Shopify or custom — which one should we pick?

Default to Shopify if you sell under 500 SKUs and your bottleneck is conversion rate rather than backend operations. Pick headless Shopify or custom when you need bespoke checkout logic, multi-warehouse routing, or a content layer Shopify cannot serve well. The USD 200k/month revenue mark is a useful threshold: below it, Shopify's native checkout and ecosystem apps are hard to beat.

Will moving off Shopify hurt our SEO?

It can — if done wrong. We map every existing URL to its new slug, set up 301 redirects, preserve canonical tags, regenerate sitemap.xml, and submit a change-of-address signal to Search Console. Done correctly, organic traffic usually recovers within 4–6 weeks and then climbs because the new site is faster.

How long does a typical e-commerce build take?

A Shopify theme rebuild: 3–5 weeks. A headless Shopify storefront on Next.js: 6–10 weeks. A full custom commerce platform: 10–16 weeks, often shipped in two phases.

Do you handle abandoned cart recovery?

Yes — and we treat it as non-negotiable. Every store ships with Klaviyo (or Shopify Email for lighter cases) configured with a three-email abandoned-cart sequence, a checkout-abandonment flow at hour 24, and a post-purchase upsell email. These three flows typically recover 8–12% of abandoned revenue within 30 days.

E-commerce built to convert, not just to launch.

A pretty Shopify theme will not save a store with a 0.6% conversion rate. We DIG into your funnel, your checkout drop-off, and your product page math — then rebuild the parts that actually pay back.

Audit my store →

Build · Commerce
From USD 5,500
Fixed scope · You own everything

Shopify + customShopify Online Store 2.0, headless Next.js, or custom — we pick the right stack

3.2% CVRavg conversion rate achieved across our e-commerce builds — vs 1.4% median Shopify store

From $5,500Shopify rebuild — fixed scope, no hourly billing, no surprise invoices

28-itemlaunch checklist signed off before every store goes live — no cut corners

Every engagement

What ships with every e-commerce build

Six deliverables included in every engagement — Shopify rebuild, headless storefront, or custom build.

Funnel baseline audit before a single line of code

Add-to-cart rate, cart-to-checkout, checkout completion, and revenue-per-session benchmarked at kickoff. Every build target traces back to a specific measured gap.

App stack review and bloat removal

We audit every installed app, cut the ones adding page weight without revenue impact, and document the savings. Typically reduces page weight by 1–2 MB and monthly app fees by USD 120–400.

Abandoned cart + checkout recovery flows live at launch

Klaviyo or Shopify Email, three-email sequence, configured before go-live. The three flows typically recover 8–12% of abandoned revenue within the first 30 days.

Product schema — offer, aggregateRating, availability

Google Shopping carousels require this. Most themes do not ship it correctly. Every product page gets structured data verified in Search Console before launch.

Lighthouse 85+ on mobile — verified in field data

Guaranteed at handover. Re-verified from GA4 CrUX data at the 30-day check-in. Most SMB stores ship at PageSpeed 40s; we target 80s on Shopify, 95+ on headless.

28-item launch checklist and post-launch reviews

Every item signed off before go-live. Followed by 30/60/90-day conversion reviews where we pull GA4 + Shopify Analytics and prioritize the next highest-leverage fix.

The median Shopify store does 1.4% conversion. Our builds average 3.2%. The recurring root causes: trust signals below the fold, a checkout that hides express payment, and page weight above 4 MB from accumulated app scripts. All three fixable in one sprint.

Shopify Online Store 2.0 rebuilds

Sections everywhere, metaobjects for content, app blocks for upsells. Liquid clean enough that your team can edit copy without breaking the layout. Ships in 3–5 weeks.

Headless Shopify (Next.js + Storefront API)

Keep Shopify as the back office — payments, inventory, orders — and put a Next.js storefront in front of it. Lighthouse 95+ on mobile, content flexibility a Liquid theme cannot match.

Custom commerce (Next.js + Stripe + Postgres)

For subscription complexity beyond Recharge, B2B with negotiated pricing, marketplaces, or regulated verticals where third-party platform ToS is a risk. Scoped after discovery.

Build process

How we DIG before we design or build

Six steps, from kickoff to 90-day review. Every build follows the same process — because we have learned what skipping any step costs.

Discovery: funnel analytics + competitor audit

Customer interviews, GA4 funnel baseline, app stack audit, technical baseline (PageSpeed, Core Web Vitals), competitor product page teardown. What the data says before we assume.

Figma design: home, collection, product, cart, checkout

Five core templates in Figma. Two rounds of feedback before we write a line of code. Every above-the-fold element agreed on paper first — not discovered in staging.

Theme development + content migration

Shopify 2.0 or Next.js build depending on scope. Product catalog migrated, URL structure preserved, schema markup added, Klaviyo flows configured.

Performance optimization and app bloat removal

Scripts lazy-loaded, images converted to next-gen formats, unused app JS/CSS removed. PageSpeed verified in staging before QA begins.

QA, redirect mapping, and 28-item launch checklist

Every old URL redirected. Payment processors tested. Recovery flows verified with live events. Schema validated in Google's Rich Results Test. Launch mid-week with a watch window.

30/60/90-day conversion reviews

GA4 + Shopify Analytics pulled together. Conversion rate against the baseline we set at kickoff. Next highest-leverage fix prioritized. Included — not an upsell.

Pricing

Fixed scope.
You own every asset.

Shopify rebuild$5,500–14,000

Online Store 2.0. Ships in 3–5 weeks. Includes funnel audit, recovery flows, and 30-day review.

Funnel baseline audit
App stack cleanup
Figma design files
Klaviyo recovery flows
28-item launch checklist

Headless Shopify$14,000–32,000

Next.js + Storefront API. Lighthouse 95+ on mobile. Ships in 6–10 weeks.

Next.js storefront
Headless CMS integration
Edge-rendered product pages
Full product schema
30/60/90-day CVR reviews

Custom commerceQuoted on scope

Next.js + Stripe + Postgres. Subscriptions, B2B pricing, marketplaces. Quoted after discovery.

Bespoke checkout logic
ERP / inventory sync
Full test coverage
Docker + CI/CD
Milestone-based billing

Common questions

Shopify or custom — which should we pick?: Default to Shopify if you sell under 500 SKUs and your bottleneck is conversion rate, not backend operations. Pick headless Shopify or custom when you need bespoke checkout logic, multi-warehouse routing, or a content layer Shopify cannot serve. The USD 200k/month mark is a useful threshold: below it, Shopify's native checkout and app ecosystem are hard to beat.
Will moving off Shopify hurt our SEO?: It can — if done wrong. We map every existing URL to its new slug, set up 301 redirects, preserve canonical tags, regenerate sitemap.xml, and submit a change-of-address signal to Search Console. Done correctly, organic traffic usually recovers within 4–6 weeks and then climbs because the new site is faster.
Do you integrate with our existing ERP or inventory system?: Yes. Common targets: Cin7, Zoho Inventory, Lightspeed, custom SQL warehouses, and Google Sheets for the lightest cases. We build a webhook or pull-based sync layer with monitoring so a single source-of-truth stays a single source-of-truth.
What about abandoned cart and checkout recovery?: Treated as non-negotiable. Every store ships with Klaviyo (or Shopify Email for lighter cases) configured with a three-email abandoned-cart sequence, a checkout-abandonment flow with an urgency nudge at hour 24, and a post-purchase upsell email. These three flows alone typically recover 8–12% of abandoned revenue within the first 30 days.

Next step

Send us your URL.
We will tell you what is costing you conversion.

We pull a free Lighthouse + funnel diagnostic and tell you whether your top problem is the theme, the product pages, the app stack, or something we cannot fix from the outside. No deck. No pitch.