Custom ecommerce engineering when Shopify limits stop working for you
Headless storefronts, custom admin, Shopify apps, and subscription-specific flows. Senior engineer on subscription, $3,499/mo, 2 to 4-day delivery cycles.
Who this is for
DTC or multi-brand ecommerce founder doing $2M to $30M a year who has outgrown what Shopify themes and plugins can do alone.
The pain today
- Shopify theme cannot do the custom checkout your business needs
- Subscription logic outgrowing Recharge or Bold
- B2B pricing and custom quote flows blocked by platform limits
- Plugin stack is fragile and breaks on every Shopify update
- Need a custom admin for staff without giving them full Shopify access
The outcome you get
- Custom ecommerce engineering on subscription at $3,499/mo
- Headless storefront, custom Shopify app, or full custom as fits
- Subscription, B2B, or loyalty logic that platforms cannot handle
- Custom admin with role-based access for staff
- 2 to 4-day delivery cycles, predictable monthly cost
When Shopify is no longer enough
Shopify is a great platform until you hit one of its hard limits. Complex subscription logic beyond what Recharge offers. B2B pricing that changes per customer account. Custom checkout flows (multi-step, gated, quoted). Admin features for staff that do not map to Shopify roles. Custom integrations (ERP, PIM, complex inventory) that plugins cannot handle. At that point, you need real engineering. The options are: Shopify app that extends the platform, headless storefront that replaces the theme, or full custom build for a specific surface. I help you pick.
Headless, Shopify app, or full custom — decision tree
Shopify app wins when the custom feature is additive — a new admin tool, a custom customer portal, a B2B portal that runs alongside Shopify. Fastest path, lowest risk. Headless wins when the storefront itself needs custom UX — complex product configurators, content-heavy pages, international storefronts. Keeps Shopify as backend. Full custom (Medusa, Commerce.js, Laravel + React) wins only when Shopify's backend itself is blocking — usually B2B marketplaces or very custom inventory needs. Most DTC retailers under $30M should stay on Shopify; only the specific custom surface leaves Shopify's default world.
Typical features I build
Subscription flows with pause, swap, skip, and tiered pricing. B2B portals with customer-specific pricing, quotes, and credit limits. Custom checkout (quote-based, multi-step, gated). ERP integrations (NetSuite, Cin7, ApparelMagic). Custom admin with fine-grained permissions. Loyalty and referral systems when plugins fall short. Internationalisation with multi-currency and multi-warehouse. Inventory sync across channels. Most features ship in 2 to 4 weeks of subscription work. For larger integrations (ERP migration, marketplace launch), budget 2 to 4 months.
Pricing and engagement model
Standard $3,499/mo. Pro $4,500/mo. Both include 2 to 4-day delivery, senior engineering, code review, and direct communication. Pro adds priority response and faster cycles. 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime. 100 percent code ownership under Work Made for Hire. For single-feature projects (custom checkout, subscription upgrade), one to three months of subscription usually does it. For ongoing ecommerce engineering, clients keep the subscription as a de-facto senior engineer. Cheaper than hiring, available inside a week.
Case: Imohub — high-volume catalog and search at scale
At Imohub I rebuilt a real estate portal with 120,000+ properties, sub-500ms query response, 70 percent infrastructure cost reduction, and top three Google rankings. Stack: Next.js, React, Laravel, MongoDB, Meilisearch, AWS, Docker. The performance discipline transfers directly to ecommerce — large catalogs, fast search, fast checkout, fast image loading. Every high-volume ecommerce engagement I run includes a performance baseline audit in the first month. Often the highest-ROI work we do — recovered conversions on existing traffic without any marketing spend.
When a Shopify Plus + third-party apps path is better
If your custom need is on the storefront UX side (better product page, better checkout), Shopify Plus plus the right apps often beats custom work. Replo, Shogun, Rebuy, Recharge, Stay AI — the app ecosystem solves many problems faster than I can build custom. I will tell you honestly in the first call if your need is app-solvable. Where custom earns its keep: anything involving staff workflows, complex B2B, or integrations that touch your ERP. That is where subscription engineering pays back; plugin-cobbled solutions usually do not.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Rebuilt a real estate portal at a fraction of the cost
Rebuilt Imóveis SC's real estate portal as ImoHub — a faster, more scalable successor — handling 120k+ properties with sub-second search and drastically reduced AWS costs.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- Can you build a custom Shopify app?
- Yes. Shopify apps built with their CLI, embedded in the admin, with proper GraphQL API integration and App Bridge for the UI. For private apps (yours only), we skip the Shopify app store review cycle and deploy directly. For public apps (distributed), we handle the review process. Most of my clients build private apps for their own operations — fastest path, full control, no review friction. Typical B2B portal or custom admin ships in 6 to 10 weeks of subscription work.
- How do you handle data migration?
- I migrate from Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, and custom legacy stacks. Full migration (products, customers, orders, metafields) is a 2 to 4-week project depending on catalog size and data cleanliness. Every migration includes URL mapping, redirects, SEO preservation. For ecommerce migrations above 10,000 SKUs or 100,000 customers, budget extra time for data cleanup — most legacy data is messier than expected.
- Can you handle ERP integrations (NetSuite, Cin7)?
- Yes. ERP integrations through official connectors when available (Celigo for NetSuite, Cin7's own API). For ERPs without good connectors, direct API work or middleware (Pipe17). Typical integration shipping in 4 to 8 weeks: orders from Shopify to ERP, inventory from ERP to Shopify, customer sync. At bolttech I ran integration-heavy work against 40+ providers, so tricky enterprise APIs are familiar territory.
- What about tax and international compliance?
- Tax compliance typically runs through Avalara, TaxJar, or Shopify's native tax tools. For international (EU VAT, UK VAT, Canadian GST/PST), integration with a tax service is essential. I wire the integration; your finance team manages the tax configuration and filings. For DTC brands scaling internationally, EU and UK are usually first priority. Standard integration ships in 2 to 3 weeks.
- How do you handle performance at scale?
- Performance is a first-class concern. At Imohub I got a 120k+ property catalog to sub-500ms queries with 70 percent infra savings. Same principles apply to ecommerce — proper caching (Redis, CDN), smart database indexing, server-rendered pages where possible, aggressive image optimisation, search through dedicated engines (Algolia, Meilisearch). Every engagement includes performance audit and tuning in the first 30 days. Often the single highest-ROI work.
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