Sales & Conversion
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with a small dozen ecommerce projects. Each one taught me something valuable about what actually matters when building an online store -- and spoiler: it's not what I initially thought.
You know, when I first started, Webflow Ecommerce was my go-to platform. As a designer, it felt like paradise -- I could build the exact page design and structure I envisioned without compromise. Every pixel was under my control. But here's what I learned the hard way: a beautiful store that's impossible to manage is a failed store.
I ended up migrating all my client projects to native Shopify after years of experimentation. Not because Shopify is perfect, but because I discovered something crucial about ecommerce platform selection that most people get wrong.
Here's what you'll discover in this playbook:
Why "design flexibility" can actually hurt your business
The real difference between ecommerce platforms vs commerce platforms
My exact migration process from Webflow to Shopify
When Shopify makes sense (and when it doesn't)
The hidden costs everyone forgets about
Industry Reality
What every agency tells you about platform selection
Most agencies and developers will tell you the same story about ecommerce platforms. You've probably heard it before: "Choose the platform that gives you the most design control" or "Pick the one with the lowest monthly fees." The typical advice sounds something like this:
Design flexibility is everything - You need complete control over every pixel
Lower monthly costs mean better ROI - Why pay $29/month when you can pay $15?
More features equals better value - Look for platforms with built-in everything
Custom development shows professionalism - Off-the-shelf solutions look cheap
You can always optimize later - Start with the cheapest option and upgrade when needed
This conventional wisdom exists because most people approach ecommerce platforms like they're choosing a website builder. They think about the upfront costs, the design possibilities, and the feature lists. It makes sense on paper, right?
But here's where this advice falls short: it completely ignores the operational reality of running an online store. While you're busy comparing design templates and monthly fees, you're missing the stuff that actually matters -- order management, inventory sync, payment processing reliability, and most importantly, how much time you'll spend maintaining the damn thing.
The problem with this approach is that it treats your ecommerce platform like a one-time purchase instead of what it really is: the operational backbone of your business. And that's where most people get burned.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started working on ecommerce projects, I fell into the same trap everyone does. Webflow Ecommerce looked perfect -- unlimited design control, beautiful templates, and that designer-friendly interface I was already comfortable with.
My first few client projects went smoothly during the build phase. The sites looked incredible, functioned exactly as designed, and clients were thrilled with the final result. But then something interesting happened about 3-6 months after launch.
I started getting these frustrated emails from clients. Simple requests like "can you update the shipping rates?" or "we need to add a new product category" were taking days to implement. What should have been 5-minute admin tasks required me to dive back into the Webflow interface, make the changes, and often debug issues that cropped up.
The maintenance burden was killing both my clients and my business. While I was celebrating perfect layouts, my clients were struggling with basic operations. The admin experience felt like an afterthought -- yes, Webflow had orders, shipping, and inventory features, but they clearly weren't built with business owners in mind.
Then I tried to get clever. I thought I could solve this with headless Shopify -- keeping my design flexibility while leveraging Shopify's superior backend. On paper, it was perfect. Keep the design freedom while getting access to a proper commerce platform.
The reality? My clients loved the admin experience, but I'd created a maintenance nightmare. Every month or two, something would break -- checkout issues, inventory sync problems, you name it. I was spending more time troubleshooting than building.
That's when I realized I'd been thinking about this completely wrong. I wasn't just building websites -- I was building the operational foundation for businesses that needed to sell stuff every single day.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After the headless experiment nearly burned me out, I made a decision that seemed crazy at the time: I migrated all my projects to native Shopify. No custom frontends, no complex integrations, just straight-up Shopify themes with customizations.
Here's exactly how I approached the migration process:
Step 1: Client Education
I had to completely reframe how my clients thought about their ecommerce platform. Instead of selling "design flexibility," I started explaining the difference between an ecommerce website and a commerce platform. Shopify isn't just about having a good-looking website -- it treats your website as one sales channel among many.
Step 2: The Migration Process
For each client migration, I followed this exact sequence:
Export all product data, customer information, and order history
Set up Shopify store with closest theme match to existing design
Custom develop only the critical design elements that truly mattered
Migrate and test payment processing, shipping configurations
Train clients on the Shopify admin (this part was always a revelation)
Step 3: Managing Expectations
Yes, there are trade-offs with native Shopify. Creating a truly custom-designed ecommerce site requires developer expertise to customize templates. You can't just drag and drop your way to a completely unique design like in Webflow. But here's what I discovered: most clients didn't actually need that level of design control.
What they needed was a platform that could handle their business operations without constant technical intervention. They needed something that would scale with their growth, integrate with their other tools, and most importantly, let them focus on selling instead of troubleshooting.
The Shopify Ecosystem Advantage
This is where Shopify really shines and where most platform comparisons miss the point. Shopify isn't competing on features or monthly pricing -- it's competing on ecosystem and operational reliability. When your client wants to add subscription billing, there's an app for that. When they want advanced inventory management, there's a solution that integrates seamlessly.
Most importantly, when something breaks (and something always breaks), there's a massive community, extensive documentation, and support systems in place. You're not troubleshooting in isolation.
Platform Reality
Shopify treats your website as one sales channel among many -- that's its superpower when you understand it.""
Design Trade-offs
Yes you lose some design flexibility but gain operational stability that actually matters for business growth.""
Migration Process
Export data first always. Set up core functionality before worrying about custom design elements.""
Client Training
The Shopify admin revelation always happens -- clients suddenly understand what proper ecommerce management feels like."""
The results from migrating to native Shopify were immediate and measurable, though not always in the ways I expected.
Operational Improvements:
Client support requests dropped by roughly 70%. Tasks that used to require my intervention -- updating products, managing inventory, processing orders -- became self-service. Clients could actually run their stores without constant developer support.
Business Impact:
Three clients saw immediate improvements in conversion rates, not because of design changes, but because Shopify's checkout process is battle-tested across millions of transactions. The platform handles edge cases and payment processing issues that custom solutions often miss.
Development Efficiency:
My project timelines shortened significantly. Instead of building custom admin interfaces and debugging payment integrations, I could focus on the design and user experience elements that actually moved the needle for businesses.
Unexpected Outcome:
The most surprising result was how much more strategic my client relationships became. Instead of spending time on technical maintenance, we could focus on growth tactics, conversion optimization, and scaling their operations.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After migrating dozens of ecommerce projects, here are the key lessons I learned about platform selection:
Operations trump design every time - A beautiful store that's hard to manage will kill your business faster than an ugly store that's easy to run
Monthly fees are not the real cost - Factor in development time, maintenance, and opportunity cost of dealing with platform limitations
Ecosystem matters more than features - You're not just choosing a platform, you're choosing a community and support system
Scalability isn't just about traffic - It's about operational complexity, team management, and business growth
Custom doesn't always mean better - Sometimes the boring, proven solution is exactly what your business needs
Platform selection impacts your entire business model - Choose based on where you want to be in 2-3 years, not where you are today
The biggest mistake I made early on was optimizing for the wrong metrics. I was measuring success by design flexibility and upfront costs instead of long-term operational efficiency and business growth.
If I were starting over today, I'd ask different questions: How much time will this platform save my client each week? How reliable is the payment processing? What happens when they want to expand to new sales channels? How easy is it to find developers who can work on this platform?
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies considering ecommerce functionality:
Focus on operational efficiency over design control
Consider Shopify Plus for enterprise-level features and multi-channel selling
Evaluate platforms based on integration capabilities with your existing tech stack
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores choosing a platform:
Prioritize payment processing reliability and checkout optimization
Test the admin experience thoroughly before committing
Factor in long-term operational costs not just monthly fees
Choose based on your business model and growth plans