Design + developmentRead the Arcina Ori case study
Arcina Ori
A full Shopify Plus website for the Sydney fashion brand, combining ecommerce UX and UI with visual identity and a bespoke build.
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Ecommerce Services
Playceholdr works across ecommerce strategy, design and development for brands and retailers on Shopify and BigCommerce, in New Zealand and Australia.
From new storefronts and platform migrations through to B2B, integrations and ongoing optimisation, our work is built around what the business actually needs rather than forcing every project into the same solution.
Most projects cross more than one of the services below. The summaries are short on purpose — each links through to the page that covers the work properly.
Ecommerce servicesOur Ecommerce Services
Eight services, one team01 / Strategy
Ecommerce strategy and consulting
Audits, platform selection, requirements and scope, replatforming decisions and post-launch roadmaps. The work that happens before anyone agrees to build something, and the prioritisation that keeps a live store moving afterwards.
02 / Design
Ecommerce website design
Ecommerce UX and UI, customer journeys, information architecture, visual design and the design systems that keep a store consistent as it grows. Designed against how the platform and the merchandising team actually work.
03 / Development
Shopify development
Custom Shopify storefronts, theme and Liquid development, bespoke functionality, apps and integrations. New builds, and work on existing stores that have outgrown how they were originally put together.
BigCommerce development
Custom BigCommerce storefronts across Stencil, Catalyst and headless, plus APIs, ERP and systems integration. Usually where the catalogue, pricing or operation is more structured than a standard configuration allows.
04 / Complex ecommerce
Shopify Plus development
More involved Shopify requirements: enterprise operations, checkout and Functions work, international ecommerce, systems integration and advanced B2B on Plus.
B2B ecommerce
Wholesale and trade ecommerce on Shopify and BigCommerce. Account structures, customer-specific pricing, ordering workflows, credit and payment terms, and the ERP integration behind them.
Shopify migration services
Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and other replatforming projects. Products, customers and order history, integrations rebuilt, and SEO handled through the move rather than after it.
05 / Ongoing
Ongoing ecommerce support
Post-launch development, maintenance, campaign work and continuous improvement on Shopify and BigCommerce, through prepaid hours or a retainer depending on how much is actually happening.
Shopify and BigCommerce specialists
PlatformsWe work on two platforms rather than every platform. That is a deliberate constraint: it means we know how each one behaves under real catalogue, pricing and integration pressure, and where each one starts to cost more than it saves.
Platform choice is a business decision before it is a technical one. It depends on the catalogue, the customer types, how pricing works, whether there is a B2B requirement, which systems own the data and who has to run the store day to day.
Because we build on both, we can assess that honestly instead of recommending the platform we happen to sell. If the decision is still open, ecommerce strategy and consulting is usually the right place to start.
Shopify development
Custom Shopify stores, theme development, migrations and integrations built for growing ecommerce brands.
BigCommerce development
Storefront, API and ERP-integrated builds for structured catalogues and trade operations.
Where the work gets complicated
CapabilityA storefront is the visible part. Most of the projects we take on have something harder sitting behind it — a system that owns the data, a trade channel with its own rules, or an operation that cannot afford the store to be wrong for a day.
Systems
ERP and systems integration
Connecting ecommerce to ERP, PIM, accounting, warehouse and fulfilment systems, starting from which system owns each piece of data. See BigCommerce development.
Trade
B2B and wholesale
Account hierarchies, customer-specific pricing, order minimums and reordering, run alongside a retail store or on their own. See B2B ecommerce.
Replatforming
Migrations
Moving off Magento, WooCommerce or BigCommerce without losing data, integrations or search visibility. See Shopify migration services.
Build
Custom functionality
Product configurators, bespoke checkout logic, subscription and bundling requirements, and functionality no app handles cleanly. See Shopify development.
Markets
International ecommerce
Multiple markets, currencies, catalogues and price lists from one operation, including trans-Tasman and offshore expansion. See Shopify Plus development.
After launch
Ongoing optimisation
Iterative development, performance and conversion work, and campaign support once the store is live. See ongoing ecommerce support.
Selected work
[ View all ]
B2B Development + migrationRead the Micro Scooters case study
Micro Scooters
Wholesale and DTC brought into a single Shopify Plus solution, moving the B2B ordering portal off BigCommerce and integrating NetSuite across orders, inventory and pricing.
Migration + DevelopmentRead the Harlequin Kids case study
Harlequin Kids
A move from Magento 2 to Shopify alongside a wider redesign, carrying products, customers and historical orders across and rebuilding custom functionality on the new platform.
Design + DevelopmentRead the Yes Mila case study
Yes Mila
Ecommerce UX and UI as part of building the brand’s Shopify Plus presence, with our involvement starting before launch.
How we work
End to end, or one part-
Discovery and scope
Requirements, systems, catalogue and commercial objectives, before any solution is agreed.
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Design
Journeys, structure and interface, designed against the platform rather than retrofitted to it.
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Development
Storefront, custom functionality and integrations built to be maintained by whoever inherits them.
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QA and launch
Testing across devices, data and integrations, with a launch plan that accounts for SEO and cutover.
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Ongoing support
Continued development and optimisation once the store is live, at whatever level the business needs.
We can run all of it, or join an existing team for one part — a design phase, an integration, a migration, or the development behind someone else’s design.
Not sure which service fits?
Tell us about your projectMost ecommerce projects cross more than one of these areas. A migration turns into a redesign, a B2B requirement decides the platform, a support engagement uncovers something structural.
Tell us what you are trying to solve and we can work out the right starting point — including whether it is smaller than you think.