Think back to how WooCommerce looked at the start of 2025. The accessibility landscape was uncertain, AI felt like a distant promise, and the idea of bringing more features into core was still taking shape. A lot has changed since then.

This year has been one of the most rewarding of my career, both professionally and personally. I want to share the highlights: what we accomplished as a team and what happened in my life outside of work.

Making WooCommerce Accessible to Everyone

If there’s one achievement I’m most proud of from 2025, it’s this: WooCommerce 10.0, released in July, achieved full conformance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 level AA. We properly invested in this, rethinking how we build ecommerce experiences from the ground up.

Working with the brilliant teams at Equalize Digital and 10up, we delivered over 140 accessibility enhancements across the platform. The improvements span everything from screen reader compatibility to keyboard navigation, form feedback, and focus management. Every major block-based area of WooCommerce, from cart to checkout to product galleries, has been enhanced.

In January, we published an accessibility best practices guide for extension developers, giving the broader ecosystem the tools to follow suit. We also launched a dedicated accessibility hub on the WooCommerce website, bringing together our accessibility work across both core and all Woo-owned extensions. And in September, WooCommerce became a Platinum sponsor of WP Accessibility Day, which felt like a fitting way to cement our commitment.

Why does this matter? Around 80 million Europeans live with disabilities, and with the EU Accessibility Act coming into force, WooCommerce merchants need to serve everyone without legal risk. Doing the right thing and good business sense happen to align here.

A Year of Major Releases

We shipped nine major releases this year. Here’s what each one brought:

WooCommerce 9.6 (January) kicked off the year by bringing Brands directly into core, eliminating the need for a separate plugin. We also added automatic measurement unit selection based on store location and upgraded the Product Summary block with better styling options.

WooCommerce 9.7 (February) focused on smarter shipping displays, showing estimated delivery times at checkout. The block editor got significantly faster, and we introduced modernised email styling in beta.

WooCommerce 9.8 (April) made email previews available to everyone and enabled modernised email templates by default for new installations. Core analytics filters landed for richer reporting.

WooCommerce 9.9 (June) was the performance release. Admin page load times dropped by up to 95% across critical screens. The Orders admin went from 22 seconds to under 1 second on large stores. We also introduced Blueprints for exporting and importing store settings, the Interactivity API-powered Product Filters block, and the ability to hide shipping rates when free shipping is available.

WooCommerce 10.0 (July) brought full WCAG 2.2 AA conformance, shareable checkout URLs, and an enhanced CSV product importer that finally handles rich HTML content properly.

WooCommerce 10.1 (August) introduced the Interactivity API Mini Cart, slashing frontend JavaScript from around 100kB down to just 20kB. That’s the kind of performance improvement that makes a real difference for merchants and their customers.

WooCommerce 10.2 (September) delivered a faster Cart and new ways to showcase products through the Product Collection Editor.

WooCommerce 10.3 (October) was a landmark release. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) graduated from beta to full release, address autocomplete arrived for checkout blocks, and we launched the WooCommerce MCP beta for AI-powered store management.

WooCommerce 10.4 (December) made the Interactivity API Mini Cart the default, graduated HPOS Datastore caching from experimental status, and delivered significant REST API performance improvements.

That’s a lot of shipping. The WooCommerce community continues to deliver.

WooCommerce MCP: AI Comes to Store Management

One of the most exciting launches this year was the WooCommerce MCP beta in October. If you haven’t tried it yet, MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets you interact with your store using natural language.

Want to check inventory levels? Just ask. Need to update product prices in bulk? Tell it what you want. Looking for order details? Describe what you’re searching for.

Built on the WordPress Abilities API and MCP Adapter, the system is extensible, meaning developers can add custom capabilities. I’ve been testing it myself, and the natural language interaction is genuinely compelling for day-to-day store management tasks.

More in Core

The “More in Core” initiative is foundational work that enables consistent features and interactions across WooCommerce. Rather than replacing plugins, the goal is to ensure baseline expectations of the ecommerce platform are available to extend and build upon. This prevents conflicts and establishes clear patterns for how features should work.

This year, we migrated brand management to core in version 9.6 and added Cost of Goods Sold. Work is underway on Back in Stock Notifications. Fulfillment functionality is now available in core via a feature toggle, and Shipment Tracking is actively in development and nearing completion. In March, I spent a week in Tenerife with the SomewhereWarm team discussing exactly these initiatives (and making some excellent mojo sauce along the way).

Personal Highlights

Work isn’t everything, and this year reminded me of the importance of balance. Here’s what happened outside of WooCommerce.

529% More Workouts

Throughout 2024, I did 35 Peloton workouts totalling 742 minutes. This year? 220 workouts and 5,224 minutes. That’s a 529% increase in sessions and a 604% increase in time spent exercising.

I’m currently on a 51-week streak and counting.

The secret? Habit stacking. Wearing gym clothes first thing, having drinks ready, making it as frictionless as possible. In March, I even managed a 5k run with the team in Tenerife, and I kept up my workout schedule at WordCamp US despite the packed agenda.

First Conference Talk

In November, I sat on stage at WordPress Day for Ecommerce in Porto for my first conference speaking experience. Katie Keith hosted a Q&A where I was asked about the future of selling with WordPress, diving into the era of AI and how it’s already affecting online commerce.

I’d worked with Jill Binder through her speaker mentorship programme to prepare, and it made all the difference. As I tweeted afterwards: “My first time speaking at a conference and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”

Travel Adventures

This year took me to some wonderful places:

Porto in November for WordPress Day for Ecommerce. Every building looked like it could be straight out of an architect’s sketchbook.

Tenerife in March for the SomewhereWarm team meetup. We made mojo sauce, ate plenty of potatoes, and had brilliant sessions about the future of WooCommerce core.

Berlin in May for a team meetup. A few days of work, walking tours, and plenty of socialising.

Portland, Oregon in August for WordCamp US. The after party in the woods with a live band and museum was absolutely my vibe. Great to bump into Matt Mullenweg and catch Katie and Matt’s talk live.

London in September for Loop Conf. Chris Badgett invited me along and we spent a good amount of time together.

Lake District in October for family time and photography. If you follow me on social media, you probably saw the results. Apologies for the photo spam.

France and Centre Parcs for family holidays. Sometimes you just need to escape with the kids.

All told, that’s 19 flights, 45,747 miles (1.8x around the world), and over 4 days in the air.

Family Milestones

My daughter, currently in Year 6, passed the entrance exams for her preferred secondary school with a focus on choral activities. Next year will be a big transition as she starts a new chapter.

My son, in Year 3, is excelling in his reading and is well above his age level. Watching both kids thrive is the best part of being a parent.

This year marked 19 years together with my wife and 13 years of marriage. Next year is the big two-oh.

Books, Games, and Everything Else

Reading kept me company during runs and commutes. Highlights included Inspired by Marty Cagan (five stars, essential for any PM), Mickey 7, One Dark Window, and Children of Time. I’m currently working through Two Twisted Crowns and Red Rising, with Mistborn and 11.22.63 on the list.

Gaming became quality time with my son. We finished Split Fiction together, and it’s genuinely one of the best games I’ve ever played. Each level had a completely different style, from epic fantasy worlds to full-on sci-fi adventures, all tied together with a deep, emotional story. Astro Bot on PS5 is close to completion, and my Steam Deck has become my go-to for portable gaming.

I even built some AI-based games myself, including an “endless gallery” concept for my photography prints, and somehow made the top 20 on Grokade’s game creators list.

Oh, and I finally finished the DIY IKEA bookshelf project in January. It’s proper sturdy.

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Looking Ahead to 2026

As I write this, I’m reflecting on what made 2025 special. No single moment defined it. The combination of meaningful work, personal growth, and time with the people who matter is what made it a good year.

For WooCommerce, 2026 will focus on performance as a key pillar, overall quality and release quality, better tools and experiences for builders, and iterative UI improvements. We’ll continue with “More in Core” features, accessibility improvements, and the full rollout of MCP capabilities. We’re building the platform that millions of merchants rely on, and that responsibility drives us to keep improving.

I’m also excited that Do the Woo is relaunching on January 14th as a dedicated WooCommerce podcast on OpenChannels.fm. I’ll be co-hosting with Katie Keith, and our first guest is Matt Mullenweg. If you’re interested in WooCommerce, subscribe to the YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

For me personally, I want to maintain the fitness consistency, speak at more events (Porto was just the start), and keep finding that balance between work and family.

Thank you to everyone who made this year what it was: the WooCommerce team, the WordPress community, and the many people I’ve had the privilege to work with and learn from. And thank you for reading.

Here’s to 2026.