# EssDeeJay — The SJ Development > EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) is a Toronto development agency with deep Shopify expertise. We also build Webflow websites, mobile applications and custom software, with focused scope and quick turnaround. Official website: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/ Project enquiries: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact Projects are scoped individually. Use the contact page to confirm scope, pricing, availability and delivery dates. Service pages describe capabilities; case-study outcomes apply to the projects described and are not guarantees for other stores. ## Working with EssDeeJay ### Do you work on projects beyond Shopify? Yes. Shopify is our core strength, and we also build Webflow websites, iOS and Android mobile applications, custom web applications, MVPs and internal tools. We recommend an approach based on the project requirements. ### Can you help with a project that needs a quick turnaround? Yes. We focus the first release on essential features and work through short review cycles. Share your deadline, available content and required integrations so we can confirm scope and a realistic delivery estimate. ### How long does a typical custom Shopify theme build take? A standard custom theme build typically takes between 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the complexity of the design, custom features required, and integrations with third-party apps. ### Do you handle migrations from other platforms like Magento or WooCommerce? Yes. We plan and implement migrations from platforms such as Magento and WooCommerce to Shopify. The scope covers data mapping, products, customers, orders, redirects and launch validation. Data compatibility and downtime requirements are assessed before the migration. ### Will a custom theme affect my store's performance and SEO? A custom theme can improve performance and technical SEO when it addresses the store's actual bottlenecks. We review code, assets, apps, page structure and Core Web Vitals, then validate changes. Results depend on the starting point, third-party tools and content; rankings and performance scores are not guaranteed. ### What is your pricing structure for new projects? Our pricing depends largely on the scope and complexity of the project. A standard theme rebuild typically starts at $15k, while fully custom app development and complex migrations are scoped individually. We recommend filling out our contact form to get a tailored estimate. ### How do you handle communication during the project build? We believe in complete transparency. You will be assigned a dedicated project manager and given access to a shared Slack channel and project management board so you can track progress in real-time. ### Do you offer ongoing support after the project launches? Absolutely. We offer retainer packages for ongoing development, CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), and general technical support to ensure your store continues to scale smoothly post-launch. --- # Shopify Theme Development > Custom Shopify themes that make the brand distinctive, the customer journey faster, and everyday merchandising easier for your team. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development Photo: Thom Bradley / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/hands-on-laptop-working-on-online-store) We turn your brand, catalog and merchandising model into a maintainable storefront system—not a collection of hard-coded landing pages. ## Who this service is for - Brands outgrowing an off-the-shelf theme - Teams blocked by developer-only content changes - Stores carrying theme debt from years of apps - Replatforms that need SEO and conversion continuity ## Problems we address ### The brand feels interchangeable A generic theme forces your merchandising into someone else’s component system, weakening differentiation at the exact point customers compare you. ### Campaigns move too slowly Marketing waits for code changes because templates lack safe, reusable sections and blocks for real campaign requirements. ### Every enhancement adds weight App snippets, duplicate scripts and one-off sections accumulate until improvements create regressions in speed, accessibility or maintainability. ## What the engagement covers ### A storefront shaped around buying decisions Information hierarchy, product media, comparison and calls to action follow what customers need to choose—not the defaults of a theme demo. ### Merchant-controlled composition Reusable theme blocks, JSON templates, metaobjects and carefully constrained settings let your team create new pages without breaking the design system. ### Performance by architecture Liquid, JavaScript, fonts, media and app embeds are budgeted from the beginning so speed is a design constraint rather than a launch-week cleanup. ### A codebase another team can own Clear naming, documentation, version control and release practices reduce dependence on the original developer and lower the cost of change. ## Delivery process ### Discover Map audiences, catalog complexity, content workflows, integrations and measurable storefront constraints. ### Design the system Define templates, blocks, content models, states and responsive behavior before production code. ### Build and validate Develop in Liquid and web-native components with accessibility, SEO, analytics and device testing built in. ### Launch safely Migrate content, protect URLs, test checkout paths, train merchants and monitor the release. ## Deliverables - Storefront and theme architecture - Responsive design-system implementation - Reusable sections and nested theme blocks - Product, collection, search and account templates - Structured data and technical SEO foundations - Accessibility and Core Web Vitals validation - Analytics event continuity - Merchant documentation and training ## Frequently asked questions ### Should we customize an existing Shopify theme or build one from scratch? We choose based on differentiation, catalog complexity, current technical debt and budget. A strong commercial theme can be the right foundation; a custom build is justified when the experience or operating model cannot be expressed cleanly through that foundation. ### Can our marketing team edit a custom theme? Yes. Merchant autonomy is a core requirement. We design reusable sections, nested blocks and content models around the changes your team actually makes, with guardrails that protect visual consistency and performance. ### Will a redesign protect existing Shopify SEO? A responsible migration preserves valuable URLs, metadata, structured data, internal links and indexation signals. We create a redirect and validation plan before launch and monitor search behavior afterward. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Custom Shopify App Development > Secure Shopify apps and extensions that remove operational friction, create differentiated capabilities and fit naturally into how merchants work. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/app-development Photo: Matthew Henry / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/coding-on-laptop) We build the smallest durable product that solves the business constraint, integrates with Shopify correctly and gives operators an interface they can trust. ## Who this service is for - A proprietary workflow no public app supports - Teams paying for several overlapping apps - B2B, pricing or fulfillment rules that create advantage - Software products extending into the Shopify ecosystem ## Problems we address ### The workflow lives in spreadsheets Critical decisions depend on copy-paste work, tribal knowledge and manual reconciliation outside the system of record. ### Public apps almost fit Generic software covers most requirements but creates workarounds, duplicate subscriptions or a compromised merchant experience. ### Legacy code cannot evolve safely Unversioned APIs, weak authentication and missing observability make every platform change feel like an emergency. ## What the engagement covers ### Business logic where it belongs Shopify Functions, APIs, extensions and backend services each handle the responsibility they are designed for. ### Native merchant experience Admin surfaces use Shopify’s current interaction patterns so teams can act with less training and less context switching. ### Security and permissions by design Managed installation, token exchange, minimum scopes, input validation and auditable actions reduce operational exposure. ### Observable production behavior Logs, events, webhook idempotency, retries and alerts make the application supportable after launch. ## Delivery process ### Frame the product Define users, decisions, exceptions, success measures and why native configuration or an existing app is insufficient. ### Prototype the workflow Validate the merchant journey, data model and platform extension points before committing to the full build. ### Engineer the system Build APIs, Functions, UI extensions and services with automated tests and versioned environments. ### Operate and improve Deploy safely, monitor usage and failures, and prioritize improvements from real operator behavior. ## Deliverables - Product discovery and technical architecture - Shopify embedded app or static app implementation - Admin, checkout, account or theme extensions - Shopify Functions and configuration UI - GraphQL Admin API and webhook services - Authentication, scopes and privacy flows - Automated tests and deployment pipeline - Logging, analytics and support documentation ## Frequently asked questions ### When is a custom Shopify app worth building? It is justified when the workflow creates meaningful operational cost, risk or differentiation and available apps cannot solve it cleanly. We compare native features, public apps and custom development before recommending a build. ### Can a custom app change Shopify checkout? Supported checkout UI extensions and Shopify Functions can customize defined presentation and backend logic. Exact capability and plan requirements vary, so we map the desired outcome to current extension points before scoping. ### How do you keep a Shopify app maintainable? We use supported APIs, explicit versions, automated tests, documented configuration, minimal scopes, observable events and a release process that reviews Shopify’s quarterly API changes. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Mobile Application Development > Mobile applications for customer experiences, memberships, bookings and business operations, with Shopify integration when commerce is part of the product. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/mobile-development Photo: Sarah Pflug / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/young-woman-checking-her-phone) Start with one useful customer journey, validate it on real devices, and expand through focused releases. ## Who this service is for - Businesses launching their first mobile product - Booking, membership and customer service apps - Teams replacing manual field workflows - Shopify brands building a mobile shopping experience ## Problems we address ### The product is too broad to launch A long feature list hides the one journey customers need first. We separate launch requirements from later improvements. ### Mobile workflows depend on workarounds Browser forms, spreadsheets and disconnected tools make tasks difficult on the move. ### Integrations become the bottleneck Accounts, payments and business data need clear ownership and dependable API connections. ## What the engagement covers ### A focused first release We define users, essential screens and acceptance criteria before committing to the build. ### Appropriate platform choices We select a cross-platform or native approach based on device features, experience requirements and maintenance. ### Connected business systems Authentication, APIs, notifications and optional Shopify commerce fit into the same product plan. ### Release visibility Device testing, crash monitoring and useful product events support the next iteration. ## Delivery process ### Scope Choose the primary customer journey, target devices and dependencies. ### Prototype Review key screens and interaction flows before implementation. ### Build and test Deliver the application and integrations in reviewable increments. ### Release and improve Prepare store submissions, monitor the release and prioritize feedback. ## Deliverables - Product scope and screen flows - iOS and Android application implementation - Authentication and API integrations - Device and interaction testing - Push notifications where required - Analytics and crash reporting - App Store and Google Play submission support - Source code and handover documentation ## Frequently asked questions ### Do you build mobile apps that are not connected to Shopify? Yes. We build mobile applications for customer services, bookings, memberships and internal business workflows. Shopify is an option when the app needs ecommerce, not a requirement. ### Can you deliver a mobile MVP quickly? We prioritize a small, usable first release and short review cycles. The estimate depends on screens, integrations, device requirements and ready-to-use content. App store review times are outside our control. ### Can an app connect to our existing software? Yes, where suitable APIs or integration options are available. We review authentication, data ownership, permissions and failure handling before agreeing the integration scope. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Webflow Website Development > Webflow websites, marketing pages and CMS builds for businesses that need a polished presence and an easier way to publish. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/webflow-development Photo: Matthew Henry / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/designer-working-on-laptop) A clear scope, reusable page components and short feedback cycles help you get a useful website live sooner. ## Who this service is for - Service businesses refreshing their website - Marketing teams launching campaigns - Founders building an initial web presence - Teams who need an editable content library ## Problems we address ### Publishing always needs a developer We structure editable content around the updates your team makes most often. ### The website no longer reflects the business A considered page structure and clear service messaging help visitors find the next step. ### Launch keeps expanding We agree the essential pages and required integrations, then schedule later additions separately. ## What the engagement covers ### Responsive implementation Designs are built and reviewed across desktop and mobile breakpoints. ### A useful CMS Collections, fields and reusable layouts fit the content you actually publish. ### Discovery foundations Page titles, descriptions, heading structure, redirects and indexability form part of the launch review. ### Confident ownership A documented editing workflow helps your team maintain the site after handover. ## Delivery process ### Define the pages Agree the audience, page list, content readiness and launch priorities. ### Design and structure Establish reusable layouts and CMS fields for repeatable content. ### Build and review Implement the site and review working pages in short feedback cycles. ### Check and launch Validate forms, responsive layouts, redirects and publishing settings. ## Deliverables - Page plan and content checklist - Responsive Webflow implementation - Reusable components and styles - CMS collections and templates - Form and integration setup within scope - Metadata and redirect mapping - Pre-launch accessibility and device checks - Editor handover and documentation ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you build a Webflow website even if we do not use Shopify? Yes. Our Webflow work supports standalone marketing websites, service businesses, landing pages and content-led sites. A Shopify store is not required. ### How do you keep Webflow projects moving quickly? We confirm the page list, content, brand assets and integrations early, then work through small reviewable milestones. We provide a delivery estimate after checking those dependencies rather than promising the same timeline for every website. ### Can our team update the site after launch? Yes. The CMS and reusable components are designed around your publishing needs. We include an editing handover and explain any plan or permission requirements that apply to your setup. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Custom Software & Web Development > Custom web applications, MVPs, customer portals and internal tools built around your business, with focused scope and quick turnaround on reviewable milestones. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/custom-development Photo: Sarah Pflug / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/software-programming-plan) Ship the smallest complete workflow that solves the problem, then use feedback to decide what comes next. ## Who this service is for - Founders validating an MVP - Teams replacing spreadsheet workflows - Businesses needing customer or partner portals - Projects needing functionality beyond a site builder ## Problems we address ### Off-the-shelf software does not fit Important business rules live in manual workarounds because the tools cannot express them. ### A full roadmap delays the first result We narrow the first release to a complete workflow with clear acceptance criteria. ### A fast prototype is hard to maintain Authentication, error handling, testing and ownership are included in the delivery plan. ## What the engagement covers ### A practical build decision We review existing tools and integrations before deciding which functionality needs custom code. ### Short feedback cycles Working increments let you review progress and resolve questions before they block launch. ### Maintainable foundations Clear data models, permissions and interfaces support the next release. ### A usable handover Source code, deployment instructions and operational notes make ownership explicit. ## Delivery process ### Choose the outcome Define users, the core workflow and how completion will be judged. ### Scope the first release Agree essentials, dependencies and what can wait until later. ### Build in increments Review working functionality as the application takes shape. ### Validate and hand over Test the critical journeys, deploy and document the running system. ## Deliverables - Discovery and first-release scope - Workflow and data model - Custom application implementation - Role-based access where required - API and business-system integrations - Critical workflow tests - Deployment and monitoring setup - Source code and maintenance documentation ## Frequently asked questions ### Do custom projects need to use Shopify? No. We also develop standalone web applications, internal tools, portals and MVPs. The platform and architecture follow your requirements. ### What does quick turnaround mean for a custom build? It means a focused first release, short review cycles and early agreement on dependencies. We confirm a project-specific estimate after discovery. Complex integrations, missing content and changing scope can affect delivery. ### Will we own the code and be able to extend it? Source code and handover documentation are included in the engagement scope. Ownership terms, third-party services and any ongoing support are agreed before work begins. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Shopify Performance Optimization > Evidence-led Shopify speed optimization focused on real customer sessions, Core Web Vitals and the code paths that actually limit conversion. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/performance Photo: Shopify Partners / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/finger-pointing-at-javascript-code) We locate the small number of templates, assets and third-party behaviors causing the largest real-user delay, then improve them without flattening the brand experience. ## Who this service is for - Stores failing Core Web Vitals on key templates - Themes slowed by years of app changes - Redesigns that look good but feel unresponsive - Teams unable to explain lab-versus-field performance ## Problems we address ### Scores improve but customers do not feel it Lab-only tuning optimizes a single run while real devices, markets, consent states and app scripts remain slow. ### Third-party code owns the critical path Marketing, reviews, experimentation and support scripts compete for main-thread time without a shared performance budget. ### The theme hides expensive work Slow Liquid, oversized media, duplicate assets and unstable layout create delay before and after the page becomes visible. ## What the engagement covers ### Real-user diagnosis Field data by template, device and market identifies whether LCP, INP or CLS is the actual customer constraint. ### A prioritized dependency map Every theme and app cost is connected to a business owner, customer value and technically viable remediation. ### Faster interaction—not just loading JavaScript execution, event handlers and DOM work are reduced so product selection and cart actions respond quickly. ### Performance that survives releases Budgets, monitoring and review practices make speed part of ongoing delivery rather than a temporary project result. ## Delivery process ### Measure field reality Segment real-user Core Web Vitals and reproduce priority sessions under representative conditions. ### Profile the critical path Trace Liquid, network, media, fonts, JavaScript and layout work on revenue-critical templates. ### Remediate by impact Ship the highest-value changes first and validate experience, analytics and app behavior after each group. ### Protect the gain Add budgets, dashboards, regression checks and ownership for third-party scripts. ## Deliverables - Real-user and laboratory performance baseline - Template-level LCP, INP and CLS analysis - Theme Inspector and Liquid profiling - Third-party script and app cost inventory - Image, video and font delivery improvements - JavaScript and interaction refactoring - Before-and-after validation - Performance budgets and monitoring playbook ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you guarantee a specific Shopify speed score? No credible team should guarantee a fixed lab score across devices and third-party changes. We establish measurable targets, prioritize controllable constraints and validate both lab and field performance. ### Do we need to remove all Shopify apps to improve speed? No. We evaluate the customer and operational value of each app against its performance cost, then optimize loading, replace implementation patterns or remove only what does not justify its cost. ### How long does Shopify speed optimization take? A focused audit and first remediation sprint can take a few weeks. Themes with extensive custom code and third-party dependencies may need phased work so changes can be tested without disrupting revenue. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Shopify SEO, AEO & GEO Optimization > Technical SEO, answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization that connect clean product data, useful content and measurable commerce discovery. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/seo-geo Photo: Matthew Henry / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/man-pointing-at-laptop-screen-analytics) We make your products and expertise easy to crawl, retrieve, compare and trust—then connect visibility to qualified visits and revenue. ## Who this service is for - Stores losing non-brand organic visibility - Brands preparing for AI shopping channels - International Shopify Markets expansion - Catalogs with inconsistent product attributes ## Problems we address ### The site publishes but is not understood Duplicate URLs, weak internal relationships, inconsistent entities and incomplete product attributes make relevant pages difficult to retrieve. ### Content targets keywords, not decisions High-volume topics attract shallow traffic while comparison, compatibility and purchase questions remain unanswered. ### International growth fragments authority Domains, languages, canonicals and localization evolve without one market architecture, creating indexation and customer mismatch. ## What the engagement covers ### A technically dependable search foundation Crawl paths, canonicals, sitemaps, redirects, structured data and rendering are aligned around revenue-critical pages. ### Product truth for AI discovery Taxonomy, metafields, titles, policies and evidence give Shopify Catalog and external systems clearer decision attributes. ### Answer-ready authority Content leads with direct answers, transparent comparisons and supported claims that help both buyers and generative systems. ### International relevance Markets, localized URLs, hreflang and content adaptation are designed around real regional demand and operations. ## Delivery process ### Benchmark visibility Audit crawling, indexation, rankings, answer citations, product data and qualified landing-page behavior. ### Model demand and entities Connect customer questions, products, categories, markets and evidence into a prioritized information architecture. ### Implement the foundation Fix templates, structured data, internal links, feeds, content and market signals. ### Measure and expand Track qualified discovery, citations, assisted conversion and content gaps as search behavior changes. ## Deliverables - Technical Shopify SEO audit - Crawl and indexation remediation - Product taxonomy and metafield strategy - Structured data and entity mapping - AEO/GEO content and internal-link architecture - Shopify Catalog readiness review - International domain and hreflang validation - Search and AI-discovery measurement framework ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between Shopify SEO, AEO and GEO? SEO supports crawling, indexing and conventional search visibility. AEO structures content to answer specific questions directly. GEO improves the chance generative systems can retrieve, trust and cite the brand’s information. Strong programs connect all three. ### Can you guarantee our products will appear in AI answers? No provider controls an external model’s recommendations. We can improve product data, technical accessibility, authority and answer quality while measuring appearance and accuracy across representative discovery journeys. ### Does Shopify handle international SEO automatically? Shopify Markets can generate important technical signals such as localized URLs, hreflang, canonicals and sitemaps. Market research, translation quality, localized content, product eligibility and internal linking still need deliberate work. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Shopify Conversion Rate Optimization > Shopify CRO that combines customer research, reliable event data and controlled experiments to improve decisions—not just decorate pages. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/cro Photo: Shopify Partners / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/online-shopping) We find where customer confidence or momentum breaks, form a measurable hypothesis, and change only what the evidence can justify. ## Who this service is for - Stores with meaningful traffic but weak conversion - Teams shipping changes without reliable learning - High-consideration catalogs with comparison friction - Brands preparing a redesign or checkout change ## Problems we address ### The funnel shows where, not why Analytics identifies a drop but cannot explain whether customers lack information, trust, clarity, relevance or technical reliability. ### Tests begin with opinions Teams compare visual preferences without a customer problem, a primary metric or enough traffic to reach a useful decision. ### Measurement is inconsistent Duplicate pixels, consent behavior and missing custom events make the result difficult to trust. ## What the engagement covers ### Customer evidence before solutions Research, search behavior, support conversations, reviews and session patterns reveal the decision friction behind the numbers. ### A trustworthy event layer Shopify Web Pixels and custom customer events create consistent measurement across relevant storefront and checkout moments. ### Experiments with decision rules Every test defines audience, hypothesis, primary metric, guardrails, duration and the action for each result. ### Learning that compounds A documented evidence library prevents repeated tests and turns customer insight into a reusable product roadmap. ## Delivery process ### Diagnose Combine funnel data, segmentation, customer evidence and technical review to locate the highest-value uncertainty. ### Prioritize Rank opportunities by evidence, potential impact, effort, risk and ability to measure. ### Experiment Build the smallest credible treatment and run it through an appropriate controlled rollout or validation method. ### Decide Read the result with guardrails, document the learning and ship, iterate or stop. ## Deliverables - Conversion and measurement audit - Customer journey and friction map - Web Pixel and custom-event plan - Research-backed opportunity backlog - Experiment design and implementation - Theme or checkout treatment development - Result analysis and decision record - Ongoing CRO operating cadence ## Frequently asked questions ### How much traffic does a Shopify store need for A/B testing? It depends on baseline conversion, expected effect, traffic split and the decision window. When traffic is insufficient, we use stronger research, usability validation, staged releases or sequential measurement rather than pretending a small test is conclusive. ### Do you guarantee a conversion-rate increase? No. CRO reduces uncertainty; it cannot guarantee how customers will respond. We protect the business with evidence, controlled exposure, guardrail metrics and explicit stopping rules. ### Should CRO begin before or after a redesign? Before. Existing behavior and customer research should shape the redesign. After launch, measurement and experiments can validate the most important assumptions without restarting the entire project. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Shopify UX & UI Design Improvements > Accessible Shopify UX and interface systems that reduce decision friction, strengthen brand confidence and stay coherent as the store evolves. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/ux-ui Photo: Sarah Pflug / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/designer-drawing-website-mockup) We make complex catalogs and buying rules feel understandable while giving the brand a system that can grow without visual drift. ## Who this service is for - Stores with confusing navigation or product choice - Brands with inconsistent components across templates - Teams improving accessibility and inclusive design - B2B or account journeys with dense information ## Problems we address ### Customers work to understand the interface Navigation labels, filters, options and error states reflect internal terminology rather than how buyers think. ### The design changes from page to page Apps and one-off campaign components weaken hierarchy and teach customers a new interaction pattern at every step. ### Accessibility is treated as a final audit Keyboard, focus, contrast, semantics and touch behavior are retrofitted after the component architecture is already fixed. ## What the engagement covers ### Journey clarity Research and task modeling simplify discovery, comparison, selection, cart, account and post-purchase interactions. ### Accessible component behavior Semantics, keyboard use, focus, contrast, motion and error recovery are designed into every reusable pattern. ### One scalable visual language Tokens and components keep brand expression, responsive behavior and app integrations coherent across the storefront. ### Design connected to implementation Prototypes include content, states, edge cases and Shopify constraints so the production experience matches the decision. ## Delivery process ### Understand behavior Review analytics, customer language, support evidence, accessibility and priority tasks. ### Model the journey Define information architecture, flows, content hierarchy and error recovery before visual polish. ### Design the system Create accessible components, responsive states and prototypes grounded in Shopify implementation. ### Validate in production Test with representative customers, devices and assistive patterns, then monitor behavior after release. ## Deliverables - UX and accessibility audit - Customer journeys and information architecture - Wireframes and interactive prototypes - Responsive Shopify design system - Product, collection, cart and account patterns - Content and error-state guidance - Developer-ready specifications - Usability and accessibility validation ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between Shopify UX and UI design? UX defines how customers understand and complete tasks; UI defines the visual and interactive system expressing those decisions. Strong Shopify work connects both to content, catalog rules and technical implementation. ### Can you make our Shopify theme accessible? We can improve theme accessibility through design, code and testing, but accessibility also depends on merchant content, apps and ongoing changes. We deliver priorities, remediations and practices rather than claiming a permanent compliance guarantee. ### Do UX improvements require a full redesign? Often not. Navigation, filters, product options, content hierarchy, cart feedback and component states can be improved within an existing visual brand. We recommend a redesign only when the system itself blocks progress. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # AI Development for Shopify > AI solutions for Shopify that improve discovery, decision-making and operations using your real product, policy and customer context. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/ai-development Photo: Sarah Pflug / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/programmers-reviewing-code-on-computer) We start with a measurable customer or operator decision, ground the system in trusted commerce data, and keep high-impact actions observable and controllable. ## Who this service is for - Catalogs where keyword search misses buyer intent - Teams needing faster access to operational knowledge - Brands preparing for agentic commerce - Recommendation problems with enough quality data ## Problems we address ### The AI demo is not a product A model can produce an impressive response while lacking reliable data, evaluation, permissions and a path to measurable value. ### Product truth is fragmented Descriptions, attributes, policies and inventory disagree across systems, so generated answers inherit that ambiguity. ### Automation outruns control High-impact actions are exposed without approval, scoped tools, audit trails or safe fallback behavior. ## What the engagement covers ### Use-case economics first We compare AI with search, rules, workflow design and conventional software before selecting the simplest effective approach. ### Grounded commerce context Catalog, metafields, policies and approved operational data constrain answers and recommendations. ### Evaluation before scale Representative prompts, retrieval quality, accuracy, latency, cost and commercial outcomes are measured against a baseline. ### Human control at consequential steps Permissions, confirmation, audit events and fallback states keep customer and merchant actions safe. ## Delivery process ### Choose the decision Define the customer or operator task, baseline, risk and measurable improvement. ### Prepare trusted context Model product, policy and operational data with access boundaries and freshness requirements. ### Prototype and evaluate Test retrieval, output quality, latency, cost and failure modes on representative cases. ### Integrate and govern Ship the experience with monitoring, approvals, feedback and an evaluation set that evolves. ## Deliverables - AI opportunity and feasibility assessment - Commerce data and retrieval architecture - Semantic or natural-language product search - Recommendation and decision-support systems - UCP and Shopify MCP integrations - Sidekick data or action extensions - Evaluation suite and quality dashboard - Security, approval and fallback design ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the best first AI project for a Shopify store? Usually a narrow, measurable task with high repetition and trusted data: better product retrieval, support answer assistance, merchandising analysis or a focused operator workflow. We avoid beginning with an overly broad interface that has no clear success measure. ### Can AI safely take actions in Shopify? It can invoke supported, scoped operations, but consequential changes should use permissions, validation, confirmation, audit events and clear failure behavior. The correct control level depends on the action’s risk. ### How do you measure Shopify AI quality? We use representative evaluation cases and measure retrieval relevance, factual accuracy, task completion, latency, cost, fallbacks and downstream commercial or operational outcomes. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Shopify Business Automation > Shopify Flow and event-driven automation that reduce manual effort while preserving approvals, exception handling and operational visibility. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/automations Photo: Matthew Henry / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/office-computer-screen) We automate the repeatable path, make exceptions visible and keep humans in control where judgment or financial risk matters. ## Who this service is for - Teams repeating order or customer administration - Operations scaling faster than headcount - B2B onboarding and account workflows - Stores coordinating several apps and fulfillment paths ## Problems we address ### People copy data between systems Routine updates depend on memory and manual entry, creating delay, inconsistency and work that grows directly with order volume. ### Exceptions disappear into the workflow Automation handles the happy path but does not explain failures, retry safely or route judgment to an owner. ### No one knows what changed Tags, holds, notifications and external calls happen without a durable decision record or operational monitoring. ## What the engagement covers ### A measurable automation case Volume, handling time, error risk and business impact define what to automate first. ### Native Flow where it fits Triggers, conditions, actions, connectors and Admin API requests solve maintainable workflows without unnecessary services. ### Explicit exception design Retries, timeouts, duplicate events, partial data and human escalation are modeled before activation. ### Operational ownership Dashboards, notifications, runbooks and named owners keep the workflow dependable after the builder leaves. ## Delivery process ### Map the work Observe triggers, decisions, data movement, manual effort, exceptions and current controls. ### Select the automation layer Choose Shopify Flow, native configuration, an app, a Function or a custom event service by responsibility. ### Build the guarded workflow Implement conditions, idempotency, approvals, retries, logging and secure secrets. ### Release and tune Pilot with monitored volume, reconcile outcomes and refine rules before expanding scope. ## Deliverables - Workflow and effort audit - Automation opportunity and risk map - Shopify Flow implementation - GraphQL Admin request actions - HTTP and app connector workflows - Shopify Function or custom action extensions - Exception alerts and reconciliation views - Runbooks, ownership and change documentation ## Frequently asked questions ### What can Shopify Flow automate? Flow can react to Shopify or app triggers, evaluate conditions and run actions such as tagging, notifications, holds, Admin API requests or supported external connections. Availability varies by plan and connected app. ### When does an automation need custom development? Custom development is justified when the workflow needs unsupported data, complex state, durable orchestration, a custom interface or reliability controls beyond Flow’s execution model. ### How do you prevent Shopify automations from causing errors? We design idempotency, validation, bounded retries, timeouts, approval steps, monitoring and reconciliation. We also pilot on limited volume before expanding the workflow. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Shopify Software Integrations > Resilient Shopify integrations connecting ERP, CRM, PIM, WMS, 3PL, accounting and analytics systems with clear ownership and recovery. Provider: EssDeeJay (The SJ Development) Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/integrations Photo: Matthew Henry / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/receiving-shipping-box-on-ipad) We make every critical commerce object accountable: one source of truth, explicit mappings, reliable delivery and a visible path to recovery. ## Who this service is for - ERP or accounting migrations - Multi-location inventory and fulfillment - Product data managed in a PIM - Stores replacing fragile point-to-point connectors ## Problems we address ### Systems disagree about the same order Identifiers, status models and timing differ, forcing teams to reconcile what should be shared business truth. ### Failures are discovered by customers A missed webhook or rejected payload has no alert, retry or reconciliation path until an order fails operationally. ### Platform changes create emergency work Legacy REST calls, unsupported versions and undocumented mappings make quarterly API evolution difficult to absorb. ## What the engagement covers ### Explicit systems of record Every product, inventory, customer, company, order, fulfillment and financial field has an owner and direction. ### GraphQL-first integration design Current Admin API patterns, version strategy and efficient queries replace growing reliance on legacy REST behavior. ### Reliable event processing HMAC verification, idempotency, filters, queues, retries and dead-letter handling protect near-real-time flows. ### Observable reconciliation Dashboards and comparison jobs reveal missing, delayed or conflicting records before they become customer problems. ## Delivery process ### Model ownership Define systems, entities, identifiers, field authority, timing, security and operational service levels. ### Design data contracts Specify payloads, transformations, versioning, errors, replay and reconciliation behavior. ### Build and simulate Implement APIs and event consumers, then test duplicates, ordering, outages and partial data. ### Cut over with control Backfill, parallel-run, reconcile, monitor and transfer operational ownership. ## Deliverables - Integration and source-of-truth architecture - Entity, field and identifier mapping - GraphQL Admin API services - Webhook subscriptions and event consumers - Queue, retry and idempotency controls - ERP, PIM, CRM, WMS or 3PL connectors - Backfill and cutover tooling - Monitoring, reconciliation and support runbooks ## Frequently asked questions ### Can Shopify integrate with our ERP, CRM or 3PL? Usually yes, provided the external system offers a workable API or file exchange. The important questions are entity ownership, data quality, timing, limits, error handling and how exceptions are reconciled. ### Should a Shopify integration use webhooks or polling? Webhooks are efficient for near-real-time changes, but production integrations often combine them with targeted API reads and scheduled reconciliation. Webhooks can be duplicated, delayed or missed by downstream systems, so recovery matters. ### How do you migrate a Shopify integration from REST to GraphQL? We inventory calls, map resources to GraphQL operations, redesign pagination and rate handling, validate output parity, run both paths where appropriate and cut over before the existing version becomes unsupported. ## Discuss a project Share your website or product brief, business goals, current tools, budget and timeline at https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact. Scope, pricing and delivery dates are confirmed for each project. --- # Published insights # Shopify Sidekick Tips: 5 Practical Workflows for Your Store > Use Shopify Sidekick for focused reporting, theme changes and Flow drafts. Five practical prompts and a review checklist, updated for September 2026. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-sidekick-workflow-tips Author: EssDeeJay Editorial Team Published: 2026-09-18 Updated: 2026-09-18 Photo: Thom Bradley / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/hands-on-laptop-working-on-online-store) ## The quick answer Give Sidekick one clearly bounded task, specify the data or page it should use, and review the proposed result before accepting changes. Start with a report or a draft, then move to repeatable workflows once the output is useful. Shopify began rolling out its redesigned admin on September 15, 2026. Navigation can collapse, and Sidekick moves into a floating conversation at the bottom of the page. The rollout is gradual, so your store may still show the previous layout. [Shopify's admin redesign announcement](https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/see-the-shopify-admin-s-new-look). The prompts below are our suggested starting points, not commands guaranteed to work identically in every store. Available actions depend on your store, permissions and installed tools. ## 1. Ask a smaller reporting question A vague request such as “improve my sales” leaves too many decisions undefined. Choose a time period, metric and comparison before opening the conversation. Try this original prompt: > Compare net sales for the last 28 complete days with the preceding 28 days. Show the five products with the largest decline. Explain which filters you used and separate observations from possible causes. Check whether refunds, discounts and the reporting time zone match your expectations. Open the underlying report and reconcile one product manually. A useful first result is a specific question to investigate, such as whether a stockout explains the decline. Sidekick can assist with analytics explorations and ShopifyQL queries. Treat the output as a starting point for verification, particularly when a business decision depends on the result. [Shopify's Sidekick help and guidance](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/ai-powered-tools/sidekick/help-and-guidance). ## 2. Improve one product description at a time Prepare the source facts first: dimensions, materials, compatibility, care instructions and known limitations. Then request a draft that uses only those facts. > Draft a concise description from the supplied product specifications. Keep measurements unchanged. Flag missing information instead of inventing benefits, certifications or delivery promises. Review the draft against the product and your brand voice. Give particular attention to compatibility and included accessories: a confident sentence can still create the wrong expectation. Shopify documents content generation as a Sidekick capability. Your own source material and approval process determine whether the result is ready to publish. [Shopify's Sidekick overview](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/ai-powered-tools/sidekick). ## 3. Make a theme request easy to inspect Work on a duplicate or development theme. Open the relevant template and ask for one visual adjustment instead of a full redesign. > On this product template, suggest a clearer hierarchy for the product title, supporting information and purchase action. Explain the proposed setting changes before applying them. Inspect desktop and mobile previews, a long product title and a product with multiple variants. The goal is to make buying information clearer without disrupting other templates. Sidekick's theme assistance requires the theme editor, and Shopify notes that theme changes must be saved manually. [Theme editing with Sidekick](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/ai-powered-tools/sidekick/help-and-guidance). ## 4. Draft an automation with an explicit exception Write the workflow in plain language before asking for help. Include what should start it, the conditions and what should happen when the required data is missing. > Help me draft an order-tagging workflow. Explain the trigger and required fields first. Tag qualifying orders for manual review; do not cancel orders, change inventory or send customer messages. Shopify documents Sidekick assistance for choosing Flow triggers and adding actions. Inspect the generated workflow node by node, then test a qualifying order, a non-qualifying order and an order with missing information. [Flow triggers](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-flow/getting-started/understanding-triggers), [Flow actions](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-flow/getting-started/understanding-actions). ## 5. Turn a successful task into a repeatable review Record the prompt, the expected output and a short validation checklist. Decide who owns the result and when it should be reviewed again. Reusing an approach is helpful only while its assumptions remain valid. For a weekly reporting routine, keep the date ranges and metric definitions in the checklist. For a content routine, maintain the approved product facts. For an automation, record the conditions that should prevent an action. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the new Shopify admin available to every store immediately? Shopify describes a gradual rollout beginning September 15, 2026. The layout can differ between stores while that rollout proceeds. ### Should I approve every Sidekick suggestion? Review each proposal against the original request and store data. Start with small changes and verify the result before using the same approach more widely. ### Can EssDeeJay help with more complex workflows? Yes. We can scope Shopify automations, integrations and custom applications when a workflow needs additional controls or connections to other systems. ## Turn a useful experiment into a dependable workflow If your team is repeating the same manual checks, our [business automation service](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/automations) can help define the rules, exceptions and monitoring. For workflows beyond Shopify, explore [custom software development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/custom-development) or [discuss your project](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact). --- # Shopify Multiple Barcodes: A Practical Setup and Testing Checklist > Shopify now supports multiple barcodes per variant. Learn what changed in September 2026 and how to test your POS, product data and integrations before rollout. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-multiple-barcodes-guide Author: EssDeeJay Engineering Team Published: 2026-09-18 Updated: 2026-09-18 Photo: Matthew Henry / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/store-scanner-for-checkout) ## What changed in September 2026? Shopify's September 8 announcement introduced support for up to 20 barcodes on a product variant. Merchants can manage them on the variant, through bulk editing or through the product CSV's Variant Barcodes column. Existing codes remain in place. Where a channel or tool expects one barcode, the first code remains significant. [Shopify's multiple-barcode announcement](https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/multiple-barcodes-in-variants). The practical opportunity is to identify the same sellable variant using different valid codes. The implementation task is to confirm that your receiving, checkout and external systems agree about which variant each code represents. The checklist below is our recommended rollout process. It does not assume that every third-party app supports the new list in the same way. ## 1. Choose a small pilot group Select a few variants with a real operational reason for additional codes. Include one simple product and one product with several sizes or colours. Keep a record of the current values before changing anything. For each pilot, write down: - The Shopify variant and internal stock identifier. - Each physical label that staff may scan. - The supplier or system responsible for the label. - The expected result when that label is scanned. - The channels and integrations that consume the record. This small inventory turns a configuration change into a testable requirement. If two teams disagree about what a label identifies, resolve that question before adding more data. ## 2. Confirm that the codes describe the same unit Use the variant as the starting point. Compare the actual item, size, colour and unit of sale against the source record. For example, a single bottle and a carton of six bottles may look closely related in a spreadsheet but represent different quantities for receiving and fulfillment. Do not attach a code simply because it shares a product name. Ask the inventory owner to confirm the exact item it identifies. Keep this decision documented. Future imports are easier to review when the team can distinguish deliberate alternate codes from accidental duplicates. ## 3. Make the first-code decision explicit The first barcode continues to be used by systems that consume a single value, according to Shopify's announcement. Before reordering codes, list the feeds, labels and apps that may rely on that value. [Single-barcode compatibility details](https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/multiple-barcodes-in-variants). Our recommendation is to assign an owner for this decision. Record why a particular code comes first, where it is used and which tests need repeating if it changes. Avoid treating the order as an incidental result of a spreadsheet sort. ## 4. Test the whole workflow A successful scan in one interface is one test result, not a complete integration check. Use your actual devices and the same software staff use during a normal shift. Run a short test matrix: 1. Scan each approved code and confirm the exact variant. 2. Verify the quantity and unit of sale. 3. Check the order or receiving record created downstream. 4. Inspect the payload or exported record used by your connected system. 5. Try an unknown code and confirm that the error is understandable. 6. Repeat the process with a similar-looking variant to catch ambiguous mappings. Record both the expected result and the observed result. A failed test is useful: it shows where the data contract or staff procedure needs attention before a broader change. ## 5. Expand in controlled batches Keep an export of the original data and agree a rollback procedure with the team responsible for inventory. Review the first batch with the people doing receiving and checkout, then expand only after the pilot behaves as expected. Useful measures include unmatched scans, manual product lookups and incorrect variant selections. Compare equivalent operating periods and investigate exceptions instead of assuming that the feature alone has solved the workflow. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How many barcodes can a Shopify variant have? Shopify's September 2026 announcement specifies up to 20 barcodes per variant. Review the linked release note for the current supported behavior. ### Should we remove our existing barcode first? The release note says existing barcodes remain in place. Preserve your working data while testing any additions and confirm downstream requirements before changing code order. ### Does this mean every connected application supports multiple barcodes? Do not assume that it does. Test the app's actual input and output and confirm its supported behavior with the provider before relying on it operationally. ## Need help connecting inventory systems? Our [Shopify integration service](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/integrations) covers data ownership, mappings and failure handling between commerce and business systems. If your workflow needs a dedicated interface, explore [custom development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/custom-development). --- # Shopify Search & Discovery: 5 Product Filter Improvements to Try > Make Shopify product filters easier to use with cleaner attributes, focused choices and a mobile testing checklist. Practical Search & Discovery tips for 2026. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-search-discovery-filter-tips Author: EssDeeJay Strategy Team Published: 2026-09-18 Updated: 2026-09-18 Photo: Markus Winkler / Burst (https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/photos/clothes-on-a-rack-in-a-clothing-store) ## The quick answer Start with the decisions shoppers make, clean the product attributes behind those decisions, and test the resulting filters on a phone. A shorter set of useful choices is a better starting point than exposing every internal label in the catalog. This guide was checked against Shopify's current documentation on September 18, 2026. It is a practical improvement checklist, not a claim that every feature below was released this month. Shopify Search & Discovery can configure filters for collection pages and search results. The storefront must support displaying them; configuring a filter in the app alone is not sufficient. [Shopify's filter documentation](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/storefront-search/search-and-discovery-filters). ## 1. Choose filters from buying questions Write down three questions customers ask before choosing a product. Use support conversations, sales discussions and product knowledge rather than starting with the fields already available in your database. For a hypothetical furniture store, those questions might be: will it fit the room, is it suitable for outdoor use, and which material do I prefer? For clothing, fit and occasion may matter alongside size. Choose a small pilot collection. Ask someone unfamiliar with the catalog to find a product for a specific need, and observe where they hesitate. Turn those observations into filter requirements. Do not publish a new attribute until the underlying product data can support it reliably. ## 2. Separate customer language from internal shorthand Audit a sample of products before changing the interface. Look for inconsistent spelling, units and abbreviations. Decide who owns the vocabulary and how new products will be checked. Imagine a store where similar items use “outdoor”, “Outside” and an internal supplier abbreviation. Our recommendation is to define one customer-facing concept and document which records belong to it. Keep genuinely different specifications distinct: improving labels should not hide a meaningful difference between products. Shopify supports custom filter sources using product options, metafields and metaobjects. Choose the source that matches how your team maintains the attribute. [Supported filter sources](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/storefront-search/search-and-discovery-filters). ## 3. Make the first mobile interaction obvious Open the collection on a real phone and try the complete journey: open filters, select a value, apply it, inspect the results and remove the selection. Our review checklist: - Can a shopper find the filter control without searching the page? - Is the selected state clear before and after closing the panel? - Does the result count help explain what changed? - Can the shopper remove one choice without restarting? - Is the control usable with long labels and larger text? - Does keyboard navigation reach and operate every control? A desktop preview is helpful, but it will not expose every issue with a narrow viewport or a touch interaction. Capture the problem and the intended behavior before asking a developer to adjust the theme. ## 4. Check platform limits before debugging the theme The current documentation lists several constraints: collections over 5,000 products do not show filters, search results over 100,000 do not show filters, and the store supports up to 25 configured filters. The price filter is limited to the shop's default currency. [Current filter considerations](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/storefront-search/search-and-discovery-filters). Use these as diagnostic checks before rewriting your interface. Then examine your own data: a field may be configured correctly but absent from the products in the collection you are testing. Keep a known test product with a complete attribute set so you can distinguish missing data from a rendering problem. ## 5. Measure the buying journey, not just filter clicks Define the outcome before the change goes live. A shopper who finds the right product with fewer interactions may be having a better experience even if filter clicks decline. For the pilot collection, track product-page visits from the collection, add-to-cart progression and common empty-result situations where your analytics supports those events. Compare similar traffic sources and devices. Record promotions, stock changes and campaign launches that could affect the comparison. Start with one improvement and leave enough time to observe behavior. Avoid attaching a conversion claim to a before-and-after period that also contained a major sale or a large change in traffic. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why do my configured Shopify filters not appear? Check theme compatibility, collection size and whether the relevant product attributes are populated. Shopify's linked documentation explains the platform requirements and limits. ### Should every product attribute become a filter? No. Start with attributes that help customers make a choice, then test whether the available values are understandable and consistently maintained. ### Can better filters guarantee more sales? No. Their effect depends on the catalog, shopper needs, traffic and implementation. Treat the change as a measurable usability improvement rather than a guaranteed revenue result. ## Improve the complete product discovery journey Our [conversion optimization service](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/cro) can help connect customer questions to a testable storefront change. If the theme needs implementation work, explore [Shopify theme development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development). For the broader connection between structured product information and AI discovery, read our [Shopify agentic commerce guide](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-agentic-commerce-geo-guide). --- # Shopify Agentic Commerce SEO: How to Make Your Products Discoverable in AI Shopping > A practical 2026 guide to Shopify agentic commerce, AEO and GEO—covering product data, answer-ready content, structured signals and measurement. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-agentic-commerce-geo-guide Author: EssDeeJay Editorial Team Published: 2026-07-22 Updated: 2026-07-22 **The short answer:** Shopify brands become easier for AI shopping systems to discover when their product data is complete, their claims are supported by clear evidence, and their website answers specific buying questions in language customers actually use. Traditional SEO still matters, but it now sits inside a larger discipline: making the brand understandable, retrievable and trustworthy to both search engines and commerce agents. That shift is no longer theoretical. Shopify’s Spring ’26 Edition positions Catalog and the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) as infrastructure for product discovery and transactions across AI surfaces. Shopify says eligible merchant products are included in Catalog by default, while Agentic Storefronts can connect merchants with channels such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI experiences, Gemini and Shop. The opportunity is meaningful—but automatic availability is not the same as competitive visibility. This guide explains what a Shopify team can control, how answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) fit together, and where technical or content work is likely to produce the best return. ## What Is Shopify Agentic Commerce? Shopify agentic commerce is a model in which AI systems help buyers discover, compare and purchase products. Instead of beginning every journey on a category page or search engine results page, a customer might ask an assistant for “a lightweight waterproof commuter backpack that fits a 16-inch laptop and ships to Toronto this week.” The assistant can interpret the intent, retrieve suitable products, clarify constraints and help move the buyer toward checkout. Shopify describes UCP as an open protocol for commerce interactions from discovery through checkout. Its Catalog layer provides structured, queryable product information, while store-level MCP endpoints can expose catalog, cart and policy capabilities to compatible agents. Shopify’s current [agentic commerce developer documentation](https://shopify.dev/docs/agents) outlines how agents can search products, build carts and create checkout handoffs. The [Spring ’26 merchant announcement](https://www.shopify.com/news/spring-26-edition-merchant) explains the merchant-facing channel and reporting experience. For a brand, the strategic change is simple: **your product page is no longer the only interface through which product truth is interpreted**. Product attributes, taxonomy, availability, policies, reviews, editorial content and third-party references can all shape whether a system understands when your product is relevant. ## Why AEO and GEO Matter for Shopify Stores AEO and GEO overlap, but they solve slightly different problems. - **Answer engine optimization (AEO)** improves the chance that a brand’s content supplies a direct, useful answer to a specific question. - **Generative engine optimization (GEO)** improves the chance that generative systems can retrieve, interpret, trust and cite the brand’s information when composing an answer. - **Traditional SEO** improves crawling, indexing, ranking and the quality of visits from conventional search experiences. - **Commerce feed and catalog optimization** improves the accuracy of product-level retrieval, filtering and comparison. A strong Shopify strategy needs all four. A perfectly written buying guide cannot rescue inaccurate inventory or missing variant data. A pristine product feed cannot explain why a technical material is appropriate for one use case but unsuitable for another. Schema markup cannot manufacture authority that the visible page fails to support. The goal is not to “write for robots.” It is to remove ambiguity for shoppers and machines at the same time. > AEO and GEO work best when they improve the customer’s decision, not when they add another layer of keyword-heavy copy. ## How AI Shopping Systems Interpret Product Relevance No merchant can control every ranking or recommendation system. However, most product-discovery experiences need to resolve a common set of questions: 1. **What is this product?** The system needs a precise product type, category and variant model. 2. **Who is it for?** Intended audience, fit, compatibility and use case should be explicit. 3. **Which constraints does it satisfy?** Size, material, certifications, ingredients, performance, geography, price and availability may all matter. 4. **Why should the claim be trusted?** Specifications, test methods, policies, reviews and independent references reduce uncertainty. 5. **Can the buyer complete the action?** Current price, inventory, shipping eligibility, returns and checkout readiness affect usefulness. This is why generic descriptions underperform. “Our premium bottle is perfect for every adventure” communicates enthusiasm but almost no retrievable decision criteria. “A 750 ml, double-wall stainless-steel bottle that keeps cold drinks insulated for up to 18 hours and fits standard vehicle cup holders” gives a shopper—and a retrieval system—specific facts to evaluate. Facts must also be consistent. If the product title says 750 ml, a specification table says 700 ml, and a marketplace feed says 24 oz, a system has to reconcile conflicting evidence. Even when it chooses correctly, inconsistency weakens confidence. ## The Five-Layer AI Commerce Visibility Framework The most reliable approach is to improve visibility as a connected system rather than a one-time content project. ![Diagram showing product truth, structure, answers, distribution and measurement as a connected AI commerce visibility flywheel](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/agentic-commerce-readiness.svg) ### 1. Establish a dependable product truth layer Begin with the catalog—not the blog. Audit titles, descriptions, variants, category assignments, product types, media, inventory rules, shipping data and metafields. Important attributes should live in predictable structured fields rather than being buried only in an image or decorative accordion. For each priority product, confirm that the store can answer: - What does it do? - What is it made from? - Which dimensions, sizes or capacities are available? - Which products, systems or body types is it compatible with? - Where can it ship and how quickly? - What is included and excluded? - What evidence supports performance or sustainability claims? - Which return, warranty or subscription rules apply? Use Shopify’s standard product category and category metafields where appropriate. Then add carefully governed custom metafields for attributes unique to the business. A naming convention and documented ownership matter; without them, data quality degrades as the catalog grows. ### 2. Make entities and relationships explicit Search and generative systems benefit when a page clearly identifies the product, brand, organization, author, article and breadcrumb relationships. Valid structured data can reinforce those relationships, but it should mirror the visible content. At minimum, review: - Product and Offer structured data on product pages. - Organization and WebSite data at the site level. - Article, author and publication dates for editorial content. - BreadcrumbList data that matches navigation. - FAQ structured data only where the questions and answers are genuinely visible. Do not mark every block as a FAQ or repeat the same schema across hundreds of pages. Structured data is a consistency layer, not a shortcut. Google’s [structured data guidelines](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/sd-policies) remain a useful quality reference even when the broader goal includes non-Google answer systems. Internal linking is equally important. Connect buying guides to relevant collections and products. Link product pages to sizing, care, compatibility or ingredient resources. Use meaningful anchor text such as “compare merino and synthetic base layers,” not “learn more.” These links describe relationships while also helping customers move through the decision. ### 3. Publish answer-ready content around real decisions Keyword research should identify demand, but the page must satisfy an intent rather than repeat a phrase. High-value AI shopping prompts tend to be detailed: buyers specify context, limitations and desired outcomes. That creates room for content beyond broad category keywords. Useful formats include: - “Best for” guides with transparent selection criteria. - Comparisons that explain trade-offs instead of declaring a universal winner. - Compatibility guides for devices, parts, routines or environments. - Sizing and fit resources with worked examples. - Care, maintenance and expected-lifespan guidance. - Ingredient or material explainers reviewed by a qualified subject expert. - Shipping, warranty and return answers written without legal ambiguity. Lead with a concise answer, then add evidence and nuance. Use descriptive headings that can stand alone. A heading such as “Is recycled nylon waterproof?” is more retrievable than “Material performance.” The answer should distinguish water resistance from waterproof construction, cite the applicable test or specification, and explain what that means in practice. This is also where professional restraint matters. Avoid unsupported superlatives, invented statistics and vague environmental claims. When evidence has limitations, state them. Trust is an optimization asset. ### 4. Prepare the storefront for agentic distribution Shopify says its Catalog structures and syndicates eligible product data to supported AI channels. Merchants should review the Agentic Storefronts area in Shopify Admin, channel settings, product eligibility and any product-data recommendations made available there. The [Shopify announcement on AI chat selling](https://www.shopify.com/news/agentic-commerce-momentum) provides current channel context. Technical teams building custom experiences can use the [Storefront MCP documentation](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/storefront-mcp/servers/storefront) to understand store-scoped product search, cart and policy tools. That does not mean every merchant needs a custom agent. Often, the first priority is making the existing catalog and storefront reliable enough for built-in distribution. Review these operational questions before activating more surfaces: - Are prices, inventory and variants synchronized fast enough? - Can the fulfillment model support demand from a new channel? - Do policies answer edge cases clearly? - Are restricted products, regions or customer groups handled correctly? - Will attribution reach analytics and reporting? - Who owns the response when an agent presents inaccurate information? Visibility without operational readiness can create customer-service costs. Treat channel expansion as a commerce launch, not a checkbox. ### 5. Measure qualified discovery, not mentions alone AI visibility metrics are still evolving. Avoid reducing the program to “Did an assistant mention us?” A recommendation to the wrong customer is not a win, and a citation can create value even when the final purchase happens later through another channel. Build a measurement view that combines: - AI-channel impressions, product appearances and attributed orders available in Shopify. - Referral sessions from answer engines where referrer data is available. - Landing pages receiving qualified long-tail traffic. - Assisted conversions and new-customer revenue. - Search terms and customer questions that reveal data gaps. - Product-feed or merchant-center diagnostics. - Conversion rate and return rate by source and product. Track a small, stable set of representative prompts manually each month. Record whether the brand appears, which page or source is cited, whether claims are accurate and which competitors dominate. The purpose is not to reverse-engineer an opaque model. It is to identify repeatable gaps in content, authority and product data. ## A Practical Shopify GEO Audit An audit should move from technical foundations to commercial priorities. ### Crawl and indexation Confirm that important product, collection and editorial URLs are crawlable, canonicalized correctly and not competing with parameter or duplicate variants. Review XML sitemaps, redirects, status codes and accidental noindex rules. Client-side rendering should not hide critical product facts from crawlers that process pages differently. ### Product data quality Select the products responsible for the majority of revenue or strategic growth. Score each one for attribute completeness, category accuracy, media quality, policy clarity and consistency across channels. Fix the template or data model before manually rewriting hundreds of records. ### Content coverage Map customer questions across discovery, comparison, purchase and ownership. Compare those questions with existing pages. A site often has plenty of awareness content but little help for late-stage questions such as compatibility, total cost, implementation time or return conditions. ### Evidence and authority Identify claims that require support. Add first-party test detail, methodology, subject-expert review, original photography, case evidence or links to authoritative standards. Give authors and reviewers clear profiles. Update dates when the underlying information changes—not merely to make a page look fresh. ### Experience and conversion GEO traffic still lands on a website. Test mobile performance, navigation, accessibility, product-media behavior, variant selection and checkout. If a cited answer sends a motivated buyer to a slow or confusing page, visibility has not produced business value. ## A 90-Day Implementation Plan ### Days 1–30: diagnose and define - Benchmark technical SEO, structured data and priority prompts. - Select one commercially important category. - Create an attribute and content gap map. - Assign owners for product, policy and editorial truth. - Define qualified-traffic and conversion measures. ### Days 31–60: fix the system - Improve the product model and collection taxonomy. - Correct structured data and canonical signals. - Update priority product and policy pages. - Publish two or three decision-stage resources. - Connect them through intentional internal links. ### Days 61–90: distribute and learn - Review Agentic Storefronts settings and eligible channels. - Validate how products appear across supported experiences. - Monitor questions, citations, landing pages and conversions. - Turn recurring data gaps into a quarterly content backlog. - Document what changed so merchandising teams can maintain it. The strongest outcome is not three optimized pages. It is a repeatable operating model that keeps product truth, content and distribution aligned. ## How EssDeeJay Can Help The right solution depends on where the constraint lives. A content agency may recommend more articles when the real problem is an inconsistent product model. An app may promise AI visibility while leaving technical SEO and policy content untouched. A full replatform may be unnecessary when a focused theme, data and integration program would solve the issue. EssDeeJay can help Shopify teams: - Audit technical SEO, structured data and AI-discovery readiness. - Design product metafields, taxonomy and governance for richer discovery. - Improve theme templates so critical data is accessible and fast. - Build comparison, compatibility and answer-focused content systems. - Connect PIM, ERP or feed tools when product truth is fragmented. - Prototype agentic experiences with Shopify’s supported APIs and MCP tools. - Define measurement that connects visibility with qualified revenue. We begin by identifying the commercial goal and the smallest credible route to it. That might be a four-week catalog remediation, a focused theme enhancement, an integration, or a broader discovery and conversion roadmap. The recommendation should fit the operation—not the trend cycle. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Shopify agentic commerce? Shopify agentic commerce allows compatible AI systems to help buyers discover products, build carts and progress toward checkout using structured commerce capabilities. Shopify Catalog supports product discovery, while UCP and MCP-based tools support interactions across the shopping journey. ### Is GEO replacing Shopify SEO? No. GEO extends SEO rather than replacing it. Crawlability, useful content, site performance, internal linking and authority still matter. GEO adds emphasis on retrievability, explicit entities, supported claims and content that generative systems can confidently use in composed answers. ### Do Shopify stores need a custom AI shopping agent? Not necessarily. Many merchants should first improve catalog quality, product pages, structured data and built-in Agentic Storefronts readiness. A custom agent is valuable only when it solves a defined customer or operational problem that standard storefront search and support cannot address well. ### How long does Shopify AEO and GEO take to work? Technical fixes can be shipped in weeks, but discovery and authority develop over time. A focused 90-day program is enough to improve data quality, publish priority resources and establish a baseline. Competitive visibility usually requires ongoing product governance, content maintenance and measurement. ### What should a Shopify GEO agency deliver? A credible engagement should deliver more than keywords. Expect a technical audit, product-data model, content and entity gap analysis, prioritized roadmap, implemented templates or content, validation of structured signals, and reporting tied to qualified traffic and commercial outcomes. ## Official Resources - [Shopify Spring ’26 Edition overview](https://www.shopify.com/editions/spring2026) - [Shopify agentic commerce documentation](https://shopify.dev/docs/agents) - [Shopify Storefront MCP server documentation](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/storefront-mcp/servers/storefront) - [Google Search structured data policies](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/sd-policies) --- # Shopify Scripts Are Gone: A Practical Migration Guide to Shopify Functions > Shopify Scripts stopped executing on June 30, 2026. Learn how to audit broken logic, map it to Functions, test safely and recover checkout behavior. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-scripts-to-functions-migration Author: EssDeeJay Engineering Team Published: 2026-07-18 Updated: 2026-07-22 **The immediate answer:** Shopify Scripts were sunset on June 30, 2026. Any Scripts that remained published were deactivated and no longer execute. If a store depended on Scripts for line-item pricing, shipping methods or payment-method behavior, the priority is to identify the missing commercial rule, contain customer impact, and replace it with the appropriate Shopify Function or compatible app. This is not a line-by-line Ruby translation project. Shopify Functions use dedicated APIs, different inputs and platform-controlled activation. A safe migration begins with the business outcome—such as “wholesale buyers receive tiered pricing” or “cash on delivery is hidden above a risk threshold”—and then maps that outcome to the current platform capability. Shopify’s official [Scripts-to-Functions migration guide](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/functions/migrating-from-shopify-scripts) now states that Scripts have been deactivated. The Script Editor remains available in read-only form for a limited period, so teams that have not documented their logic should capture it immediately. ## What Changed on June 30, 2026? Shopify Scripts were small Ruby programs that changed line items, shipping rates or payment methods during checkout. They were historically available to Shopify Plus stores and often accumulated years of promotion, wholesale and operational logic. Shopify first stopped new editing and publishing, then ended execution on June 30, 2026. The [Shopify developer changelog announcement](https://shopify.dev/changelog/shopify-scripts-will-be-deprecated-on-june-30-2026) lists the key dates, while the current developer migration guide confirms that published Scripts were deactivated after sunset. The practical impact varies: - A line-item Script may have controlled bundles, gifts, customer-tag discounts, quantity breaks or product-specific promotions. - A shipping Script may have renamed, reordered, discounted or hidden delivery methods. - A payment Script may have hidden or reordered payment methods based on cart, geography, customer or delivery conditions. If the behavior was not replaced, checkout may still function—but with the wrong price, option or guardrail. That makes post-sunset detection more difficult than a visible outage. A merchant can continue taking orders while silently losing margin or creating fulfillment exceptions. ## How to Check Whether Your Store Is Affected Do not rely on memory. Shopify stores with mature checkout logic often have rules created by former employees, agencies or apps that are no longer actively managed. ### Review the customization report and Script Editor In Shopify Admin, review the Scripts customization report and open each historical Script in the read-only Script Editor while access remains available. Export or securely document: - Script name and type. - Source code and any configuration values. - Products, collections, tags, markets and customer segments referenced. - Dates, thresholds and currencies. - Expected messages presented to customers. - Known exclusions and operational workarounds. Shopify’s [Help Center transition guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/script-editor/transitioning-to-functions) explains how the customization report groups payment, shipping and product-discount behavior and suggests Function resources or apps. ### Compare expected and actual checkout behavior Use a controlled test matrix. Include a normal retail order and every high-value scenario the business recognizes, such as: - VIP, employee, wholesale and loyalty customers. - Domestic and international addresses. - Subscription and one-time items. - Gift cards, sale products and excluded collections. - Mixed carts and multiple delivery groups. - Discount codes combined with automatic promotions. - Express wallets and accelerated checkout paths. - Minimum, maximum and boundary quantities. Record line prices, discounts, shipping methods, payment options, messages, tax treatment and the final order. Compare the results with historical requirements and recent orders from before the sunset where possible. ### Look for commercial symptoms Analytics and support data can reveal missing rules. Review changes after June 30 in: - Gross margin by product, channel and customer type. - Discount rate and average order value. - Shipping revenue versus carrier cost. - Payment-method mix and failed-payment rate. - Checkout conversion and abandonment by market. - Manual order edits, refunds and support contacts. A single metric rarely proves a Script failure. Together, they can focus the investigation on the rule most likely to be missing. ## Why Shopify Functions Are Not a Direct Rewrite Shopify Functions run custom backend logic within defined extension points. They receive only the data requested by their GraphQL input query and return operations allowed by that Function API. Current APIs cover areas including discounts, delivery customization, payment customization, cart and checkout validation, cart transforms, fulfillment constraints and order routing. The [Function APIs overview](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/functions/latest) is the authoritative place to check current targets, availability and limits. Capabilities and plan requirements differ, especially for custom apps and advanced functionality, so validate the exact use case before committing to an approach. Important architectural differences include: - **Dedicated responsibilities:** one legacy Script may need to become several Functions. - **Explicit inputs:** a Function sees the fields its input query requests, not an unlimited checkout object. - **Structured outputs:** the Function returns defined operations rather than mutating arbitrary state. - **App-based delivery:** Functions are extensions distributed and configured through apps. - **Platform execution:** code compiles to WebAssembly and runs within Shopify’s performance limits. - **Cross-surface enforcement:** supported server-side rules can apply more consistently across storefront, checkout and accelerated surfaces. Treat these constraints as design inputs. Trying to recreate the internal shape of a Script often produces a fragile Function; recreating the commercial outcome usually produces a cleaner solution. ## Map Script Intent to the Correct Function API Start with a plain-language rule inventory. For each rule, state the trigger, condition, action, exclusions, message and owner. ### Product and order discounts Use the Discount Function API for product, order and delivery savings supported by the current unified discount model. A Function can generate discount candidates based on the cart and configuration. The latest [Discount Function API reference](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/functions/latest/discount) documents supported inputs, operations, activation limits and combination behavior. Examples include: - Customer-segment percentage discounts. - Buy-more-save-more offers. - Gift-with-purchase logic expressed as a product discount. - Bundle or collection promotions. - Order thresholds with product exclusions. - Delivery discounts coordinated with an offer. Be precise about discount combinations. Two offers that appear independent may produce unintended margin loss when they stack. Define which discount classes can combine and test interactions with native codes, automatic discounts, subscriptions and B2B pricing. ### Delivery customization Use Delivery Customization Functions when the outcome is to rename, reorder or hide delivery options based on supported cart and delivery data. If the use case creates a new calculated rate or depends on carrier data, a carrier service or app architecture may also be required. Common rules include: - Hiding an express method for hazardous or oversized products. - Prioritizing pickup for a local market. - Renaming methods to align with the brand’s service promise. - Restricting options for particular addresses or cart conditions. Modern checkout can contain multiple delivery groups and mixed fulfillment. Never assume one shipping method represents the entire order. ### Payment customization Use Payment Customization Functions to rename, reorder or hide supported payment methods. Examples include restricting cash on delivery, prioritizing a B2B payment option or removing a method for a particular market. Payment rules deserve additional scrutiny because wallet, currency, subscription and market contexts can change what information is available. Test accelerated checkout explicitly rather than assuming behavior from the standard checkout path. ### Cart and checkout validation Use Cart and Checkout Validation Functions when a business rule should block progress and present a clear error. Shopify’s [checkout validation guide](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/checkout/cart-checkout-validation) gives examples such as order limits and restricted destinations. Validation is appropriate for rules like: - Maximum quantity for regulated or scarce products. - Age, location or business-customer requirements. - Preventing incompatible products in the same cart. - Requiring a purchase-order number or other supported condition. Do not use a hidden shipping or payment method as an indirect substitute for a clear validation when the customer needs to understand why an order cannot proceed. ### Cart transforms and native B2B features Some legacy line-item behavior belongs in Cart Transform Functions; other behavior is now handled natively. Before custom development, check Shopify’s current bundle, quantity-rule, volume-pricing, Markets and B2B features. Removing custom code is often the best migration outcome when the platform now supports the requirement directly. ## A Low-Risk Migration Roadmap ![Six-step roadmap from inventory and API mapping through testing, rollout and monitoring](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/functions-migration-roadmap.svg) ### Step 1: Build a complete inventory Create one record for every Script and every distinct rule inside it. Assign a commercial owner who can confirm what the rule is meant to achieve. Code without an owner should not be migrated automatically; it may protect margin, or it may be obsolete complexity. ### Step 2: Write observable acceptance criteria Convert each rule into testable examples: - Given a tagged wholesale customer with 20 eligible units, when checkout calculates discounts, then the agreed unit price is applied. - Given a cart containing an oversized item, when delivery options load for a Canadian address, then express delivery is not offered and standard freight remains available. - Given a restricted product and an ineligible destination, when the buyer attempts checkout, then progress is blocked with an actionable message. Acceptance criteria prevent disagreements after launch and become fixtures for automated testing. ### Step 3: Select native, app or custom implementation There are three legitimate paths: 1. **Native Shopify configuration** when current admin features fully satisfy the requirement. 2. **A public app using Functions** when the rule is common and configuration, support and cost are suitable. 3. **A custom Function app** when the logic creates meaningful differentiation, connects to proprietary configuration or requires tighter ownership. Evaluate total cost rather than development cost alone. An app can be economical but add recurring fees, theme dependencies or configuration limits. Custom code offers control but requires testing, monitoring, API maintenance and documentation. ### Step 4: Implement small, deterministic Functions Request only the input fields required. Keep configuration separate from executable logic, usually in app-owned metafields or the appropriate Shopify resource. Avoid broad queries and deeply nested branching. Functions should be deterministic: the same input and configuration should produce the same output. When a capability uses network access, design explicit timeouts, caching and fallbacks according to Shopify’s [performance and resilience guidance](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/functions/network-access/performance-and-resilience). Unit tests should cover boundaries, empty data, conflicting discounts, currencies, large carts and malformed configuration. Store fixture inputs and expected outputs in version control. ### Step 5: Test in development and a controlled production cohort Shopify recommends initial testing in a development store, followed by a brief production validation using a tagged customer cohort where appropriate. Confirm the rule through all relevant entry points: - Standard theme cart and checkout. - Buy buttons or custom storefront carts. - Draft or subscription flows where applicable. - Express wallets. - B2B customer accounts. - Agentic or third-party checkout surfaces supported by the implementation. Check the order record after checkout, not just what appeared on screen. The order is the operational contract used by fulfillment, finance and customer service. ### Step 6: Activate, observe and document Deploy through a controlled release. Record the Function handle, API version, activation resource, configuration owner and rollback approach. Monitor execution errors, discount and shipping economics, conversion, customer complaints and unusual orders. Document differences from the old Script. A Function may produce the same commercial outcome through different sequencing, messaging or combination behavior. Those differences should be deliberate and communicated. ## Common Migration Mistakes ### Rebuilding dead logic Teams often migrate every branch because it exists. Use order data and stakeholder review to determine whether each branch still serves a business need. Deleting obsolete code reduces risk. ### Ignoring rule interactions A discount rarely operates alone. Model native promotions, app discounts, subscription pricing, B2B catalogs, gift cards and free-shipping thresholds together. Test the complete price waterfall. ### Testing only the happy path Production failures happen at boundaries: one cent below a threshold, the maximum quantity, a missing tag, a mixed currency or a split shipment. Boundary tests should outnumber happy-path tests. ### Putting presentation logic into the Function Functions enforce backend outcomes. Theme extensions, checkout UI extensions or app configuration interfaces handle presentation and merchant controls. Keep these responsibilities separate so the rule remains reliable. ### Choosing an app without an exit plan Before installing an app, ask how configuration is exported, what happens if the app is uninstalled, whether Functions remain active, how performance is monitored and who supports API changes. ## Emergency Recovery If Revenue Logic Is Broken If the sunset has already caused customer or margin impact, use a staged response. 1. **Contain:** disable conflicting promotions, simplify checkout settings or temporarily remove an affected offer. 2. **Communicate:** tell customer service, operations and finance what behavior changed and how to handle exceptions. 3. **Prioritize:** restore the few rules with the highest revenue, margin or compliance impact first. 4. **Validate:** run a documented test order for every restored rule. 5. **Reconcile:** identify affected orders and decide whether customers or internal teams require remediation. 6. **Stabilize:** complete the broader inventory so another hidden rule does not surface later. Avoid rushing an untested custom Function into production merely because the old behavior is missing. A temporary native configuration can be safer while the durable replacement is tested. ## How EssDeeJay Can Help EssDeeJay approaches Scripts migration as a checkout and business-rules program, not a syntax conversion. We can: - Audit Script Editor, customization reports, installed apps and checkout settings. - Translate Ruby behavior into plain-language requirements and acceptance tests. - Identify where native Shopify features or a reputable Function-based app is sufficient. - Design and build custom discount, delivery, payment or validation Functions. - Create merchant configuration interfaces and safe defaults. - Test carts, wallets, markets, B2B accounts and operational order outputs. - Deploy with observability, documentation and a clear ownership model. The first useful step is a scoped impact assessment. It tells you what stopped working, which rules still matter, what Shopify now handles natively and which gaps justify custom engineering. That prevents both under-building and expensive reimplementation of logic the business no longer needs. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do Shopify Scripts still work after June 30, 2026? No. Shopify’s current developer documentation states that Shopify Scripts were sunset on June 30, 2026 and any Scripts still published were deactivated. The Script Editor may remain available temporarily in read-only form to help teams reference old logic. ### Can Shopify Functions reproduce every Shopify Script? Not as a direct one-to-one translation. Many outcomes can be recreated through Discount, Delivery Customization, Payment Customization, Validation and other Function APIs, while some requirements need a different architecture or are now native features. Validate each rule against current API availability and plan requirements. ### Are Shopify Functions available on every Shopify plan? Stores on any plan can use eligible public apps containing Functions, but custom Function apps and some capabilities have plan restrictions. Check Shopify’s current Function API availability before choosing an implementation route. ### Should we buy an app or build a custom Shopify Function? Use an app when the rule is common, the configuration fits and the vendor’s support and ownership model are acceptable. Build custom when the logic differentiates the business, needs proprietary integration, or requires control that available apps cannot provide economically. ### How long does a Shopify Scripts migration take? A simple single-rule replacement may take days. A mature Plus store with multiple interacting Scripts, markets and checkout apps can require several weeks for discovery, development and safe validation. The deciding factor is rule complexity and test coverage, not the number of source-code lines. ## Official Resources - [Shopify Scripts sunset announcement](https://shopify.dev/changelog/shopify-scripts-will-be-deprecated-on-june-30-2026) - [Shopify developer migration guide](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/functions/migrating-from-shopify-scripts) - [Shopify Help Center transition guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/script-editor/transitioning-to-functions) - [Shopify Function APIs reference](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/functions/latest) --- # Shopify B2B on Every Plan: The 2026 Guide to Wholesale Without the Patchwork > Shopify now offers foundational B2B capabilities on Basic, Grow and Advanced. Learn what is included, what Plus adds, and how to design the right wholesale setup. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/shopify-b2b-all-plans-guide Author: EssDeeJay Strategy Team Published: 2026-07-12 Updated: 2026-07-22 **The short answer:** Shopify’s foundational B2B features are now available on Basic, Grow and Advanced plans, not only Shopify Plus. Eligible merchants can manage companies, offer wholesale catalogs and pricing, set quantity rules and volume pricing, use vaulted cards and configure payment terms from the same platform that runs direct-to-consumer commerce. Shopify Plus still provides the broadest B2B capability for complex organizations. This expansion changes the economics of wholesale experimentation. A growing brand can validate a self-serve B2B channel without immediately buying a separate wholesale platform or replatforming to Plus. It does not, however, make every implementation simple. Catalog design, customer migration, theme behavior, taxes, operations and integrations determine whether the result feels like a professional buyer portal or another workaround. Shopify announced the rollout in April 2026 in [Shopify brings native B2B features to millions more merchants](https://www.shopify.com/news/b2b-for-all). This guide translates that launch into practical decisions for brands evaluating Shopify B2B, Shopify wholesale and blended B2C/B2B commerce. ## What Is Shopify B2B? Shopify B2B is a set of native commerce capabilities for selling from one business to another. Instead of treating every buyer as an individual consumer, Shopify can associate contacts with companies and company locations. That company context can influence the catalog, price, payment terms, checkout details and account experience available to the buyer. In practical terms, a wholesale buyer can sign in, see products and pricing intended for their business, meet quantity requirements, place an order using approved terms and return later to reorder. The merchant manages those orders alongside other Shopify orders rather than copying information between email, spreadsheets, a locked storefront and a separate invoicing tool. Shopify’s [B2B Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b) is the authoritative reference for current requirements and features. It explains that merchants can use a blended store for DTC and B2B or operate a dedicated B2B store. That architectural choice affects almost everything that follows. ## What Is Included on Basic, Grow and Advanced? Shopify says foundational B2B capability is rolling out to merchants on Basic, Grow and Advanced at no additional platform charge. The current launch includes capabilities such as: - Company profiles for wholesale buyers. - Up to three active B2B catalogs across B2B markets. - Customized product availability and pricing. - Quantity rules and volume pricing. - Vaulted credit cards. - Payment terms. - A shared Shopify admin for DTC and B2B activity. The exact availability and limitations should always be confirmed in the merchant’s admin and the current [Shopify B2B features by plan documentation](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/getting-started), because rollout status and plan capability can change. The three-catalog limit is especially important. A catalog determines which products and prices a B2B customer can access. Shopify’s [catalogs and pricing documentation](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/catalogs) states that non-Plus plans can assign up to three active catalogs across B2B markets, while Plus supports unlimited catalogs and direct catalog assignment to companies and locations. Three catalogs can be sufficient for a business with simple segmentation—for example, Standard Wholesale, Distributor and Professional. It becomes restrictive if every account has negotiated prices, product entitlements vary heavily by market, or the sales organization needs many contract-specific assortments. ## What Does Shopify Plus Still Add for B2B? Shopify Plus remains the fit for more complex wholesale operations. Shopify highlights capabilities such as unlimited catalogs, direct assignment of catalogs to companies and company locations, partial payments and deposits. Plus can also be relevant because custom apps containing certain Shopify Function APIs and advanced checkout capabilities have plan requirements. Do not decide based on a feature checklist alone. Compare the cost of Plus with the operational cost of forcing a complex model into three catalogs, maintaining external pricing logic, or asking sales and customer-service teams to manage exceptions manually. A useful Plus threshold appears when one or more of these conditions are true: - Hundreds of accounts have individually negotiated price books. - Company locations require distinct assortments, tax treatment or payment rules. - Deposits, partial payments or complex approval workflows are essential. - International B2B rules vary substantially by market. - Checkout logic requires custom Functions or extensions restricted by plan. - The integration and governance needs justify enterprise controls and support. For many brands, the right path is to launch a clean foundational model on an existing plan, measure adoption, and move to Plus only when complexity or volume creates a clear business case. ## Blended Store or Dedicated B2B Store? This is the highest-leverage architecture decision. ### Choose a blended store when A blended store serves DTC and B2B customers through the same Shopify store. It is often appropriate when: - The product catalog substantially overlaps. - Inventory and fulfillment are shared. - The brand wants one domain and content system. - The team wants unified analytics, merchandising and operations. - Wholesale buyers can use a variation of the main theme. The advantages include a single source of product truth, fewer integrations, simpler inventory and less duplicated content. The challenge is experience design. Retail shoppers need inspiration and quick checkout; B2B buyers need account context, dense product information, rapid quantity entry and reordering. ### Choose a dedicated B2B store when A separate B2B store may be better when: - Wholesale and retail assortments barely overlap. - Branding, navigation or content is materially different. - The business operates distinct teams, regions or legal entities. - B2B integrations and release schedules should be isolated. - Retail promotions would create unacceptable wholesale confusion. A dedicated store provides separation but duplicates work. Product changes, content, apps, analytics and theme improvements may need to be maintained twice. Inventory and customer information must still synchronize with the broader operation. Shopify’s [getting started with B2B guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/getting-started) recommends making the store-type decision before setup and testing the buyer experience before invitations are sent. ## Design One Core With Two Intentional Experiences Unification should happen in the data and operational layer. The customer experience should still respect how each audience buys. ![Architecture diagram showing DTC and B2B experiences connected to a shared Shopify commerce core and governance layer](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/blog/b2b-architecture.svg) ### The shared core Products, inventory, customers, orders, analytics and fulfillment should have clear ownership. Integrations with an ERP, PIM, WMS, CRM or accounting platform need a defined system of record for each field. If Shopify owns the sellable catalog but the ERP owns account credit and fulfillment status, document the direction, frequency and failure behavior of every sync. ### The DTC experience Retail shoppers often browse by lifestyle, problem or collection. They respond to storytelling, social proof, promotions and fast payment. Product pages may prioritize media, benefits and a simple quantity selector. ### The B2B experience Wholesale buyers frequently know what they need. They benefit from SKU visibility, compact product grids, case-pack information, quick order lists, availability, net pricing, purchase-order fields, account-specific terms and reorder tools. A beautiful DTC product page can be frustrating when a buyer needs to add six variants in exact quantities. The goal is not two unrelated websites. It is a shared foundation that presents the right interaction for the buyer’s context. ## Build a Catalog and Pricing Model That Can Scale Before creating catalogs, segment accounts by a rule the organization can maintain. Good segmentation might be based on channel role, geography, volume commitment or service model. “Every customer gets a special price” is not a scalable rule; it is a collection of exceptions. ### Start with a pricing hierarchy Document pricing in a clear order: 1. Base retail price. 2. Catalog-level adjustment or fixed wholesale price. 3. Product-specific fixed price where required. 4. Volume price break. 5. Eligible discount or promotion. 6. Tax and market treatment. Confirm how these layers interact in Shopify. Shopify’s [quantity rules and volume pricing guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/catalogs/quantity-pricing) explains that quantity rules operate at the variant level and that a fixed volume price can change how other catalog adjustments apply. ### Use quantity rules intentionally Quantity rules can define increments, minimums and maximums. They should reflect real pack sizes, production constraints or commercial terms. If a product ships in cases of 12, set the increment accordingly and show it clearly in the theme. Do not wait until checkout to tell the buyer that the quantity is invalid. Display unit, case and total prices in language that matches invoices and sales materials. ### Keep the catalog count honest With three catalogs on Basic, Grow and Advanced, avoid consuming a catalog for a temporary promotion or one unusual account unless the economics justify it. Group accounts according to durable commercial rules. If the model requires ten stable price books, that is evidence for Plus or a deliberate external pricing architecture—not a reason to hide more logic in theme code. ## Plan Company and Customer Migration Carefully B2B customer data is more complex than an email address. A useful company model may include: - Legal and trading names. - Company locations and shipping addresses. - Contacts, roles and permissions. - Catalog or market assignment. - Payment terms and tax status. - Purchase-order requirements. - Sales representative ownership. - External ERP, CRM or accounting identifiers. Clean this data before import. Duplicate companies and outdated contacts create access and pricing risks. Define how new contacts are approved, how departed employees are removed, and who can change a shipping location or stored payment method. Customer communication matters too. Explain why the account experience is changing, how to activate access, which historical orders will appear, how terms work and whom to contact. Invite a pilot group first. Their questions will reveal gaps in terminology, navigation and account configuration before a full rollout. ## Adapt the Shopify Theme for Wholesale Buyers Native backend capability does not guarantee a strong storefront experience. Audit every key template while signed in as representative B2B customers. ### Navigation and discovery Show only the products available to the account, but make important categories easy to scan. Consider a quick-order page with search by SKU, title or barcode. Preserve URLs and product content where possible so the store does not create unnecessary SEO duplication. ### Product information Display wholesale price, retail reference price where commercially appropriate, case pack, minimum, increment, availability and lead time. Use variant tables or multi-SKU order grids for products with many options. Buyers should not open a modal for every essential specification. ### Cart feedback Validate quantities early and explain how to fix them. Show payment terms, expected taxes, discounts and shipping assumptions clearly. For a large order, help buyers save progress or request assistance rather than losing the cart. ### Accounts and reordering The account area should make order history, company context, locations and reorder actions obvious. Test a contact who belongs to multiple company locations. Ensure the selected context persists and prices do not appear to change unpredictably. ### Accessibility and performance B2B buyers may place long orders on older office hardware or constrained networks. Avoid heavy theme scripts and inaccessible custom controls. Keyboard navigation, form labels, focus states, error summaries and responsive tables are operational features, not polish. ## Integrate Operations Before Volume Arrives A self-serve portal can increase order frequency. That is valuable only if the operation can process the orders accurately. Map the full lifecycle: 1. Account creation or approval. 2. Catalog and payment-term assignment. 3. Inventory and availability presentation. 4. Order placement and fraud review. 5. ERP or accounting synchronization. 6. Allocation, fulfillment and partial shipment. 7. Invoicing, capture and collections. 8. Returns, credits and reordering. For every integration, define retries, alerting and reconciliation. If an ERP rejects an order because an external company ID is missing, which team is notified and can the buyer see a useful status? Silent sync failures are more damaging in B2B because orders are larger and often tied to downstream commitments. Shopify Flow can automate routine actions, but automation should not hide ownership. Document who approves accounts, who manages overdue terms, who updates catalogs and who resolves synchronization errors. ## B2B SEO, AEO and GEO Opportunities Wholesale buyers research online even when the final order requires an account. A Shopify B2B implementation can attract qualified traffic through content that answers operational questions with unusual specificity. Useful keyword and answer clusters include: - Wholesale product type plus country or region. - Distributor, trade, professional or reseller program terms. - Case quantity, minimum order and lead-time questions. - Technical compatibility and specification comparisons. - Private-label, customization or merchandising requirements. - Shipping, tax, certificate and payment-term guidance. Create public landing pages for the program and appropriate product categories without exposing negotiated prices. State who qualifies, typical minimums, regions served, application steps and expected response time. Link to detailed technical resources that demonstrate expertise. For AEO and GEO, lead with direct answers, define business terms, use descriptive headings and support claims with evidence. Add Organization, Product, Article and breadcrumb structured data where it reflects visible content. A machine-readable page should still be the best human answer. Avoid thin doorway pages for every city or industry. Build a page only when the offer, requirements or evidence genuinely differ. Quality and specificity create more durable discovery than substituting a place name into generic copy. ## A Phased Shopify B2B Launch Plan ### Phase 1: commercial design - Define target account segments and revenue goals. - Choose blended or dedicated architecture. - Design catalog, pricing and quantity rules. - Identify plan constraints and the Plus threshold. - Agree on systems of record and ownership. ### Phase 2: foundation - Clean and migrate company and contact data. - Configure catalogs, terms and account access. - Adapt theme templates and account journeys. - Connect ERP, CRM, PIM or accounting systems. - Create analytics and operational alerts. ### Phase 3: controlled pilot - Invite a small mix of simple and complex accounts. - Observe login, browsing, ordering and reordering. - Reconcile every pilot order through fulfillment and finance. - Interview buyers and internal teams. - Fix repeated friction before scaling. ### Phase 4: growth - Launch public wholesale discovery content. - Automate qualified account onboarding. - Improve quick ordering and replenishment. - Measure self-serve adoption, margin and service load. - Revisit the plan and architecture as complexity grows. ## Metrics That Show Whether B2B Is Working Revenue alone can hide manual effort and poor buyer experience. Track: - Approved accounts and activation rate. - Percentage of B2B orders placed self-serve. - Time from application to first order. - Reorder rate and time between orders. - Average order value and contribution margin. - Order-entry and customer-service time per account. - Pricing, tax and fulfillment exceptions. - Integration failure and manual-reconciliation rate. - Portal conversion and abandonment by account segment. Shopify’s launch announcement reports strong platform-level outcomes for merchants using B2B, including higher self-serve ordering and reorder behavior. Treat those as evidence of potential, not a forecast for an individual store. Your operating model, assortment and buyer adoption determine the result. ## How EssDeeJay Can Help The best Shopify B2B solution is not always a custom build or a Plus upgrade. It can be a well-configured blended store, a focused theme extension, a data cleanup and ERP integration, or an enterprise program with custom workflows. EssDeeJay can help you: - Model B2B requirements and choose blended versus dedicated architecture. - Compare Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus against real account complexity. - Design catalogs, company data, pricing and quantity governance. - Build fast wholesale theme journeys, quick-order tools and account experiences. - Integrate ERP, PIM, WMS, CRM and accounting systems. - Implement Shopify Flow and custom apps where native features stop. - Plan migration, pilot testing, analytics and operational ownership. - Create SEO, AEO and GEO content that attracts qualified wholesale demand. We start with discovery because architecture should follow commercial reality. By mapping buyers, price rules, operations and systems first, we can recommend the smallest maintainable solution that supports current revenue and the next stage of growth. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is Shopify B2B available on the Basic plan? Yes. Shopify announced that foundational B2B features are rolling out to Basic, Grow and Advanced plans. Availability can vary during rollout, so confirm the B2B section and current plan documentation in your Shopify admin. ### How many B2B catalogs can I use without Shopify Plus? Shopify’s current documentation states that Basic, Grow and Advanced can use up to three active catalogs across B2B markets. Shopify Plus supports unlimited catalogs and more direct assignment options for companies and locations. ### Do I need a separate Shopify store for wholesale? Not always. A blended store is usually efficient when DTC and B2B share products, inventory and operations. A dedicated B2B store can make sense when assortments, branding, legal entities, integrations or release cycles differ substantially. ### Can Shopify B2B integrate with an ERP? Yes. Shopify APIs and integration apps can connect companies, products, inventory, orders and fulfillment with ERP systems. The critical work is defining the source of truth, identifier mapping, synchronization direction, retries and exception ownership. ### When should a growing brand choose Shopify Plus for B2B? Consider Plus when the business needs unlimited or account-specific catalogs, advanced payment workflows, plan-restricted customization, or enterprise operational controls. The decision should compare platform cost with the cost and risk of workarounds on a lower plan. ## Official Resources - [Shopify B2B expansion announcement](https://www.shopify.com/news/b2b-for-all) - [Shopify B2B Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b) - [Getting started with Shopify B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/getting-started) - [B2B catalogs and pricing](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/catalogs) - [B2B quantity rules and volume pricing](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/catalogs/quantity-pricing) --- # Client project stories # Umbra: Design-led discovery for everyday living > A homeware storefront that connects room-by-room browsing, designer stories and a wide product catalogue. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/umbra-performance-optimization Client website and source: https://www.umbra.com/ Platform: Shopify Industry: Home & living Screenshot capture date: 2026-09-18 These observations describe the live website. They are not measured before-and-after results or a claim of sole authorship. ## The brand and its customers Umbra brings furniture, storage and decorative objects into one shopping destination. Its storefront serves people searching for a specific item as well as those looking for inspiration for a room. ## Inside the experience Category navigation gives the catalogue structure, while lifestyle photography puts products into a home setting. Designer-led content adds context beyond a product name and price. The experience moves between inspiration and shopping: discover a collection, explore individual pieces and continue into the product details. Country selection supports browsing across markets. ## A useful design lesson A large catalogue needs more than attractive imagery. Clear navigation and consistent product presentation help visitors keep their bearings as they move from an idea to an item. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/umbra/desktop.jpg) - [Desktop details](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/umbra/detail.jpg) - [Mobile view](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/umbra/mobile.jpg) ## Related services - [Shopify Theme Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development) - [Shopify UX & UI Design Improvements](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/ux-ui) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact --- # Maison Bouquet: A floral shop with room for everyday occasions > A Moncton floral storefront bringing bouquets, subscriptions and personal enquiries into one welcoming experience. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/maison-bouquet-floral-storefront Client website and source: https://maisonbouquet.ca/ Platform: Shopify Industry: Flowers & gifting Screenshot capture date: 2026-09-18 These observations describe the live website. They are not measured before-and-after results or a claim of sole authorship. ## The brand and its customers Maison Bouquet is a floral business in Moncton, New Brunswick. Visitors can discover bouquets for individual occasions or explore flowers as a recurring part of their home or routine. ## Inside the experience Floral photography leads the storefront, supported by soft colours and expressive typography. Shopping links sit alongside information about the business, so visitors can explore the offer and get a sense of the people behind it. Bouquet shopping and subscription options serve different needs within the same site. An enquiry route gives customers a next step when a request needs a conversation. ## A useful design lesson For an occasion-led business, the website can feel personal while keeping the next action obvious. Product imagery establishes the mood; clear routes to shopping and enquiries make that mood useful. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/maison-bouquet/desktop.jpg) - [Desktop details](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/maison-bouquet/detail.jpg) - [Mobile view](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/maison-bouquet/mobile.jpg) ## Related services - [Shopify Theme Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development) - [Shopify UX & UI Design Improvements](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/ux-ui) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact --- # Vraj & Co.: Bringing the colour of a spice collection online > A colourful spice storefront with clear product families, packaging-led discovery and a public web-development credit for Shreyank Jadiya. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/vraj-co-spice-storefront Client website and source: https://vraj-co.myshopify.com/ Platform: Shopify Industry: Food & pantry Screenshot capture date: 2026-09-18 These observations describe the live website. They are not measured before-and-after results or a claim of sole authorship. ## The brand and its customers Vraj & Co. sells spices through a visually distinctive Shopify storefront. The collection includes whole and ground spices, with natural and organic ranges giving shoppers several ways to explore. ## Inside the experience Bright packaging, product photography and bold colour make the range recognisable. Category navigation translates that visual identity into a practical shopping structure. The website also explains the packaging system and presents refill options. This gives customers context for understanding the range beyond the first purchase. ## Shreyank’s contribution The client’s website explicitly credits **Shreyank Jadiya for web development**. Branding, design and photography have separate credits, reflecting the different disciplines behind the finished experience. ## A useful design lesson A distinctive brand works best online when its visual language also helps customers navigate. Product families and packaging cues can support that connection. ## Project credits Web development by Shreyank Jadiya, credited on the client website. Branding and design are credited to Ria Mohta; photography to Dhurv Gohel. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/vraj-co/desktop.jpg) - [Desktop details](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/vraj-co/detail.jpg) - [Mobile view](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/vraj-co/mobile.jpg) ## Related services - [Shopify Theme Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development) - [Custom Software & Web Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/custom-development) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact --- # Village Juicery: Fresh products, connected to local routines > A Toronto food and juice storefront connecting product discovery with local delivery, pickup and physical locations. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/village-juicery-local-commerce Client website and source: https://www.villagejuicery.com/ Platform: Shopify Industry: Food & wellness Screenshot capture date: 2026-09-18 These observations describe the live website. They are not measured before-and-after results or a claim of sole authorship. ## The brand and its customers Village Juicery combines a food and drink catalogue with a local retail presence. Its website introduces juices, shots, cleanses and other products alongside delivery and pickup information. ## Inside the experience Featured products offer an immediate route into shopping. Product cards expose choices such as pack sizes and cleanse durations, while category links support a broader browse. Location and delivery pages connect the online offer to the practicalities of getting an order. The site also provides wholesale information and links to its mobile app. ## A useful design lesson Local commerce depends on context as well as products. Helping shoppers find fulfilment information close to their shopping journey can make the next step easier to understand. The live website also credits Propero. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/village-juicery/desktop.jpg) - [Desktop details](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/village-juicery/detail.jpg) - [Mobile view](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/village-juicery/mobile.jpg) ## Related services - [Shopify Theme Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development) - [Shopify Software Integrations](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/integrations) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact --- # Square Flower: A calmer way to explore better bedding > A bedding storefront combining bedroom photography, colour-led product discovery and material education. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/square-flower-bedding-storefront Client website and source: https://www.squareflower.com/ Platform: Shopify Industry: Home textiles Screenshot capture date: 2026-09-18 These observations describe the live website. They are not measured before-and-after results or a claim of sole authorship. ## The brand and its customers Square Flower presents bedding collections alongside information about cotton and sourcing. Visitors can browse duvet and sheet sets or spend time understanding the materials before choosing. ## Inside the experience Bedroom photography establishes the setting. Collection sections then bring attention to the products, with colour choices providing a visual route into different variants. Educational content sits alongside commerce rather than being isolated from it. Customer product reviews add another layer of context for people evaluating bedding options. ## A useful design lesson Products that depend on feel and materials need more than a grid of names. Clear imagery and accessible education can help a shopper understand differences that are difficult to communicate through a screen. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/square-flower/desktop.jpg) - [Desktop details](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/square-flower/detail.jpg) - [Mobile view](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/square-flower/mobile.jpg) ## Related services - [Shopify Theme Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/theme-development) - [Shopify UX & UI Design Improvements](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/ux-ui) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact --- # Harlow Properties: From finding a rental to feeling at home > A Moncton property website connecting available rentals, property services and enquiries through a clear Webflow experience. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/harlow-properties-webflow-website Client website and source: https://harlowproperties.ca/ Platform: Webflow Industry: Property & rentals Screenshot capture date: 2026-09-18 These observations describe the live website. They are not measured before-and-after results or a claim of sole authorship. ## The business and its audiences Harlow Properties serves people looking for rentals in Greater Moncton as well as existing tenants and property owners. Those audiences arrive with different questions and need different routes through the website. ## Inside the experience Available units pair property photography with listing details and floor plans. Separate service areas introduce property and construction management, while a tenant portal offers a route for existing residents. The enquiry form distinguishes between types of request. English and French navigation supports the local audience. ## A useful design lesson A service website can support several audiences without making every visitor follow the same path. Clear labels, relevant imagery and distinct next steps help the content stay useful as the business offer expands. The live website also credits Posh Media. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/harlow-properties/desktop.jpg) - [Desktop details](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/harlow-properties/detail.jpg) - [Mobile view](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/projects/harlow-properties/mobile.jpg) ## Related services - [Webflow Website Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/webflow-development) - [Custom Software & Web Development](https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/services/custom-development) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact --- # Greenworks Tools: Headless to theme migration for a global brand > How we migrated a complex headless Shopify setup to a blazing fast Online Store 2.0 theme, increasing conversion by 24%. Canonical page: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/work/greenworks-tools-migration ### The Challenge Greenworks Tools was struggling with a complex, hard-to-maintain headless Shopify setup. Content updates required developer intervention, and page performance was suffering due to a heavy JavaScript payload. ### The Solution We migrated their entire tech stack back to a native Shopify Online Store 2.0 theme, completely custom-built from scratch. By leveraging native Shopify features and optimizing our liquid architecture, we gave their marketing team full control over the storefront while simultaneously drastically improving performance. ### The Results - **Blazing Fast Speeds:** Reduced Time to Interactive (TTI) by over 60%. - **Increased Conversions:** A smoother UX directly contributed to a 24% uplift in conversion. - **Empowered Marketing:** The team can now build landing pages in minutes, not days. ## Website gallery - [Desktop overview](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1416879598446-24e031a02796?auto=format&fit=crop&q=80&w=1200&h=800) Discuss a project: https://www.thesjdevelopment.com/contact