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“Working with Creative Labs has been a game-changer for our business.”
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Poplar Forest Nursery TeamPoplar Forest Nursery
Built headless storefronts for brands like
Why headless
Pages ship as static HTML first, the cart and checkout stay on Shopify, and your team edits content in Sanity without touching code.
Theme, hydrogen or astro?
When headless is worth it, and when it isn’t.
Headless is worth it when speed, content and custom UX matter more than editing in the theme customizer. For most stores under $1M a year, a good theme is faster to run.
Shopify theme
Hydrogen
This pageAstro + Shopify
This pageBest for
Most DTC stores, small teams
Big catalogs, custom UX, Plus
Content-heavy stores, blogs, docs
Who edits pages
Your team, in the customizer
Developers; content in a CMS
Content in Sanity; layouts by a developer
Time to launch
6 to 8 weeks
12 to 20 weeks
8 to 12 weeks
Mobile speed
Depends on apps
Sub-second on Oxygen
Sub-second, static
Checkout
Shopify
Shopify
Shopify
Hosting
Shopify
Oxygen (included)
Vercel, Netlify or Cloudflare
Cost
From $10,000
From $25,000
From $18,000
Not sure which fits? We build all three, so the call is about your team, not our stack.
Inside a headless build
Drag to see the Liquid theme and the headless storefront.
Same catalog, two front ends. Pick a client, then drag.
seavoir.com
Seavoir
Fashion catalog rebuilt on Hydrogen, sub-second product pages
1
Storefront API queries designed around the pages
2
Components built in Storybook before any page
3
Edge-rendered on Oxygen, measured in the field
Our process
How a headless project runs.
A Hydrogen storefront in about 12 weeks, or an Astro site in 6. Coloured bars are our work, grey ones are yours.
HYDROGEN STOREFRONTSTRATEGY, DESIGN AND BUILD
WEEK 1
WEEK 2
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
WEEK 5
WEEK 6
WEEK 7
WEEK 8
WEEK 9
WEEK 10
WEEK 11
WEEK 12
Y
You
Access, content, sign-offs
Access
Sign-off
Launch
A
Architecture
Data, routes, caching
Discovery
API + routes
D
Design
System, pages, motion
Design system
Pages
B
Build
Components, pages, QA
Components
Pages + QA
Point at any part to see what happens there.
How we work
Decided before the first commit.
01
A CMS for your editors
Sanity or Shopify metaobjects, chosen for who will actually edit the pages.
02
Hosting you own
Oxygen, Vercel or Cloudflare on your account, with the repo in your GitHub.
03
Rankings protected
Every theme URL kept or redirected; schema and titles carried over.
04
Ready for AI agents
Structured content and a clean API, so an agent can add pages safely.
From our case studies
What headless actually changed.
Real field numbers from storefronts we shipped.
0.8 s
LCP on Seavoir's product pages
99/100
mobile PageSpeed on the home page
5,000+
SKUs served from one Storefront API
12 weeks
from kickoff to live on Oxygen
Want more examples?
A few of our recent headless builds.
01 / 03
Seavoir
Hydrogen storefront for a fashion catalog
Sunday Golf
Astro landing pages in front of Shopify checkout
Iba Cosmetics
Headless PDPs for a 300-SKU beauty brand
Pricing
One project, or a team every month.
Fixed price for the project, or a subscription that keeps shipping after launch.
One-time project
$10,000
from
A headless storefront designed and built, with the Storefront API, caching and deploy in your repo.
✓Architecture and data model
✓Design system + pages
✓Hydrogen or Astro build
✓Oxygen / Vercel deploy
✓60-day support
Subscription
$3,000
/ month
Development subscription for storefronts that keep evolving.
✓Senior front-end engineer
✓Updates every 24–48 hours
✓Performance budget kept
✓Pause or cancel monthly
Quality
What every headless storefront is checked for.
Field LCP under 1s
Measured in CrUX, not a lab run.
Cart and checkout
Shopify checkout, Shop Pay, discounts tested.
SEO parity
Every Liquid URL and tag reproduced.
Caching strategy
Edge caching with correct invalidation.
Accessibility
WCAG 2.2 AA on every template.
Analytics
GA4 and pixels on a headless route.
Content editing
Marketing can publish without a deploy.
You own it
Repo and hosting in your name.
Words from the brands we've built for
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“Creative Labs has elevated our online presence to a whole new level.”
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Care Hope College AdministrationCare Hope College
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“Creative Labs exceeded our expectations in delivering a secure, user-friendly platform.”
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Cellocity TeamCellocity
Still got questions?
Your questions about headless
What is headless Shopify?
A headless Shopify store keeps Shopify for products, cart and checkout, and builds the storefront separately in Hydrogen, Astro or Next.js. You get full control of design and speed while Shopify still runs the back office.
Hydrogen or Astro, which should I choose?
Hydrogen for storefronts that are mostly product and need commerce features built in; Astro for content-led sites where most pages are static. We recommend one after seeing your catalogue and team.
Do I need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen?
No. Hydrogen and Oxygen hosting are available on paid Shopify plans, not only Plus.
Is headless faster than a Liquid theme?
It can be, with pages served as static HTML from the edge. A well-built Liquid theme is also fast, though, so headless is worth it when you also need custom UX or content beyond what sections can do.
Can my team edit content without a developer?
Yes. Content lives in Sanity or Shopify metaobjects, and your team publishes without touching code.
What does a headless build cost?
Headless builds are scoped individually and cost more than a theme build, which starts at $10,000. You get one fixed price after an audit. See pricing.
You've reached the end, so now…
Tell us what you're selling.
Send us your store. Within one business day you get a short Loom from a senior: the three things we'd fix first, what it would cost, and whether we're the right team for it.
- No pitch deck, no discovery-call theatre
- You keep the audit whether or not you hire us
- Fixed-scope quotes, no hourly surprises
Prefer to talk? Book 20 minutes with Haniel or call +1 855-764-4977