Choose the storefront approach
A theme keeps many platform capabilities close to the merchant’s standard editing workflow. A headless storefront can support a distinctive interaction or a broader application, but the team must manage routing, caching, account journeys and compatibility. Compare the actual merchandising tasks and integrations before selecting an approach. Visual ambition alone should not hide the ongoing operating cost.
Catalog and merchandising
Review product options, collections, imagery, search, filters and availability. Define the source of truth for prices and inventory and avoid hardcoded copies that become stale. Preserve product handles or create an explicit redirect map during migration. Test products with no stock, several variants, long names and missing optional media so the storefront remains usable beyond the ideal demonstration catalog.
Checkout, accounts and integrations
Use merchant-approved platform flows for sensitive checkout and account steps. Verify actual cart creation and the resulting checkout URL rather than assuming that a working button proves checkout. Shipping, payment and messaging providers have their own eligibility and configuration requirements. Keep administrative credentials on the server and request only permissions needed for the agreed integration.
SEO and launch checks
Ensure product and collection pages expose meaningful HTML, correct canonical URLs, original descriptions and appropriate structured data. Review filter URLs to avoid indexing redundant combinations. Validate navigation, cart persistence and account return journeys on phone and desktop. A theme preview or localhost test does not establish that the published domain, payment configuration or delivery integration works.
What to bring to a storefront review
Share the catalog size, current theme or frontend, planned markets, critical apps and an example product journey. The portfolio includes the HANBORO watch storefront; its case study can inform a discussion about visual merchandising without promising the same technical scope for every store. Agree who owns product data, content approval, merchant accounts and release testing before the build begins.