Custom Ecommerce Stacks vs Shopify: Use Cases from Strikers Gear, SheStrends, and Trading Catalogs

Shopify wins when you need a store Friday. Custom stacks win when catalog rules, admin workflows, or B2B quoting do not fit the hosted box.

Portfolio examples (projects):

• Strikers Gear — sports gear: NestJS + MongoDB API, React admin, Next.js storefront, per-size stock, COD, Facebook Pixel, WhatsApp order share
• SheStrends — headless ecommerce
• Wingz Impex — food trading catalog + admin (Stripe, MongoDB)
• Juice / stationery / boutique suites (Tekvers) — multi-app commerce monorepos

Service: full stack, SaaS when it is a reusable platform.

Use cases that justify custom

1. Size systems that are not “S/M/L” — football boots, jerseys by sport
2. COD + WhatsApp as primary checkout in Pakistan/MENA
3. B2B catalogs — exporters (IBS Global is marketing; Wingz is catalog/admin)
4. Admin that matches the warehouse, not a generic Shopify admin
5. Headless when marketing site and commerce must share design systems

Use cases that do not

A 20-SKU fashion drop with card payments. Use Shopify. Custom would be ego.

Related

WooCommerce integration layers (Tekvers) exist when the merchant is already on WordPress. Multi-channel marketplace work is a different beast (Amazon outbound). Do not conflate “we have a cart” with “we are a marketplace.”

Contact with SKU count, checkout mix (COD vs card), and who uses admin daily.