--- title: "Shopify Development Company | Arbocode" description: "We build Shopify and Shopify Plus stores, custom Shopify Functions and Hydrogen headless storefronts, and help you decide which option suits your catalog." url: https://arbocode.com/technologies/shopify --- 1. [Home](https://arbocode.com/) 2. [Technologies](https://arbocode.com/technologies) 3. Shopify Commerce & CMS # Shopify Development Company Shopify stores, Shopify Plus checkout customizations and Hydrogen headless storefronts, chosen to fit what your catalog really requires. [Get a free estimate](https://arbocode.com/get-a-quote) [Speak with an engineer](https://arbocode.com/contact) NDA on request · Free, no-obligation estimate · Reply within one business day NDA signed before we start Full IP ownership on payment Your repository from the first commit Live demo at the end of every sprint Built by senior engineers [How we work](https://arbocode.com/process) Shopify's core strength is a checkout that already handles PCI compliance, tax, fraud detection and payment methods that most stores would spend months building and maintaining. As a shopify development company, we build custom themes, Shopify Functions for checkout and discount logic, and apps against the Admin and Storefront APIs, along with Shopify Plus implementations for stores that need scripted checkout customization at higher volume. A meaningful share of our Shopify work is deciding how much of the storefront should stay on Shopify's own rendering versus moving to a headless build on Hydrogen. Standard Shopify theming, using Liquid, is faster to launch and easier for a marketing team to edit day to day. Hydrogen, Shopify's React-based framework deployed on Oxygen, gives full control over the frontend while keeping Shopify's checkout, inventory and order management underneath. We also work on the boundary between Shopify and other systems: ERP integrations for inventory and fulfillment, subscription apps like Recharge, and marketing platforms like Klaviyo, since most Shopify stores of any size are really running on a small ecosystem of connected tools rather than Shopify alone. Fit ## When Shopify is the right choice, and when it is not ### Good fit - You want a proven checkout that already handles PCI compliance, major payment methods and tax calculation without building that infrastructure yourself. - You are launching or replatforming a direct-to-consumer store and want to move from concept to a working storefront in weeks rather than months. - You are at Shopify Plus volume and need checkout customization through Shopify Functions, such as custom discount logic or shipping rules the standard checkout doesn't support. - You want full control over the frontend experience but still want Shopify's checkout, inventory and order management underneath, which is what Hydrogen is built for. - You need a large, tested app ecosystem for subscriptions, reviews, loyalty programs and marketing integrations rather than building each of those from scratch. ### Consider something else - A catalog with deeply custom, non-commerce business logic tightly coupled to the storefront, such as a configurator with complex backend rules, often outgrows what Shopify's app and theme model comfortably supports. - High-touch B2B selling with negotiated pricing, complex approval workflows and account-specific catalogs can be a better fit for WooCommerce with custom development or a dedicated B2B platform. - Stores that need checkout behavior beyond what Shopify Functions and Shopify Plus expose have to work within Shopify's checkout extensibility model rather than modifying checkout freely. - Very content-heavy sites where commerce is secondary to editorial content sometimes fit WordPress with WooCommerce better, since WordPress's content tooling is more mature than Shopify's. What we build ## What we build with Shopify - ### Theme development Custom Shopify themes built in Liquid, with sections and blocks structured so a marketing team can rearrange pages without developer involvement for routine changes. - ### Shopify Functions Custom discount, shipping and payment customization logic for Shopify Plus stores, replacing the deprecated Scripts model with a supported, performant extensibility layer. - ### Headless storefronts on Hydrogen React-based storefronts deployed on Oxygen that keep Shopify's checkout and backend while giving full control over frontend architecture, performance and design. - ### App development Custom apps against the Admin GraphQL API and Storefront API for functionality the app store doesn't cover, from custom pricing rules to internal operations tooling. - ### Subscriptions and POS Subscription commerce through apps like Recharge, and integration with Shopify POS for merchants selling in person as well as online. - ### Platform migrations Migrating an existing store from Magento, BigCommerce or a custom platform onto Shopify, including product data, customer accounts and order history. Ecosystem ## Libraries and tools we pair it with - Liquid - Shopify CLI - Hydrogen - Oxygen - Shopify Functions - Storefront API - Admin GraphQL API - Klaviyo - Recharge ## Shopify Plus Versus Headless Shopify with Hydrogen Shopify Plus gives a high-volume merchant more checkout customization through Shopify Functions, higher API rate limits, and access to Shopify's B2B tooling, while still using Shopify's standard theme rendering for the storefront. It is the right upgrade path when the constraint is checkout and backend flexibility rather than storefront design. Headless Shopify with Hydrogen makes sense when the frontend itself is the constraint: a brand that wants a highly custom browsing experience, unusual page layouts, or frontend performance beyond what theme customization allows, while keeping Shopify's checkout, inventory and order management running underneath. We recommend Hydrogen only when a client has the frontend engineering capacity to maintain it, since it trades Shopify's built-in theme editor for full code-level control. ## Shopify Versus WooCommerce for This Kind of Store Shopify's advantage is a managed platform: hosting, checkout, PCI compliance and uptime are Shopify's responsibility, which suits merchants who want to focus on product and marketing rather than infrastructure. WooCommerce runs on self-hosted WordPress, which gives more control over hosting, checkout customization and total cost, at the price of taking on PCI scope and server management yourself. We generally recommend Shopify for merchants prioritizing speed to launch and predictable operations, and WooCommerce for merchants who already run WordPress for content, need very specific checkout customization Shopify Functions can't express, or want to avoid Shopify's per-transaction fees at high volume. - Shopify: managed hosting and checkout, faster launch, per-transaction fees - WooCommerce: self-hosted control, more checkout flexibility, more to maintain - Both integrate with the same class of marketing and fulfillment tools Services ## Services that use Shopify - [E-commerce DevelopmentShopify and WooCommerce storefronts, headless commerce front ends and custom checkout flows, all shaped to your catalog, pricing and fulfillment setup.](https://arbocode.com/services/ecommerce-development) - [Marketplace DevelopmentWe build two-sided marketplaces with vendor onboarding, Stripe Connect split payments, commission logic and the trust and safety tools a multi-vendor platform needs.](https://arbocode.com/services/marketplace-development) Industries ## Where we use it - [Retail & E-commerceInventory, POS and storefront software that stays synchronized across every channel, with EDI connected for your wholesale partners.](https://arbocode.com/industries/retail-ecommerce) - [Food & BeverageRecipe costing, allergen labeling and lot traceability designed around the POS and kitchen systems your locations already use.](https://arbocode.com/industries/food-beverage) - [Fitness & WellnessClass booking, membership billing and wearable data sync for studios and gyms that have grown past Mindbody or Glofox.](https://arbocode.com/industries/fitness-wellness) FAQ ## Questions about Shopify Should we build our new store on Shopify or WooCommerce? Choose Shopify if you want a managed platform where hosting, checkout and PCI compliance are handled for you, and you can accept Shopify's transaction fees and app-based extensibility model. Choose WooCommerce if you already run WordPress for content, want more control over hosting and checkout, or need customization beyond what Shopify's app ecosystem supports. When does a store need Shopify Plus instead of standard Shopify? Shopify Plus becomes worth its cost once you need checkout customization through Shopify Functions, higher API rate limits for a busy integration, or B2B-specific features like custom catalogs and negotiated pricing for wholesale customers. Most stores in early growth stages do not need it and can run comfortably on standard Shopify. What is the real difference between a standard Shopify theme and a headless Hydrogen storefront? A standard theme uses Shopify's Liquid templating and built-in theme editor, which a marketing team can update without a developer for routine changes. Hydrogen is a React-based framework that gives full control over the frontend's code and architecture, at the cost of needing frontend engineering resources for changes that a theme editor would otherwise handle directly. Can Shopify handle complex discount and pricing rules for our promotions? Shopify Functions can implement custom discount logic that goes beyond the standard discount codes, such as rules based on cart composition or customer tags, but this capability requires Shopify Plus. Stores below Plus are limited to Shopify's native discount types, which cover common cases but not highly specific business rules. How long does a Shopify store build typically take? A standard store using a customized theme typically takes six to ten weeks from design through launch, including product setup and app integrations. A headless build on Hydrogen or a migration from another platform with significant historical order data usually takes longer, often ten to sixteen weeks, depending on data volume and how much custom functionality the storefront needs. Compare ## Alternatives we also work with - [WooCommerceWooCommerce stores on WordPress for merchants who want full control of hosting, checkout and content.](https://arbocode.com/technologies/woocommerce) - [WordPressWe build custom WordPress sites that editors can run on their own, with no developer needed for every content change.](https://arbocode.com/technologies/wordpress) Insights ## Guides on this topic - [8 min readHow to Build a Marketplace Platform From ScratchHow to build a marketplace platform by solving liquidity first, then trust and safety, payments and escrow, search, and messaging inside the platform.](https://arbocode.com/blog/how-to-build-a-marketplace) ## Talk to a Shopify developer Send a short description of the project. A senior engineer reads each request and answers with questions, next steps and an early budget range. [Get a free estimate](https://arbocode.com/get-a-quote) [Speak with an engineer](https://arbocode.com/contact)