Web Development
Shopify Development
Shopify handles the hard parts — payments, hosting, PCI compliance — and gives you a fixed set of constraints in return. Building well means working with them.
Shopify development covers custom themes, private apps and the integrations a growing store needs. The Nexclick builds within Shopify's constraints rather than fighting them, keeps app bloat under control, and hands over a theme your team can edit. Shopify Plus work is covered separately.
Is this you?
What usually prompts the call
- Your theme came from the marketplace and no longer fits how you sell.
- You have installed twenty apps and the store has got noticeably slower.
- You need something the theme cannot do and every app that claims to do it is worse.
- Your store needs to talk to an ERP, a warehouse system or a bespoke pricing rule.
What we do
The actual deliverables
Things that appear on an invoice, not adjectives.
- Custom theme development
- Built in Liquid against your design, or a marketplace theme substantially customised where that is the sensible economy. Both are handed over editable.
- App audit and rationalisation
- Every app measured for what it adds to page weight. Frequently a third can be removed or replaced with theme code that does the same job at a fraction of the cost.
- Custom app and function development
- Private apps for logic no marketplace app handles — bespoke pricing, unusual fulfilment, internal system integration.
- Integrations
- ERP, warehouse, accounting, CRM and marketplace connections, built to survive the other side changing rather than assuming it will not.
- Performance within the platform
- Shopify hosting is fast; themes and apps frequently are not. Asset loading, image handling and third-party script control at theme level.
- Checkout and conversion work
- Within what Shopify permits on your plan. Standard plans limit checkout customisation substantially, and we will be clear about what is and is not possible.
- Handover your team can use
- Theme settings and sections configured so merchandising changes do not require a developer. A store your team cannot update is a store that goes stale.
Comparison
App, theme code, or custom app? Deciding per requirement
Every Shopify requirement can usually be met three ways, at very different costs. This is how The Nexclick decides, so you can see whether a proposal is reaching for the expensive option unnecessarily.
| Requirement type | Best route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Product reviews | App | Mature apps exist; building this yourself is wasted effort |
| Email and SMS marketing | App | Deep integrations you would never rebuild |
| Simple product badges or labels | Theme code | An app for this adds scripts site-wide for a CSS class |
| Custom product options | Theme code or app | Theme code if simple; app if it affects pricing or inventory |
| Size guides and content tabs | Theme code | Static content does not need a subscription |
| Bespoke pricing rules | Custom app | No marketplace app knows your commercial logic |
| ERP or warehouse integration | Custom app | Middleware apps are fragile; direct integration is more reliable |
| Wishlist | App | Requires customer data storage; not worth building |
| Currency and market switching | Native Shopify | Built in — an app here duplicates the platform |
| Upsells at checkout | App or Plus function | Standard plans restrict checkout; Plus opens it up |
| Trust badges and countdown timers | Neither | Rarely convert, always cost load time |
How it works
Step by step, with timeframes
Timeframes are typical rather than guaranteed, and they assume we get account access and approvals when we ask.
- 01Week 1–2
Audit and scope
Current theme, app stack and integration requirements. On an existing store the app audit alone usually identifies meaningful performance gains.
- 02Week 2–6
Build in a duplicate theme
All work in a duplicated theme, previewable at any point, so the live store is never at risk.
- 03Week 5–8
Integrate and test
Integrations built and tested against real data, with edge cases — refunds, partial fulfilment, stock discrepancies — exercised deliberately.
- 04Week 8–9
Publish and monitor
Theme published with monitoring on conversion rate and errors for the first fortnight. Publishing on a Friday is avoided as a rule.
What you get
Reporting and ownership
- The theme in your repository, version-controlled rather than edited live.
- An app register naming what each does, what it costs monthly, and what it costs in load time.
- Integration documentation covering failure modes, not just the happy path.
- A recorded walkthrough for merchandising changes your team will make weekly.
- Before-and-after performance figures from field data.
Tools and platforms
- Shopify Liquid
- Shopify CLI & theme kit
- Shopify Admin & Storefront APIs
- Git-based theme deployment
- Google Merchant Center
- PageSpeed Insights & CrUX
Timeline
How long this actually takes
A custom theme takes six to eight weeks. Integrations add two to four depending on what is at the other end — and the other end is usually the constraint, not Shopify. Custom apps run longer. One honest constraint worth knowing early: Shopify fixes parts of the URL structure and, on standard plans, limits how far checkout can be customised. Those are real limits, they are smaller than most people assume, and no amount of development gets past them. Where a requirement genuinely needs what Shopify will not permit, Plus or a different platform is the honest answer.
Pricing model
Fixed-price project
Fixed price against a written specification. App subscription costs are yours directly and shown at cost during scoping so the running total is visible.
Questions
Shopify Development questions
Should we buy a theme or have one built?
A quality marketplace theme customised is right for most stores under substantial volume — it is cheaper and battle-tested. A custom theme earns its cost when your merchandising is unusual, your brand needs to be distinct, or you have outgrown what the theme structure supports.
How many Shopify apps is too many?
It depends on what they load rather than the count. One badly built app can cost more than six well-built ones. The measurable test is comparing store speed with apps disabled against live, which we do during the audit rather than estimating.
Can you customise the Shopify checkout?
Only within what your plan permits. Standard plans allow limited changes; Shopify Plus opens up checkout extensibility properly. If your requirement genuinely needs checkout control, that is a Plus conversation, and it is worth having before committing to a build that assumes otherwise.
Will our team be able to update the store?
Yes — theme settings and sections are configured so merchandising, imagery and content changes happen through the admin. A store where every seasonal change needs a developer stops being updated, which costs more than the development ever did.
Do you work with existing Shopify stores?
Frequently, and it is usually the better economy. Improving an existing theme, removing app bloat and adding what is missing costs less than rebuilding. We will tell you when the existing theme is genuinely beyond saving rather than assuming it is.
What about Shopify Plus?
A separate service page, because the work differs — checkout extensibility, B2B, multi-store, Shopify Functions and scripts. Plus earns its cost above a certain volume or where checkout control is commercially necessary. Below that it is an expensive subscription for features you will not use.
Last reviewed 28 July 2026.
Tell us what you are trying to fix
A 20-minute call, no pitch deck. The Nexclick will tell you what we would do, roughly what it costs, and whether we are the right people for it.