Agency, freelancer or in-house Shopify developer?
None of the three is the right answer by default. Five questions about the shape of your work decide it, and the same safeguards apply whichever you choose.
5 min read
Journal
Answers to the Shopify problems we get asked about.
Written for merchants and developers who are deciding what to build. Every article cites its sources and links to the work and services it relates to.
Gencer KarakayaFounder & Shopify Engineer
Every article is written from official documentation, and each claim is checked against its source before publication.
How AI assistants see a Shopify store
AI assistants reach a store through their own search crawlers, live fetches for a user, Google’s index and, on Shopify, the Catalog. What each one reads, what robots.txt controls on Shopify, and what nobody can promise.
6 min read
Checkout UI extensions vs Shopify Functions
One adds interface to checkout, the other changes its logic on Shopify’s servers. How to tell which a change needs, and why rule enforcement now belongs in a Function.
6 min read
Configuring Functions with metafields, so rules change without deploys
A Function reads its settings from metafields, so thresholds, product lists and messages can change without new code. Where the settings live, and the limits.
5 min read
Custom app or App Store app: build or install?
An App Store app is the default. A custom app earns its cost when the workflow is specific to your store and the App Store can’t cover it. The platform rules, the costs people forget, and a checklist.
6 min read
Signs a customized theme is costing you
Customizing a Shopify theme is normal. The cost shows up later: skipped updates, leftover app code, changes that need a developer. Eight signs, and how to decide between cleaning up and rebuilding.
6 min read
Do you need Shopify Plus? The features that actually require it
Fewer features need Plus than merchants often assume. Checkout steps, custom Functions, B2B at scale and multi-store operations are where it still decides. A checklist.
6 min read
Moving a Liquid store to Hydrogen: the checklist
A theme gives you redirects, sitemaps, accounts, consent and market URLs without asking. On Hydrogen each one is a task. The checklist, in the order we would work through it.
6 min read
How to brief a Shopify developer (and get a useful quote)
A quote is only as accurate as the brief behind it. The seven things a Shopify developer needs to know, an example of a weak and a useful brief, and how to give access safely.
5 min read
Hosting Hydrogen: Oxygen or self-hosted on Workers
Oxygen is Shopify’s hosting for Hydrogen; Cloudflare Workers is one of the runtimes Shopify’s self-hosting guide names. What each gives you, what you rebuild when you leave Oxygen, and how we chose for our own site.
6 min read
Field data vs lab scores: measuring a store honestly
A lab score is one simulated page load; field data is what real visitors experienced over weeks. How the two differ on a Shopify store, and how to measure a change without fooling yourself.
6 min read
Migrating to Shopify: what breaks and how to plan for it
Most migrations break in the same places: URLs, redirects, customer logins and custom features. What Shopify fixes, what it limits, and the order of work that protects them.
6 min read
One Shopify store with Markets, or expansion stores?
Markets lets one store change currency, pricing, catalog, language and domain per market. Expansion stores are separate Plus stores that share no products or inventory by default. How to choose.
6 min read
Reliable Shopify webhooks: retries, idempotency, ordering
Shopify retries failed webhooks, may deliver the same one twice, and doesn’t guarantee order. How to build a handler that stays correct anyway: fast acknowledgement, verification, deduplication, ordering by timestamp and reconciliation.
6 min read
Selling in Arabic: right-to-left layout on Shopify
Publishing Arabic on Shopify is a settings change. Making Arabic pages read right to left is theme work. What Shopify handles, what the theme must do, and how to test it.
6 min read
Bundles with Cart Transform, and what needs Plus
Fixed bundles and multipacks work on any plan with the Shopify Bundles app. Mix-and-match bundles need Cart Transform. What each route can do, and exactly where Shopify Plus comes in.
6 min read
Checkout extensibility, explained for merchants
Checkout extensibility is the set of app-based tools that replaced checkout.liquid. What each piece does, which plan it needs, and what to check on your store now.
6 min read
Core Web Vitals and INP on Shopify: what moves them
Core Web Vitals are judged on real visitors at the 75th percentile. Where Shopify shows that data, what LCP and INP are made of, and the changes that move them, in order.
6 min read
Delivery customization: hide, rename and sort shipping options
Delivery customization functions hide, rename and reorder the shipping, local delivery and pickup options customers see at checkout. What they can and can’t change, and the limits to plan for.
6 min read
Which Shopify Functions capabilities need Shopify Plus
Most Function APIs work on any plan through App Store apps. The Plus gate sits on custom apps and on a short list of capabilities. Here is that list.
6 min read
Hydrogen vs Liquid: when headless pays for itself
A Liquid theme and a Hydrogen storefront divide the work differently. What you gain with headless, what you start owning, and how to tell whether it pays for itself.
6 min read
Selling in many currencies from one Shopify store
Local currencies on Shopify cover display, payment and refunds, but only with the right payment provider. How rates, rounding and fixed prices work, and what doesn’t convert.
6 min read
Translating a Shopify theme and its content
A translated Shopify store has four layers, each edited in a different place. Where theme strings, product content, checkout text and app content get translated, and why text slips through.
6 min read
When the app stack is the problem: auditing installed apps
Apps are the usual way a Shopify store grows, and the usual way it slows down. A practical audit: inventory, measure with Shopify’s own reports, then cut, replace or consolidate.
6 min read
What installed apps add to your storefront’s load
Every app with a storefront feature adds requests and JavaScript to your pages. How apps get there, what that costs, why uninstalling isn’t always a clean exit, and how to measure it app by app.
6 min read
Keeping inventory in sync with another system
A reliable inventory integration starts by defining what each quantity means and which system owns it. Learn how to map products and locations, choose Shopify operations, handle webhook gaps, and reconcile discrepancies.
6 min read
Shopify Scripts stopped running. Here is where each script’s logic goes now.
Line item, shipping and payment scripts each map to a different Shopify Function API. Here is the map, and the plan constraints to check before you build.
3 min read
Blocking a Shopify checkout that breaks your rules, with Cart and Checkout Validation
Cart and Checkout Validation is the Shopify Function that stops an order before it is placed. What it can check, where it runs, and the limits to plan for.
3 min read
Have something to build? Let’s engineer it.
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Gencer KarakayaFounder & Shopify Engineer
Your brief goes straight to the founder.