Happy Wednesday!
Personally, this week has been all about watching my son grow. Even though it took him a little longer than some other kids (I really try to avoid comparisons), he started jumping the waves on his own, and he’s slowly figuring out how to swim in his uncle’s pool. At the same time, he’s developed a brand-new fear of insects… It’s fascinating to watch these little humans learn, adapt (?), and discover the world one tiny step at a time.
Business-wise, it’s been one of those rare weeks where a lot happened in a very short time. I switched themes after more than 10 years, redesigned and rewrote the most important pages of my website, and finally enabled subscriptions. I never thought I’d get to this stage, but here we are. It feels like one of those moments where everything is finally pointing in the same direction.
Which brings me to today’s opinion piece. After 15 years, I’ve changed my mind on something I thought I’d never question, and I wanted to explain why.
I No Longer Believe in WooCommerce Lifetime Deals
For almost 15 years, I’ve been telling people that lifetime deals were the right way to sell digital products. I built Business Bloomer around that idea because it matched how I wanted to do business.
A few days ago, I switched the Business Bloomer Club to subscriptions. That’s a pretty big change for me, and one I never thought I’d make. Here’s why I changed my mind.
Read my full piece on Business Bloomer ▶️
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Auto-apply coupon: how 209 lines of code replaced ~13,000
The idea was simple: just use WooCommerce’s built-in coupon system with a small plugin that auto-applies the right coupon silently on cart recalculation. All the actual validation like usage limits, product restrictions, and expiry happens in WooCommerce, so we don’t reimplement anything.
Final result: +209 lines, -12,888 lines, and a simpler codebase.
Learn more on Woo Dev Blog (and read the comments too) ▶️
PayPal Standard is Sunsetting: What WooCommerce merchants need to know
PayPal is retiring PayPal Standard. With PayPal Payments 4.1.0, PayPal Standard is automatically disabled and hidden once you connect a PayPal account to the modern integration. If your store still uses PayPal Standard today, nothing breaks, but now is the time to plan your move.
Learn more on Woo Dev Blog (I just did the switch) ▶️
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WooCommerce side cart: turn your cart into an upsell engine
A shopper clicks “add to cart” and most stores answer it by shipping them off to a separate page that makes them stop, review, reconsider, and maybe wander off. The cart page is where buying momentum goes to die.
A side cart fixes that. But the real value isn’t that it slides out from the side. Nobody is getting rich because a panel moved left. The value is that a side cart gives you a high-intent merchandising surface between “add to cart” and “checkout” – the last meaningful place to grow the order before the shopper commits.
Learn more on CheckoutWC blog (I’m now using a side cart and needed this!) ▶️
Ecommerce Demand Forecasting: How To Use Wishlist Data To Predict Sales
A wishlist is a statement of future intent, a customer telling you “I want this, maybe later.” Aggregate enough of those signals and you get an early read on demand. That’s something sales history alone can’t give you.
In our experience, saved-item patterns often hint at what’s about to sell before the orders arrive. We’ve watched this play out across many WooCommerce stores. This guide covers demand forecasting for ecommerce in practical terms. It also shows how to use wishlist data as a leading indicator alongside your usual methods.
Learn more on SaveToWishlist blog ▶️
Our WooCommerce Products
- Business Bloomer Club: a private community for WooCommerce freelancers, agencies, plugin developers, and store owners who want direct access to expert support, live classes, feedback, and honest business conversations.
- WooWeekly newsletter: a weekly digest of WooCommerce news, tutorials, product ideas, business lessons, and industry insights delivered to thousands of WooCommerce professionals.
- WooCommerce mini plugins: small, focused plugins that solve one specific WooCommerce problem without the bloat. Install, activate, and move on with your day.
- Checkout Summit: an in-person event dedicated to WooCommerce professionals who want practical strategies, real-world lessons, and fresh ideas from people actively building products and businesses.
- Ecommerce And Beyond: my book on ecommerce marketing. It features a practical 9-step framework to attract the right traffic, turn visitors into buyers, and grow revenue without getting lost in technical jargon.
CheckoutWC replaces your WooCommerce checkout page with a Shopify style checkout. It’s clean, mobile-first, conversion‑optimized and built with performance and extensibility in mind. Proven to reduce cart abandonment and keep you in full control of your code! Free to install, plus 20% off CheckoutWC Pro for WooWeekly readers with code BLOOMER
Advanced Shipping Rates for WooCommerce is the most flexible all-in-one shipping table rate plugin. With 38 combinable conditions, you can easily set precise shipping costs—from the simplest to the most complex cases. It gives you code-like power with 15 special actions, a packing algorithm, product grouping, and ranges based on 7 distinct criteria. It comes with 60 ready-to-use examples, multilingual and multi-currency support, and a built-in logging system. Get a 20% discount with coupon code BBLOOMER
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Enjoy the rest of the week and see you next Wednesday!
