Shopify Theme Development
We build themes from scratch as software — Online Store 2.0, sections and blocks, and a performance budget from day one.
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Sections your team can use.
Most themes are handed over as a black box. Change one thing and something else breaks, so nobody touches it — and the site calcifies around whatever it launched with.
We build on Online Store 2.0: JSON templates, sections and blocks with settings schemas that make sense, and code underneath that’s written to be read. App blocks slot into the same structure instead of getting bolted on separately. No developer required for a new banner or a reordered row.
A performance budget, not a wish list.
Speed isn’t a nice-to-have bolted on at the end. We set a performance budget before the first section is built — Core Web Vitals thresholds, checked against Lighthouse as we go — and every addition has to earn its place inside it.
What that looks like in practice:
- Every page is built against a load-time budget and checked against Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals as the theme is built, so speed is designed in from the start rather than measured after the fact.
- Images, scripts and third-party embeds are loaded only when the page needs them.
- Code is written the way we’d want to inherit it: consistent structure, sensible naming, comments where the logic isn’t obvious.
- Sections are built once and reused, instead of every page growing its own one-off variant.
- Accessibility is built in from the first line — proper markup, keyboard support, contrast that passes — not patched in later.
- Nothing ships without being checked on the devices your actual customers use, not just a wide desktop monitor.
At the end you get more than a live theme: a handover document that explains what was built and why, so the next person to touch it — whether that’s you, your team, or another developer entirely — isn’t reverse-engineering our decisions from scratch.
Shopify theme development, answered.
What does Shopify theme development cost?
It depends on how many templates and sections the build needs, and how much custom functionality sits behind them. We scope the work properly first, then give you a fixed, itemised quote before anything starts.
How long does a theme build take?
Measured in weeks, not months, for most stores. You'll get a firm timeline once we've scoped the templates and sections involved, and we'll keep you posted as the build progresses.
Will my team be able to edit the theme themselves?
Yes — that's the point. Sections are built with sensible, well-labelled settings so your team can add content, reorder blocks and update banners without needing a developer for routine changes. You only call us in for something new.
Do you build on Online Store 2.0?
Yes, every build uses the current section and block architecture and JSON templates, which is what makes flexible, team-editable pages possible in the first place. It also keeps the theme compatible with the wider Shopify app ecosystem as it evolves.
What happens after the theme goes live?
You get a handover document covering what was built, how the sections work, and any decisions worth knowing about. Ongoing support for fixes and improvements is available afterwards if you want it, but it's never assumed or bundled in.
Can another developer pick up the theme later?
That's exactly what it's built for. Clean structure, consistent naming and proper documentation mean the codebase doesn't depend on us being the only people who understand it. Handover works whether the next developer is on your team or someone else's.