AI & Automation
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
I still remember the moment when one of my clients called me at 2 AM. Their Webflow Ecommerce site had mysteriously broken checkout flows, and they'd lost three high-value orders in the past hour. As I frantically tried to debug the issue, I realized we had a fundamental problem: I was prioritizing design perfection over business operations.
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with a small dozen of 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 as a designer.
Most agency owners and freelancers get caught in the same trap I did: falling in love with platforms that make us happy rather than the ones that make our clients successful. We obsess over pixel-perfect layouts while our clients struggle with basic operational tasks.
Here's what you'll learn from my platform migration journey:
Why design-first platforms can become maintenance nightmares
The hidden costs of "best of both worlds" headless solutions
When to choose commerce platform over ecommerce website mentality
My systematic approach to platform evaluation based on business needs
Real migration timelines and what actually breaks in the process
Platform Reality
What every designer loves vs. what businesses need
Here's what most web design agencies and freelancers recommend when clients ask about ecommerce platforms:
Webflow Ecommerce for "complete design control" and "beautiful custom layouts"
Custom headless solutions for "flexibility" and "unique brand experience"
WooCommerce for "cost-effectiveness" and "endless customization"
Squarespace Commerce for "simplicity" and "all-in-one solutions"
BigCommerce for "enterprise features" without enterprise costs
This conventional wisdom exists because we're evaluating platforms from a builder's perspective, not a business owner's perspective. Designers love platforms that give them creative freedom. Developers enjoy the technical challenges of custom solutions. Agencies appreciate the higher project values that come with complex builds.
But here's what this approach misses: your client isn't running a design portfolio—they're running a business. While we're celebrating our pixel-perfect product grids, they're losing sleep over inventory sync issues, abandoned cart recovery failures, and payment processing hiccups.
The real question isn't "what platform gives me the most design flexibility?" It's "what platform will still be working reliably at 3 AM when my client is asleep?" Because that's when real ecommerce happens—24/7, without designer supervision.
Most platform discussions focus on launch capabilities while ignoring long-term operational reality. That's exactly where I went wrong in my early freelance days.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I first started building ecommerce sites, 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, and my portfolio looked incredible.
But here's what I learned the hard way: a beautiful store that's impossible to manage is a failed store. While I was celebrating perfect layouts, my clients were struggling with basic operations.
My first reality check came with a handmade jewelry client. The Webflow admin experience was clearly not built with business owners in mind. Yes, we had the basics—orders, shipping, inventory—but managing day-to-day operations felt clunky. The client constantly needed my help for simple changes, and I started noticing a pattern: clients were hesitant to update anything themselves.
Thinking I could solve this problem, I tried mixing custom frontends with Shopify's backend logic through headless commerce. On paper, it was perfect—keep the design flexibility while leveraging Shopify's superior admin panel.
The reality? My clients loved the admin experience. Everything felt like a proper commerce platform should. But the technical complexity created a new problem: fragility. The setup worked, but every month or two, something would break. I'd wake up to urgent emails about checkout issues or inventory sync problems.
What I'd built wasn't a sustainable solution—it was a maintenance trap. I was becoming the single point of failure for multiple businesses, and that's not scalable for anyone.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Eventually, I migrated all projects to native Shopify, and that's when the real learning happened. This wasn't about giving up on good design—it was about understanding what "good" actually means in ecommerce.
Yes, there are trade-offs. Creating a truly custom-designed ecommerce site on Shopify 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 the crucial insight that changed my perspective: Shopify isn't just an ecommerce platform—it's a commerce platform.
This mindset shift is powerful. You're not just building a good-looking website; you're plugging into an entire ecosystem designed for selling across multiple touchpoints. Your website becomes one sales channel among many, and that's exactly what modern businesses need.
My migration process became systematic:
Audit current pain points: Document every operational friction the client experiences
Map business workflows: Understand how they actually run their business day-to-day
Evaluate integration needs: What tools do they already use and love?
Design within constraints: Create beautiful experiences within Shopify's framework
Plan for autonomy: Ensure clients can manage 80% of tasks independently
The key insight: Shopify treats your website as one sales channel among many. This perspective fundamentally changes how you approach ecommerce. Instead of building a website that happens to sell things, you're building a comprehensive selling system that happens to include a website.
When clients started managing their own inventory updates, processing returns without calling me, and launching new products independently, I knew I'd found the right approach. The platform wasn't just technically sound—it was empowering business owners to focus on growing rather than managing technical debt.
Design vs Operations
Choose platforms that make business owners independent, not dependent on developers for daily operations
Ecosystem Thinking
Shopify's strength isn't just the platform—it's the entire ecosystem of apps, integrations, and third-party services built around it
Migration Methodology
Always migrate with business continuity in mind: plan for zero downtime and preserve all customer data and SEO equity
Platform Philosophy
Stop thinking "ecommerce website" and start thinking "commerce platform"—your site is one touchpoint in a multi-channel strategy
After working across these three approaches, I now understand that the best ecommerce platform isn't the one with the most design flexibility or the most cutting-edge architecture. It's the one that helps businesses actually sell and scale without constant technical intervention.
The results speak for themselves:
Client satisfaction increased dramatically when they could handle 80% of operations independently
Emergency support calls dropped to near zero after Shopify migrations
Project scope became more predictable without custom architecture complexity
Long-term relationships improved when clients weren't dependent on me for basic updates
For most businesses, that platform is Shopify—not because it's perfect, but because it prioritizes commerce operations over everything else. And in ecommerce, that's exactly the right priority.
The beauty of this approach isn't just technical—it's strategic. When your clients can focus on business growth instead of platform management, everyone wins.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key lessons from migrating dozens of ecommerce projects across different platforms:
Designer happiness ≠ Business success: The platform that makes you excited might make your client's life miserable
Maintenance is more important than perfection: A good solution that works reliably beats a perfect solution that breaks monthly
Platform ecosystem matters more than platform features: Choose based on the entire support system, not just core functionality
Client autonomy should be the goal: If they need you for basic operations, you've chosen wrong
Commerce ≠ Website: Think multi-channel selling system, not beautiful brochure
Migration timing matters: Plan around business cycles and have rollback strategies
Design constraints breed creativity: Some of my best work came from working within Shopify's framework
The hardest lesson: sometimes the best technical decision is to choose the "boring" solution that just works. Your clients aren't trying to win design awards—they're trying to build sustainable businesses.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
Focus on business model fit: Choose platforms that align with your revenue strategy and growth plans
Plan for integrations early: Your CRM, analytics, and marketing tools need to work seamlessly together
Consider long-term costs: Include maintenance, support, and scaling expenses in platform decisions
For your Ecommerce store
Prioritize operational simplicity: Your team needs to manage inventory, orders, and customers efficiently every day
Test payment processing thoroughly: Checkout functionality is non-negotiable and varies significantly across platforms
Plan for peak traffic: Choose platforms that handle traffic spikes during sales periods without breaking