Relying on AI-generated software can make ecommerce operators nervous until they realize the process is a bit like using a spreadsheet.
The term “vibe coding” describes an AI-first approach to software development. Non-technical owners and managers can describe a desired software tool in natural language via a GPT-like chat and have AI produce it.
The approach has significant potential for ecommerce, allowing companies to quickly experiment with custom software tools at a very low cost, nearly zero in some cases.
Vibe coding will not replace platforms such as Shopify or even developers, but it can help teams prototype, automate, and test ideas quickly — much like Excel did for finance.
Vibe Coding
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Andrej Karpathy, a prominent computer scientist and former AI director at Tesla, coined the phrase vibe coding in February 2025.
Karpathy suggested allowing AI to generate most of the code, while humans provide natural language goals, feedback, and corrections.
The idea rests on five pillars.
- Natural language. Programming instructions are conversational, as in “make a pop-up modal with a discount banner for a WooCommerce store.” AI acts on human intent.
- Prototyping. AI produces prototypes rapidly, providing a minimal version of the desired application in minutes.
- Iteration. The AI will not get it right with the first or even second prototype. Rather, vibe coding tools receive human feedback with each iteration and try again.
- No coding skills. Understanding the coding process of AI is helpful, but it requires no programming skills.
- Limited scope. Vibe coding will not replace software engineers at scale. Mission-critical applications still require professionals, much like spreadsheet power-users eventually graduate to advanced systems or databases.
Like a Spreadsheet
For vibe coding, follow your instincts and instruct the AI on what the software should do.
Entrepreneur Joe Procopio likened vibe coding to the introduction of spreadsheets in a recent Inc. opinion article.
“In 1979, when Apple released VisiCalc, it was the killer app that made everyone’s job and life a lot easier. It was visual math in a box, unheard of at the time,” wrote Procopio.
Spreadsheets changed the world because they provided a visual layer over math and logic for non-programmers.
Folks using spreadsheets — then and now — did not need to know formulas or programming; instead, they typed values into cells, dragged across a table, and suddenly they had payroll models, inventory systems, and even entire annual budgets.
Vibe coding, Procopio argues, is a similar visual layer, but it abstracts software instead of math. An operator describes what the software should do in plain language, and the AI translates it into working code.
Applying the Analogy
Procopio’s analogy applies to ecommerce dashboards, automations, and even limitations.
Dashboards
Imagine an ecommerce shop wants to test whether adding social proof to a widget boosts conversions. The store owner might sign up for two or three apps — testing, upselling, social — to run the experiment for $150 per month in subscriptions, plus web development.
With vibe coding, it might take a few hours to describe and iterate a custom app that manages the testing, upselling, and social proof in one.
A spreadsheet enables a business to build its own reporting dashboard without hiring a data analyst. Vibe coding similarly creates a front-end experiment without subscribing to apps or hiring a developer.
Put another way, many early-stage ecommerce founders modeled business plans in Excel long before they had accountants. Likewise, ecommerce entrepreneurs can model new features via vibe coding before paying developers.
Automations
Spreadsheet macros are similar in concept to vibe coding automations.
For example, a marketing manager might download advertising performance reports from multiple sources, reformat them via macros, and upload the data into accounting software. With vibe coding, the manager can describe this workflow and generate a tool to automate it.
Other lightweight automations could include:
- Converting supplier CSVs into Shopify’s import format.
- Auto-generating invoices from order exports.
- Flagging orders with mismatched billing and shipping addresses.
These are tedious, repetitive jobs that AI-generated scripts can handle much like a macro in Excel.
Limitations
My final comparison from Procopio’s spreadsheet analogy is knowing when to stop.
It’s a bad idea to run an entire ecommerce shop out of a few complicated Google Sheets, and vibe coding will not replace Shopify or any other software that solves robust problems or requires security and reliability.
Unlocking Vibe Coding
In short, vibe coding is a creative, iterative, AI-driven approach to building software where natural language replaces syntax, speed replaces polish, and experimentation replaces structure.
Making vibe coding as approachable as a spreadsheet means that just about any ecommerce operation can automate workflows, prototype features, and test ideas.
