Shopify development

Shopify storefronts that don't read like Dawn with a logo.

Bespoke Shopify development for brands that need a real storefront on the platform. Custom themes, Hydrogen front-ends, app integrations, B2B logic, and Shopify builds tuned for the metrics that move revenue.

Theme

Custom · Liquid or Hydrogen

Apps

Audited, scoped, integrated

B2B

Tiered pricing · accounts · POs

Performance

CWV-tuned, conversion-aware

What is Shopify development?

Shopify development is the practice of building, customizing, and scaling Shopify stores — custom themes, replatforms, integrations, and the performance and conversion work that turns a Shopify install into a brand. Strong Shopify treats the platform as a foundation for custom commerce, not a marketplace template.

Why this exists

Most Shopify stores look like Shopify stores.

The default theme is good. The marketplace is wide. The trade-off is that most Shopify stores all look more or less the same. A bespoke Shopify build inverts that — brand-true type, grid, motion, and photography across PDP, PLP, search, and checkout. The platform's strengths (mature checkout, payments, fulfilment) stay; the storefront stops being generic.

What we hear most

Common reasons brands move their Shopify build to us.

01

Storefront is a Dawn child theme

The home page is fine. PDP and PLP look like Dawn with the colours changed. The brand voice that lives on the homepage doesn't survive into product pages.

02

App stack has bloated

Twenty apps, each adding tracking pixels and front-end JS. Performance is suffering. Every app is on a separate billing cycle and ROI is unclear.

03

Checkout extensibility is underused

Shopify's checkout extensibility allows real customization. Most stores still use legacy checkout.liquid or default Shopify Checkout without extensions. Conversion is left on the table.

04

B2B logic is wedged in

Tiered pricing, account-specific catalogs, PO workflows handled by a stack of apps. Shopify B2B (native) often does the job better. Worth re-evaluating.

05

Hydrogen/headless decision pending

The team is debating Hydrogen for the front-end. The decision deserves a clear-eyed analysis of what it gives you and what it costs.

What we deliver

What ships in a Haxtiv Shopify build.

A bespoke Shopify storefront that looks the part, runs fast, and integrates cleanly.

Theme

  • Custom Shopify theme — Liquid or Hydrogen front-end
  • PDP, PLP, search, cart, account templates designed bespoke
  • Section-based theme architecture (theme editor friendly)
  • Online Store 2.0 features (metaobjects, sections everywhere)
  • Editor controls scoped to what merchants should change

Performance

  • LCP < 2.0s, CLS < 0.05, INP < 150ms targets
  • App audit: every app evaluated for performance cost vs. value
  • Critical CSS, font subsetting, lazy-loaded JS
  • Image policy: AVIF/WebP, srcset, fetchpriority
  • Real-user CWV monitoring for 30 days post-launch

Commerce features

  • Variant pickers, configurators, bundles, subscriptions
  • Shopify B2B (native) configuration where appropriate
  • Checkout extensions for upsell, address validation, gift options
  • Markets configuration for multi-region selling
  • Apps integrated cleanly (Klaviyo, Yotpo, Tapcart, etc.)

Hand-off

  • Loom-led walkthroughs for the merchant team
  • Theme conventions documented in the repo
  • 30 days of post-launch support included
  • Optional retainer for new templates and CRO work
  • GitHub flow for theme deployments

Process

How this service runs end to end

The same six-step shape we use across every Haxtiv project — adapted to the specifics of this scope.

  1. 01

    Discover

    Audit, intent, and the part nobody is saying out loud

    We open with a working session — not a deck. We pull analytics, crawl the existing site, audit the brand, and interview the people closest to revenue. We surface the friction inside the team, not just the friction on the screen.

  2. 02

    Define

    Sitemap, story, and the metrics that actually matter

    We define the audience journeys, the commercial pages we are willing to defend, the SEO architecture, and the measurable outcomes. You get a shape of the project that survives feedback because it was built on evidence.

  3. 03

    Design

    Editorial system, art-directed, never templated

    Type, grid, motion, and tone built as a system. We design the hero, the long pages, the unloved corners, and the empty states. Every screen looks like it belongs to the same studio. Nothing is parked for later.

  4. 04

    Build

    Production code your team can keep

    WordPress, Shopify, or page builder — we build clean, accessible, performant, and documented. Component-led, naming you'll recognize next year, and a changelog your in-house team can read.

  5. 05

    Launch

    Migration without losing rankings or sleep

    Pre-launch crawl, redirect map, schema and metadata cutover, performance baseline, and a launch playbook. We run the deploy with you, not at you.

  6. 06

    Grow

    Care plan, CRO sprints, and quiet improvements

    We stay involved. Monthly performance reports, security and core updates, and CRO sprints that compound. The site gets better the longer you keep us.

What this looks like in production

Numbers we earn, not numbers we round up.

0+

Sites shipped

across 27 countries

0k

Studio hours

delivered since 2019

0.0x

Avg conversion lift

post-redesign clients

0%

Client retention

into year two

In their words

Senior teams who chose us.

Haxtiv replatformed our marketing site without losing a single ranking. We saw organic leads up 38% inside the first quarter and the editorial team finally has a layout system they don't fight.

Mara Iglesias

VP Marketing · Lumenwave Health

Headless WordPress redesign

Our previous Shopify build was a Frankenstein of apps. The Haxtiv team simplified the stack, rebuilt the PDP and CRO patterns, and our store is faster and more profitable than it has ever been.

Daniel Korver

Founder · Northbound Goods

Shopify Plus rebuild

Frequently asked

Answers worth asking for.

Don't see the question you're holding? Send it to [email protected] and we'll answer the same day.

Liquid is the right answer for most stores — mature, simple to maintain, fast enough. Hydrogen earns its keep when front-end performance and interaction beyond Liquid's reach are the brief, or when a multi-channel storefront is required. We do both and we'll tell you which fits.

Continue reading

Where to go next

Start here

Brief us on a Shopify build that has to look bespoke and run fast.

30-minute call. We'll review the brief and share a fixed quote.

Book a 30-min call
Send a brief