Shopify Agency London
What is Shopify development?
Shopify development is the discipline of building, customising and scaling stores on the Shopify platform. For a London retailer in 2026 it covers custom theme work, Shopify Plus enterprise builds, headless storefronts using Hydrogen or Next.js, Checkout Extensibility, Shopify Functions and the deep app integrations that turn a standard store into a competitive commercial engine.
What our Shopify development covers
Custom theme development
Most agency Shopify themes are unmaintainable inside a year. We build custom themes on Online Store 2.0 with sections, blocks and metaobjects so your marketing team can edit pages without engineering. Performance-tuned from the first commit. Lighthouse mobile pass before launch.
- ✓Online Store 2.0 with sections and blocks
- ✓Metaobjects for reusable content
- ✓Lighthouse mobile pass before launch
- ✓Documented for the next developer
Shopify Plus migrations and builds
Shopify Plus suits stores doing over £1 million in annual revenue or running B2B alongside DTC. We migrate from Standard to Plus, set up Plus-only features (scripts, flow, B2B, multi-store) and integrate the third-party stack. Plus is more capability, not just more cost.
- ✓Plus migration from Standard or other platforms
- ✓Shopify Flow automations
- ✓B2B + DTC dual storefronts
- ✓Shopify Scripts where checkout customisation is needed
Headless storefronts (Hydrogen and Next)
Headless decouples the storefront from Shopify's templating layer. Pages load faster, design flexibility is unlimited and the same back-office can serve multiple channels. We build on Shopify Hydrogen, Next.js Commerce and Remix where the brief demands it.
- ✓Hydrogen storefronts on Oxygen or Vercel
- ✓Next.js commerce builds with Shopify Storefront API
- ✓Performance budget enforced from build
- ✓Multi-channel storefront architecture
Checkout Extensibility and Shopify Functions
Checkout Extensibility replaces Checkout.liquid for all stores by August 2025. We rebuild custom checkout work using Checkout UI Extensions and Shopify Functions for discounts, shipping rules and bundling. Cleaner architecture, faster checkout, futureproof.
- ✓Checkout UI Extensions for custom blocks
- ✓Shopify Functions for discounts and shipping
- ✓Migration from legacy Checkout.liquid
- ✓Brand customisation in checkout settings
App audit and consolidation
Most Shopify stores carry 15 to 40 apps. Each one slows the storefront, costs a monthly fee and creates support friction. We audit your app stack, replace heavy apps with native theme code or metafields, and consolidate where one app can replace three.
- ✓Full app inventory with cost and load impact
- ✓Native replacement recommendations
- ✓Consolidation plan with cost saving
- ✓Quarterly app review cadence
Performance and Core Web Vitals
Shopify storefronts ship slow by default if not built with performance in mind. We hit LCP under 2.0 seconds, INP under 200ms and CLS under 0.05 on mobile. Hero image preload, font-display rules, JavaScript code-splitting and image format choices all baked into the build.
- ✓LCP under 2.0s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.05
- ✓Hero image preload and fetchpriority
- ✓Font-display: swap on Google Fonts
- ✓AVIF and WebP image delivery
Our Shopify development process
Discovery and brief
We audit the current stack, map the buyer journey, decide architecture (theme vs headless) and produce a one-page brief everyone signs off before any code ships.
Build
Theme or headless build, depending on the brief. Performance budget enforced from the first commit. Lighthouse mobile pass before code review.
Migration and content
Data migration from previous platform with full redirect map. Content rebuild with marketing-team editing in mind.
Launch and optimise
Launch checklist applied. 30-day post-launch support included. Quarterly performance and feature review thereafter.
"Shopify is the right answer for most UK retailers under ten million in revenue. It is faster to launch, cheaper to maintain and easier to scale than the alternatives."
What Makes Us Worth Paying For
Transparency about what's working. Honesty about what isn't. A management structure where the person who built your account is the person managing it.
Shopify-certified team
London developers with Plus and Hydrogen experience.
Performance budget
Core Web Vitals targets set before build, not after.
Marketing-team friendly
Sections, blocks and metaobjects so editing does not need engineering.
Common Questions
Everything you need to know about our services, pricing, and process.
Still have questions? Talk to us