Edge cases, single-brand boutique decor vs Wayfair-scale catalog aggregator?

The home & garden vertical has a wide range of brand shapes. The architecture changes dramatically:

Single-brand boutique decor ($200k, $2M GMV, 50-500 SKUs):

• Magento Open Source + Hyvä, clean fit. $5k, $15k build cost.
• Catalog is fully owned (no drop-ship), so PO orchestration is unnecessary.
• LTL is a smaller share of revenue (mostly parcel for decor under 150lb); ShipperHQ or even flat-rate works.
• AR optional, for a 200-SKU lighting brand, Apple AR Quick Look on the top 30 SKUs is enough.
• Returns automation via Loop Returns (low-volume tier).
• The Magento value is brand control + SEO + email list ownership + B2B trade-pricing for designers (often 20-40% of revenue at this scale).

Multi-brand aggregator ($10M+ GMV, 10,000+ SKUs):

• Adobe Commerce + Hyvä + PIM (Akeneo) + ERP (NetSuite). $50k, $300k build cost.
• Drop-ship orchestration with 4-40+ vendors. EDI VAN (SPS Commerce / TrueCommerce) for the long tail, REST APIs for top 5 vendors.
• Real-time LTL + white-glove at checkout is mandatory (LTL is 40-60% of revenue).
• AR on the top 500 SKUs (Vyking + Adobe Substance 3D pipeline).
• B2B + trade pricing for designers, contractors, hospitality buyers.
• Multi-region (US + CA, sometimes AU + UK).
• The Magento value is the configurable-furniture model + drop-ship orchestration + LTL + multi-region B2B/DTC on one platform. Wayfair-style without the 20% take rate.

Anywhere in between (the $2M, $10M sweet spot), Magento Open Source + Hyvä + 1-3 drop-ship integrations + LTL + AR + Loop Returns. The $4,999 Build scenario is sized for that band.