EngineeringCustom Shopify Themes & Apps
High-converting Shopify Plus storefronts and purpose-built apps — engineered for revenue, not just aesthetics.
- Phase
- 4-step engagement
- Hypercare
- 30 days included
- Cadence
- Weekly demos
Trusted by teams shipping at scale
What we deliver
Every Custom Shopify Themes & Apps engagement bundles these capabilities by default. We tune the depth of each to fit your scope.
Custom theme development
Shopify app development
Checkout extensibility
Shopify Plus migrations
Hydrogen headless storefronts
Performance optimization
How we build Custom Shopify Themes & Apps
A repeatable four-phase engagement. Same rigor every time, scoped to the work in front of us.
Discover
We map the current state, surface constraints, and lock the scope before any code is written. You leave the phase with a written success definition.
- Audit document
- Success criteria
- Risk register
Architect
We pick the stack, design the data model, and prove the riskiest path first. Architecture decisions are reviewed with your team before build starts.
- Architecture doc
- Stack decision record
- Spike on riskiest path
Build
Iterative delivery in weekly increments. You see working software every Friday, can redirect priorities each Monday, and never wait six weeks for a demo.
- Weekly demo cadence
- Production-ready code
- CI/CD + tests
Operate
We ship with observability, hand off runbooks, and stay accountable post-launch. 30-day hypercare is included on every engagement.
- Monitoring dashboards
- Operational runbooks
- 30-day hypercare
The full breakdown
Architecture, decisions, and the operational details behind every Custom Shopify Themes & Apps engagement. Skim with the table of contents, or read straight through.
Shopify Plus Development at Scale
We've been building on Shopify since before Shopify Plus existed, and we've watched the platform evolve from a simple storefront builder to a legitimate enterprise commerce platform. Our Shopify work spans custom theme development, app engineering, and the full spectrum of platform customization.
Our clients have collectively processed over $50M in GMV on Shopify Plus storefronts we've built. We know where the platform excels, where it needs custom work, and where to draw the line.
Custom Theme Development
A Shopify theme is more than a design layer — it's a performance-critical customer experience that directly affects conversion.
Our theme builds start with:
- Performance budgets: We target sub-2s LCP on mobile before design decisions are made
- Design systems: Component-based Liquid architecture that's maintainable post-handoff
- CRO principles: Section/block architecture with inline A/B testing hooks
- Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across all components
We build on Dawn as a foundation when budgets allow, or from scratch when brand requirements demand it. Hydrogen builds are available for brands needing edge-rendered performance.
Custom App Development
Shopify's app ecosystem covers most common needs, but every brand eventually hits requirements that off-the-shelf apps can't address. We build private and public apps for:
- Back-office integrations: Sync inventory, orders, and customers between Shopify and your ERP/WMS/3PL
- Checkout customization: Beyond what Shopify's native UI allows — custom payment flows, B2B pricing, subscription handling
- Merchandising tools: Internal apps that give your team control over complex catalog operations
- Analytics and reporting: Custom dashboards surfacing data across your Shopify ecosystem
Apps are built with Node.js, the Shopify API libraries, and Polaris for internal tool UIs. We use Shopify's managed OAuth and session handling — no reinventing authentication.
Checkout Extensibility
Shopify's Checkout Extensibility (available on Plus) allows custom UI injection at every checkout step. We use this for:
- Upsell and cross-sell recommendations at cart and checkout
- Custom loyalty and rewards displays
- B2B-specific fields and pricing presentations
- Shipping and delivery date selection
- Post-purchase pages with AI-driven product recommendations
Checkout extensions communicate with your backend APIs in real time, enabling dynamic personalization without Shopify's native UI constraints.
Included in every engagement
- 01
Full theme build with design system
- 02
Custom Shopify app (private or public)
- 03
Checkout extension components
- 04
QA test suite and staging environment
- 05
Performance benchmark report
- 06
Developer handoff documentation
Technology
The tools and platforms we deploy on every Custom Shopify Themes & Apps engagement.
Common questions
Everything you need to know before starting a project with us.
Both, depending on scope and budget. New builds give you a clean foundation; custom development on top of a base theme (like Dawn) is faster for smaller projects.
Yes. We specialize in private app development for back-office integrations — inventory sync, order routing, fulfillment webhooks, financial reporting.
Custom Shopify theme development typically takes 8-14 weeks depending on complexity, number of unique templates, and integration requirements. Builds starting from Dawn as a base theme are faster, while fully custom theme development with bespoke design systems and advanced interactivity extends toward the longer end of that range.
A strong Shopify app development agency should have deep experience with the Shopify API ecosystem, a track record of building production apps that handle real transaction volume, and expertise in both Liquid and headless architectures. Look for teams that understand Shopify's rate limits, webhook reliability patterns, and checkout extensibility — not just general web developers who list Shopify as a skill.
Shopify Plus customization goes well beyond themes — it includes checkout extensibility for custom UI at every checkout step, Shopify Functions for backend logic like dynamic pricing and shipping rules, and Script Editor for line-item discounts. Plus merchants also get access to the Multipass API for SSO, dedicated API rate limits, and expansion store capabilities for international selling.
Shopify 2.0 theme migration involves converting legacy section and template structures to the new JSON template architecture, enabling app blocks, and implementing metafield-driven content across every page type. We audit your existing theme's customizations, rebuild them using Online Store 2.0 patterns, and migrate your content so merchants gain full section-everywhere flexibility without losing any functionality.
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