Dreams vs. Reality in E-commerce
The Lovable × Shopify partnership removes entry barriers in e-commerce, but the real work starts after that.
The Lovable × Shopify collaboration was presented as a revolution at the intersection of technology and marketing. Launching a store without code, adding products automatically, personalizing themes, and optimizing pages now takes just a few minutes. Impressive, yes. But for whom?
This innovation makes the simplest part of e-commerce even simpler — while leaving the most expensive part untouched: customer acquisition cost.
The system removes the entry barrier. But once that barrier is gone, and we face the harsh truths of e-commerce, Lovable will be long gone. Setting up a store is easy now; bringing traffic to it still isn’t.
The Invisible Cost: Traffic
Customer acquisition costs keep rising. You’ve built your store through Lovable, have a polished UX, and a solid Shopify infrastructure. Now what?
In e-commerce, sales begin with visibility. Yet that visibility comes with an invisible price tag: traffic. Every click, every page view, every new visitor costs money. That price is called Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
According to a report, in 2025, the average CAC for e-commerce companies is around $70, $61 in personal care, $66 in fashion, $76 in electronics.
Here’s what that looks like: You sell a $40 product. The product itself costs $10, shipping and packaging $10, advertising $33, and returns plus overhead $4. Total cost: $57. You’re losing $17 per sale. Welcome to the reality of your “effortlessly” built Shopify store.
For those saying marketplaces will be shaken by this partnership — a quick reality check:
A new Shopify store gets about 100 monthly visits. Compare that to Amazon’s 2.5 billion or Etsy’s 400 million. That’s not a gap, that’s an economic canyon.
Is Automation the New Elixir?
Technically, these developments help. Operationally and strategically, the burden still sits with the store owner. There’s a world of difference between building a site and building a system.
Once your store is live, here’s what you still need to handle:
Generating traffic from scratch (Meta, TikTok, Google, Pinterest)
Creating ad and content strategies
Tracking CAC, ROAS, CTR, and LTV
Building trust (reviews, return policy, site speed, CRO)
Managing logistics, shipping, and customer service
Marketplaces already offer all of this -categories, return policies, badges, payment systems. On your own site, you must build it all yourself. Lovable doesn’t change that; it just lets you see it sooner.
Are Marketplaces Really Losing Relevance?
Not at all. Marketplaces offer what e-commerce entrepreneurs crave: traffic, trust, and conversion -all under one roof. Platforms like Amazon and Etsy bring ready-made demand.
When you launch your own site, you start from zero. You create traffic, collect data, and manage conversion -alone. Marketplaces do it for you.
Yet marketplaces have limits. The customer isn’t yours. You don’t own the data, you can’t build loyalty, and your brand story fades into the noise. On your own site, visibility is expensive, but the customer is yours. You can shape LTV, build personalized flows, and turn your store into a brand experience rather than just another checkout page.
Think of marketplaces as a starting ground — a lab to test demand and perception before building your own system.
The Blind Spots of Convenience
Speed doesn’t always mean progress. Automation tools have standardized everything -same templates, structures, and tone. Accessibility is up; differentiation is down.
In my view, this “convenience” doesn’t spark growth — it erases distinction. But that’s the part nobody talks about. Instead, we see headlines celebrating it as the next big thing in e-commerce.
After the Lovable × Shopify partnership, the commentary from non-experts reminded me of this scene:
Opening a store is no longer a goal, just a starting point. The real question is: among thousands of identical stores, how will you stand out?
Convenience triggers competition -but it never sustains it. And perhaps that’s how we should view every so-called AI revolution.