Client's Testimonial

We knew we needed to go headless to get the site speed and design freedom we wanted, but it seemed incredibly complex. The Developers.dev team made it simple. They are true experts in composable commerce. Our site is now blazing fast, our conversion rate is up, and our brand finally looks and feels the way we always envisioned.

Founder & CEO

Client Overview

The client is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand in the USA that has experienced explosive growth. Their all-in-one Shopify Plus site, while excellent initially, was starting to show its limits. They struggled with page load speed, especially on mobile, and found it difficult to create unique, content-rich shopping experiences that differentiated their brand. They wanted to keep the power of Shopify's backend but needed more flexibility and performance on the front end.

Problem

The client's monolithic Shopify theme was slow, scoring poorly on Google's Core Web Vitals, which was hurting their SEO and conversion rates. The theme's rigidity also limited the marketing team's ability to blend content and commerce, such as creating immersive "shop-the-look" guides or detailed product stories.

Key Challenges

Performance

Achieving sub-second load times to improve user experience and Core Web Vitals.

Seamless Integration

Ensuring the new front end worked perfectly with the Shopify Plus backend for cart, checkout, and order management.

Content & Commerce Blend

Creating a system where marketing could easily build rich, editorial-style content that was fully shoppable.

Maintaining E-commerce Functionality

Ensuring all third-party Shopify apps (reviews, loyalty, etc.) continued to function on the new headless site.

Our Solution

📝 Headless CMS for Content

We introduced Contentful as a headless CMS to manage all non-product content, such as blog posts, lookbooks, and brand story pages.

🛒 Shopify as Headless Commerce Backend

We continued to use Shopify Plus to manage products, inventory, and checkout, but accessed its data via Shopify's Storefront API.

🚀 High-Performance Frontend

We built a new front end from scratch using Next.js and Vercel, which fetches data from both Shopify and Contentful at build time, creating an incredibly fast static site.

🔗 API-First Integrations

We re-integrated their essential third-party apps via their APIs, ensuring a seamless experience for customers.

Implementation and Execution

Test-Drive Sprint

We began with a "One-Week Test-Drive Sprint" to build a proof-of-concept and demonstrate the performance gains.

Design Component Library

We designed a new, flexible component library in Figma and developed it in React.

Contentful Setup & Training

We set up the content models in Contentful and trained the client's marketing team.

Shopify API Configuration

We configured the Shopify Storefront API and built the data-fetching layer.

Rigorous Testing

We conducted rigorous end-to-end testing of the entire customer journey, from product discovery to checkout.

Smooth Launch

We executed a smooth launch with a zero-downtime deployment strategy.

Positive Outcome

⚡ 70% Improvement in Google PageSpeed Score

The site now scores in the high 90s, boosting both SEO and user experience.

📈 18% Increase in Conversion Rate

The faster load times and improved design directly led to more sales.

🎨 Total Creative Freedom

The marketing team can now build unique, content-rich pages without any developer help, using the components we built in Contentful.

📉 Reduced Bounce Rate

The mobile bounce rate dropped by over 25% due to the near-instantaneous page loads.

Why Choose Us

✅ Verifiable Process Maturity

Our Agile process allowed for rapid iteration and a successful launch.

🧠 An Ecosystem of Experts

The POD included specialists in Shopify, Contentful, and React.

🤖 AI-Augmented Delivery

We used AI tools to help optimize image assets for the new site.

🔒 Deep Security & Compliance DNA

We ensured the new architecture was fully PCI compliant.

🤸‍♀️ Radical Flexibility

The client is no longer constrained by a single platform's theme.

🌐 Global Scale, Seamless Integration

The API-first approach was key to the project's success.

🔮 Future-Proof Architecture

They can now easily add new channels or swap out backend services.

🤝 Transparent, Collaborative Partnership

The client was involved in every sprint and demo.

💯 Guaranteed Performance

The performance outcome was the primary goal, and we exceeded it.

Conclusion

By embracing a composable commerce strategy with Developers.dev, the retail brand was able to overcome the limitations of its monolithic platform. The new solution delivered not only a massive performance boost and increased sales but also gave the brand the creative control it needed to build a truly differentiated customer experience.

Boosting Performance and Conversion for a Fast-Growing Retail Brand with a Headless, Composable Commerce Architecture

Industry Retail & E-commerce