Shopify design & build
Full store builds and theme work done in the code, not just the editor. Products, collections, payments, shipping and GST, configured and tested.
Ecommerce Website Design
Every second of load time is a customer walking out.
There are two honest ways to build an online store. Shopify when it fits, and a custom Astro storefront when speed and design freedom are your edge. We build both, and we will tell you straight which one your business actually needs.
Most online stores leak sales for the same five reasons.
Traffic arrives cold. A shopper lands on a product page, waits, squints at a theme they have seen forty times, and leaves before doubt turns into a purchase. It is rarely the product that loses the sale. It is the store around it.
- Slow product pages
- Theme looks like every store
- Apps piling onto every page
- Invisible on Google
- Checkout leaks customers
Shopify or a custom build: which one is right for you?
Shopify is the right call more often than a custom studio would like to admit. If your catalogue is straightforward and the standard checkout does the job, Shopify gives you a proven platform your own team can run. When it fits, we say so, and we build it properly: a fast theme, apps kept on a short leash, and product pages designed around the sale instead of the template.
A headless storefront is the other path. We build a custom Astro front end, with Shopify or Stripe doing the heavy lifting behind it, so every page is engineered rather than assembled. You get design freedom no theme allows and speed most stores never reach, which also gives ecommerce SEO a much faster surface to work on. It costs more, and it is only worth it when the experience of the store is part of what you are selling.
The dishonest version of this page would push everyone to the expensive option. We would rather build you the right store, because you will notice the difference every month it trades.
Their template store. Your engineered storefront.
The big retailers in your category are running the same themes, the same apps and the same checkout as everyone else. That sameness is your opening. A store built with intent looks different, loads faster and converts colder traffic than anything assembled from parts.
The incumbent
- A theme, thirty apps, and hope
- Slower every month as apps stack up
- Looks like every store in the category
- Nobody knows what half the scripts do
You, with Igloo
- Engineered, with every part accounted for
- Fast on real phones, not just the demo
- Designed to look like only you
- Built to rank, not just to exist
Everything a store needs to sell. Nothing it does not.
A store is a machine with one job. Every piece we build either helps a shopper decide, helps Google send them, or helps you run the thing. Anything else gets cut.
Headless storefronts
A custom Astro and React front end over Shopify or Stripe. Total design freedom, and product pages that load before the doubt sets in.
Product page design
The page where the money changes hands. Layouts built around proof, answers and trust, so the add to cart button earns its click.
Collection & category SEO
Category architecture, internal links and metadata built so shoppers arrive from Google without you renting every visitor from ads.
Checkout, shipping & GST
The unglamorous plumbing done right. NZ payment methods, shipping zones and rates, GST inclusive pricing, and a checkout tested with a real order.
Email capture & retention
Forms, flows and post-purchase follow-up, so the customer you paid to win once keeps buying without you paying again.
Why is my Shopify store slow?
Almost always the apps. Every app you install injects scripts, and most of them load on every page whether they are doing anything or not. Stack a heavy theme and full-size images on top, and a store that felt fine on the office wifi crawls on the phone in a shopper’s hand, which is where most of your sales are decided.
The fix is discipline, not magic. We audit what is actually loading, remove what is not earning its keep, replace app features with lighter code where we can, and rebuild the slowest templates. It is the same craft as our website speed optimisation work, pointed at a store, and Google rewards it the same way: speed is part of how stores rank, not just how they feel.
And if you are selling on WooCommerce, the answer is usually the platform itself. Our WordPress to Astro migration work covers that move, redirects and all.
A Shopify developer who tells you the truth.
Plenty of people will install a theme and call themselves a Shopify developer. We work in the code: theme builds, custom sections, app audits and the storefront engineering underneath, from a studio that answers straight. If an app is the right tool, we use it. If it is a script tax on every page view, we say so and build the feature properly instead.
And because we are a design studio first, the store never outruns the brand. If the identity is the weak point, our brand identity work sharpens it before the storefront amplifies it to every visitor.
Carve. Build. Weather.
One method, three moves. A store that sells is decided early, in how sharply we read the category and choose the platform.
01
Carve the edge
We study your category, find where the incumbents are slow and interchangeable, and pick the path, Shopify or headless, that turns that gap into your storefront.
02
Build the storefront
Design and build as one job. Product pages tensioned to the sale, categories structured for search, checkout and shipping wired up and tested with a real order.
03
Weather the seasons
We launch, watch what shoppers actually do, and keep sharpening the path to purchase. Sale weekends and December peaks are planned for, not survived.
The machinery behind a store that sells.
Two platforms, one discipline: nothing ships unless the store is faster for it.
- 01 Shopify Stores, product pages, collections, checkout and ecommerce management.
- 02 Headless storefronts Custom front ends for brands that need more speed, control and design freedom.
- 03 Astro and React Fast storefronts, landing pages and interactive shopping experiences.
- 04 Stripe Payments and custom checkout flows where Shopify is not the right fit.
- 05 Product page design Conversion-focused layouts, proof, FAQs, bundles and trust sections.
- 06 Collection structure SEO-friendly category architecture and internal linking.
- 07 Email capture Forms, lead magnets, campaigns and post-purchase flows.
- 08 Analytics Tracking conversion paths, product interest and sales behaviour.
- 09 Performance optimisation Fast product pages without app bloat.
7 figureswe grew our own brand, Spruce, from zero on $0 ad spend
4.9Spruce’s real Google rating, 131 reviews, on a site we built
Test usrun this page through Lighthouse. We build storefronts the same way
Services that make the store stronger.
Three ecommerce packages, priced up front.
Nobody should have to sit through a discovery call just to hear a number. Most stores fit one of three packages below, and your figure comes down to catalogue size and scope, which we agree in writing before we start. No surprise invoices.
Shopify store
from $5k
3 to 5 weeks
A fast, distinctive Shopify build with products loaded, payments, shipping and GST configured, and no app sprawl.
Headless storefront
$12k to $25k
6 to 10 weeks
A custom Astro front end over Shopify or Stripe. Total design freedom and speed no theme can match.
Store + brand
from $15k
8 to 12 weeks
The identity and the storefront built together, so the brand and the buying experience make one argument.
Indicative ranges, not a quote. We scope the exact number with you up front, in writing, before anything begins.
The things people ask first.
Should I use Shopify or a custom built store in NZ?
Shopify, for most stores. It is proven, secure, and your team can run it day to day without paying an agency for every small change. A custom storefront makes sense when speed and design are genuinely your edge: when the experience of the site is part of why people buy. We will tell you which one you are, even when the answer is the cheaper one.
How much does an ecommerce website cost in NZ?
The honest ranges are on this page. A properly built Shopify store usually starts around five thousand dollars. A headless storefront starts around twelve. The variables are catalogue size, custom features and any migration work. We scope the exact figure in writing before anything starts, so the number never moves on you.
Why is my Shopify store slow and can you fix it?
Almost always the apps. Every app injects its own scripts, and most keep loading on every page long after you stop using them. Add a heavy theme and oversized images, and the store crawls on real phones. Yes, we can fix it: we audit what is actually running, cut what is not earning its keep, and rebuild the slowest templates. If the theme is beyond saving, we will say so.
Can you migrate my store without losing Google rankings?
Yes, if it is done with discipline. Every old URL gets mapped to its new home with a permanent redirect, metadata and structured data carry over, and we watch Search Console through the switch. We have moved a whole business off its old platform this way, with every URL accounted for. The stores that lose rankings in a migration are the ones that skipped this work.
Do you set up shipping, GST and NZ payment options?
Yes. Shipping zones and rates, GST inclusive pricing, and the payment methods NZ shoppers expect at checkout. It is part of the build, not an extra, because a store that cannot take payment cleanly is not finished. We hand over with everything tested end to end, including a real order.
Let’s build a store that earns its keep.
Tell us what you sell and who you are up against. Already trading? Ask for a free store teardown: we will review your current store’s speed, product pages and search visibility, and show you exactly where the sales are leaking. No hot air, just the plan.
Start a projector email hello@igloostudio.co.nz