Checkout Summit 2026: a few days in Palermo I will not forget

I just got back from Palermo and I am still processing how good this event was. Checkout Summit is a WooCommerce conference, but saying it that way does not quite capture what it feels like to be there.

First things first: Palermo is stunning

I had never been to Sicily before and it immediately made an impression. The city is warm and chaotic in the best way, the food is ridiculous, and the setting for the event was perfect. A lot of the magic happened outside the conference room itself, sitting around a table in the evening, walking through the old town between sessions, or grabbing coffee with someone you just met an hour ago.

Everyone under one roof

One of the smartest decisions Rodolfo made was keeping everyone in the same hotel. It sounds like a small detail but it completely changes the dynamic. There is no "see you after the conference" moment where half the group disappears. You run into people at breakfast, pick up a conversation you started the night before, and keep the energy going throughout the two days. I made more genuine connections here than at events three times the size.

Talks that really landed

The talk by Patrick Rauland was one of my favorites. He did a proper head-to-head comparison between WooCommerce and Shopify, grounded and honest, and used a Pepsi vs Coca Cola analogy that made the whole thing click instantly. The kind of framework you walk away still thinking about.

Katie Keith from Barn2 shared what she learned from building for Shopify over the past year. Practical, honest, and useful for anyone thinking seriously about how the ecosystem is evolving.

The two MCP-related talks were exciting to watch. You could feel that this is a direction people are genuinely energized about.

Matty Cohen delivered a talk I really enjoyed, sharp and grounded, with the kind of insight that only comes from someone who has reviewed an enormous amount of real-world work.

The Wise session was impressively polished, a great example of how to tell a complex technical story clearly.

You can check out the full speaker lineup here: Speakers.

My own talk

I spoke about SEO and AI for WooCommerce, specifically how to think about content, crawlability, and performance in a world where AI is reshaping how people search. The Q&A was engaged and thoughtful, and a few conversations afterwards turned into great discussions I want to continue. I will be sharing more on this topic here soon.

Catching up with old friends

One thing I did not expect to enjoy quite as much as I did was getting to talk to people from Automattic. Former colleagues, familiar faces, and that easy rapport you get with people who have been in the WordPress world for a long time. It was a genuine reminder of how small and connected this community really is.

Missed it? There is an online edition

Nothing from Palermo was recorded, which honestly made the room feel more focused and present. But if you could not make it in person, the Checkout Summit Reloaded online edition is coming up soon and worth your time.

The folks at WPFunnels also wrote a solid recap if you want another perspective: What we learned at Checkout Summit 2026.

A big thank you to Rodolfo

None of this would have happened without Rodolfo Melogli, the organizer behind Checkout Summit and the founder of Business Bloomer. Rodolfo has been a cornerstone of the WooCommerce community for over a decade, and putting together an event like this takes an enormous amount of care and effort. The format, the venue, the crowd, the atmosphere, everything about it reflected his commitment to building something genuinely valuable for the community. Thank you, Rodolfo.

Worth the trip

I came back with a full notebook, a few new friendships, and a lot to think about. If you are a developer, builder, or agency owner working in the WooCommerce ecosystem, this is the kind of event you should be at. Not because of the talks alone, but because of the people in the room and the conversations that happen in between.

See you at Reloaded, and hopefully in person again next year. In the meantime, check out #CheckoutSummit on X for more reactions and highlights from attendees.