I don't think it's surprising at all. Shopify is software, off the shelf. Most retailers that fit into their model will probably get as good or better a result with shopify as they would on a sub $100k budget with custom software.
Beyond a certain scale, (a) the benefits from controlling the software get bigger and (you don't have to do shipping, promotions, inventory, UI etc in a way that is supported by shopify) (b) the cost of doing your own software is less of a barrier.
Benefits like accessibility to non technical people don't mean anything once you hire specialists to be in charge of things. T
Off the shelf software that a non specialist can use makes sense for SMBs. That's shopify's target market.
Beyond a certain scale, (a) the benefits from controlling the software get bigger and (you don't have to do shipping, promotions, inventory, UI etc in a way that is supported by shopify) (b) the cost of doing your own software is less of a barrier.
Benefits like accessibility to non technical people don't mean anything once you hire specialists to be in charge of things. T
Off the shelf software that a non specialist can use makes sense for SMBs. That's shopify's target market.