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Shopify Development

Shopify development for stores that have outgrown the theme

Shopify development covers the engineering a growing store eventually needs and a theme editor can't give it: a headless front end against the Storefront API, checkout customisation within what Shopify actually permits, a migration from another platform, or simply untangling a store that's accumulated twelve apps and lost its page speed along the way.

When Shopify's native rendering stops being enough

Shopify's theme layer is genuinely good for most catalogues, and we default to it. It stops being enough when you need rendering, routing or content structure the theme editor can't express: a highly custom browse experience, content that lives beside the store rather than inside a blog app, or performance headroom a Liquid theme can't reach. That's when a headless build against the Storefront API earns its cost.

We build those on Next.js, with Sanity handling anything editorial, and Shopify still doing what it's genuinely best at: checkout, payments and order management.

The app-bloat problem

The most common thing we're brought in to fix isn't a missing feature. It's a store that installed an app for every requirement over three years and now ships megabytes of third-party JavaScript before a visitor sees a product. Each app individually seemed cheap; the store that results usually isn't fast on a mid-range phone, which is where most fragrance and retail traffic actually is.

We audit what's actually earning its weight, replace what a few lines of theme code can do instead, and keep only the apps that do something a rebuild genuinely can't.

Migrations, done without losing what already ranks

Moving to Shopify from WooCommerce, Magento or a custom build risks the two things that took years to earn: search rankings and product reviews. We map every existing URL to its Shopify equivalent, set up 301 redirects for the full set, and migrate review data rather than starting the trust signal at zero.

Frequently asked questions

Do you build fully custom (headless) Shopify stores?

Yes, on Next.js against the Shopify Storefront API, for stores that need more control over rendering or content than Shopify's native theming gives. It's the right call when there's a specific reason for it, not the default, since Shopify's own checkout and native rendering are hard to beat for most catalogues.

Can you fix a slow Shopify store without a full rebuild?

Often, yes. App bloat, unoptimised images and render-blocking scripts account for most of what actually slows a Shopify store down, and all three can usually be addressed in place. We'll audit first and tell you honestly whether a rebuild is warranted.

Do you handle migrations from other platforms to Shopify?

Yes: product data, redirects for every existing URL, and review migration where the source platform supports export. Losing search rankings in a migration is almost always a redirect-mapping failure, so that mapping is done before launch, not patched afterwards.

What's the difference between this and your Shopify web design page?

This page is the engineering layer: APIs, apps, performance, migrations. Shopify web design is the visual and merchandising layer built on top of it. Most projects need both from the same person, so the distinction is about where you're starting the conversation, not two separate services.

Self-initiated concept builds, each aimed at a different position in the fragrance market, not paid client engagements.

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