Common questions about Shopify development

Every Shopify store is built on code — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Liquid, Shopify's own templating language. The online store editor hides most of this from you, but it sits beneath every theme you customise. A Shopify developer works directly in those code files to deliver results that go beyond what the editor's sections and settings can achieve.

That includes implementing custom designs, building new storefront features, modifying existing theme sections, and solving technical problems that overlap with the frontend of your store.

You don't necessarily need a developer to launch on Shopify — a good off-the-shelf theme and the online store editor will get most new stores far. Custom development makes the most sense once you're turning over multiple six figures and have specific requirements the editor can't handle.

Common triggers include: you have a designer's mockup you need built exactly, you need functionality that no app handles well, your theme sections don't support what you're trying to achieve, or you want to replace a stack of expensive apps with leaner native code built directly into your theme.

A fractional Shopify developer is a dedicated developer available to your brand on an ongoing basis — without the overhead of a full-time hire. Most Shopify merchants at the 6–9 figure stage don't need a developer every day, but they do need one regularly. There's always something: a new section to build, a custom feature to add, a design to implement.

Rather than going to an agency each time (expensive and slow to mobilise) or installing more apps (adds bloat, costs stack up), a fractional arrangement gives you a developer who knows your store and codebase, available when you need them. You send work through as it comes up — by email, message, or task in your project management tool — and it gets handled.

An agency gives you a team, a process, and account management — which suits large projects or brands who need strategy alongside execution. The trade-off is cost, overhead, and slower mobilisation. A freelance developer is more direct: you get the person doing the work, faster turnaround, and typically lower rates.

For ongoing theme work and custom functionality on an existing store, a specialist freelance developer is usually the more efficient choice. For a full rebrand, platform migration, or project requiring multiple disciplines at once, an agency may be more appropriate.

Often, yes. A significant portion of what Shopify merchants use apps for — custom product options, bundle builders, variant selectors, gift card customisation, filterable collection pages — can be built directly into a theme. Native code is leaner, faster, and doesn't add a monthly subscription cost.

That said, not every app should be replaced. Some handle complex backend logic, third-party integrations, or ongoing support that wouldn't make sense to build from scratch. Part of working with a specialist Shopify developer is getting an honest assessment of what's worth building versus what's worth keeping.

Liquid is Shopify's templating language — the fourth language used in Shopify theme development alongside HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It's what connects your store's backend data (products, collections, metafields, customer information) to the frontend templates your customers see.

For example, Liquid is what pulls your product title into the right place on the product page, loops through your collection items to display them in a grid, or checks whether a customer is logged in to show different content. A Shopify developer who specialises in Liquid can make your theme data-aware in ways the online store editor can't.

Metafields are custom data fields that can be attached to products, collections, pages, or other Shopify resources — allowing you to store information beyond Shopify's standard fields. For example, a product metafield might store a technical specification, a size guide URL, or a custom label that gets pulled through into the theme.

Metaobjects take this further — they're custom data structures you define yourself, which can then be referenced across your theme. Together, metafields and metaobjects allow for a much richer, more flexible storefront without the need for apps. Setting them up correctly requires knowing both how to structure the data in Shopify's admin and how to reference it in Liquid.

Yes — and this is an important point. Custom development doesn't mean losing the convenience of the editor. When a section or feature is built into your theme, the developer can write settings directly into the code, making them available as editable fields in the online store editor. So you get the custom result and retain control over the areas that make sense to edit yourself.

Yes. The majority of client work — both direct and through agencies — has been on Shopify Plus stores. Shopify Plus unlocks additional customisation options including checkout extensibility, Shopify Functions for custom discount and shipping logic, and more granular control over the storefront. I've worked with several Shopify Plus certified partner agencies including Arkhi, Createur, and Overdose Digital.

Email is the best starting point. Send a brief description of what you're trying to achieve — even a rough outline is fine — and we can go from there. For ongoing or retainer arrangements, an introductory call is usually the most efficient way to establish whether there's a good fit.

chris@christopherdodd.com