PCI-DSS (SAQ A or A-EP)
Most modern DTC platforms run on tokenized payment flows where PCI scope is minimized via Stripe Elements, hosted fields, or equivalent. We design checkout architecture for the smallest defensible PCI scope.
05E-Commerce
E-Commerce engineering for brands that have outgrown the agency model.
We build custom storefronts, first-party analytics layers, and the paid-media operations that DTC brands run when they cross the threshold where their first agency relationship stops scaling. Growth becomes a manageable lever, not a black box.
Who this is for
DTC brands at the $5M–$200M ARR range, omnichannel retailers integrating online with retail and wholesale, marketplace operators, and brands whose paid-media spend has crossed the line where in-house ownership starts paying back.
What we solve
Growth-stage e-commerce brands hit the same wall — multiple agencies optimizing in silos, attribution that is fundamentally last-click, ad spend running on stockouts, and dashboards nobody trusts. We build the first-party data and operational infrastructure that turns paid media from a black box into a manageable lever.
Most of our e-commerce work is the second engineering relationship a brand has — they outgrew the Shopify-only setup, the agency model is producing diminishing returns, and they need a partner who can build the technical foundation that makes the next stage of growth structural rather than promotional.
Compliance & realities
What we design around — not bolt on.
Compliance for e-commerce is less about formal certification and more about operational realities — payment security, consumer protection, and the cookieless-future analytics that actually work.
GDPR & ePrivacy
Cookie consent that actually works (CMP integration, server-side enforcement), data-subject-request automation, retention enforcement, and analytics that respect the consent state across all channels.
Consumer protection
Distance-selling regulations, returns flows, transparent pricing (especially in the EU under the Omnibus Directive), and the operational tooling support and ops teams need to honor them at scale.
Tax & VAT handling
Cross-border VAT/GST handling, MOSS reporting in the EU, US sales-tax nexus management. We integrate Stripe Tax, Avalara, or TaxJar depending on the brand's geography and revenue profile.
First-party analytics & attribution
Server-side tracking, first-party data warehousing, and multi-touch attribution models that survive third-party cookie deprecation and increasingly strict ad-platform identifier rules.
Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA)
Storefronts that pass accessibility audit, both because it is right and because litigation in the US around inaccessible commerce sites has reached a level no growing brand should ignore.
What we build
The systems we ship most often in E-Commerce.
01
Custom storefronts
Next.js commerce frontends built on headless backends (Shopify, BigCommerce, Commerce.js, Saleor) when the brand has outgrown the templated experience. Performance budgets, accessibility, and conversion as design constraints.
02
Headless commerce backends
When an off-the-shelf backend stops fitting the product model, we build custom — bundled products, subscriptions, configurable goods, B2B + DTC dual-mode catalogs — with the API surface needed for the storefront and the integrations.
03
First-party analytics layers
Server-side GTM, Snowplow event collection, Snowflake or BigQuery warehousing, and the schema reconciliation that makes paid-media, product, and finance numbers add up to the same thing.
04
Paid-media operations
In-house paid-media operations across Google, Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest, with multi-touch attribution models and inventory-aware ad serving. See our DTC paid-media case study.
05
Inventory & fulfillment
Real-time inventory feeds, multi-warehouse and 3PL integrations, ERP integrations (NetSuite, Brightpearl), and the operational consoles that ops and customer-service teams actually use.
06
Subscription & repeat commerce
Subscription billing (recurring + cohort-based), repeat-purchase optimization, churn-prevention flows, and the retention analytics that take CAC payback from instinct to math.
Capabilities
How the team is set up for this work.
Storefront & commerce
Performance-first storefronts on modern stacks. Composable architectures when warranted, monolithic stacks when they are the right answer. Accessibility and CRO baked into the design system.
Next.js (commerce)Shopify HydrogenSaleorBigCommerceStripe ElementsAlgoliaTailwindVercel / Cloudflare
Data & analytics
First-party event collection, warehouse-grade modeling (dbt), and multi-touch attribution that survives third-party cookie deprecation. The schema reconciles across paid media, product, and finance.
Server-side GTMSnowplowSnowflake / BigQuerydbtLooker StudioHightouchPostHogMulti-touch attribution
Paid media & growth ops
Paid-media operations consolidated in-house across major channels, with creative production retained at a partner agency where the brand wants. Inventory-aware ad serving by default.
Google Ads APIMeta Marketing APITikTok Marketing APIPinterest APIKlaviyoShopify FlowInventory feedsConversion APIs
4.2×
Proof
average ROAS sustained over 18 months
DTC brand that consolidated $5M+ in annual paid-media spend in-house with first-party analytics and inventory-aware ad serving. ARR grew from $20M to $54M over 18 months. Agency management fees down 40%.
Read the case studySelected work
All case studiesWhere we've done this work in E-Commerce.
Services we bring
The disciplines that show up in E-Commerce engagements.
09
Technical SEO & Growth
Technical SEO that engineers understand. Core Web Vitals, structured data, indexing audits — and the PPC and analytics work to back it up.
Learn more01
Full-Stack Web Development
End-to-end web applications — from API design to deployment pipelines. React, Next.js, Node.js, and the rest of the stack you'll actually run in production.
Learn more10
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Get recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI when buyers ask for companies like yours. Entity clarity, structured data, AI-readable evidence, third-party validation.
Learn moreFAQ
Common questions in E-Commerce
Should we move off Shopify?+
Usually no. Shopify (especially with Hydrogen for the frontend) is the right choice for the vast majority of DTC brands up to $50–100M+ in revenue. Where a move makes sense: highly custom product models that Shopify cannot represent cleanly (B2B + DTC dual-mode, complex configurable goods, regulated-industry catalogs), or international scale with VAT and currency complexity that Shopify forces into workarounds. We will tell you honestly during discovery which side of that line you are on.
Do you do paid media as a service?+
Yes — but only as part of an engagement that includes the data and engineering work, because paid media without first-party analytics and inventory integration produces the same diminishing returns that drove the brand to call us in the first place. The case study we publish on this is representative — the paid-media outcome is what the analytics work made possible.
Can you replace our agency?+
Often, yes. The most common engagement pattern is a 3-month transition where we run alongside the existing agency, build the in-house infrastructure, and the agency relationship either ends cleanly (most cases) or evolves into a creative-only partnership. We will not encourage you to fire an agency that is doing good work.
What does a typical engagement look like?+
$30M–$100M ARR DTC brand, 12–18 months, joint team of 3–6 of our people (engineers, paid-media strategist, analyst, designer) plus 2–4 of yours. Audit + foundation phase (3–4 months), in-house operations transition (2–3 months), steady-state run with quarterly strategy reviews. Most engagements transition to a long-term retainer.
How long until we see ROAS improvements?+
Inventory-aware ad serving improvements show up within weeks of launch (you stop burning spend on stockouts immediately). Multi-touch attribution improvements show up over 60–90 days as channel reallocation compounds. The 4.2× ROAS in our published case study took 6+ months to fully materialize and 12 months to stabilize — we will not promise faster than that without evidence.
Will my Shopify apps still work?+
Almost always, yes. Most engagements layer on top of an existing Shopify or BigCommerce setup rather than replacing it. We are careful about not pushing brands off platforms that still serve them well.
Other industries
All industriesVerticals we also serve.
03 · SaaS
B2B SaaS product development
Greenfield SaaS, multi-tenant platforms, and post-PMF scale work. Production engineering plus the technical SEO and growth infrastructure that turns a product into a business.
04 · Logistics
Software development for logistics & supply chain
TMS, freight forwarding, customs, document AI, last-mile, and operations tooling. Software that moves freight and the paperwork that goes with it.
Working in E-Commerce? Let's talk.
Most engagements start with a 30-minute discovery call. No pitch deck, no NDAs on day one — just an honest conversation about your problem.
Schedule a Call