Shopify Plus Development
Built, Not Themed.
The Epixels does custom Shopify Plus development from Dubai: bespoke theme architecture, checkout extensions, systems integration, and migrations onto Shopify Plus for DTC brands in the UAE and worldwide.
What This Actually Means.
Most Shopify stores are a purchased theme with a stack of apps holding up the parts the theme never covered. That works until it does not. The moment the business needs the store to do something specific, a product that prices by area, a bundle the platform does not model, an ERP that owns stock, the settings run out.
Shopify Plus development is the work that starts there. We build the theme rather than configure one, write the checkout logic as extensions and Functions, and connect the systems that already run the business. The result is a store that behaves the way you described it, rather than the way an app store approximation allows.
Every project is scoped in full before it is priced. A typical custom development build runs four to eight weeks, quoted as a fixed price, with a timeline you can watch move.
What’s Included.
The work that makes up a Shopify Plus development project. Most builds use some of it. Very few use all of it, and we will tell you which parts your store does not need.
Custom theme development
Themes built from scratch, or rebuilt on an Online Store 2.0 base like Dawn or Symmetry. Liquid, JSON templates, and metaobjects for the content your team should be able to edit without raising a ticket. No page builder app loading 400kb of CSS on every route.
Custom sections and blocks
Reusable Online Store 2.0 sections with proper schema, so merchandisers rearrange pages themselves. Bundle builders, size guides, comparison tables, live SVG product previews, B2B quote forms. Native sections rather than embedded apps.
Migrations to Shopify
From WooCommerce, Magento or BigCommerce onto Shopify Plus. URL mapping and 301s so organic traffic survives the move, subscription contracts carried across, customer and order history transferred, then a redirect audit after launch.
Checkout customisation
Checkout UI extensions, Shopify Functions for discounts and delivery, the branding API, and post purchase upsells. Including the port off checkout.liquid and Scripts onto Checkout Extensibility, which is now overdue on a lot of Plus stores.
B2B and multi-market on Plus
Native B2B with company accounts, catalogue level price lists and volume rules. Shopify Markets for multi-currency and multi-region, including the awkward parts: international subscriptions, and who the merchant of record ends up being.
Performance work
Render blocking scripts, oversized media, app bloat, and theme code that ships to every page for the benefit of one. Speed is a build decision before it is an app decision.
What We Connect.
Integration work on Shopify Plus goes through the API, so one system owns each fact and the others read it. These are the platforms we connect most often for brands in the Gulf.
Payments
PayFort, Stripe, PayPal, Tabby and Tamara, including the split payment methods Gulf customers expect at checkout.
ERP and CRM
SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Oracle, connected so stock and orders stop being re-keyed by hand.
Logistics
Aramex, FedEx and DHL for rates, labels and tracking that reaches the customer without a manual step.
Marketing and analytics
Klaviyo, Google Analytics 4 and Meta, wired through server side events where the browser side has stopped being reliable.
Moving Onto Plus.
A Shopify migration takes four to eight weeks. Product counts, variant structure and the redirect map drive the timeline far more than the design does. Four steps, in this order.
Audit and plan
We go through the existing store: data model, integrations, custom code, URL structure and whatever nobody has looked at in two years. You get a written plan before anything moves.
Move the data
Products, variants, collections, customers, order history and metafields, transferred with integrity checks on both sides. Nothing goes live until the counts match.
Build on Shopify
The theme, the custom features and the integrations get built on the new store while the old one keeps trading. No trading days lost to the move.
Test and launch
Full QA across devices and payment methods, redirect map verified against the live URL list, then a cutover at a time you choose.
Who this is for.
- A store doing real revenue that has hit a wall the theme cannot get past.
- A brand on Magento, WooCommerce or BigCommerce planning a move to Shopify.
- A catalogue that needs a product model the standard variant system does not cover.
- A business whose stock, pricing or customer data already lives in an ERP or CRM.
Who it isn’t for.
- A first store with no traffic yet. Launch on a good theme, then come back when the ceiling is real.
- A brand looking for the lowest quote in the market. Ours will not be it.
- A project that needs a full custom build in two weeks. We will not agree to a date we cannot hold.
- A store where the problem is the offer rather than the build. A better product page will not fix that.
Before You Ask.
Common questions about Shopify Plus development, checkout customisation and migrations.
What is Shopify Plus development?
Shopify Plus development is custom build work on Shopify’s enterprise plan, past what themes and apps can reach. It covers bespoke themes, checkout extensions, Shopify Functions, systems integration and migrations. The Epixels has been a Shopify Plus Partner since 2016 and builds from Dubai.
How long does a Shopify Plus build take?
A typical custom development project runs four to eight weeks from scope to launch. Migrations sit at the longer end because data structure, not design, sets the pace. We quote a fixed price for the agreed scope before work starts.
Can you customise the Shopify Plus checkout?
Yes. Since Shopify retired checkout.liquid, checkout work is built as checkout UI extensions and Shopify Functions instead of injected Liquid. That covers delivery and payment customisation, discount and pricing logic, and post purchase offers. Checkout control at this level is a Plus feature.
Do you build headless Shopify stores?
Yes, when the case for it is real. Headless earns its keep on large catalogues, unusual front end requirements or a content stack that has to lead. On a normal store it adds cost and maintenance for speed you can usually get from the theme, and we will say so.
Will a migration hurt my search rankings?
Not if the redirect map is done properly. We map every ranking URL from the old platform to its new address before launch and verify it after, which is the step that gets skipped when a migration goes wrong. Content and metadata move with the pages.