Shopify agency
Stores that sell, built by the team that also makes them findable.
A Shopify agency designs, builds and improves online stores on Shopify: theme, apps, integrations, payment methods and findability. Zalm Partners is that kind of agency, based in the Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam and working with stores across the Netherlands and Belgium. We do two things that rarely live under one roof: we build the store, and we make sure it gets found in Google and in AI search engines such as ChatGPT.
That combination matters. A beautiful store without visitors sells nothing, and a highly visible store that loads slowly loses the customer at checkout. When you have a Shopify store built by the team that also handles visibility, those two worlds never have to wait for each other.
What a good Shopify agency actually does
Building is the visible part: a theme that fits your brand, a product structure that makes sense, a checkout that supports the payment methods your customers expect. The invisible part decides whether the store performs: load speed, a collection structure that mirrors how people search, and structured data that lets Google and AI models understand your products.
A good agency also tells you what not to do. Not every wish needs an app, and every app you add makes the store a little slower. We would rather write twenty lines of theme code than sign you up for yet another plugin subscription. The store stays fast, and you stay the owner of something you understand.
How to choose a Shopify agency
Something we notice in almost every intake call: most store owners cannot tell us who changed their current theme, or where those changes are documented. That is exactly what you want to avoid with your next partner. So ask questions that go beyond the portfolio.
- Who writes the code, and do I get access to it?
- How is speed measured, before and after delivery?
- What happens to SEO and existing URLs during the transition?
- Will the store run on standard Shopify features or on a stack of apps?
- Who do I call when checkout breaks on a Saturday night?
An agency that answers these questions without hesitation has its house in order. One that starts talking about extra billable work before you finish asking usually does not.
Wondering what this means for your site?
Ask usAgency, Shopify expert or specialist: what do you need?
A freelance Shopify expert is a fine choice for a bounded job: one app integration, one theme fix. An agency earns its keep once design, engineering and findability need to move together, because then the work is coordination between disciplines rather than a list of tasks.
At Zalm Partners those disciplines share a table. The developer building your collection structure talks daily with the person doing your ecommerce SEO. You can see what that produces: the web shop of Uitgeverij Wilde Haren, a two-person publisher, ranks above Bol.com and Bruna in AI answers about children's books and doubled its traffic from Google. Not because the store is big, but because engineering and content push in the same direction.
What does a Shopify agency cost?
The fee depends on what needs to be built. The big levers: the number of products and collections, integrations with point of sale, inventory or accounting, the amount of custom design, and whether data has to move over from an old store. On top of that, Shopify itself charges a monthly fee per plan; that goes to Shopify and sits apart from our work.
We do not publish rates on a page, because a number without scope means nothing. What you do get is a proposal after one conversation, with a fixed price and a clear list of what it covers. If something in there is not needed, we take it out before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
A specialist or expert is usually one person with deep knowledge of one area, such as theme development or apps. An agency combines several disciplines: design, development, SEO and conversion. For a single job a specialist is enough; for a store that has to grow, you want those disciplines under one roof.
Yes. A good share of our work is taking over and improving stores built elsewhere: making them faster, cleaning them up, improving their visibility. We first dig into the current state of the store, so you know exactly what is going on before we touch anything.
Shopify is our preferred platform for online stores, but we also build websites in Webflow and fully custom in Next.js. If Shopify does not fit your situation, we say so in the first call and help you think through the alternative.
No. Our office is in the Groot Handelsgebouw next to Rotterdam Central Station, but our ecommerce clients are spread across the Netherlands and Belgium. Most collaboration runs over video calls; anyone who wants to drop by is at our table two minutes after stepping off the train.
Then we collect the access together with you: Shopify admin, theme code, domain and analytics. That normally takes days, not weeks. We then document what is there, so the handover is verifiable and nothing gets lost.
An intro call is usually scheduled within days. New builds typically start two to four weeks after sign-off. Leave your details in the form below and we will reply within one working day.
Related pages
Want to know what your store is leaving on the table?
Get in touch and tell us where your store stands today and where it needs to go. We dig into your situation and come back with insights and a concrete game plan with next steps. We reply within one working day.