02/03/2026
I closed my first Shopify store after three months. Hereās how I would build it differently today, using AI.
One year ago, I launched my first Shopify store. It was a merch store for my page, GÄina BÄtrĆ¢nÄ. Mostly food-themed t-shirts. Very me. I genuinely loved designing them. The quality was something I was proud of: organic cotton, premium feel, resistant print.
I launched with six collections. And then reality showed up. One of the reasons I eventually closed the shop wasnāt lack of ideas. Among other operational issues, it was the lack of resources for proper photoshoots. I had a very clear vision of how the photos should look. Who should wear the t-shirts. What kind of mood they should live in.
And in my vision, it wasnāt me. I didnāt want to be my own model. My best friend stepped in. She was amazing. Her husband took incredible photos. But favors arenāt a sustainable production system. And I didnāt have the budget to professionally shoot six collections the way I imagined them.
In the two images Iām sharing, youāll see one photo with me wearing the t-shirt and another with an AI-generated model. You might say the āmeā photo isnāt bad. And itās not. But thatās not the point. I donāt feel creative when Iām thinking about angles, poses, lighting, and how I look. For me, creativity lives in the concept.
Recently, while building AI marketing materials, I was thinking if I had this technology back then, I could have created the visual world I imagined without forcing myself into a role that drains me.
For small founders, especially in e-commerce, media production is often the most expensive and exhausting part of the business. If youāre running a Shopify store and thinking you donāt have the resources to present your product properly, maybe this is your sign. Invest in the idea. Invest in the operation system. Let AI handle part of the media layer.
Growth isnāt about doing more. Itās about doing the right parts yourself and delegating the rest.