PRICING · SHOPIFY STOREFRONTS
- Custom Liquid Theme From $6,750
- Headless on Astro From $16,200
Scope agreed in writing before work starts.
See the full rate card →← Services / 07
Shopify Storefronts
Most Shopify stores look like Shopify stores — the same themes, the same sections, a template with your logo on it. We build the other kind: a storefront designed from scratch to the same standard as everything else we ship, running on the most battle-tested commerce engine there is. Shopify handles checkout, payments, tax, fraud, and inventory — the parts that must never fail. We design and build the part your customers actually see. Two build paths, one honest recommendation: we tell you which fits your brand, your team, and your budget before anything gets designed.
Two ways to build
Two Paths, One Recommendation
These are not two equal options with different price tags. They solve different problems. Part of the engagement is telling you plainly which one you actually need — and for most stores, that answer is the Liquid theme.
PATH A — LIQUID THEME
Custom Liquid Theme
A theme built from scratch on Shopify's Online Store 2.0 architecture — custom design, no marketplace template underneath. Everything lives in one system: you edit pages, products, and content directly in the Shopify admin, no developer needed after handover. The trade-off is honest: you stay inside Shopify's theme architecture. That ceiling is high, but it exists — some interactions and performance patterns are out of reach.
WHO IT'S FOR → For stores that want full autonomy in one system, a faster launch, and a smaller budget. This is the right call for most stores.
PATH B — HEADLESS
Headless on Astro + Cloudflare
The storefront becomes a fully custom front end on our own stack — Astro, edge-deployed on Cloudflare — with Shopify as the commerce engine behind it via the Storefront API. No theme constraints: complete freedom in design, motion, and performance. The trade-offs are equally real: it costs more, takes longer, and you run two systems — products and orders in Shopify, storefront changes through us or your developer.
WHO IT'S FOR → For premium brands where design and speed are the product itself — and worth the added cost and coordination.
What you get
Deliverables
- Custom storefront design — typography, color, motion, and product presentation built from scratch. No theme marketplace, no recognizable template DNA.
- Build-path recommendation in writing — Liquid or headless, argued from your catalog, team, and budget, before any design work starts.
- Path A: a complete custom Liquid theme on Online Store 2.0 — every section editable in the Shopify admin by non-developers.
- Path B: a headless Astro storefront on Cloudflare, connected to Shopify's commerce engine via the Storefront API.
- Commerce foundation configured — checkout, payment providers, tax, shipping zones, and inventory set up on Shopify's infrastructure.
- SEO + AI-search layer — Product and Offer schema, semantic HTML, and fast Core Web Vitals, so search and answer engines can read your catalog; plus llms.txt for the tools that read that file.
What it costs
Pricing
All prices in USD, net. Excludes taxes, duties and third-party fees (domains, hosting beyond free tiers, apps, licences, stock assets) applicable in the client's jurisdiction.
How it works
Process
01 — SCOPE
Store Brief
Catalog, brand, team, and budget mapped in one call. What you sell, who buys it, who maintains the store after launch.
02 — ADVISE
Path Decision
Liquid or headless — our recommendation with the trade-offs in writing. Agreed before a single pixel is designed.
03 — DESIGN
Storefront Design
Custom visual system: home, collection, product page, cart flow. Designed like a brand, not a template.
04 — BUILD
Build & Configure
Theme or headless front end built; checkout, payments, tax, shipping, and inventory wired up in Shopify.
05 — LAUNCH
Launch & Handover
Go-live, redirects, analytics, and an editing guide. You leave knowing how to run your store.
Plain language
Jargon, Decoded
CLICK A TERM TO DECODE
Shopify COMMERCE
The commerce engine behind the store. Shopify runs checkout, payments, taxes, shipping, and inventory on infrastructure that powers millions of shops worldwide.
YOUR ADVANTAGE → The parts of your store that must never fail — taking money, charging tax, tracking stock — run on proven infrastructure, not custom code.
Liquid COMMERCE
The language Shopify themes are built in. A custom Liquid theme means the design is built natively into Shopify — every page and section stays editable in the normal Shopify admin, unlike a headless setup where storefront changes go through code.
YOUR ADVANTAGE → You run your entire store in one familiar system — no developer needed for day-to-day changes.
Headless Commerce COMMERCE
The storefront your customers see and the shop system behind it are two separate pieces: a fully custom front end for design and speed, with Shopify handling checkout, payments, and inventory in the background.
YOUR ADVANTAGE → Complete design freedom and top speed where customers browse — proven commerce infrastructure where they pay.
Astro FRAMEWORK
The construction system behind the site. Astro delivers every page as lean, ready-to-render HTML instead of shipping a heavy app the browser has to assemble first.
YOUR ADVANTAGE → Your site loads noticeably faster than typical website builders — less to download, and far less for the phone to run before the page is usable.
Cloudflare Pages HOSTING
Where the site lives. Your pages are stored on hundreds of servers around the world at once — every visitor is served from the one closest to them.
YOUR ADVANTAGE → Fast loading in Bangkok, Berlin and New York alike — hundreds of locations, none of them carrying your site on its own.
Common questions
Shopify Storefronts FAQ
Why Shopify and not a fully custom shop system?
Checkout, payments, tax, fraud protection, PCI compliance, inventory — these are the parts of a store that must never fail, and Shopify has spent nearly two decades hardening them. We would rather build a distinctive storefront on top of that engine than rebuild the engine. You get custom design where it matters and proven infrastructure where it counts.
Which path should I choose — Liquid theme or headless?
For most stores, the custom Liquid theme is the right answer: one system, full autonomy, lower cost. Headless makes sense when design and performance are core to the brand itself and the added cost and coordination of two systems are worth it. We give you our recommendation in writing before the build — and we will tell you if headless is overkill for your case.
Can I edit everything myself after launch?
On the Liquid path, yes — pages, products, sections, and content are all editable in the Shopify admin, no developer needed. On the headless path, products, inventory, and orders stay in Shopify as usual, but storefront design changes go through code. That difference is one of the main reasons we recommend a path instead of selling both equally.
Can you migrate my existing store?
Yes. Products, collections, customers, and URL redirects move over as part of the build — whether you come from a Shopify theme, WooCommerce, or another platform. Order history migration depends on the source system and is scoped in the brief.
What does it cost and how long does it take?
Published, not gated. A Custom Liquid Theme starts at $6,750 and runs 4–7 weeks; Headless on Astro starts at $16,200 and runs 8–12 weeks. The gap is real work — two systems instead of one — not a price tag on the same build. The full rate card is at blackoarstudio.com/pricing. Tell us catalog size, brand assets, and deadline; you get an exact scope and figure in writing, usually within two business days.
Ready to ship?
Tell us the goal, the deadline, and the constraint. Pricing is on the rate card; you get an exact scope and figure in writing, usually within two business days.
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