Development
Shopify developer: themes, apps and integrations
Shopify is a good choice until the shop outgrows what an app from the app store can solve. Then the site gets heavy with apps that each load their own script, and orders still end up being typed into the accounts by hand. I clean up the apps, adapt the theme and build the integrations the platform does not have.
When this makes sense
- The shop has become slow on mobile and nobody can say which app did it
- Orders from Shopify are typed into e-conomic or Billy by hand
- You pay for apps that overlap, or that nobody uses any more
- The theme has to do something no app can, and it has to survive the next update
How it works
- 01
Take stock
What each app costs in page weight and subscription, what the theme loads on every page, and where orders get lost between Shopify and the accounts.
- 02
Fix and build
Theme, apps and integrations changed on a copy of the theme and tested with real orders before anything goes live in the shop.
- 03
Monitor
The integrations are monitored, so an order that did not get through is caught the same day rather than at month end.
What the work covers
- App clean-up: page weight, overlap and monthly subscriptions
- Theme changes in Liquid and sections that can be edited in the theme editor
- Integration with e-conomic, Billy, stock and shipping through the Shopify API and webhooks
- Mobile speed: scripts, images and third-party code
- Checkout extensions and business-customer requirements on Shopify Plus
- Moving to Shopify from WooCommerce, DanDomain or another platform
- Product markup and feeds, so products can be read by Google and by AI assistants
When the app store stops being the answer
Most Shopify shops grow the same way: every time a feature is missing, an app gets installed. Reviews, upsell, pop-ups, filters, shipping rates and chat each bring their own JavaScript, loaded on every page, including the ones where the feature is never used. After a couple of years the theme carries code from apps that were uninstalled long ago, and the mobile site has become slow without anyone being able to say when it happened.
So the first step is an inventory rather than another app: what each app costs in page weight and monthly subscription, what is actually used, and what a few lines in the theme could replace. The result is usually fewer apps, a lower monthly bill and a shop that loads faster on a phone, which is where most Danish orders are placed.
Integrations with accounting, stock and shipping
Shopify has a good API and webhooks for orders, payments and stock, but the connection to e-conomic, Billy, a stock system or Shipmondo is often an app that covers the ordinary order and fails silently on the rest: credit notes, partial shipments, VAT codes on goods shipped outside the EU, or an item that is out of stock in the warehouse and can still be bought in the shop.
I build the integration as a queue with retries and a failure path that says which order did not get through and why, so a sync that stopped on a Friday is not first discovered by the bookkeeper a month later. An integration usually ships in 1–2 weeks and is priced on its own, so you can decide on it separately from everything else.
Themes, Shopify Plus and when to stay
Theme changes are made in Liquid and as sections, so you can move them around in the theme editor afterwards, rather than as hard-coded edits that disappear with the next theme update. On Shopify Plus, checkout can be extended with your own fields and rules through the extensions Shopify allows, which is usually the right place to handle what business customers need.
If the choice is between staying on Shopify and moving to WooCommerce or something custom, I will tell you plainly what I would do. For most shops Shopify is the right place to be, because hosting, security and payments are somebody else’s responsibility. A move only makes sense when apps, transaction fees or the limits of checkout cost more than you save by not running the platform yourself.
Common questions
- What does it cost to get help with a Shopify shop?
- It depends on whether it is a clean-up, a theme change or an integration. Each part is priced on its own after a short look at the shop, and you get the price in writing before work starts.
- Can you connect Shopify to e-conomic or Billy?
- Yes. Either through an existing app, if it covers your case, or as an integration built directly on the Shopify API when the app cannot handle credit notes, partial shipments or your VAT rules. The integration is monitored, so failures are caught before your bookkeeper finds them.
- Our Shopify shop is slow. What can be done?
- Usually it is apps and third-party scripts rather than Shopify itself. I measure the shop on a real phone, find the scripts that cost the most, and remove or replace the ones that are not worth their weight. You get the numbers before and after.
- Should we move from Shopify to WooCommerce?
- Usually not. Shopify takes care of hosting, security and payments, which is worth a lot for a shop without its own developer. I only recommend a move when the numbers for apps, transaction fees and checkout limits clearly favour it, and you get to see the numbers.
- Can you take over a Shopify shop from another agency?
- Yes. It starts with collaborator access to the shop, a copy of the theme and a list of apps and customisations, so nothing changes in the live shop before we know what is there.
- Do we own the shop and our data?
- Yes. The shop, the domain and the customer data are in your name in your own Shopify account, and theme changes and integrations are documented so another developer can take over.
Other stacks I work in
Not sure which one to pick?
Send a couple of lines about what you are trying to achieve. You get a reply within 24 hours, and an honest yes or no.