Best Shopify agencies for scaling DTC brands (2026)

The best Shopify agency for a scaling DTC brand depends on the job you need done. Liquid Lemon fits brands that want a fully custom store live in 30 days at a fixed price. Swanky suits subscription-first brands on Shopify Plus. Fuel Made pairs Shopify builds with Klaviyo. Blend Commerce fits brands that want conversion testing before a rebuild. Praella and Charle take on complex Plus builds.

How agencies were picked: a clear Shopify focus, fit for DTC brands that are already selling and growing, a published offer or pricing, and published client work. The order reflects fit for scaling DTC brands that need a custom build fast and a published offer. It's an editorial comparison of each agency's own published information, checked in October 2026, not a test of their work.

How do the best Shopify agencies compare?

Fuel Made and Electric Eye publish prices, and Liquid Lemon sells a fixed-price sprint. The rest quote after a scoping call or audit.

Which Shopify agencies are best for scaling DTC brands?

1. Liquid Lemon: best for DTC and CPG brands that want a fully custom store live in 30 days at a fixed price

Liquid Lemon is a Shopify design studio based in Tampa and New York that builds custom stores for DTC brands, and its homepage says "CPG is our home turf." The studio cites 10+ years of custom Shopify work and shows an "Official Shopify Partner" badge.

Its main offer, The Liquid Sprint, is a fully custom designed and coded Shopify store with a fixed scope, a fixed price and a 30-day timeline. Deliverables include custom product pages, cart and drawer, upsell logic, bundle discounts, Klaviyo integration, a mobile-first build and two revision rounds. Its how it works page says pages are designed from a blank canvas, coded without a theme or page builder, and the code is yours. Photography, product copy and paid apps are excluded.

The start page sets the Sprint for brands doing $100k–650k a month, and a separate Shopify Plus & Enterprise Sprint for brands doing $650k–1M+ a month, with large catalogs, B2B and multi-store setups scoped separately. Email is priced separately: the email page covers seven core Klaviyo flows. Liquid Lemon's site lists work for Gymshark, Olipop, Hero Cosmetics, Bite and Away.

2. Swanky: best for subscription-first DTC brands on Shopify Plus

Swanky calls itself a full-service Shopify Plus agency and "the go-to Shopify Plus agency for DTC subscription brands." It states Shopify Platinum Partner status and says it is one of seven Recharge Elite agency partners. Services run from replatforming and subscription builds to CRO, email and paid media. It has offices in the UK, Australia and France, and its site lists work for HelloFresh, YuMOVE and DockATot.

3. Eastside Co: best for brands that want a build and marketing from one large in-house team

Eastside Co describes itself as "one of the world's most trusted and experienced Shopify Plus Partners" and a fully in-house agency of over 50 people. It offers audits, custom themes, migrations, Plus builds, support with trackable hours, and SEO, PPC, social and email marketing. Its site lists work for F1 Authentics and Gold Collagen.

4. Electric Eye: best for DTC fashion, home goods and accessories brands

Electric Eye lists a Columbus, Ohio address and describes itself as a Shopify Premier Partner founded in 2016 that has built 100+ Shopify stores. Services include new theme builds, optimization and maintenance retainers, migrations and a $697 Shopify Diagnostic, which reviews your store and outlines the scope, investment range and timeline for the next project. Its site lists work for Barton Perreira and Marley Fragrance.

5. Fuel Made: best for brands that want Shopify and Klaviyo under one team

Fuel Made says it helps ecommerce companies grow on Shopify and Klaviyo, and describes itself as a Shopify Plus Partner and Klaviyo Master Elite partner. It covers strategy, UX and UI design, custom development, Klaviyo email and SMS, and CRO. Its FAQ says full custom websites generally start around $50,000 and take about 4 to 6 months, while template-based builds start around $25,000 and take 2 to 6 weeks. Its site lists work for Beardbrand, Figs, Briogeo and Tuft & Paw.

6. Charle: best for UK and US brands that want build, CRO and support in one place

Charle is a London-based agency that lists a New York contact line and says it holds "a Shopify Plus level accreditation." It offers custom builds, migrations, CRO, support and maintenance, Klaviyo email marketing, B2B and headless builds. Its site lists work for Cambridge Satchel, 111SKIN and Candy Kittens.

7. Praella: best for Plus merchants with complex development and integration needs

Praella calls itself a Shopify Plus agency and a "Proud Shopify Platinum Partner," with 15+ years of experience and 100+ ecommerce experts. It focuses on UX, CRO, integrations, migrations and custom development, and lists Recharge, Klaviyo and Yotpo among its partners. Its site lists work for Fenty Beauty, CurlMix and CrunchLabs.

8. Blend Commerce: best for brands that want conversion testing before a full rebuild

Blend Commerce focuses on conversion rate optimisation for Shopify DTC brands. Work usually starts with a one-off CRO audit and roadmap, followed by monthly optimisation and A/B testing. It also offers CRO redesigns, Shopify development, maintenance and support, and Rebuy and Recharge integrations, with CRO pages for pet, beauty and health brands. Its site lists work for Stone Creek Coffee and PAWD Drinks.

How do you choose a Shopify agency for a growing brand?

The choice matters because shoppers judge the brand by the store. A 2024 peer-reviewed study of 350 online shoppers in Knowledge and Process Management found that website quality, customer service, and security and privacy shape how trustworthy shoppers think a retailer is, and that trust drives purchase intention.

Match the agency to the problem you have now: a new store, a replatform or better conversion. Ask each one these five questions:

• Is the price fixed, and what does it include? Get the deliverables in writing, page by page, plus what's excluded, such as photography, copy and app fees.
• Is the store custom-coded or built on a theme, and do you own the code? This decides how easily another developer can work on it later.
• How will subscriptions, bundles and Klaviyo work on launch day? Ask which apps they'll connect and who sets up the flows.
• What's the dated timeline, and what do you need from your team? Store access, brand assets and product data are the usual blockers.
• What happens after launch? Find out whether support is a retainer, a block of hours or a new quote.

There's a longer checklist in how to choose a marketing agency. If you also need growth marketing after launch, Wadabu runs paid ads, SEO and email, with monthly rates on the services page.

What does a custom Shopify build cost in 2026?

A custom Shopify build ranges from a fixed-price sprint to about $50,000 or more among the agencies here, before your Shopify plan and apps. The scopes differ, so these aren't like-for-like quotes. Liquid Lemon sells a 30-day build at a fixed price. Fuel Made's template builds start around $25,000 and its custom builds around $50,000 over 4 to 6 months. Electric Eye charges $697 for a diagnostic that scopes the build. Agency pricing models explains how fixed prices and retainers differ.

The platform is a separate bill. Shopify Plus starts at $2,500 a month on a 1-year term and $2,300 a month on a 3-year term, and more complex, higher-volume businesses move to a variable platform fee. Shopify's Advanced plan is $299 a month billed yearly. Here are illustrative first-year subtotals in USD from published prices:

Apps, Plus variable fees and separately scoped work can raise these. Email is usually its own line, priced as an add-on or a monthly retainer.

Final thoughts

Pick the agency whose offer matches the work in front of you. If you've outgrown your theme and want a custom store live in 30 days at a fixed price, start with Liquid Lemon.

Frequently asked questions

What costs come after a Shopify build launches?

After a Shopify build launches, the ongoing costs are the Shopify plan, app subscriptions, maintenance, and any email, CRO or ads work. Agency retainers for growth work can match the build fee within months: Fuel Made's FAQ lists CRO engagements and email and SMS retainers each starting at $7,500 a month.

Should a brand redesign its Shopify store or invest in CRO first?

A brand should invest in CRO first when its current store converts and mainly needs better pages, offers and checkout flow. A redesign makes more sense when the theme blocks features the brand needs, such as bundles, subscriptions or custom product pages. A paid diagnostic or CRO audit helps settle the question.

What should a Shopify agency contract include?

A Shopify agency contract should list every page and feature in scope, the number of revision rounds, a dated timeline, what the brand must supply, who owns the code and theme, and what is excluded. It should also state post-launch support terms and how work outside the agreed scope is priced.

Can a brand use separate agencies for the Shopify build and growth marketing?

A brand can use separate agencies for the Shopify build and growth marketing, as long as ownership is clear. Agree before launch who controls the Klaviyo account, analytics and tracking setup, and app choices, and require the build agency to hand over documented code so the growth team can test pages later.

Agency details: Liquid Lemon site pages; Fuel Made FAQ; Electric Eye Shopify Diagnostic page; Swanky, Eastside Co, Electric Eye, Fuel Made, Charle, Praella and Blend Commerce homepages (all accessed October 2026). Platform pricing: Shopify pricing and Shopify Plus pricing pages (accessed October 2026). Research: Atlas, Khan and Khan, Knowledge and Process Management (2024).

Written by Andrew Zam, Founder of Wadabu, a growth marketing agency for consumer-brand startups.