Magento vs Shopify Plus for electronics specifically — when does each win?

For electronics, the platform decision is sharper than for apparel or general retail because of SKU scale, attribute richness, B2B distribution, and warranty workflows.

Shopify Plus wins for electronics when: catalog is <5k SKUs (cameras, audio, speciality electronics brands), pure D2C with no distributor channel, single warehouse, single language, marketplace presence is "Amazon only or none". E.g. a boutique audio brand selling 200 SKUs to consumers. Shopify Plus + a few apps gets to live in 6 weeks at $30k–$60k all-in.

Magento wins for electronics when: catalog >10k SKUs (computer components, IT distribution, consumer electronics retail), multi-warehouse or drop-ship blend, B2B distributor share >20%, multi-marketplace mandatory, PIM integration required. E.g. an IT distributor with 80k SKUs across 4 warehouses, 30% B2B revenue, listings on Amazon + Newegg + eBay. Shopify Plus would need 12+ apps stacked together at $1.5k–$3k/mo + custom dev to fake what Magento does natively. Magento + Hyvä build: 12–20 weeks, $80k–$200k. Pays back in 18 months on app fees alone.

Specific Shopify Plus gaps for electronics: (1) attribute-set inheritance is awkward — managing 30+ specs per SKU across 12 categories means metafield sprawl; (2) MSI equivalent (Shopify Locations) is shallower — no native source-priority rules; (3) B2B is improving but distributor-tier pricing + Net-30 + multi-step approvals still hit limits; (4) marketplace sync requires app stack ($300–$2k/mo) where Magento has direct integrators with deeper feature sets.