Spike After BFCM Without Warning Most BFCM checklists say to test site performance but fail to tell merchants that auto-scaling, configured to spin up fast but scale down slowly, generates a December cloud bill. It reflects BFCM capacity running for weeks after BFCM traffic has normalized. During the event, traffic spikes trigger auto-scaling and resources spin up, but traffic drops after Cyber Monday. Without aggressive scale-down policies, those resources keep running. The stores are required to prepare to handle 10x normal traffic during BFCM weekend. Read More: BFCM 2026: Reduce Cloud Infrastructure Costs Before Peak Season To check: Review auto-scaling scale-down policies before November. Confirm scale-down activates within 15 minutes of traffic dropping below peak thresholds. Set billing alerts at 80% of the monthly budget threshold before BFCM begins. Load test at 150% of last year's BFCM traffic now while there is still time to fix what it surfaces. Apps Running Fine Now Can Slow Down The Shopify Store During BFCM Most Shopify merchants add apps throughout the year without auditing their cumulative impact on storefront performance. Under normal traffic, each app performs acceptably, but under BFCM load, the cumulative impact of poorly optimized apps consistently surfaces as slower page loads, checkout timeouts, and failed post-purchase flows that analytics cannot immediately explain. As is often observed, an app that adds 150ms to page load time at normal traffic volume adds significantly more under concurrent BFCM sessions. This is due to the app's external API calls competing for the same resources as thousands of simultaneous shoppers. The resulting checkout abandonment shows up in the data, but the cause is rarely obvious without an app performance audit. To check, run a PageSpeed Insights audit with all apps enabled, then disable non-essential apps and run it again. The difference in scores reveals the cumulative impact of the app. Any app adding more than 200ms to mobile page load time is a BFCM risk. Shopify's Theme Inspector identifies which specific scripts are the primary contributors. Non-essential apps, including review popups, chat widgets, and upsell tools that are not critical to the purchase flow, should be disabled during peak BFCM traffic hours. Start Preparing Your Shopify Store For BFCM Now For BFCM, businesses should start preparing their Shopify stores weeks before the event. Factors such as checkout running on unsupported code, tracking pixels that stopped firing on October 1, cloud infrastructure that will spike after Cyber Monday, and apps that underperform under peak load are not problems that announce themselves in advance. They surface when traffic is live and every minute of failure carries a direct revenue cost. The Shopify BFCM checklist most merchants follow covers discounts, inventory, and email. Usually, while following the checklist, addressing the gaps gets missed, which costs later. As a Shopify Plus Partner, Codilar is currently conducting an audit to identify all the gaps a Shopify store should close to win during BFCM. Connect with a specialist from Codilar’s Shopify team to audit your store Frequently Asked Questions Q1. Does this checklist apply to all Shopify plans or only Shopify Plus? The checkout extensibility item applies specifically to Shopify Plus. The script tag deprecation, app performance, and cloud infrastructure items apply to every Shopify merchant regardless of plan. Q2. How do I know if tracking pixels are on script tags? Go to Shopify Admin→Settings→Customer Events. If your Google Ads or Meta pixel does not appear there, it was likely installed via script tags or a third-party method that may not fire correctly after October 1. Contact your agency or check the Shopify App Store for the officially managed Google and Meta pixel apps. Q3. How much time will it take to fix the checkout extensibility issue? The migration from checkout.liquid to Checkout Extensibility 2.0 depends on how much custom checkout logic needs to be rebuilt as Shopify Functions. Simple migrations take one to two weeks while complex Plus stores with significant custom checkout logic take three to four weeks. Q4. Which apps should I disable during BFCM? Non-essential apps that add external script calls to the storefront without directly contributing to purchase conversion. Review popup apps, live chat widgets not actively staffed during BFCM, upsell apps with poor performance scores, and loyalty program widgets that load on every page. Essential apps including payment processors, inventory management, and shipping calculators should remain active.

Nikki Kumari

Sep 23, 2026 • 6 min read

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Adobe

Adobe Commerce AI Product Discovery: Make Your Catalog Visible to AI Agents

Adobe Commerce AI Product Discovery: Make Your Catalog Visible to AI Agents Adobe Commerce (Magento) now includes a native AI product discovery capability that exposes structured catalog data to AI shopping agents, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and more. From April through June 2026, AI-sourced traffic to US retail sites grew 125% year over year. With this growth, brands should now ensure their product catalogs AI agents can read, interpret, and recommend throughout. However, the brands that overlook well-prepared catalogue preparation will find that no amount of SEO or paid media investment will fix it. Adobe Commerce (Magento) AI product discovery changes that. In this guide, understand what it is, what it delivers commercially, and what merchants need to do to make their catalog visible in the channels where product discovery is growing fastest. What is Adobe Commerce AI Product Discovery? Most merchants view product discovery as a search and SEO problem, believing that getting the right keywords in the right places will surface the right products. AI discovery breaks the assumption. When a buyer asks ChatGPT "which industrial pump handles corrosive liquids at high temperature," the AI does not scan for keyword matches. It reasons across structured product data to find attributes, specifications, compatibility information, and use-case context. A product with a rich, well-attributed catalog entry gets recommended, excluding a product with a generic description and incomplete attributes, regardless of how well it ranks on Google. Adobe Commerce (Magento) Catalog Agent addresses product visibility on AI platforms. It enriches product names, descriptions, and use case phrases within the Commerce catalog and exposes that data in a machine-readable format AI agents can parse. This requires no storefront redesign, with the enhancement sitting beneath the human shopping experience, invisible to buyers but essential for AI visibility. Adobe Commerce: Product Data Quality is Now a Revenue Decision According to Adobe's own measurement, individual Adobe Commerce (Magento) product pages currently score just 66% on machine readability, the lowest of any major page type. On average, 1 in 3 product pages in an Adobe Commerce (Magento) store is not fully readable by AI agents right now. The following are the commercial consequences: AI agents will reach brand homepages and not product pages. Merchants will receive AI traffic but lose it before it reaches the products that convert. Today, AI-powered search increases conversion rates by 20-40% by delivering more relevant results. Adobe Commerce semantic search, which became generally available on June 8, 2026, gives merchants the infrastructure to capture that uplift. Yet, incomplete product attributes, generic descriptions, and missing relationship data limit what AI can surface. With Adobe Commerce AI Product Discovery, businesses can observe: Products become easier for AI-powered shopping experiences to find, understand, and recommend AI assistants provide more relevant answers because they have access to richer product context Brands reduce dependency on keyword optimization as structured product intelligence supports intent-based discovery The catalog becomes a strategic business asset rather than simply a product database The Adobe Commerce AI Product Discovery List: What Merchants Should Act On Adobe Commerce (Magento) AI product discovery is a set of capabilities that work together to make catalog data machine-readable across AI discovery channels. Adobe Commerce Catalog Agent Enriches product names, descriptions, and use case phrases directly within the Commerce catalog. Enhancements made at the source flow automatically to every downstream surface, including storefronts, advertising pipelines, marketplaces, and AI-powered discovery experiences. Adobe Commerce Semantic Search Interprets the meaning and intent behind a shopper's query rather than matching exact keywords. A query for "lightweight trail running shoes for marathon training" returns relevant products even when those exact words do not appear in product titles or descriptions. Exact Match Prioritization This is currently in private beta, ensuring products that precisely match shopper intent appear more prominently in search results. Intelligent Ranking Configuration Available in public beta, giving merchants greater control over how search results are ranked and presented. The Adobe Commerce Storefront MCP Server Exposes live Commerce data to AI agents, allowing them to search the product catalog, retrieve real-time pricing and inventory, and complete checkout without custom integrations. To prepare for AI catalog discovery, merchants can: Audit product attribute completeness across top SKUs Enrich product descriptions with use case context along with technical specifications Configure Catalog Agent to expose structured data correctly Enable semantic search if not already active Validate machine readability scores across product pages before peak season Adobe Commerce AI Product Discovery: What it Means for B2B Brands? The AI product discovery opportunity for B2B merchants on Adobe Commerce (Magento) presents a level of complexity that DTC merchants do not face. Company-specific pricing, restricted product catalogs, and contract-based availability cannot be exposed to AI agents without careful access control configuration. The specific areas require attention before a B2B Adobe Commerce catalog is AI-ready: Company account permissions: Catalog Agent must adhere to existing B2B access controls. A procurement manager using an AI shopping assistant should see their contracted catalog and negotiated rates, not the public price list. Customer group and ERP-connected pricing: Contract-based pricing must flow correctly through Adobe Commerce before Catalog Agent can expose it accurately. An AI agent retrieving incorrect pricing damages buyer trust faster than any other catalog error. Shared catalog and restricted SKU management: Along with single global exposure, Catalog Agent needs configuring per buyer segment. For B2B merchants managing complex catalogs and ERP-connected pricing, Adobe Commerce (Magento) LLM product discovery readiness is a development engagement. Adobe Commerce: If AI Cannot Read, AI Will Never Recommend Today, the way products are discovered is shifting. AI-sourced retail traffic is a channel that is already generating revenue for the brands whose catalogs are ready and bypassing the ones that are not. Adobe Commerce (Magento) AI product discovery joins the channel, but cannot fix catalog data that was never structured for machine readability. Product attributes left incomplete, descriptions written for keyword density rather than use case context, specifications buried in unstructured text fields are the factors determining AI visibility. As an Adobe Gold Solution Partner, Codilar close the gap through catalog readiness assessments, Catalog Agent configuration, and semantic search implementation. The brands that address these decisions now build a compounding advantage as AI shopping channels continue to grow. Start with a catalog readiness assessment to make your Adobe Commerce catalog visible to AI shopping agents. Connect with us today FAQs Q1. Will my products automatically appear in AI assistants after enabling Catalog Agent in Adobe Commerce? No, Catalog Agent creates the machine-readable layer that AI agents can read. However, visibility in specific AI channels depends on how completely the product data is structured, how accurately attributes and use case context are populated, and whether the catalog scores above the current 66% machine readability benchmark. Enabling Catalog Agent is the first step and enriching the catalog data it exposes is what determines actual AI visibility. Q2. Do I need to rebuild my storefront to support Adobe Commerce AI product discovery? No, the enhancement is delivered in a machine-readable layer beneath the existing storefront. Customers continue to experience the same product pages, imagery, and buying journey while only AI crawlers and LLM-powered discovery systems interact with the new layer. Q3. My products have detailed descriptions. Why would they still score poorly on machine readability? Human-readable descriptions and machine-readable product data are different things. Descriptions written for keyword density or marketing copy do not give AI agents the structured context they need. Specifications buried in unstructured text, missing compatibility information, incomplete attribute sets, and an absence of use case context all reduce machine readability, even when descriptions appear thorough to a human reader. Q4. How does Adobe Commerce AI product discovery handle B2B pricing that varies by account? The B2B pricing is handled through the MCP server's access controls, which enforce the same company account permissions, customer group pricing, and shared catalog restrictions that apply to human buyers. A procurement manager querying through an AI assistant sees their contracted catalog and negotiated rates. Configuring this correctly requires understanding how Catalog Agent interacts with Adobe Commerce's B2B architecture, which is a development engagement. Q5. Is Adobe Commerce AI product discovery available on all Adobe Commerce plans? Catalog Agent and the LLM discovery capabilities are currently available in Adobe Commerce on Cloud, the PaaS deployment. Merchants on self-managed or on-premise deployments should confirm availability with Adobe or their Adobe Commerce agency before planning implementation work.

Nikki Kumari

Sep 17, 2026 • 8 min read

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Shopify

Shopify ERP Integration: How to Connect Your Store With Your Back Office

Shopify ERP Integration: How to Connect Your Store With Your Back Office Imagine that a customer places an order on your Shopify store. The payment goes through, the order confirmation is sent and everything looks fine on the storefront. Meanwhile, your warehouse still shows the old inventory count. Your finance team is working with a different set of numbers, and someone from operations is manually entering the order into another system. That is where things start getting complicated. As an eCommerce business grows, Shopify often becomes just one part of a much larger technology ecosystem. Your ERP may handle inventory, purchasing and finance, while a warehouse system manages fulfillment and another platform handles customer data. Without a reliable way for these systems to communicate, your teams end up spending time moving information from one place to another. Shopify ERP integration brings these systems together so important business data can move between Shopify and your ERP without constant manual intervention. For businesses running complex Shopify Plus ecosystems, connecting Shopify with the systems behind the store can also help create a more consistent flow between commerce, operations and finance. What is Shopify ERP integration? In simple terms, Shopify ERP integration connects your Shopify store with an enterprise resource planning system and allows the two platforms to exchange information. Shopify manages the customer-facing side of the business. It handles products, storefront activity, orders and checkout, while the ERP typically sits behind the scenes, managing areas such as inventory, purchasing, accounting and fulfillment. When these systems are connected, an order placed on Shopify can flow into the ERP, inventory can be updated and fulfillment information can eventually make its way back to Shopify. Moreover, the same connection can support product, customer, pricing and financial data, depending on how the integration is designed. Shopify's enterprise guidance also highlights the importance of defining how data moves between systems and establishing a clear source of truth for different data types. Why does a Shopify store need ERP integration? You can run a small Shopify store without an ERP integration. When order volumes are low, manually updating inventory or transferring order information may not seem like a major problem. The situation changes as the business grows. Imagine selling thousands of products across multiple warehouses and sales channels. An order comes through Shopify, inventory changes in the warehouse, the ERP needs to record the transaction and the fulfillment team needs to act on it. If every step depends on someone manually updating another system, even a small delay can create discrepancies. Moreover, these discrepancies rarely stay isolated. An incorrect inventory number can lead to overselling, while an order that does not reach the fulfillment system on time can delay shipping. Finance may then have to reconcile numbers that do not match. A well-planned Shopify ERP integration helps keep these processes connected. Instead of each team maintaining its own version of the data, information can move between systems based on predefined rules. What data moves between Shopify and an ERP? The exact data flow depends on the business, but orders and inventory are usually at the heart of the integration. When a customer places an order, for example, Shopify can send the order details to the ERP. The ERP can then process the information according to the business workflow and update inventory accordingly. Once the order is fulfilled, shipment and tracking information can flow back to Shopify so the customer can see the latest status. The same connection can also cover product information, customer records, pricing and financial data. For businesses with more complex operations, it may extend further into purchasing, warehouse management, returns, refunds and third-party logistics. However, simply deciding to “sync everything” is rarely a good starting point. The more important question is where each piece of information should live and which system should be responsible for updating it. For example, the ERP might be the source of truth for inventory, while Shopify remains responsible for the storefront and customer checkout. Defining this relationship early helps prevent two systems from continuously overwriting each other's data. How does Shopify ERP integration work? There isn't one integration method that works for every business. Generally, companies choose between a native connector, an integration platform or a custom API-based approach. A native connector can be a good fit when the ERP already supports Shopify and the business processes are relatively close to what the connector offers. Shopify's certified ERP ecosystem includes platforms such as NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Brightpearl, Acumatica and Infor. However, things become more complex when Shopify needs to communicate with several other systems at the same time. In that situation, an iPaaS or middleware platform can sit between the systems and manage how data moves between them. This approach can be particularly useful when an enterprise has a WMS, CRM, 3PL or other applications connected to its commerce stack. Then there are businesses with workflows that simply do not fit a standard connector. For them, custom API integration provides greater control over how data is mapped, transformed and exchanged. Shopify APIs and webhooks can be used to support these connections and trigger actions when events occur. Still unsure which approach makes sense for your business? Codilar is an official Shopify Plus Partner, with experience building enterprise Shopify ecosystems and connecting Shopify with ERPs and other business systems. If you're weighing a native connector against middleware or a custom integration, talk to Codilar's Shopify experts and get help choosing an approach that fits your current setup and future plans. Where do Shopify ERP integrations usually go wrong? The difficult part of an ERP integration isn't necessarily connecting two APIs. It is making sure the two systems actually understand each other. Consider product data. Your Shopify store might identify a product through a SKU and variant structure, while the ERP may have its own product IDs, units or inventory rules. Unless those fields are mapped properly, the integration can technically work while still producing incorrect data. Inventory creates another common challenge. If a business operates several warehouses, the integration needs to understand which inventory belongs to which location and when that information should be updated. Otherwise, customers may see stock that is technically available in one warehouse but cannot actually be used to fulfill their order. Timing matters too. Some information may need near real-time synchronization, while other data can move in scheduled batches. Moreover, an integration needs to know what happens when something fails. A missed order, rejected API request or failed inventory update should not simply disappear without someone being alerted. This becomes even more important when a store has accumulated several third-party applications over time. Codilar's work with Shedavi is a useful example of how Shopify projects can involve technical debt alongside third-party functionality. In situations like this, integration planning needs to account for the existing ecosystem rather than treating Shopify and the ERP as two isolated platforms. Building a Shopify ERP integration that can grow with your business A Shopify ERP integration should not be treated as a one-time technical connection. It becomes part of the infrastructure that keeps your commerce operation running. That means the design needs to account for what happens beyond the initial launch. What happens when you add another warehouse? What if you launch in a new market? What if the ERP changes? And how will your team identify and resolve a failed synchronization? These questions become particularly important for businesses operating across regions. A Shopify Plus implementation may need to accommodate different currencies, markets, fulfillment processes and third-party systems while keeping the underlying data consistent. Codilar's work with Reebok is an example of working within a broader Shopify Plus commerce ecosystem where regional requirements and integrations need to work together rather than independently. The goal isn't simply to connect Shopify and your ERP A successful Shopify ERP integration should make the business easier to operate behind the scenes. When an order comes in, the right systems should know about it. When inventory changes, the storefront should reflect that change. When an order ships, the customer should not have to wait for someone to manually update the status. Meanwhile, finance and operations should be able to work with information they can trust. That is ultimately what makes ERP integration valuable. It is less about creating another technical connection and more about creating a reliable flow of information across the business. And as your Shopify store grows, having that foundation in place can make the difference between adding another sales channel and adding another operational headache. FAQs Why does my Shopify inventory still show stock that's already sold out on another channel? This is one of the most common complaints in Shopify/NetSuite forums, inventory syncs run on a schedule or webhook, so there's always a window where two channels can both think the same unit is available. Even "real-time" integrations have latency, and if a customer places an order at the exact moment a sync is running, you can oversell. The fix isn't a faster sync, it's designing one system (usually the ERP) as the single source of truth for inventory and building buffer/safety-stock rules for high-velocity SKUs. This is exactly the kind of mapping and rules work Codilar does when scoping an ERP integration. Why did my Shopify-ERP sync work fine for months and then suddenly start dropping orders? Integrations that look simple on a diagram often fail quietly at scale, a controller finding orders in Shopify that never made it to the ERP, a refund posted twice, or a SKU that's gone negative on the warehouse floor are typical failure points. These usually trace back to missing idempotency handling, rate-limit ceilings on the ERP side, or an API version change that broke assumptions nobody re-tested. Codilar builds retry logic, error alerting and monitoring into the integration upfront, rather than treating "it synced once" as "it's done." Can Shopify and my ERP fight over which one owns inventory data? Yes, and it's a frequent real-world complaint. One merchant reported multi-location inventory only partially syncing, with sales from other channels not deducting stock at all. The usual root cause is two systems each trying to "own" the same field. Codilar's approach is to explicitly assign a single owner per data type (e.g., ERP owns inventory, Shopify owns checkout) so neither system silently overwrites the other. Which ERP systems work with Shopify, and do I need a custom build? Shopify's certified ecosystem includes NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Brightpearl, Acumatica, and Infor, and native connectors exist for many of these. Custom integration becomes worth it once you have multiple connected systems (WMS, CRM, 3PL) or workflows that a standard connector can't map correctly, which is common in Shopify Plus ecosystems with accumulated technical debt, similar to what Codilar navigated in its Shedavi project. Talk to Codilar's team to figure out which path fits your stack. How long does a Shopify ERP integration actually take to set up? Depends a lot on what you're working with. A native connector for something like NetSuite or Brightpearl can be live in a few weeks. But once there are multiple systems in play, or your workflows don't match what a standard connector expects, you're looking at a few months once data mapping and testing are factored in. If someone gives you a fixed timeline before even looking at your setup, that's probably a guess, not an estimate.

Meghna Vinod

Sep 17, 2026 • 8 min read

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General

StyleSmuggler (CVE-2026-75650): Security Alert for Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source Stores

StyleSmuggler (CVE-2026-75650): Security Alert for Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source Stores Adobe has confirmed the active exploitation of a critical zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source. Tracked as CVE-2026-75650 and named StyleSmuggler by security firm Sansec, the vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 10.0, the maximum possible severity rating. No authentication is required to exploit the store. Attackers have full control of the store, its database, and every credential it holds once compromised. Who is Affected? Adobe Commerce Adobe Commerce B2B Magento Open Source All supported versions Unsupported versions including Adobe Commerce 2.4.5 and 2.4.6, as no official patch exists for these StyleSmuggler Adobe Commerce Store Exploitation: Timeline Date Event September 4, 2026 First confirmed exploitation at 22:20 UTC with no patch available. September 7, 2026 Adobe released emergency hotfix VULN-39341 and bulletin APSB26-146 September 8, 2026 Adobe released regular September security update APSB26-138 separately September 11, 2026 Peak attack day with 1,303 exploitation signals from 193 distinct sources September 15, 2026 Active exploitation ongoing with 500 unique attacking IP addresses confirmed Alt Text: StyleSmuggler Adobe Commerce Store Exploitation How StyleSmuggler Works The StyleSmuggler attack runs in two silent stages. First, the attacker injects malicious PHP code into a file Magento writes during normal operation, such as a failure report or log. Second, the attacker triggers Magento's Payment Transaction Failed Reminder email. When Magento renders that template, the injected code executes, requiring no admin action and customer interaction. The store continues processing orders normally while the attacker has full server access. The implant disguises itself as a legitimate Linux process and restarts automatically via cron. It survives a reboot. Adobe Commerce Zero-Day Response: What to Do Right Now Stop letting StyleSmuggler take over your store by applying the following steps on time: Step 01: Apply the StyleSmuggler hotfix immediately Apply hotfix VULN-39341 from bulletin APSB26-146, which is Adobe's emergency fix specifically for CVE-2026-75650 and is available from repo.magento.com. Confirm it has been applied correctly using this command: vendor/bin/magento-patches -n status | grep "39341" Step 02: Apply the regular September security update separately APSB26-138 is Adobe's regular September security release, which does not include the StyleSmuggler fix. Both must be applied independently. Step 03: Find out whether the store was exposed If the store was accessible between September 4 and September 7 without the hotfix applied, it may have been compromised before a patch existed. Check for these confirmed indicators of compromise: Unusual PHP files beneath Magento media directories Unexpected Payment Transaction Failed Reminder email activity Unfamiliar Linux processes restarting via cron Unexpected admin accounts or integration tokens Step 04: Rotate all credentials Adobe treats credential rotation as part of mandatory remediation, not an optional follow-up. Rotate in this specific order: Adobe Commerce encryption keys Admin passwords Payment gateway API credentials REST, SOAP, and GraphQL integration tokens OAuth client secrets Database credentials SSH and deploy keys Beyond APSB26-146 Patch: What Exposed Stores Should Do Applying the hotfix closes the vulnerability but does not remove an existing compromise. Stores that were running without the patch between 4th September and 7th Spetember need a thorough scan to detect any persistent implant, remove any secondary backdoors that StyleSmuggler may have installed, and confirm that no credentials were accessed before the patch was applied. Adobe Commerce Store Unsupported Versions: Exploitation Risk Adobe Commerce 2.4.5 and 2.4.6 lost regular support on August 11, 2026, with no official patch for CVE-2026-75650 existing for these versions. Community backports are there but are not endorsed by Adobe. Therefore, upgrading to a supported release is the only permanent fix for merchants on unsupported versions. Running an unsupported version during an active exploitation campaign is a significant and immediate commercial risk.

Nikki Kumari

Sep 15, 2026 • 5 min read

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Shopify

Meta Muse AI Agent: What It Means for Shopify Merchants in 2026

Key Takeaways Meta's Muse went live September 8, 2026, already searching and buying from Shopify stores. Checkout works through Shop Pay, Stripe Link, or browser automation, always with buyer approval. Shopify's checkout may share the same protocol behind Google's own AI shopping agent. Purchase attribution and affiliate tracking remain unanswered questions. Meta joins Google and Microsoft in building agents that complete purchases, not just suggest them. Meta Muse AI Agent: What It Means for Shopify Merchants in 2026 On September 8, 2026, Meta launched Muse, a personal AI agent that can browse the web, fill out forms, and buy things on a person's behalf. Within hours, Shopify confirmed that merchant products were already live inside it. No setup required on the merchant's side. If a Shopify store has products in Shopify Catalog, Muse can already find them, recommend them, and check out with Shop Pay directly inside the app. That's a meaningful moment, and not just for Shopify sellers. This is the third major platform in under a year to point an AI agent directly at merchant storefronts, after Google's AI Mode and Microsoft's Copilot. This blog breaks down what Muse actually is, how the Shopify integration works, what's still unclear, and what it means if you sell through Shopify, Adobe Commerce, or anywhere else. What Muse Actually Is Muse is Meta's answer to a question every major tech company is now racing to answer: what happens when an AI agent doesn't just chat with you, but goes and does the task? Built on a model Meta calls Muse Spark, the agent can send emails, book travel, manage calendars, fill out forms, and, notably, make purchases. It's currently available in the US and Canada (launched September 8 and September 18, 2026, respectively) through the Muse app on iOS and Android and the web at muse.ai, with support for Meta's AI glasses announced but not yet live. What sets Muse apart from a typical shopping chatbot is that it keeps working after you close the app. Give it a task, like finding a stroller within a budget, and it can search, compare, and come back once it has a recommendation or needs your approval to complete the purchase. Meta's security framing leans hard on isolation: each user gets a dedicated virtual machine holding their agent and their data, and a separate system called Sentinel sits between Muse and the open internet, distinguishing low-risk actions it can take on its own from sensitive ones (sending money, sending an email) that require explicit approval first. Pricing follows a familiar shape: a free tier usable up to a reported 100 million tokens a week, plus two paid plans, Power at $20 a month and Maximum at $100 a month. How the Shopify Integration Works Right Now Shopify's own announcement was blunt about the timeline: merchants didn't need to do anything, and their products were already searchable inside Muse. When someone asks Muse to shop, it searches the Shopify Catalog for matching products, and checkout can happen with Shop Pay directly inside the Muse app, no redirect to a browser required. Shopify has also said Shop Pay will soon be savable as a wallet inside Muse, similar to how it already works across other agentic channels. This runs through what Shopify calls Agentic Storefronts, a feature already live alongside Shopify's other AI shopping channels (its ChatGPT and Perplexity integrations, among others). The Meta channel simply joins that existing lineup. For merchants on Shopify's standard plans, there's genuinely nothing to configure. For merchants who aren't on Shopify as their core platform, Shopify's Agentic plan lets a business list products in Shopify Catalog specifically to be discoverable in these AI channels, without needing to run a full Shopify storefront underneath it. This is also where Shopify merchants working with an experienced implementation team can benefit from having the right commerce foundations in place. Codilar’s Shopify team works with brands on Shopify and Shopify Plus across store development, migrations, integrations, customization, and ongoing optimization. As AI-driven shopping channels become another way customers discover and buy products, that experience becomes increasingly relevant. The goal isn't to build specifically for Muse, but to make sure the underlying Shopify storefront, product data, integrations, and checkout experience are ready for whatever comes next. Three Ways Muse Can Check Out, and Why That Matters Independent analysis of Muse's client code, reported by industry analyst Juozas Kaziukėnas, found three distinct checkout paths built into the agent. Browser mode drives an automated browser and fills out whatever checkout form a merchant's site presents, the same way a human would, just automated. Shopify mode runs over structured APIs rather than a simulated browser, which Kaziukėnas assessed as most likely routing through Shop Pay via the Universal Commerce Protocol, the same open standard Google has been building its own agentic checkout around. Stripe Link mode covers merchants already set up on Stripe, independent of Shopify entirely. In every mode, a person still has to approve the purchase before it completes, and can decline all three and get handed off to the merchant's own site instead. The distinction matters more than it might look. Browser mode works on any site on the open web, but it's slower and more fragile since it depends on parsing whatever markup happens to be there. API-based modes, Shopify and Stripe, are faster and more reliable, but only work where that structured integration already exists. If Kaziukėnas's read is right, that Shopify's checkout runs over the same Universal Commerce Protocol Google is building on, it's a real signal that UCP is becoming a shared checkout language across agents, not just Google's own project. What's Still Unclear A few real gaps are worth naming rather than glossing over. Meta hasn't detailed how Muse selects which products to recommend, or how attribution works when a purchase happens through the agent rather than a click-through from an ad or a publisher link. That's a genuine concern for affiliate platforms and publishers whose business model depends on tracking that click. Meta has also said Muse data won't be shared directly with its advertising systems, though what a user does inside Muse can still indirectly shape the ads they see elsewhere, since Meta's ad systems and user data don't exist in a vacuum. There's also the practical reality that this is a brand-new product. Reporting following the launch noted that Meta's own internal testing had flagged reliability and data-security issues before release, which is worth keeping in mind before treating Muse's shopping behavior as fully predictable on day one. Why This Isn't Just a Shopify Story It's tempting to read this as purely a Shopify announcement, but the more important fact is what it represents: Meta now joins Google and Microsoft as a major platform actively routing AI agents toward merchant storefronts to complete purchases, not just answer questions about them. Meta brings something the others don't have in quite the same way: enormous, high-intent discovery surfaces across Instagram, Facebook, Marketplace, Messenger, and WhatsApp, all sitting right next to the social content, saved posts, and creator recommendations that already shape what people want to buy. For merchants not on Shopify, including the Adobe Commerce stores we work with most, the direct integration doesn't exist yet. But the underlying shift does apply regardless of platform. We covered this exact pattern, AI agents deciding what to recommend and buy rather than a human browsing search results, in our guide to making an Adobe Commerce store visible to AI shopping agents. The mechanics Muse depends on, clean structured product data, accurate real-time pricing and availability, and protocol-level checkout support, are the same mechanics that guide already walks through. What Merchants Should Actually Do About This For Shopify merchants, the honest answer is: check that your Shopify Catalog listing is accurate, complete, and current, since that's now doing double duty as your storefront for a growing set of AI agents, not just a product feed. Pricing, availability, and product details need to be right, because an agent acting on stale data creates a worse experience than a human noticing an out-of-date listing themselves. For merchants on other platforms, including Adobe Commerce and Shopify Plus stores Codilar works with, the practical takeaway isn't to panic about a Meta-specific integration that doesn't exist yet. It's to treat the underlying requirement, clean structured data, accurate feeds, and protocol readiness, as infrastructure work worth doing regardless of which agent eventually knocks on the door next. Given how quickly Google, Microsoft, and now Meta have each shipped their own version of this, betting that agentic shopping stays a Shopify-only phenomenon looks like the riskier assumption at this point. Getting Your Store Agent Ready For merchants preparing for this shift, the work starts well before an AI agent reaches the checkout. At Codilar, we help commerce teams build and optimise the underlying systems that make stores ready for this new buying journey, from structured product data and integrations to performance, platform engineering, and AI-ready commerce experiences. As agentic commerce continues to take shape, that foundation will matter regardless of which AI platform becomes the next major shopping destination. Where This Fits in the Bigger Agentic Commerce Shift Muse's Shopify integration is one more data point in a pattern that's been building all year: OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol powering ChatGPT's Instant Checkout, Google's Universal Commerce Protocol behind its AI Mode, Adobe's own commerce protocol support rolling out across PaaS, SaaS, and Optimizer (something we broke down in our look at Adobe Commerce's 2026 platform roadmap), and now Meta routing its own consumer AI agent through a similar structure. None of these companies coordinated this. They're each independently arriving at the same conclusion: the next layer of commerce competition isn't about who ranks best in search, it's about whose product data an AI agent can actually read, trust, and act on.

Meghna Vinod

Sep 11, 2026 • 7 min read

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eCommerce Website Development for Grocery Brands in the UAE

eCommerce Website Development for Grocery Brands in the UAE Key Takeaways A grocery brand still relying on walk-ins is losing market share to competitors selling online. Grocery inventory has to sync in real time across warehouses. UAE shoppers now expect same-day or 15-minute delivery as the standard. Loose produce and weight-based items need pricing logic built into the platform. Mobile drives close to 79% of UAE eCommerce, so the site has to work smoothly on a small screen. Catalog size and warehouse footprint should decide between Adobe Commerce (Magento) and Shopify Plus. A listing for a piece of clothing or an electronic device can remain the same online for weeks and still be accurate. Grocery doesn't get that luxury. Prices change hourly, and the kilogram of produce a customer pays for at checkout rarely matches the exact kilogram that gets picked and delivered. That difference is often what decides whether a customer comes back This guide walks through why online grocery store development in the UAE matters, what a grocery platform has to handle, and how to choose one. Why UAE Grocery Businesses Need to Go Online 73% of UAE shoppers already buy groceries online, and the online FMCG market grew 26.4% in the second quarter of 2026 alone (according to NielsenIQ). This trend creates a serious problem for traditional grocery stores that don’t provide their services through a digital marketplace. Going online gives a grocery brand: Access to customers who no longer walk into a physical store first. The ability to turn a single purchase into a recurring weekly habit. Customer data a walk-in counter never provides: purchase history, reorder patterns, and preferences that shape stock planning and loyalty offers. A grocery brand that goes online today starts earning customer trust before a competitor who waits, and every week spent offline lets that competitor's head start grow. Key Requirements for a Grocery eCommerce Platform in the UAE These are the areas where a grocery platform has to work differently from a standard eCommerce build: 1. Real-Time Inventory Across Warehouses In a grocery inventory, one SKU could be in multiple warehouses or fulfillment centers with varying stock levels, expiry dates, and restocking schedules. The moment a customer chooses a product that is unavailable at their preferred location, they are faced with delays or cancellations. That is why multi-source inventory is important. Good warehouse-level inventory management enables real-time inventory visibility, allowing the product page to reflect true stock levels at a warehouse or distribution center and accurately communicate product availability at checkout. It is the foundation of any modern grocery commerce platform. 2. Delivery Time Slots and Quick-Commerce Logistics Quick commerce has changed what grocery shoppers expect. Same-day and 15-minute delivery commitments have become the norm, and a platform that does not support slot-based delivery at checkout is already losing out to those who do. Grocery delivery app development has to account for real-time integration with fleet management or third-party logistics providers, showing only the slots that are actually fulfillable from the nearest warehouse, and updating those slots as capacity fills up. 3. Weight and Quantity-Based Pricing Grocery pricing doesn't work on a one-unit, one-price model. Produce that is loose is priced by the weight, and it can vary considerably from what was initially ordered and bagged, resulting in a different price than expected. A reliable grocery eCommerce site needs variable-weight pricing built into the product and checkout flow, along with clear logic for how price adjustments get communicated to the customer after picking. 4. Substitution and Out-of-Stock Handling A system should allow for product substitutions in the case of an out-of-stock situation during the order process. This requires having a mechanism in place, backed by a strong order management system, that allows for partial order fulfillment and keeps the customer updated about the status of their order at all times. 5. Designed for Mobile-First Shoppers Mobile now drives close to 79% of all UAE eCommerce transactions. A seamless mobile commerce experience enables customers to reorder their weekly staples with just a tap in the middle of their daily activity and complete the process within a short timeframe. A grocery site built for this has to work with one thumb. Search needs to be quick to scan, reordering past purchases should take a single tap, and checkout has to be fast enough to finish while waiting for a lift or standing in a queue. 6. Grocery Commerce Payment Expectations UAE grocery shoppers are jumping on the buy-now-pay-later trend that includes services such as Tabby and Tamara, while COD adoption continues to fall. A grocery platform built around COD as the default is already behind where its customers actually are. Card, BNPL, and COD all still need to work cleanly at checkout, but the platform should be built assuming digital payment is the primary path, since grocery is a repeat-purchase category where friction at payment has a huge effect on whether a customer comes back for their next order or not. Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform for Grocery in the UAE The operational requirements above show what a platform needs to be configured for. Adobe Commerce (Magento) and Shopify Plus can both support these needs, but the specific details have to be designed for directly: Multi-source inventory has to track stock at the warehouse level, so what a customer sees on the product page matches what's actually available for their delivery zone. Product pricing needs variable-weight logic built into the catalog structure. Substitution workflows need to sit inside the order management layer, so a stockout mid-fulfillment updates the order automatically. Shopify Plus suits any grocery brand running out of one or two locations with a leaner catalog, especially one launching its first online store and wanting to move quickly. It's fully hosted, so traffic spikes and scaling come with less operational overhead, and its native and app-based capabilities can meet real-time inventory and delivery-slot needs without a large technical team behind it. Adobe Commerce (Magento) fits a grocery business managing multiple warehouses with a high-SKU catalog spanning fresh, packaged, and imported categories. Its multi-source inventory model was built for this kind of multi-location complexity, and it supports catalog growth without a hard ceiling. It needs a capable technical team to configure and maintain, and that investment pays off once substitution logic and weight-based pricing get complex enough to require deep customization.

Aakash Ashok

Sep 11, 2026 • 6 min read

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Beyond Platforms.
Beyond Conventional Commerce.