I’m a Shopify Developer, Not a Wizard of All Money-Related Things
As a Shopify developer, I’ve noticed a very interesting pattern. The moment I say what I do for a living, people’s eyes light up and their imagination runs wild. Suddenly, I’m being asked to build a movie ticket booking app, a video streaming platform, a stock trading system, or the next version of Netflix, Uber, and PayPal—all before lunch.
Somewhere along the way, “ecommerce” seems to have become a magical umbrella term for anything that involves money. If it has payments, subscriptions, or a “Buy Now” button, it must be ecommerce… right? Not exactly.
Let’s clear up the confusion—politely, simply, and with a bit of humour.
What People Think Ecommerce Is
In many conversations, ecommerce apparently means:
- Movie ticket booking systems
- Online courses with video streaming
- Subscription-based blogging platforms like Medium
- Banking apps
- Crypto platforms (yes, this happens)
Basically, if money moves from one person to another through the internet, people assume a Shopify developer can handle it all. I admire the confidence, honestly.
But ecommerce is not “everything with payments.” If that were true, I’d also be fixing ATMs and building central banks by now.
What Ecommerce Actually Is
Ecommerce is much simpler—and more specific.
Ecommerce is about selling products or services online. That’s it. It focuses on things like:
- Product listings
- Shopping carts
- Checkout and payments
- Shipping and taxes
- Order management
- Customer accounts
In short, ecommerce answers one main question:
“How do we sell this online smoothly and efficiently?”
Whether it’s physical products like clothes and electronics, or digital products like ebooks and courses, ecommerce is about the buying and selling experience—not about running an entire media or ticketing ecosystem.
So, Where Does Shopify Fit In?
Shopify is an ecommerce platform. It is designed specifically to help businesses:
- Set up online stores
- Manage products and inventory
- Accept payments securely
- Handle orders and customers
- Scale their online sales
Shopify is brilliant at what it does. It’s fast, secure, and built for selling. But it is not meant to be:
- A movie ticket reservation system with seat mapping
- A Netflix-style video streaming platform
- A full blogging network like Medium
Yes, Shopify can be extended with apps and custom development, but that doesn’t mean it should be used for everything under the sun—especially when there are better tools built specifically for those purposes.
A Simple Analogy
Think of Shopify like a very well-organised shop in a mall.
You can sell clothes, books, jewellery, or digital downloads from it. But you wouldn’t try to turn that shop into a cinema hall, a TV studio, or a newspaper office. Could you try? Maybe. Would it make sense? Probably not.
Final Thoughts
I love building ecommerce solutions. I love Shopify. And I genuinely enjoy helping businesses sell online better.
But if you come to me asking for a movie ticketing app or a video streaming platform, don’t be surprised if I gently say:
“This is not ecommerce… and I’m not Netflix.”
Understanding what ecommerce really is helps everyone make better technical decisions—and saves developers from being accidentally promoted to “CEO of All Internet Money Things.”
Now, if you want to sell products online?
That’s my territory.