Shopify theme development your team can actually edit
A custom theme is only worth paying for if your merchandising team can change the homepage without filing a ticket. We build Online Store 2.0 themes with proper section and metaobject architecture — so the design is yours, and the day-to-day is theirs.
Brands we build and scale
The question is not custom versus premium theme. It is who edits it on Tuesday.
Most brands do not need a theme built from scratch. A well-chosen premium theme, properly customised, covers the majority of catalogues at a fraction of the cost — and we will tell you when that is the right call rather than selling you a build you do not need.
Where custom earns its money is when your merchandising does not fit a template: a configurator, a size and fit system, a category that needs a fundamentally different product page, or a brand identity that a stock theme flattens. And when the store is big enough that the team needs to ship changes weekly without a developer in the loop.
That second part is the bit agencies skip. A beautiful custom theme with everything hardcoded is a theme you have to call us about every time you want to move a banner. We build sections, blocks and metaobjects so the people running the store can run it.
Theme work, scoped honestly
Custom theme from scratch
Built to your brand system rather than adapted from a template. For brands whose merchandising or identity genuinely does not fit an off-the-shelf theme.
Premium theme customisation
Dawn, Impulse, Prestige or whatever you are on — reworked to your brand and extended where the template runs out. The right answer more often than agencies admit.
Section & block architecture
Rebuilding a rigid theme so your team can compose pages themselves. Often the highest-value work we do on an existing store.
Metaobjects & structured content
Size guides, ingredient tables, care instructions, store locators — structured once, reused everywhere, editable without a developer.
Theme app extensions
Custom functionality added without dumping script tags into your theme, so it survives theme updates.
Headless with Hydrogen
React storefronts on Hydrogen and Oxygen — when the front-end genuinely justifies it, which is less often than it is sold.
How a theme build runs
Scope & architecture
What is custom, what is configured, and how the section and metaobject structure maps to how your team actually merchandises.
Design
Against your brand system, with the PDP and collection patterns your category converts on — reviewed before a line of Liquid is written.
Build
Liquid, sections and blocks against a performance budget, tested on your real catalogue rather than sample data.
Handover
Documentation, a walkthrough for your merchandising team, and the code. Optional retainer if you want us to keep shipping.
What theme development costs
Fixed scope against a written brief. What moves it is how much is genuinely custom versus configured — we will tell you which you need before quoting.
Existing theme reworked to your brand, extended sections, PDP and collection improvements.
Designed and built from scratch with full section and metaobject architecture, tested across templates.
React storefront on Hydrogen and Oxygen. Roughly doubles build and ongoing maintenance cost — we will talk you out of it if it is not warranted.
International clients are quoted in local currency at fixed scope. Our UK, Australian, Canadian and UAE clients typically pay a fraction of local agency rates for the same Premier Partner work.
Questions we get every week
Should I buy a premium theme or build custom?
Buy a premium theme unless you have a specific reason not to. Well-built themes like Dawn or Prestige, customised properly, handle the large majority of catalogues and cost a fraction of a custom build. Go custom when your merchandising genuinely does not fit a template — a configurator, an unusual product page, a category with real complexity — or when your brand identity is a competitive asset that a stock layout would flatten. We will tell you which situation you are in before quoting.
Will my team be able to edit the theme without a developer?
That is the point of building it properly. We architect Online Store 2.0 sections and blocks across every template, not just the homepage, and use metaobjects for structured content like size guides and ingredient tables. The test we hold ourselves to is whether your merchandiser can rebuild the homepage for a campaign without opening a ticket. If they cannot, the build is not finished.
Do I own the theme code?
Yes, entirely. The code is yours at handover along with the architecture documentation. We do not hold builds hostage, and you are free to take it to another developer. We would rather earn the retainer than trap you into it.
Can you work with our existing theme instead of replacing it?
Usually yes, and usually that is the better spend. Most stores come to us wanting a rebuild and actually need the theme they have restructured — sections added, the PDP reworked, the performance problems fixed. If the theme is genuinely beyond economic repair we will say so and quote the alternative, but we do not default to rebuild.
What about Online Store 1.0 themes?
They still work but you are on borrowed time — no sections on non-homepage templates, no metaobjects, no theme app extensions, and an increasing number of apps assume 2.0. Migrating to a 2.0 architecture is usually a worthwhile project on its own, and it is cheaper than a full redesign because the design work is already done.
Do you build headless Hydrogen storefronts?
Yes, and we recommend it less often than we are asked for it. Headless roughly doubles both build cost and ongoing maintenance, and gives up the app ecosystem and the theme editor your team relies on. It earns its keep when you have genuine front-end requirements Liquid cannot serve. When you do not, we will say so.
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Talk through what your theme actually needs
Send us your store URL and what you are trying to change. We will tell you honestly whether that is a customisation, a restructure or a rebuild — and quote the one you actually need.