Shopify Developers Brighton | Custom Development & Integrations

Q: How much do your Shopify developers cost?

We offer ad-hoc rates for one-off tasks and retainer rates for ongoing work. Retainers are significantly more cost-effective. See our Shopify packages page for detailed pricing.

Q: What programming languages do your developers use?

Our developers work with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Liquid, Ruby, and Node.js, plus Shopify's GraphQL and REST APIs for custom integrations.

Q: Can you build custom Shopify apps?

Yes. We build both public apps for the Shopify App Store and private apps for custom store functionality.

Q: Do you offer ongoing development support after the initial build?

Yes. Most client relationships extend into monthly retainers covering development, bug fixes, new features, and performance optimisation.

Shopify Development Built on Platform Expertise

Our developers work exclusively with Shopify. We have been a certified Shopify Partner and Expert since 2018, and every member of our development team works with Shopify's codebase every day. This focus means we understand the platform's architecture, its capabilities, and its constraints at a depth that generalist web developers cannot match.

We build custom themes using Shopify's Liquid templating language and Online Store 2.0 sections architecture, integrate third-party tools and APIs, customise checkouts on Shopify Plus, and migrate stores from other platforms. Our developers are proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Liquid, and Ruby, and work closely with our design and SEO teams to ensure every build is fast, accessible, and optimised for search.

We offer both ad-hoc development work and ongoing retainer contracts. We are not a cheap outsourcing agency. Our pricing is transparent, our team is in-house, and our focus is on long-term client relationships built on consistent, high-quality delivery. See our Shopify packages for pricing details.

How We Build Shopify Stores

Every store we build follows Shopify's best-practice coding standards for SEO, accessibility, responsiveness, and speed. We use Online Store 2.0 architecture so your store's sections, blocks, and metafields are manageable through the theme editor without needing a developer for every content change.

Our development process integrates design and SEO from the start rather than treating them as separate phases. This means your store launches with clean code, fast load times, proper structured data, and a design that converts, rather than requiring post-launch fixes for problems that could have been avoided during the build.

Why Hire a Specialist Shopify Developer?

Shopify simplifies launching an online store, but unlocking its full potential requires platform-specific development expertise. A specialist Shopify developer delivers custom functionality tailored to your business needs, faster implementation with fewer technical issues, a store optimised for speed, conversion, and SEO from the code level, clean integrations with third-party tools that do not degrade performance, and ongoing support from a team that understands every layer of your store's architecture.

For most merchants, hiring a specialist Shopify agency is more cost-effective than building an in-house development team, and delivers stronger results because the agency's accumulated platform experience benefits every project. For guidance on evaluating Shopify agencies, see our guide on how to choose the best Shopify development company.

Our Development Services

Custom Shopify Theme Development: We build themes from scratch using Liquid, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the Online Store 2.0 architecture. Every theme is responsive, fast-loading, and designed to give your team full control through the Shopify theme editor.

Platform Migrations: We migrate stores from WooCommerce, Magento, Squarespace, and BigCommerce to Shopify, preserving products, customers, order history, and SEO rankings through comprehensive redirect mapping. For platform-specific migration detail, see our comparison guides: WooCommerce vs Shopify, Magento vs Shopify, Squarespace vs Shopify, BigCommerce vs Shopify.

Custom User Journey Development: We build personalised user journeys aligned with your business goals, using analytics data to reduce clicks to checkout and maximise conversion rate.

Checkout and Cart Customisation

The checkout is where revenue is won or lost. For Shopify Plus merchants, we build custom checkout experiences using checkout extensibility and Shopify Functions, including tiered discounts, free product thresholds, upsells, and personalised offers.

Even on standard Shopify plans, there are significant optimisation opportunities: cart page layout improvements, trust signal placement, shipping cost transparency, and express checkout configuration. Small development adjustments at the checkout stage consistently deliver measurable conversion improvements.

For more on how checkout and cart optimisation affects conversion rate, see our guide on how to increase Shopify conversions.

Testing and Performance

Every build goes through comprehensive testing across devices, browsers, and screen sizes before launch. We test functionality, usability, page speed, and Core Web Vitals to ensure your store performs consistently for every visitor.

Our developers build with performance in mind from the first line of code: compressed images, deferred scripts, minimal render-blocking resources, and efficient Liquid code that does not slow down page loads. For more on how page speed affects Shopify stores, see our article on why Shopify's page speed test is misleading.

SEO-First Development

SEO is not an afterthought we add after the build. It is integrated into our development process from the start. Our developers implement proper heading hierarchy, structured data (product, review, FAQ, and breadcrumb schema), clean URL structures, optimised image loading, and semantic HTML that search engines can parse effectively.

This development-level SEO foundation means your store launches with the technical signals Google needs to crawl, index, and rank your pages, rather than requiring post-launch remediation. For our full SEO service, see our Shopify SEO agency page.

Ongoing Development Support

Launching your store is the first step. As your business grows, you need ongoing development support for new features, app integrations, theme updates, and performance improvements. Our monthly retainers give you continuous access to our development team for both reactive support (bug fixes, urgent changes) and proactive development (new functionality, conversion improvements, seasonal updates).

See our Shopify retainer packages for details on ongoing support options.

Why Work with Our Shopify Developers

We are a small, focused team that works exclusively with Shopify. This means you get direct access to experienced developers rather than being handed off to junior team members. Our developers understand Liquid, Online Store 2.0, Shopify's API ecosystem, checkout extensibility, and the platform's specific SEO requirements.

We handle custom theme builds, third-party integrations (payment gateways, ERPs, CRMs, fulfilment providers), multilingual and multi-currency store configuration through Shopify Markets, Shopify Plus checkout customisation, and custom Shopify app development. If it can be built on Shopify, our team can build it.

When to Hire a Shopify Developer

You need a Shopify developer when your store requires custom functionality beyond what the theme editor provides, when you are migrating from another platform and need data transfer, redirect mapping, and a new theme build, when app integrations are creating conflicts or performance issues, when your checkout needs customisation to support your business model, or when your store needs ongoing feature development and technical maintenance.

For merchants evaluating whether Shopify or Shopify Plus is the right plan for their business, see our Why Shopify Plus page.

Shopify Plus Development

For enterprise merchants, Shopify Plus provides advanced capabilities including custom checkout, Shopify Flow automation, B2B channels, multi-store management, and dedicated support. As a Shopify Plus agency, we help brands upgrade from standard Shopify to Plus or migrate from other enterprise platforms.

Email us at info@whymatters.co.uk to discuss your Shopify Plus requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do your Shopify developers cost?

We offer two pricing tiers: ad-hoc rates for one-off tasks and retainer rates for ongoing work. Retainers are significantly more cost-effective. See our Shopify packages for detailed retainer pricing.

What programming languages do your developers use?

Our developers work with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Liquid (Shopify's templating language), Ruby (for backend scripts and apps), and Node.js. We also work with Shopify's GraphQL and REST APIs for custom integrations and app development.

Can you build custom Shopify apps?

Yes. We build both public apps (for the Shopify App Store) and private apps (custom functionality for your store only). Contact us with your requirements for a personalised quote.

Can you migrate my store from another platform to Shopify?

Yes. We migrate stores from WooCommerce, Magento, Squarespace, and BigCommerce, including full data transfer, SEO redirect mapping, and custom theme design for the new Shopify store.

Do you offer ongoing development support after the initial build?

Yes. Most of our client relationships extend into ongoing monthly retainers covering development, bug fixes, new features, and performance optimisation. Our retainers include dedicated monthly hours with priority access to our development team.

Are you official Shopify Experts?

Yes. We have been officially recognised as a Shopify Partner and Expert since 2018. Our profile is listed on the Shopify Experts directory. Learn more about what Shopify Partner status means for merchants.

Shopify Developers

Specialist Shopify developers building fast, scalable, and conversion-optimised stores for DTC and B2B brands.