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Have ChatGPT write Shopify theme code for a wholesale catalog, color swatches and an FAQ bar instead of hiring a developer
Therese Waechter, owner of Otto's Grotto, an online sticker shop in Indiana that sells on Etsy, Amazon and its own Shopify store and has a wholesale division, in a Business Insider as-told-to essay
She asks ChatGPT to write the code. She has used it to build a wholesale catalog, add color swatches and an FAQ bar to listings, embed YouTube videos on her homepage, add plugins such as one for pre-orders, and troubleshoot existing plugins. When ChatGPT points to code she can't find, she re-asks with details: "I'm running Dawn theme on Shopify version 2.0 and I don't see that piece of code, are these the right instructions?" It can take three or four tries. She also finds features she likes on other sites and asks ChatGPT how to recreate them, and she copies her code into a note before every edit.
ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo; Shopify: price not in our data
Medium · or we do it from $149/mo
ChatGPT, Shopify
The problem
Her Shopify store's theme uses a coding language called Liquid that she had never learned. Before, she would either rely on Shopify Support or skip the customizations she wanted.
What happened
She says AI is "one of the reasons I was able to more than double my revenue in 2024" (the only figure given is about $50,000 in sales in 2021; she also added Etsy, Amazon and a wholesale division over those years). She thinks the new features increased trust with government clients and retail stores and boosted her conversion rate on high-profit items. For high-level changes she still hires a developer. Self-reported.
Quoted in the source: Therese Waechter, owner, Otto's Grotto. Source: Business Insider: I use vibe coding and AI to run my Etsy and Shopify store (as told to Jamie Phillis) (2025-04-24) · Added 2026-10-20.
How to set it up yourself
- What Otto's Grotto does: Therese Waechter asks ChatGPT to write the Liquid code for her Shopify theme (a wholesale catalog, color swatches, an FAQ bar, a YouTube embed, a pre-order plugin) and re-asks with her exact theme and version when the instructions don't match.
- Back up first: duplicate your theme in Shopify, or copy the file you'll edit into a note, as she does before every change.
- Tell ChatGPT your exact theme and version, paste the relevant code and describe the one change you want, using the prompt below.
- Test on the duplicate theme, check it on a phone, then publish. Hire a developer for bigger changes, as she does.
Copy-paste prompt
I run a Shopify store on the {THEME NAME} theme, version {VERSION}. I want to {CHANGE, e.g. add color swatches to product pages}. Here is the current code from {FILE NAME}: {CODE}. Explain in plain steps exactly where to paste or change code, show the full code to use and tell me how to undo it. If you're not sure that code exists in my theme, say so and tell me what to look for instead of guessing.One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-10-20)
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Checked prices: ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-10-20)
Rather not do it yourself?
We'll set this up in your tools, in your voice, tested. $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. Terms. We reply within 1 business day.
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