Hello, I am new to Shopify and I would like to use it to build online stores for my clients, therefor I want to know how far I can go with the platform by asking a simple question.
Can I use Shopify to build an online store similar to this:
Your answer will help me decide weather to use Shopify or not.
Thanks
Hi @XVDEV welcome to Shopify Community.
Absolutely you can build a store like this. Of course it will require some effort to customize it in the proper way.
The only thing I suggest you is to verify that the Payment Gateway you are going to use is supported by Shopify. Other platforms give a little more flexibility.
Also remember that Shopify doesn’t allow to customize the Checkout process (only on Shopify Plus plans).
If you decide to go ahead and you are setting up the site as well join the Shopify Partner program to get a commission https://help.shopify.com/en/partners/how-to-earn
Yes for aesthetics if you can make it in html and css and js you can run it on shopify’s online store channel. Though don’t ignore the landmine problem below.
Dig through the stores using shopify https://www.shopify.com/examples
Design wise you are not limited, the online store channel uses liquid templates made of just html,css,js, and liquid.
You can see example code in Shopifys Dawn Reference Theme https://github.com/Shopify/dawn
Documentation https://shopify.dev/themes
You can also embed shopify into other systems with buy buttons.
https://www.shopify.com/buy-button which can be as little as $9/mth on the lite plan.
The landmine here is providing a link to a website in no way indicates your clients business requirements and what actual ecommerce or website functionality is needed this is completely different from simple aesthetics and can lead to a very bad experience if done improperly.
You need to properly define things and compare that to shopify’s feature set to identify any missing pieces or incompatibility.
Example shopify has no native wishlist system you have to build that or use an app, and has a prescribed navigation architecture i.e. /collections/all/products
Some major incompatibilities are shopify is not a media distribution platform, not built for perishable goods or selling products by measurement, reservation products, inventory pooling, and prohibited goods in it’s TOS.