Headless Shopify Hydrogen Storefront

About the project

A bootstrapped US-based D2C consumer brand came to us with a Shopify Liquid storefront that could not keep pace with its catalog growth. Page load times were driving up bounce rates and suppressing conversion. We rebuilt the storefront as a headless Shopify Hydrogen app with React and Vite, keeping the existing Shopify backend and all order data intact. LCP dropped from 4.2s to 1.5s, Lighthouse performance reached 94, and the brand went live in ten weeks without a single order disruption. This ecommerce development case study shows what a focused replatform delivers.

Background

The client had grown its product range to several hundred SKUs across multiple collections. Each collection page loaded a Liquid theme with inline JavaScript for filtering and sorting, and every product image was served at full resolution with no responsive handling. Chrome UX Report data showed Core Web Vitals failures across the majority of product pages. The team wanted to ship rich editorial content alongside product listings, which the existing theme made impractical without heavy customisation that slowed the site further.

Build your headless storefront with Alpina Tech
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We replatform D2C brands onto Shopify Hydrogen without order disruption or catalog downtime.

What we built

A complete ecommerce development case study covering the headless storefront, image pipeline, editorial content layer, and zero-downtime cutover.

Hydrogen storefront Icon

Hydrogen storefront

The entire product catalog, collection pages, cart, and checkout flow moved to Shopify Hydrogen with React server components. Streaming SSR kept Time to First Byte under 200ms on a cold request from US-based edge nodes.

Responsive image pipeline Icon

Responsive image pipeline

Every product and lifestyle image served through the Shopify CDN with srcset, WebP/AVIF conversion, and explicit width and height attributes. Cumulative Layout Shift fell to near zero across collection pages after this single change.

Metaobject content layer Icon

Metaobject content layer

Editorial landing pages, promotional banners, and collection hero blocks are managed through Shopify metaobjects. The content team ships new campaign pages without a code deploy, cutting average time-to-publish from days to under an hour.

Zero-downtime cutover Icon

Zero-downtime cutover

We ran the new Hydrogen storefront on a staging domain, replicated all URL redirects, and smoke-tested the full checkout flow before DNS cutover. The brand switched live during off-peak hours with no order failures and no customer-visible downtime.

Takeaway

This ecommerce development case study shows that a headless Shopify Hydrogen build is not a lift-and-shift. The gains come from attacking the root causes: blocking JavaScript in the render path, unoptimised images, and a content workflow that requires a code deploy for every editorial change. When those three problems are solved together, Core Web Vitals move materially and the content team gains autonomy. We bring the same structured approach to any D2C or mid-market brand that has outgrown its theme-based storefront.

Testimonials

What our clients say

Direct feedback from teams we've shipped with.

HTML CSS Hugo +5

Alpina tech did a good job during the discovery phase of our project

4.9 / 5
J
John C. Delivery Manager Headless CMS rebuild and frontend integration
Strapi Next.js React +9

I had the opportunity to work with Alpina Tech and the experience was very positive. He successfully achieved the goals set, demonstrating talent and commitment at every stage of the work. Moreover, he was always attentive to my instructions and consistently available, which greatly facilitated communication and the de...

5.0 / 5
M
Michael A. Delivery Manager Rebuild Strapi Cloud CMS, migrate content, and integrate with Next.js frontend (Render)
Next.js React JavaScript +5

Alpina Tech is not only a very talented dev, but he's a fantastic partner who has a rich business acumen and is quick to complete anything you throw at him. He knocked out work in a single day that I wasn't expecting for a week. Will definitely work with him again.

5.0 / 5
D
David R. Technical Project Manager Fix Netlify Functions & Assessment Tool for Next.js Website
React Native React Node.js +7

Alpina Tech always responded promptly and got a lot done in the limited environment we had. If things weren’t clear, he’d message and make sure he has the scope right. I highly recommend him for full stack development.

5.0 / 5
J
James K. Technical Project Manager React Native + Node.js Developer for Collectibles App with GPT-4 Integration
UX/UI Design Figma Landing Pages +4

I had the opportunity to work with Alpina Tech on the design of several landing pages and a UI kit, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. He managed to deliver high-quality designs in a very short time. The landing pages were beautifully crafted, and the UI kit was exactly what we needed to streamline the project...

5.0 / 5
R
Robert N. Delivery Manager UX/UI design for landing + UI kit
React.js React Next.js +12

Working with Alpina Tech on a headless CMS project built with Strapi, Node.js, and Next.js was a great experience. His deep understanding of modern frontend frameworks, API development, and server-side rendering (SSR) ensured a smooth and efficient development process. Alpina Tech showcased excellent React.js and Next....

5.0 / 5
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William P. Project Manager React Developer Needed for Headless CMS with Strapi, Shadcn, and TypeScript
Swift SwiftUI UIKit +8

We worked with Alpina Tech, a top-tier Apple ecosystem developer specializing in Swift, SwiftUI, UIKit, and Combine. Delivered a seamless, high-performance app with Core Data, iCloud Sync, AVKit, MapKit, and Push Notifications. Optimized for iOS, watchOS, and macOS, ensuring smooth performance and App Store compliance....

5.0 / 5
D
Daniel O. Delivery Manager Develop iOS mobile app
JAMstack Hugo Next.js +10

I hired Alpina Tech to build a custom Hugo website. He was a pleasure to work with. He took the time to understand exactly what I wanted at the beginning of the project, and he then proposed a much better way of achieving that. He communicated regularly, provided clear and timely updates, offered ongoing support with m...

5.0 / 5
M
Matthew M. Project Manager Installing a custom theme for Hugo website
Next.js React Sanity +7

Alpina Tech was incredibly helpful and a pleasure to work with! He not only assisted with improving the SEO of my startup but also fixed a challenging Sanity bug with great patience and professionalism. His expertise and attention to detail were invaluable, and he did an excellent job overall. Highly recommended!

4.9 / 5
A
Anthony L. Technical Project Manager SEO Technical Expert for Next.js & Sanity.io Blog Integration
UI/UX Design Figma Web Design +3

I had the pleasure of working with Alpina Tech on the UI/UX design for my public website, and I am extremely impressed with his work. He significantly expanded and improved upon the original design I already had, seamlessly integrating enhancements that perfectly matched the existing style. His ability to develop great...

5.0 / 5
B
Brian D. Delivery Manager UI/UX Designer for AI Startup
Jekyll JAMstack HTML +5

Working with Alpina Tech was a great experience. He is knowledgeable and delivers high-quality work. The agency boasts a wide range of talent, making it a good choice for various projects. Communication was consistently excellent, and Alpina Tech ensured that every aspect of the project worked as expected. The work was...

5.0 / 5
K
Kevin F. Project Manager Web Developer Needed to Convert Figma Landing Page Design to Jekyll Static Site
UI/UX Design Figma Landing Pages +4

Alpina Tech and the team have completed the design quickly and it looks great. They are very responsive and were able to quickly make adjustments that I have requested.

5.0 / 5
L
Lauren E. Delivery Manager Landing page and public site pages design
iOS Swift SwiftUI +3

Alpina Tech is awesome, he fixed a complicated bug on VPN iOS app in two hours.

5.0 / 5
R
Rachel Y. Technical Project Manager ASAP iOS Developer Swift/SwiftUI (Fix VPN Mobile App)
Hugo JAMstack HTML +3

Alpina Tech did an excellent job guiding us through the process and helping us achieve our project goals.

5.0 / 5
B
Brandon A. Project Manager hugo site work
GitHub Pages HTML CSS +4

Alpina Tech helped us launch a research project website. Thank you for being available on short notice!

5.0 / 5
E
Eric B. Delivery Manager Fix github.io page issue
Technical SEO Web Strategy Management

I had the pleasure of working with Alpina Tech on leadership and technical projects. The team is highly motivated, strategically minded, and has exceptional technical SEO expertise. Their approach significantly boosted our digital presence. I highly recommend Alpina Tech for engineering and leadership-driven projects –...

5.0 / 5
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Steven T. CEO AT CLAWBUSTER GAME PROVIDER Leadership & Technical SEO Optimization
HTML CSS JavaScript +4

Alpina Tech demonstrates all the right qualities of a strong development team – deep frontend expertise, great communication, and a proactive work attitude. A reliable partner for any technical project.

5.0 / 5
S
Scott M. Delivery Manager Frontend Development & Collaboration
Web Development Frontend HTML +3

Alpina Tech is a very professional and reliable team. Working together on web projects was extremely successful. The team showed strong technical knowledge and excellent organizational skills.

5.0 / 5
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Jonathan N. Business Analyst - Playtech Web Development Collaboration

Our team

The team you'll actually work with

We pair deep technical expertise with the kind of ownership you'd expect from your own in-house crew.

  • Same team from discovery to launch
  • Daily standups, Slack, and full transparency
  • Senior-only engineering, design, and QA
  • Long-term collaboration, not staffing
10+ years in the field
EU-based UTC+0 → UTC+3
Senior-only no juniors
Alpina Tech Team

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