Basically Webflow and Shopify are different systems, with different priorities.
I think of it like this-
( Hey what do you think of my first Figma diagram? When devs get arty… )
Webflow excels at the UI designer experience and capability, but is relatively weak in other areas, like server-side dev support, UX features like CMS-populated autocompletes, and is has no 3rd component support or marketplace [ like Wordpress, Squarespace, Shopify, WIX do ).
So you can build the BEST-looking UIs, but you’re left to your own devices on wiring up actual functionality.
Shopify goes the opposite route. They’re very app-centric, where they provide excellent e-commerce support ( not perfect, but very solid ). But it doesn’t offer much in the way of “design” support. You choose a theme, and configure it. If you want it to work differently, you crack open the theme, setup a shopify dev environment, learn the structure, code in Liquid, etc. It’s a good design overall, but unless you’re happy swimming in source code, you’ll drown.
Pros invest the time to understand these differences so they can choose the right tool for the job. Maybe it’s both… design your layout in Webflow, and then turn it into a Shopify theme. Or build your site in Webflow, and integrate Shopify’s buy now button.
The challenge is, most real-world e-commerce projects seem to have requirements that look like this;
