Growth & Strategy
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Three years ago, I was the architect of what I now call "digital ghost towns." I'd spend weeks crafting pixel-perfect ecommerce sites on platforms like Webflow, celebrating every design detail while my clients struggled with basic operations like updating product descriptions or managing inventory.
The wake-up call came when a client called me at 9 PM on a Sunday, frustrated because they couldn't figure out how to add a simple product variant. That's when I realized I'd been optimizing for the wrong thing entirely.
Over the past few years, I've worked with over a dozen ecommerce projects, migrating them across three different platforms. What I discovered changed how I think about ecommerce site builders completely. The most beautiful platform isn't always the most profitable one.
Here's what you'll learn from my platform migration experiments:
Why design-first platforms can actually hurt your revenue
The real cost of "flexible" ecommerce builders
When to choose commerce functionality over design freedom
My decision framework for platform selection
How to migrate without losing traffic or customers
If you're drowning in maintenance requests or watching competitors outsell you with "uglier" sites, this playbook will show you why the platform matters more than the pixels.
Platform Reality
What every ecommerce founder gets told about site builders
Every ecommerce founder has heard the same advice: choose the platform that gives you the most design control. The logic seems sound - differentiate through unique design, create a memorable brand experience, stand out from template-using competitors.
Here's what the industry typically recommends:
Prioritize design flexibility - Platforms like Webflow Ecommerce get praised for letting you create "anything you can imagine"
Custom is better - Build something unique rather than use "cookie-cutter" templates
Own your code - Avoid platform lock-in by choosing solutions that export clean code
Developer-friendly wins - Pick platforms that developers love to work with
Performance first - Faster sites rank better and convert higher
This advice exists because it sounds logical and appeals to our desire for control. Agencies love it because custom work commands higher fees. Developers prefer it because it showcases their skills.
But here's where this conventional wisdom falls apart: it optimizes for the wrong stakeholder. While you're perfecting hover animations and custom checkout flows, your competitors are processing orders, testing pricing strategies, and scaling their operations.
I learned this the hard way when clients started asking me why their "award-worthy" sites were generating fewer sales than their competitors' basic Shopify stores. The answer wasn't about the design - it was about treating an ecommerce site like a website instead of a business tool.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started building ecommerce sites, Webflow Ecommerce was my go-to platform. As a designer, it felt like paradise - complete pixel control, beautiful animations, custom interactions. Every project felt like a creative challenge I could solve with enough CSS and clever workarounds.
My typical client was a small to medium business owner who wanted to "stand out online." They'd seen Shopify stores and complained about looking "too similar" to competitors. I'd promise them something unique, and I delivered - visually stunning stores that won design awards and got featured in galleries.
But then the maintenance requests started flooding in. Simple tasks like adding product variants, updating shipping rates, or integrating with their accounting software became multi-hour projects requiring my intervention. One client paid me $200 to add a single product category because the Webflow interface wasn't intuitive for non-designers.
The breaking point came with a fashion brand client. They needed to update their inventory twice weekly, manage seasonal collections, and handle complex shipping rules for international orders. What should have been a 10-minute task for them became a recurring project for me.
That's when I discovered the painful truth: I was building digital art galleries, not revenue-generating businesses. The clients loved how their sites looked, but they couldn't operate them efficiently. Their "unique" designs were actually limiting their ability to grow.
I tried fixing this with headless Shopify - custom frontend with Shopify's backend. Theoretically perfect: design freedom plus commerce functionality. In practice? A maintenance nightmare. Every month brought integration issues, API changes, or mysterious bugs that only I could debug.
After watching clients struggle while their competitors thrived on "boring" platforms, I realized I needed to completely rethink my approach to ecommerce site builders.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
The shift started when I analyzed the performance data from all my client projects. I tracked everything: design time, maintenance hours, client satisfaction, and most importantly, revenue per site. The results were sobering.
The Webflow Ecommerce Reality Check
My Webflow clients had beautiful sites but terrible operational efficiency. Average time to add a new product: 15 minutes (should be 2-3). Monthly maintenance requests: 8-12 hours (should be zero). Client confidence in managing their own store: 3/10.
But the design freedom was intoxicating. I could create exactly what we envisioned - custom product galleries, unique checkout flows, branded email templates. The aesthetic quality was undeniable.
The breaking point? A client's checkout conversion rate was 40% lower than industry average. The custom checkout I'd spent weeks perfecting was confusing customers. Meanwhile, their competitor using a basic Shopify template was outselling them 3:1.
The Headless Shopify Experiment
My solution was headless Shopify - custom frontend built in React, connected to Shopify's admin via API. Perfect on paper: design flexibility meets commerce functionality.
Initial results looked promising. Clients loved the admin experience - familiar Shopify interface for inventory, orders, and customer management. The frontend performed well and looked unique.
But the technical complexity created new problems:
Monthly debugging sessions when APIs changed
Custom features breaking during Shopify updates
Higher hosting costs and complexity
Clients couldn't make simple changes without developer help
I was creating beautiful, fragile systems that required constant maintenance. Not scalable for my practice or sustainable for my clients.
The Native Shopify Migration
The final transition to native Shopify wasn't driven by features - it was driven by outcomes. I started tracking client success metrics: time to launch, operational efficiency, revenue growth, and maintenance overhead.
Native Shopify consistently outperformed on business metrics:
Clients could manage their entire operation independently
New product launches took minutes, not hours
Built-in features eliminated custom development needs
App ecosystem solved problems I'd been coding manually
Yes, there were design trade-offs. Creating custom layouts required theme development skills. But the business impact was undeniable - clients were more successful, spent less on maintenance, and could focus on growth instead of technical issues.
The key insight: Shopify isn't just an ecommerce platform - it's a commerce platform. It treats your website as one sales channel among many (social, marketplace, POS). This mindset shift changes everything about how you approach online business.
Commerce Mindset
Thinking beyond just a website to a complete sales ecosystem with multiple touchpoints and integrations.
Operational Efficiency
Prioritizing tools that empower business owners to manage their store independently without constant developer intervention.
Business Metrics
Measuring success by revenue growth and operational efficiency rather than design awards or technical complexity.
Platform Stability
Choosing mature, well-supported platforms over cutting-edge tools that require constant maintenance and updates.
The migration to native Shopify transformed my client relationships and their businesses. Instead of monthly maintenance calls, I now get growth strategy discussions. Clients went from asking "Can you help me update this?" to "Can you help me scale this?"
Specific improvements I tracked across migrated clients:
Maintenance time reduced by 90% - From 8-12 hours monthly to less than 1 hour
Product launch speed increased 5x - New products live in minutes vs hours
Client confidence scores improved - From 3/10 to 8/10 in managing their own store
Integration costs dropped 70% - App ecosystem vs custom development
Most importantly, clients started focusing on business growth instead of technical problems. They could test new products, adjust pricing, and respond to market changes without waiting for developer availability.
The aesthetic quality didn't suffer as much as expected. With proper theme customization, Shopify stores can look distinctive while maintaining operational efficiency. The key is understanding the trade-offs and optimizing for business outcomes, not design awards.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Platform choice affects business velocity more than aesthetics - The "best" platform enables faster testing, launching, and iterating
Operational efficiency trumps design flexibility - Beautiful sites that clients can't manage effectively become expensive liabilities
Maintenance overhead compounds over time - What seems like small customizations become significant ongoing costs
Client empowerment drives satisfaction - Platforms that enable independence create happier, more successful clients
Commerce platforms vs website builders serve different purposes - Shopify optimizes for selling; Webflow optimizes for presenting
App ecosystems beat custom development - Mature platforms solve common problems through vetted, maintained solutions
Business metrics matter more than technical metrics - Revenue growth and operational efficiency vs load times and code quality
If I were starting over, I'd lead with platform capabilities and business fit, then adapt the design within those constraints. The most successful ecommerce sites aren't the most beautiful - they're the most effective at enabling business growth.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS tools selling to ecommerce businesses:
Prioritize Shopify integrations - largest market share and easiest integration path
Build for business users, not developers - your buyers manage stores, not code
Focus on operational efficiency improvements in your positioning
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce store owners choosing platforms:
Test platform admin interfaces, not just frontend templates
Calculate total cost of ownership including maintenance
Prioritize features that enable team independence
Choose commerce functionality over design flexibility