Shopify and Shopify Plus development.

Theme sections, custom apps and integrations by senior engineers, instead of a sixth app.

Theme development, custom apps and integrations for Shopify and Shopify Plus stores, by senior engineers. For merchants of every size whose store needs something the theme editor and the app store cannot give them. Work with us ad hoc or on a monthly development retainer.

For
Shopify and Shopify Plus stores that have outgrown the theme editor
What it is
Sections, blocks, custom apps, integrations and app tidying
Price
Ad hoc, invoiced monthly, or a development retainer
First step
A written reply within one working day, and a free first look

Is your Shopify store doing this?

What merchants say when they bring Shopify work to us.

  • We have twenty apps installed and the store feels slower every month.

    What it usually means

    Each app adds scripts to pages it may not need. An app audit removes, replaces or defers what is not earning its place.

  • We pay monthly for an app that does one small thing.

    What it usually means

    A little custom code can often own the feature outright, with no script loading on every page.

  • Our theme update broke the custom sections someone added.

    What it usually means

    They were edited into the theme rather than built to survive it. Sections and blocks should outlive vendor updates.

What we build on Shopify.

Six kinds of work, all by the same senior engineers.

  • Themes, sections and blocks

    Sections and blocks your team places and edits, built on Shopify's current theme architecture.

  • Custom apps

    Pricing rules, configurators, portals and internal tools on Shopify's APIs, owned by you.

  • Integrations

    ERP, accounting, warehouse, email, reviews, feeds and marketplaces, connected and monitored.

  • Checkout and B2B on Plus

    Checkout customisation, company accounts and market stores where your plan allows them.

  • App audit and tidy

    Every app read for what it loads and costs; unused ones removed, heavy ones replaced.

  • Fixes at the cause

    Broken templates, stopped feeds and discounts that stack wrongly, found and written up.

The same store, with and without us.

Without us
  • A new app for every feature
  • Scripts from every app on every page
  • Custom work lost at the next theme update
  • Changes made straight on the live theme
  • Monthly app fees for features you could own
  • Hours you cannot trace to a task
With Refined Commerce
  • An app where one fits, code where it does not, with reasons
  • Page weight checked on every change
  • Sections and blocks built to survive theme updates
  • A preview theme first, then published
  • Custom features owned outright
  • Every piece of work itemised on your invoice

From request to live.

The same steps for a small section change and a two-month app.

  1. Step 1: A free first look

    Send us the store address and a few lines about what you need. A senior person reads the public store, the theme and what each page loads.

    Within two working days
    Access we need
    None. The store address and a description of the task.
    What you receive
    Findings, a plan and an estimate in writing, with no obligation.
  2. Step 2: A request, and an estimate where you want one

    Tell us what you want by email. Small requests are simply done; for a custom app, a new theme or anything larger, you get a written estimate first.

    Within two working days
    Access we need
    Collaborator access to the Shopify admin.
    What you receive
    A written summary of the task, and an estimate for larger work.
  3. Step 3: Built on a preview theme or development store

    Theme work on an unpublished copy of your theme, apps and integrations on a development store, so the live store is untouched.

    In order of priority
    What you receive
    A preview link to try, and written progress updates.
  4. Step 4: You check it, then we publish

    When you are happy, the theme is published or the app installed at a quiet hour, with the previous version kept to roll back to.

    At a time agreed with you
    What you receive
    A note of what changed, and the work itemised on your next invoice.

Install an app, or build it?

The question behind most Shopify development tickets. We answer it on the ticket, with reasons, and we are not paid by app vendors.

An app is usually right when

  • A maintained app from a vendor who answers does exactly the job
  • The feature changes often and the vendor keeps up with Shopify
  • It connects to a third party whose API the vendor already maintains
  • The monthly fee is small against the cost of building and owning it

Custom code is usually right when

  • Nothing in the app store fits without workarounds
  • The app would load scripts on every page for a feature on one
  • You are paying monthly for something a little custom code would own
  • The logic is yours: pricing, configurators, portals, internal tools

We price the work, not the clock.

This service
Each request priced as a whole, with an estimate first where you want one.
How you pay
Ad hoc, invoiced at the end of the month, or as part of a monthly retainer.
Our rate
£80 an hour plus VAT, the same for every merchant.
Never charged
Account management, or the first look at your store.

Ad hoc or a development retainer: your choice.

Ask for work as you need it, and everything requested in a month is itemised on one invoice at the end of it, each piece with its own price. Or agree a monthly development retainer. A custom app, a new theme or a large integration is estimated in writing as a project. Shopify plan fees and app subscriptions are paid to Shopify and the vendors.

  • A written estimate first, where you want one
  • Preview theme or development store first
  • Apps and new themes estimated as projects
What happens first
  1. We read the theme, its version and what has been edited into it.
  2. Installed apps are listed with what each loads on the page.
  3. You get an estimate, or a question, in writing before anything else is done.
How our pricing works

Proof, from real stores.

LaserMaster: a category page of the live store on desktop
LaserMaster on a phone
Laser cutting and fabrication, UKShopify

LaserMaster

Shopify rebuild for an industrial laser cutting and fabrication company, with an Easy Order tool for custom pieces and a bespoke set of service icons.

Passes Core Web Vitals on mobile
  • LCP1.9 s
  • INP107 ms
  • CLS0.01

Core Web Vitals, real-user data (Chrome UX Report), mobile, 28 days to 31st October 2026. Marks show Google's thresholds.

… He consistently delivers top-notch work, characterized by lean, clean code and solutions optimized for speed and solid user experience. He leverages native Shopify functionalities, avoiding over-reliance on third-party apps. …

Erlend StunnerBad.noGoogle review

Is this the right service for your store?

This is for you if

  • Your store is on Shopify or Shopify Plus and needs more than the theme editor gives
  • You want fewer apps and a faster store
  • You want custom features you own
  • You want senior people, whatever the size of the task

If your situation is different

Why merchants bring this work to us.

About Refined Commerce
  • 2

    Platforms, so you get an honest answer

    We build on Shopify and on Magento. When a merchant asks which is right for them, we have no reason to push either.

  • 2021

    On Shopify Plus since 2021

    A registered Shopify Partner, building themes, custom apps and integrations for stores selling in the UK and abroad.

  • 1

    Point of contact, and senior engineers only

    You deal directly with the founder. No juniors learning on your store and no account managers in between.

Questions merchants ask about this.

Do you build on our existing theme or start again?

Usually on what you have. Most Shopify stores use a well-made theme from the theme store or a vendor, and the right work is new sections, blocks and templates built in a way that survives the vendor's updates. We start again only when the theme is old, heavily hacked or no longer updated, and say which in writing.

Should we build it, or install an app?

An app when a good one exists, is maintained, and does what you need without doing a great deal else. Custom code when nothing fits, when the app adds weight to every page for a feature on one, or when you pay monthly for something a little custom code would own outright. We tell you which and why, and we are not paid by app vendors.

Can you make our Shopify store faster?

Often, and the honest way to say it is that we measure first. Shopify stores slow down through accumulated apps and their scripts, oversized images and theme code added in a hurry. We read what each page loads, remove or defer what is not earning its place, and measure again, on your store rather than with a promised figure.

Do we need Shopify Plus for this?

Not for themes, apps or most integrations, which are the same on every plan. Plus matters when you want to customise the checkout itself, sell B2B with company accounts, or open additional stores for other markets. If what you ask for needs Plus, we say so before any work is done.

Can you work alongside our in-house team or another agency?

Yes. We work with whoever else touches the store, in your theme's version control, with the same discipline: a preview theme or development store first, then live. Many merchants use us for the development their regular team does not have time or depth for.

What about headless Shopify?

For a few merchants with a developer team and a reason, a separate frontend on Shopify's APIs is the right architecture. For most, a well-built Liquid theme is faster to build, cheaper to own and lets your team edit the store without a developer. We recommend headless when your store needs it and not before.

Talk to us about your store.

Get in touch and you get three things.

  1. 1
    A reply from a senior person

    Not a sales team, and nobody reading from a script.

  2. 2
    Findings, a plan and an estimate in writing

    Within two working days.

  3. 3
    No obligation

    What happens next, and when, is your decision.

Get in touch