I want to create an online shop to sell custom artwork and handmade crafts that I make. Right now I’m trying to figure out what platform would work best for my needs.
Shopify keeps coming up as a top choice when I do research. From what I understand, it’s pretty user friendly to get started with, has payment processing already built in, and there are tons of plugins available. The downside is that it costs more per month compared to other options, and I’m wondering if a beginner like me really needs all the fancy features.
If you have experience with Shopify or maybe tried other platforms like WooCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace, I would really appreciate your thoughts on:
Why did you pick Shopify instead of the competition?
What’s the best thing about using their platform?
I’d be grateful for any advice you can share!
Platform choice doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you do after launch. I’ve watched countless artists waste weeks perfecting their store design instead of actually selling anything.
The real win? Get everything connected. Your store, inventory, email marketing, social media, accounting, customer support - they all need to talk to each other. Most people manually copy data between 5 different apps like it’s 2005.
I set up a workflow that syncs new Shopify orders to my accounting automatically, updates inventory across all sales channels, fires off personalized follow-ups, and creates shipping labels. Takes 2 minutes per product setup vs hours of manual work weekly.
Custom artwork? Automate the entire customer journey. Someone orders a custom piece, system sends them a design requirements form, schedules follow-up reminders, tracks the project to completion.
That monthly platform fee becomes pocket change when you’re saving 10+ hours weekly on busywork. Automated follow-ups alone bump repeat sales 30-40%.
Ditch the platform analysis paralysis. Focus on automation from day one. Latenode connects everything seamlessly: https://latenode.com
I tested WooCommerce for six months before switching to Shopify. WordPress hosting was a nightmare - constant plugin conflicts, updates breaking everything, endless troubleshooting. Shopify handles all that backend mess so you can actually run your business. Payment processing just works, and customers trust the checkout more. My cart abandonment dropped big time after ditching my self-hosted WooCommerce site. For custom artwork, Shopify’s product variants are perfect for different sizes or framing options. Inventory management’s simple too. Yeah, the monthly fee hurts, but the time I save and stress I avoid? Worth every penny.
shopify’s been great for my art, but those monthly fees can be rough. If ur just starting, maybe try etsy first? once you got consistent sales, you can jump to shopify later.