Development
Sonance
Product tools for a global audio brand
Shopify development with theme changes and product tools for an international store.
Visit sonance.com
Headless Shopify
Headless Shopify with Hydrogen or Next.js, when it actually makes sense
Headless Shopify gets sold as the answer to everything slow, and it is not. I have built headless setups in Hydrogen and Next.js and worked with the web since 2010, so I can give you an honest assessment of whether the architecture solves your problem, or whether a theme cleanup does the same for a fraction.
- I usually reply the same day
- Written estimate before work starts
Headless Shopify
When headless Shopify makes sense
- The store is one part of a larger site where the rest runs on something else entirely.
- You need a storefront that does not look like a webshop: configurators, calculators, heavy product views.
- Content comes from a CMS that matters more than the product catalogue.
- Several storefronts must run across markets or brands on top of one catalogue.
When it does not
If the reason is speed alone, start by cleaning up the theme and the apps. I have seen stores go from 2.8 to 1.1 seconds on LCP without touching the architecture.
Headless also moves responsibility from Shopify to you: rendering, caching, deploys and error monitoring. If nobody maintains it after launch, it costs more than you saved.
How I build headless
Hydrogen if the store is the core and you want to stay close to Shopify's own tooling. Next.js if the store is part of something larger, or a Next.js codebase already exists.
In both cases I use the Storefront API and leave checkout with Shopify. There is no reason to build your own checkout, and several good reasons not to.
What you get
Concrete deliverables, not a report of recommendations someone else has to find time for.
- An assessment before the decision
An honest review of whether headless is even the answer to your problem. About half the time it is not.
- A storefront in Hydrogen or Next.js
Built on the Storefront API with the technology that fits where the store is heading.
- Checkout with Shopify
Payment stays where it is secure and maintained, while the storefront is your own.
- A CMS for the content
The theme editor goes away with headless, so editing has to be solved from the start, not discovered as a gap afterwards.
The work in practice
View all casesShopify
OOONO
Shopify across markets
Shopify development across markets with theme changes, tracking and ongoing improvements to the store.
Visit ooono.com
Shopify
Joule
A new AED brand on Shopify
A Shopify site with a custom theme and visual product story for Joule's new AED.
Visit jouleaed.com
How it works
Four steps. You know what happens when, and you can stop after any of them.
- 01
We walk through the job
A 20-30 minute call where you describe what needs to be built or repaired. I ask about platform, access and deadline, and tell you honestly if the job sits outside what I am good at.
- 02
Review of your code
Small jobs get a price after a short clarification. If a larger existing project needs a technical review first, we agree the price and scope of that review before I open the code.
- 03
Written quote with a clear scope
You get a firm agreement on what is included, what is not, and when it will be ready. If the scope changes along the way, we deal with it openly instead of letting it drift.
- 04
Delivery in your own setup
I work in your own repository and your own hosting and deliver in pieces you can see and approve. When we are done, you have the code, the access and documentation that makes you independent of me.
Brands I've worked with
Frequently asked questions
- What does headless Shopify cost?
- It depends on the scope of the storefront, whether a CMS is needed for the content, and how many app features must be rebuilt. After a short clarification of those three things you get a concrete quote, with a same-day reply. In any case, expect a markedly larger project than a theme-based store.
- What does headless actually mean?
- That the store's front end is built as its own application, while Shopify runs products, orders and checkout behind it. The two parts talk through the Storefront API, and you control everything customers see.
- Do we lose Shopify's theme editor?
- Yes, it goes away. That is why I usually put a CMS in place if content needs to be editable without a developer. That cost belongs in the calculation from the start.
- Do our apps still work?
- Some do, many do not. Apps that inject something into the theme stop working, while apps working inside Shopify on orders and inventory keep running. I go through the list as one of the first steps.
- Can we go back to a regular theme?
- Yes, the product data still lives in Shopify. But going either way is a project, so the decision should rest on solid grounds rather than a hunch.
- Hydrogen or Next.js?
- Hydrogen if the store is the core and you want to stay close to Shopify's own tooling. Next.js if the store is part of something larger, or there is already a Next.js codebase in-house.
- Do you build headless for stores outside Copenhagen?
- Yes. These projects run fully remotely, and I have clients in Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg and abroad. Geography has no bearing on either the process or the result.