Shopify's AI is impressive — if you run an online store. But most businesses don't. And for them, Shopify is expensive, complex, and built for a problem they don't have.
What Shopify AI actually does
Shopify has genuinely invested in AI. Here's what it includes — and why it's designed around selling products, not building business websites.
AI-generated product descriptions, SEO meta fields, and marketing copy. Excellent for ecommerce — but if you don't have a product catalogue, this feature simply doesn't apply to you.
A conversational AI that helps manage your store — answer questions about sales, suggest discount strategies, explain your analytics. Geared entirely around store operations.
AI can suggest homepage layouts, banner text, and collection descriptions based on your product data. If you don't have products, there's no data for it to work from.
Generate promotional emails, abandoned cart copy, and discount campaigns. A powerful marketing tool — but only relevant once you have customers buying products from a Shopify store.
The honest assessment
Shopify is one of the best ecommerce platforms on the planet. But that's exactly the problem — it's an ecommerce platform, not a business website builder.
Shopify's entire structure — themes, navigation, admin, AI — assumes you have products to sell. Service businesses, consultants, and tradespeople get a platform that doesn't fit their model.
Inventory management, shipping zones, tax rules, payment gateways — Shopify's admin is powerful but overwhelming if you just need a website with a contact form.
Even with AI assistance, getting a professional Shopify site live takes days. Theme customisation, app configuration, and payment setup are all required — before you've written a word of content.
Unless you use Shopify Payments, every sale incurs an additional transaction fee (0.5–2%). For businesses not selling products, this is simply irrelevant cost built into the platform's DNA.
The cost reality
Shopify's pricing is fair for stores turning over thousands per month. For a business that just needs a professional website, it's hard to justify.
£25/month · billed annually
everything included · no transaction fees
Shopify Basic: £900. ChilledSites: £87. That's £813 saved — before Shopify's transaction fees and app costs. For a service business with no products to sell, every penny of that difference is money straight back in your pocket.
Which is right for you?
Neither platform is better in every situation. Here's how to decide quickly.
Shopify is right for you if...
Shopify's platform earns its cost when your ecommerce operation genuinely needs what it offers. Here's when it makes sense.
If you're managing 50, 500, or 5,000 products with variants, inventory tracking, and automated fulfilment — Shopify's infrastructure is built for exactly this. Shopify Magic's AI description generation pays for itself at scale.
International shipping, carrier-calculated rates, weight-based rules, and customs handling — Shopify manages all of this natively. For physical product businesses shipping globally, this is a genuine differentiator.
Recurring billing, subscription management, and membership products are deeply integrated into Shopify through apps like Recharge. If subscriptions are your model, Shopify is the mature choice.
Once your store is generating significant revenue, Shopify's reporting, analytics, abandoned cart recovery, and multi-channel selling tools are genuinely valuable. The monthly cost becomes a rounding error at scale.
ChilledSites is right for you if...
For every business that doesn't need a full ecommerce stack, ChilledSites delivers more of what actually matters: a great website, fast, without the overhead.
Plumbers, solicitors, accountants, cleaners, coaches, consultants — if you sell time and expertise rather than physical products, a professional website with contact forms is all you need. ChilledSites builds it in 60 seconds.
A restaurant, salon, gym, or estate agent needs to look professional online without spending £300+ a year. ChilledSites gives you a multi-page website with custom domain, analytics, and forms for £29/year flat.
You sell a few things — maybe 3–5 products or digital downloads — but ecommerce isn't your core business. You need a website that presents you well, not a full store platform. ChilledSites is built for this.
Testing a new business idea? Launching a side project? The worst outcome is paying £300/year for a platform before you know if the idea works. ChilledSites lets you validate your concept for £29/year with a professional result.
If your business sells services, expertise, or just needs to look credible online — ChilledSites builds the perfect website in 60 seconds. Custom domain, hosting, forms, and analytics. All for less than £30 a year.
Build my site now — from £29/yearCommon questions
Shopify is the right choice for ecommerce. For everything else — service businesses, local companies, and anyone who just needs to look professional online — ChilledSites is faster, simpler, and 10x cheaper.