Headless Shopify Development LondonHeadless Shopify storessub-second, your way.
WebAnts builds custom headless Shopify stores using Next.js and the Storefront API — complete design freedom, sub-second page loads, and Shopify’s reliable checkout as the backbone. No deposit required.
15+
Headless Shopify stores shipped
<1s
Target page load on Vercel Edge CDN
100
PageSpeed target
£0
Deposit — milestone payments only
4.9★
Average client rating
What is headless Shopify
Shopify as the backbone. React as the face.
Starting from
£8,000
Flat quote · No prepayment · 4–10 wk delivery
Headless Shopify decouples your storefront frontend from Shopify’s backend — using the Storefront API as the data layer and Next.js on Vercel Edge CDN as the frontend. WebAnts builds headless Shopify stores for DTC premium brands, fashion and luxury retailers, and SaaS and ecommerce hybrid brands.
Unlike traditional Liquid themes, a headless Next.js frontend loads in under a second from Vercel Edge CDN, gives complete component-level design freedom, and lets you use best-in-class React architecture alongside Shopify’s reliable checkout, payments, and Shopify Plus features.
We handle traditional Shopify to headless migrations, WooCommerce to headless Shopify, Sanity CMS integration, Algolia search, and ReCharge subscription builds. Flat written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call.
Why headless Shopify
Six reasons to go headless with Shopify.
Sub-second loads. Complete design freedom. React component architecture. Shopify handles commerce so you focus on conversion.
01
Sub-second page loads
No Liquid rendering delay. Your React frontend is pre-rendered and served from Vercel Edge CDN — pages load in under a second globally, with no cold starts and no Shopify theme bottlenecks slowing you down.
02
Complete design freedom
You are not limited by Shopify theme architecture, section constraints, or Liquid template logic. Every pixel is built in React with full component freedom — exactly what the Figma says, not what the theme allows.
03
Any CMS for content
Shopify handles products and checkout. Sanity, Contentful, or any headless CMS handles editorial content — landing pages, blog, lookbooks, campaign content — giving your team a best-in-class editing experience.
04
Vercel Edge CDN
Your Next.js frontend is deployed to Vercel Edge Network — global, instant, auto-scaling. No traffic spikes, no server management, no hosting bills to worry about. It just handles load.
05
React component architecture
Build your component library once and reuse it across web and mobile app. Your design system lives in React — consistent across every surface, easy to extend, easy to test.
06
Custom checkout experiences
Use Shopify Plus Checkout Extensibility for a branded checkout, or extend the Storefront API to build fully custom cart and checkout flows beyond what native Shopify themes can support.
What we build
12 headless Shopify services.
From a Next.js PDP to a full composable commerce stack — all built in-house in London on Vercel Edge.
01
Next.js + Shopify Storefront API Build
Full headless Shopify store built on Next.js App Router — Storefront API via GraphQL, ISR for product pages, server components where possible, and a 100 PageSpeed score on Vercel Edge as the target.
02
Custom Headless Product Pages (PDP/PLP)
Pixel-perfect product detail and listing pages in React — custom variant selectors, swatches, image galleries, quantity logic, inventory messaging, and add-to-cart wired to Shopify Storefront API cart.
03
Shopify + Sanity or Contentful CMS
Shopify handles products, inventory, and checkout. Sanity or Contentful handles all editorial content — landing pages, blog, campaign pages, lookbooks — with a best-in-class editorial UI for your content team.
04
Shopify GraphQL API Integration
Full Shopify Storefront API integration via GraphQL — products, collections, cart, customer accounts, wishlists, metafields, and predictive search — all wired to your React frontend with optimistic UI.
05
Headless Shopify Cart & Checkout
Custom cart drawer and checkout handoff built on the Storefront Cart API — cart state managed client-side with React context, quantity updates, discount codes, and a smooth handoff to Shopify native checkout.
06
Headless Shopify SEO & Structured Data
Full SEO implementation for headless — dynamic meta tags via Next.js Metadata API, Product and BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema, XML sitemap, hreflang for international, and canonical tags on every page.
07
Headless Shopify Performance Optimisation
Performance audit and rebuild of existing headless Shopify stores — eliminating render-blocking resources, optimising image loading (next/image with Shopify CDN), fixing LCP, CLS and INP for Core Web Vitals.
08
Traditional Shopify → Headless Migration
Migrate from a Liquid Shopify theme to a headless Next.js frontend — all product data, collections, and metafields preserved via Storefront API, with 301 redirects for any URL structure changes.
09
Shopify Hydrogen / Oxygen Setup
Shopify's official headless framework (Hydrogen) deployed to Oxygen — Shopify's own edge hosting for headless storefronts. Ideal for brands wanting to stay within the Shopify ecosystem end-to-end.
10
Headless Shopify with Subscriptions (ReCharge)
ReCharge subscription integration into your headless Shopify store — subscribe-and-save product pages, headless customer portal, dunning management, and Klaviyo subscription flow triggers.
11
Headless Shopify with Custom Search (Algolia/Typesense)
Algolia or Typesense search integration for your headless Shopify store — instant search, faceted filtering, custom ranking, and product recommendations wired to your React frontend.
12
Headless Shopify Maintenance & Retainers
Post-launch retainers covering Next.js dependency updates, new page and component builds, CMS schema changes, API upgrades, and performance monitoring. Monthly plans from £600/month.
How we work
Four phases. No mystery.
Milestone payments — you see progress every week and own every deliverable the moment it lands.
01
Discovery
A free 30-min call to scope your headless requirements — product count, CMS needs, performance targets, existing Shopify setup, and migration complexity. You leave with a flat written proposal and a fixed quote — not an hourly estimate.
02
Design
Wireframes, then polished Figma designs for your PDP, PLP, cart, and editorial pages. You approve one screen at a time. Mobile-first, conversion-optimised, with component architecture planned from frame one.
03
Build
Weekly staging updates on Vercel Preview deployments — Storefront API wired, CMS integrated, cart and checkout tested, SEO configured, and Core Web Vitals monitored from the first deploy.
04
Launch & Care
Launch on Vercel production, DNS cutover, 301 redirects verified in Search Console, GA4 enhanced ecommerce confirmed. Optional maintenance retainer from £600/month — or take full ownership.
Transparent pricing
What does headless Shopify development cost in London?
Every project is scoped individually — but here are real ranges based on scope. All prices are flat fees, not hourly estimates. Written quote after a free 30-min discovery call.
Starter
£8,000 – £14,000
4–6 weeks
Next.js + Storefront API, up to 200 products.
- ✓Next.js + Shopify Storefront API
- ✓Up to 200 products
- ✓Custom PDP + PLP
- ✓Cart + checkout handoff
- ✓SEO (meta, schema, sitemap)
- ✓GA4 + Search Console
Best for: Shopify brands wanting a performance upgrade
Growth
£14,000 – £26,000
6–10 weeks
Full headless store + CMS + search + subscriptions.
- ✓Next.js + Storefront API
- ✓Sanity or Contentful CMS
- ✓Algolia or Typesense search
- ✓ReCharge subscriptions
- ✓Custom cart experience
- ✓2 weeks post-launch support
Best for: DTC brands needing full headless stack
Scale
£26,000 – £45,000
10–16 weeks
Complex PDP/PLP + B2B + Shopify Plus + custom checkout.
- ✓Shopify Plus headless
- ✓Complex PDP with bundles
- ✓B2B + DTC separation
- ✓Custom checkout flow
- ✓Multi-region deployment
- ✓Dedicated support month
Best for: Shopify Plus brands, enterprise DTC
Enterprise
From £45,000
16–24 weeks
Multi-region headless + composable commerce stack.
- ✓Multi-region edge deployment
- ✓Composable architecture
- ✓Custom design system
- ✓Advanced CMS workflow
- ✓Full documentation
- ✓Ongoing retainer available
Best for: Enterprise multi-market ecommerce
Already on Shopify Plus? See our Shopify Plus development service →
Platform migrations
Moving to headless Shopify from another platform?
We migrate traditional Shopify themes, WooCommerce, and Magento stores to headless Next.js + Shopify — all product data preserved via Storefront API, 301 redirects handled as standard.
Traditional Shopify Theme → Headless Next.js
The most common headless migration — replacing a Liquid theme with a React frontend while keeping Shopify as the commerce backend. All product data and collections are served via Storefront API. 301 redirects handle any URL structure changes. Shopify checkout remains unchanged.
WooCommerce → Headless Shopify
Migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify as the backend and build a headless Next.js frontend. Product data, customer accounts, and order history migrated to Shopify. 301 redirects configured for every WooCommerce URL. A significant performance and maintenance improvement.
Magento → Headless Shopify
Replace a Magento backend and theme with Shopify Plus as the commerce engine and Next.js as the headless frontend. Complex product data (attribute sets, configurable products) mapped to Shopify Plus metafields. B2B pricing rebuilt natively in Shopify Plus.
Shopify Plus (theme) → Shopify Plus Headless
Upgrade an existing Shopify Plus Liquid store to a headless frontend — keeping all Plus features (B2B, Checkout Extensions, Flows) while replacing the Liquid theme with a Next.js frontend for sub-second loads and complete design freedom.
What you get
Everything included.
No hidden extras.
Every headless Shopify build ships with the full stack — Next.js frontend, Storefront API integration, CMS, SEO, and a 100 PageSpeed target as standard.
- ✓Headless Shopify store live on Vercel Edge
- ✓Next.js frontend codebase (TypeScript)
- ✓Shopify Storefront GraphQL integration
- ✓CMS configured (Sanity / Contentful if included)
- ✓Custom cart and checkout handoff
- ✓100 PageSpeed score target
- ✓SEO: meta, schema, sitemap, hreflang
- ✓301 redirects configured (if migrating)
- ✓GA4 + Search Console verified
- ✓Two weeks post-launch support included
From £8,000 for a headless Shopify starter build. Full headless stack from £14,000. Flat quote after a free 30-min call.
Who we build for
Headless Shopify for
brands where speed matters.
Platform comparison
Headless Shopify vs the alternatives.
We build on multiple platforms. Here is an honest four-way comparison — traditional Shopify Liquid, WooCommerce headless, Magento headless, and custom builds — so you can make the right call.
| vs Platform | Headless Shopify wins on | They win on | Choose headless Shopify when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Shopify (Liquid) | Sub-second page loads, complete design freedom, React component architecture, Vercel Edge CDN, higher PageSpeed scores, custom animations | Lower development cost, faster initial build, no extra infrastructure, Shopify theme ecosystem (10,000+ themes), simpler content editing | PageSpeed and Core Web Vitals are critical to your conversion rate, or your design requires component freedom beyond Liquid |
| WooCommerce headless | Shopify checkout conversion rates (Shopify outperforms WooCommerce checkout by ~15–20%), managed commerce backend, 8,000+ app ecosystem, no WordPress security issues | WordPress plugin ecosystem, self-hosted control, lower platform fee for very small stores | You want a reliable managed commerce backend without the WordPress maintenance overhead |
| Magento headless | Lower total cost of ownership, faster deployment, no server maintenance, modern developer experience, much simpler upgrade path | Maximum backend customisation, complex ERP integrations, on-premise hosting for regulated industries, unlimited custom business logic | Your Magento hosting and developer costs exceed £2,000/month and you want to move to a managed backend |
| Custom ecommerce build | Shopify handles payments (PCI compliance), fraud, tax, shipping, fulfilment integrations — so you only build the frontend. Massively faster and cheaper to ship. | Unlimited backend customisation, complete ownership of the data layer, no platform dependency or monthly fees | You need frontend freedom but do not want to build and maintain a custom checkout and payments stack from scratch |
“WebAnts built something better than I’d ever imagined — shipped faster than any agency I’ve worked with.”
LaTisha Ebanks
Marketing Director, North Pointe Marketing
Start a project
Free 30-min call.
Flat written quote.
No prepayment.
Tell us about your headless Shopify project — product count, current platform, CMS needs, performance targets, and timeline. We’ll review it and send a flat quote within 24 hours.
★★★★★ 4.9 on Google
★★★★★ 5.0 on Clutch
★★★★★ 5.0 on Upwork
Top Web Designers 2025 — DesignRush
FAQ
Headless Shopify questions, answered directly.
What is headless Shopify?
Headless Shopify means decoupling the storefront frontend from Shopify's backend infrastructure. Instead of using a Liquid theme served by Shopify's servers, you build a custom frontend in React (typically Next.js) that fetches product, collection, cart, and customer data via Shopify's Storefront API. Shopify remains the commerce engine — handling products, inventory, checkout, payments, and fulfilment — while your frontend is hosted on a separate CDN (typically Vercel) for sub-second page loads and complete design freedom.
How much does headless Shopify development cost in London?
A headless Shopify build from WebAnts starts from £8,000 for a Next.js + Storefront API store with up to 200 products (4–6 weeks). A full headless stack with CMS, search, and subscriptions typically costs £14,000–£26,000 (6–10 weeks). Complex builds with Shopify Plus, B2B, and custom checkout range from £26,000–£45,000. Enterprise multi-region headless projects start from £45,000. All prices are flat fees — written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call, no deposit.
What is the difference between headless Shopify and a traditional Shopify theme?
A traditional Shopify theme uses Liquid templates served by Shopify's servers — limited by theme architecture, section constraints, and Liquid rendering time. Headless Shopify uses React (typically Next.js) as the frontend, hosted on Vercel Edge CDN, fetching product data from Shopify via GraphQL API. Headless gives sub-second page loads, complete design freedom, React component architecture, and the ability to use any CMS for editorial content alongside Shopify for commerce.
What is the Shopify Storefront API?
The Shopify Storefront API is a GraphQL API that gives headless frontends access to Shopify's commerce data — products, collections, variants, metafields, cart, customer accounts, and checkout. It is the primary data layer for headless Shopify builds. Unlike the Admin API (which requires authentication and is not exposed to the public), the Storefront API is designed to be called client-side and server-side from your frontend, with a public access token scoped to storefront-only operations.
What is Shopify Hydrogen?
Shopify Hydrogen is Shopify's official React-based framework for building headless storefronts. Built on Remix, it provides pre-built components and utilities for common commerce patterns (product pages, cart, checkout handoff) and is designed to be deployed to Shopify Oxygen — Shopify's own edge hosting platform for headless frontends. WebAnts builds on both Hydrogen/Oxygen and Next.js/Vercel — we recommend the right stack based on your requirements.
Why would I choose headless Shopify over a Liquid theme?
Choose headless Shopify when: your current Liquid theme cannot be pushed further on PageSpeed without a rebuild; your design requires component-level freedom that theme architecture prevents; you want React for component reuse across web and mobile; you need a best-in-class CMS (Sanity, Contentful) for editorial content alongside Shopify for products; or your Core Web Vitals are hurting conversion rates and you need sub-second page loads. For most brands under £2M GMV, a well-optimised Liquid theme is sufficient — we advise honestly on whether headless is the right investment.
Does headless Shopify still use Shopify's checkout?
Yes. Headless Shopify stores use Shopify's native checkout — the customer is handed off from your custom cart to Shopify checkout for payment. This means you benefit from Shopify's PCI-compliant checkout, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shopify's conversion-optimised checkout flow. On Shopify Plus, you can also customise the checkout UI with Checkout Extensions while keeping Shopify handling the payment logic.
Can headless Shopify handle subscriptions?
Yes. ReCharge, Skio, and Ordergroove all offer headless-compatible subscription APIs for Shopify. We integrate the ReCharge Storefront API into your Next.js frontend for subscribe-and-save product pages, a headless customer subscription portal (manage, pause, skip, cancel), dunning management, and Klaviyo subscription trigger flows. Subscription products still check out through Shopify's native checkout.
What CMS can I use with headless Shopify?
Shopify handles product and collection data via the Storefront API. For editorial content — landing pages, blog posts, campaign pages, lookbooks, team pages — you can use any headless CMS. We build most often with Sanity (excellent structured content, real-time preview, flexible schema) and Contentful (enterprise-grade, robust permissions, mature ecosystem). Both integrate cleanly with Next.js and give your content team a best-in-class editing experience.
Is headless Shopify good for SEO?
Yes — when built correctly. Next.js App Router with server-side rendering ensures all product and collection pages are fully rendered for crawlers. We implement dynamic meta tags via the Next.js Metadata API, Product and BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema on every PDP, XML sitemap generation, hreflang tags for international, and canonical tags. Vercel Edge CDN gives sub-second TTFB globally, which improves both Core Web Vitals and crawl budget. Headless Shopify sites regularly achieve 100 PageSpeed scores.
How fast can a headless Shopify store load?
A well-built headless Shopify store on Vercel Edge CDN typically achieves under 1 second LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) and 100 Google PageSpeed scores on both mobile and desktop. This is significantly faster than typical Liquid themes (which average 40–70 on mobile) because there is no Liquid rendering delay, pages are pre-rendered at the edge, and images are served via next/image with Shopify CDN. Core Web Vitals pass is a standard deliverable on every WebAnts headless build.
What is Shopify Oxygen hosting?
Shopify Oxygen is Shopify's own edge hosting platform for headless storefronts, designed specifically for Hydrogen-based Shopify builds. It provides global edge deployment similar to Vercel, zero cold starts, and tight integration with Shopify's infrastructure. Oxygen is available to Shopify Plus merchants. For Next.js-based headless builds (which we use most often), Vercel is the preferred hosting platform as it provides the best Next.js performance and developer experience.
Can you migrate my traditional Shopify store to headless?
Yes. WebAnts handles full traditional Shopify theme to headless Next.js migrations — all product data, collections, and metafields are served via Storefront API, so no data migration is needed. We build the new Next.js frontend, configure 301 redirects for any URL structure changes, test Core Web Vitals on staging, and deploy to production on a low-traffic window. Your Shopify backend and all historical order data remain unchanged.
How long does headless Shopify development take?
A headless Shopify build on Next.js takes 4–6 weeks for a Starter scope (up to 200 products, basic PDP/PLP). A full headless stack with CMS, search, and subscriptions takes 6–10 weeks. Complex Shopify Plus builds with B2B and custom checkout take 10–16 weeks. Enterprise multi-region builds take 16–24 weeks. WebAnts delivers with weekly staging updates so you can see progress throughout.
Can headless Shopify handle Shopify Plus features?
Yes. Headless Shopify is fully compatible with Shopify Plus features. B2B catalog and price lists are accessible via the Storefront API with company context. Checkout Extensibility works with headless checkout handoff. Shopify Flows run in the Shopify backend regardless of frontend. Shopify Markets for international expansion works with headless frontends. Multi-store Organisations can each have their own headless frontend.
What is composable commerce?
Composable commerce is an architectural approach where each part of your ecommerce stack is a best-of-breed independent service — Shopify for commerce and checkout, Sanity for content management, Algolia for search, ReCharge for subscriptions, Klaviyo for email — all composed together via APIs into a single customer experience. Headless Shopify with Next.js is the most common composable commerce architecture for London brands. It gives flexibility to swap individual components as your needs evolve.
How does headless Shopify compare to a custom WooCommerce build?
Headless Shopify beats custom WooCommerce headless on checkout conversion (Shopify's checkout consistently outperforms WooCommerce checkout), managed backend (no server maintenance, no WordPress security patches), and the 8,000+ app ecosystem. WooCommerce wins if you need the WordPress plugin ecosystem, self-hosted control, or have very specific backend customisation requirements that Shopify's API cannot support. For most London DTC brands, headless Shopify delivers better ROI.
Do you offer headless Shopify maintenance retainers?
Yes. After launch you can take full ownership of the codebase, or continue with a monthly retainer covering Next.js dependency updates, new page and component builds, CMS schema changes, Shopify API upgrades, performance monitoring, and Vercel deployment management. Headless Shopify retainers with WebAnts start from £600/month.
What is GraphQL and why do you use it with Shopify?
GraphQL is a query language for APIs that lets you request exactly the data fields you need — unlike REST APIs which return a fixed data structure. Shopify's Storefront API is GraphQL-based, which means your frontend only fetches the product fields it actually needs (reducing payload size), can fetch related data in a single request (e.g., product + related products + reviews), and benefits from Shopify's GraphQL performance optimisations. We use Apollo Client or plain fetch with GraphQL for Shopify Storefront API calls in our Next.js builds.
Can headless Shopify work with Algolia search?
Yes. Algolia is the most common search layer we add to headless Shopify stores. We sync your Shopify product catalogue to Algolia via a scheduled Next.js API route or a Shopify webhook, then build instant search, faceted filtering, and autocomplete on the frontend using Algolia React InstantSearch. Algolia delivers sub-100ms search results with intelligent ranking — a significant UX improvement over Shopify native search, especially for larger catalogues.
(Related services)
Zero compromise. Shopify backbone. →
Free discovery call. Flat quote. 4–10 week delivery. No prepayment.
About WebAnts — Headless Shopify Development Agency in London
WebAnts is a London web design and development agency specialising in headless Shopify development using Next.js and the Shopify Storefront API. 4.9★ rated on Google, 5.0 on Clutch, 5.0 on Upwork. Named Top Web Design Agency 2025 by DesignRush. Based in London, serving clients across the UK and 14 countries.
What is headless Shopify?
Headless Shopify decouples the storefront frontend from Shopify's backend — using the Storefront API as the data layer and Next.js on Vercel Edge CDN as the frontend. Shopify handles products, inventory, checkout, payments, and fulfilment. The React frontend loads in under a second globally, with complete design freedom beyond what Liquid themes allow.
What headless Shopify services does WebAnts offer?
WebAnts offers 12 headless Shopify services: Next.js + Shopify Storefront API builds, custom PDP/PLP in React, Shopify + Sanity or Contentful CMS integration, Shopify GraphQL API integration, headless cart and checkout, SEO and structured data for headless, performance optimisation, traditional to headless migration, Shopify Hydrogen/Oxygen setup, ReCharge subscription integration, Algolia/Typesense search, and maintenance retainers from £600/month.
How much does headless Shopify development cost in London?
A headless Shopify build from WebAnts starts from £8,000 for Next.js + Storefront API with up to 200 products (4–6 weeks). A full headless stack with CMS, search, and subscriptions costs £14,000–£26,000 (6–10 weeks). Complex Shopify Plus headless builds range from £26,000–£45,000. Enterprise multi-region builds start from £45,000. Flat written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call — no hourly estimates, no deposit.
Is headless Shopify good for SEO?
Yes — when built correctly with Next.js App Router server-side rendering. Dynamic meta tags via the Next.js Metadata API, Product and BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema, XML sitemap generation, hreflang for international, and canonical tags on every page. Vercel Edge CDN gives sub-second TTFB globally, improving Core Web Vitals and crawl budget. WebAnts headless Shopify builds target 100 PageSpeed scores as standard.
What makes WebAnts different from other headless Shopify agencies?
No offshoring. No prepayment. Milestone payments so you own every deliverable as it lands. Direct access to the Next.js developer building your store. 15+ headless Shopify stores shipped. 100 PageSpeed as a standard deliverable, not an aspiration. Full post-launch handover with 2 weeks of support included as standard.
Dream Algorithm Ltd, trading as WebAnts · London, UK+44 20 3983 9795hello@webants.io