September 2026
Checkout in India is not a plugin
People browse on a phone, ask on chat, pay on UPI or COD, and expect the brand to still feel expensive at pay. A theme with a discount bar does not know that.
COD has fraud rules you actually use — not a toggle. UPI has to work on a mid-range Android in traffic, not only on a studio Mac. GST invoices have to be something an accountant can file. Abandoned bags come back on WhatsApp, but WhatsApp is a channel, not the order book.
When the catalogue outgrows the theme, filters break, stock lies, and checkout fails on the payment that matters. We treat commerce as software: catalogue, bag, gateway, warehouse screen, and the 6pm rush.
If a store can be merchandised without a developer every Thursday, it was built as a system. If it cannot, it was built as a costume.
Also