a friend’s football jersey brand is running an old e-commerce platform (Shoptet) with generic template.

broken variant UX, low-quality watermarked images, single locale limiting Czech conversions, forgettable brand identity.

I rebuilt the entire store, brand, and content pipeline mostly with the help of AI.

the build

the store runs on Next.js + Payload CMS + TypeScript.

no headless e-commerce and headless CMS coupuling hell.

one repo, simplicity in DX, admin experience and devops

redesigned every section including product pages, variant selectors, gallery, marketing blocks. first in Paper, then in code, both mobile and desktop.

brutalist aesthetic: Anton + Geist Mono, dark background, lime accent, animated grain overlay. three locales (EN, SK, CZ) with matching currencies.

AI assets pipeline

every product image on the site was generated with Nano Banana Pro/2.

post-processed with programmatic film grain Python script for more non-AI, analog (even though it’s still not perfect) feel.

Midjourney v8 for brand imagery.

every AI image produced doesn’t need to be used but they are valuable for exploration.

similair workflow was used when making assets for Sitnowood e-commerce website.

open-source tool for AI-managed content

content management inside a CMS is essential but repetitive, especially during development when testing layouts, edge cases, different product setups.

I built payload-agent, an open-source CLI that gives AI agents direct access to Payload CMS.

no HTTP server, no API keys & MCP, agents can create, edit, delete content and upload media directly.

one prompt → five fully populated products with authentic copy, images, organized collections, in minutes.

Payload’s official MCP plugin exists but is overcomplicated and fails on common use cases like Lexical rich text or custom blocks.

a simple CLI that LLMs can call directly works far better.

you can read more about this project here or check out the github (it’s open source!)

reusable architecture:

advanced variant system with x-axis combinations, back-in-stock notifications, custom size table component, dashboard stats CMS widgets, optimistic cart, reusable marketing blocks. All built once, adaptable later.

live demo: kickwear.sk