Should our store go headless?

Only if a theme can't deliver what you need — for example complex configurators, multiple regional storefronts, or a front end shared with a web app. Headless adds cost and maintenance, so for many stores a well-built Online Store 2.0 theme is the better choice, and we'll tell you so.

What AI features can you add to a Shopify store?

Semantic search and recommendations, AI-drafted product content with human review, support assistants grounded in your policies that can look up orders, and back-office automation such as review summaries and demand forecasting.

How much does Shopify development cost?

Pricing depends on scope, team composition, and engagement model (fixed-scope project, dedicated team, or staff augmentation). We don't publish flat rates because a two-week automation and a multi-quarter platform build cost very differently — instead, we scope your specific project on a free discovery call and follow up with a transparent, itemized estimate.

How long does a Shopify build take?

We work in agile two-week sprints with visible progress every cycle. Many MVPs and first production releases ship in 6 to 12 weeks depending on scope; larger platforms are broken into sprint-sized milestones so you see working software early and often.

Shopify development

Shopify development, with AI where it earns its place

Techtonic Innovations builds and extends Shopify stores for brands that have outgrown a stock theme — custom themes, headless storefronts, custom apps and integrations — and adds practical AI features on top: better search, catalog content at scale, and support that can actually look up an order.

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Store builds and migrations

We build new Shopify stores and rebuild existing ones on Online Store 2.0 themes, with sections and blocks your merchandising team can rearrange without a developer. Custom themes are built for speed first: lean Liquid templates, responsive images, minimal third-party scripts, and Core Web Vitals checked before launch rather than after. For stores migrating from WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, or a custom platform, we plan the product, customer, and order data migration, preserve URLs with redirects so search rankings carry over, and run the old and new stores side by side until the cut-over is verified.

Custom Online Store 2.0 themes and theme refactors
Platform migrations with data mapping and URL redirects
Performance and Core Web Vitals optimization
Accessibility review against WCAG guidelines
Structured data and technical SEO for product pages
Analytics and conversion-event setup

Headless storefronts and custom apps

When a theme can't deliver the experience you need — complex product configurators, content-heavy storytelling, multiple regional storefronts, or a shared front end with a web app — we build headless storefronts on Shopify's Storefront API, using Hydrogen or Next.js depending on your team and hosting. Headless adds cost and complexity, so we recommend it only when a theme genuinely can't do the job, and say so when it can.

For logic Shopify doesn't provide out of the box, we build custom and private apps with the Admin GraphQL API, Shopify Functions for discounts and delivery rules, and checkout UI extensions. We also build the integrations that keep a store running: ERP and inventory sync, 3PL and fulfillment, CRM and email platforms, subscriptions, and reporting pipelines into your data warehouse.

AI add-ons for Shopify stores

AI is most useful in e-commerce where it removes repetitive work or helps shoppers find the right product. Every AI feature we add is grounded in your own catalog and policies, and anything customer-facing is tested against real questions before launch.

Search and discovery

Semantic search that understands what shoppers mean, not just the words they type, plus product recommendations and guided-selling flows that ask a few questions and suggest the right items.

Catalog content at scale

Generated drafts of product descriptions, alt text, SEO titles, and attribute tags from your product data and brand guidelines, routed to your team for review before anything is published.

Support and order agents

A support assistant that answers from your shipping, returns, and product policies, and — with the right permissions — can look up order status and start a return, handing off to a person for anything outside its scope. See AI agent development for how we build and guard these.

Back-office automation

Review summarization, inventory and demand forecasting, fraud-flag triage, and automated reporting — the operational work that grows with order volume. Our AI automation agency page covers this in more depth.

How a Shopify engagement runs

Every engagement starts with a free discovery call, where we learn your goals, systems, and constraints before proposing a scope. We review your current store, apps, integrations, and analytics, then propose a scope — a full build, a migration, a set of custom features, or an AI add-on on its own. Work runs in two-week sprints on a development store or preview theme, so nothing touches your live store until you approve it, and launches are scheduled around your sales calendar. If you also need a companion app, we can deliver it alongside the store through our mobile app development service.

Frequently asked questions

Both. We build new stores and custom themes, migrate stores from other platforms, and add custom features, apps, integrations, or AI capabilities to stores that are already live.