Replatforming a Seven-Figure Merch Store
A generic Shopify theme wasn't cutting it for a creator merch brand with a 5.45M-subscriber audience. A headless rebuild that helped drive a 250% sales lift.
| Timeline | 2022–2023 |
|---|---|
| My Role | Design, Engineering, Dev management |
| Domain | Ecommerce · Headless commerce · Brand |
| Tech | Next.js, Shopify Storefront API, DatoCMS, Tailwind, Vercel |
| Link | merch.gamegrumps.com |
Challenge
Game Grumps could move merch at scale, but the storefront was holding the brand back. Built on Shopify liquid templates with ad-hoc JavaScript bolted on, the site was functional, but difficult to iterate on. There wasn’t room to feature campaigns, embed rich media, or create the kind of immersive, playful experience that Game Grumps fans expected. For a brand whose audience expects personality in everything, the store felt generic.
The merch lead's vision was something closer to a brand world than a storefront: game-like interactions, branded sub-shops for different product lines, and rich content throughout. I was brought in to design and build it.
Approach
A standard Shopify theme couldn’t support what we were after. Themes are optimized for merchant-configurable page sections, not app-like shopping flows with distinct branded zones. I went headless with the Shopify Storefront API and chose Next.js over Shopify’s own Hydrogen framework. Hydrogen was still in early development and changing fast; Next.js had a stable commerce starter that let us move immediately.
The site was organized around brand pillars — each with its own visual identity and interaction design. I redesigned the home page around promotions and guided navigation to help visitors move through hundreds of SKUs, and added a rich search engine and category browser to handle the catalog at scale. DatoCMS powered the content-driven sections so the merch team could manage campaigns without developer involvement.
I deliberately kept checkout and account login on Shopify’s native flows. Those are complex, sensitive surfaces where Shopify’s defaults are battle-tested. Rebuilding them headless would have consumed weeks of development time and wouldn't have moved the needle enough on the customer experience to justify the effort.
Design started in April with a September launch target. I validated the design by May and shifted into development. To hit the deadline on a part-time engagement, I brought in and managed a second developer, scoped the work into parallel tracks, and delivered on schedule.
Impact
In the first three months after launch, sales increased 250% year over year, with AOV up 140% over the same window.
- The merch team took full ownership of content and campaigns through DatoCMS — routine page updates and promotional launches no longer required developer support.
- The codebase was built for handoff. The Next.js architecture was clear and maintainable, making it easier for future developers to step in and continue shipping.
I stayed on through 2023 to support the platform as it matured — tuning performance, fixing bugs, and helping launch new campaigns as the merch team relied on it more heavily.
