Migrating from Shopify to a custom headless e-commerce platform

ControlZ is a DTC brand redefining renewed device shopping. They aimed for a premium, smooth, and visually rich experience that Shopify couldn't fully support. To gain design freedom, backend control, and high performance, they migrated to a custom headless commerce platform built for speed, scalability, and operational autonomy.

The Challenge

The brand's biggest aim was to deliver a custom UI that mirrored the premium experience customers expect when buying Apple devices. Shopify's templated structure limited design freedom, making it difficult to achieve the desired level of visual sophistication.At the same time, ControlZ faced:

Performance bottlenecks with high-resolution images and videos.
Complex workflows like warranty claims, student discounts, and cart-specific features that Shopify couldn't support fully.
Operational constraints with limited control over product, order, and inventory management.

These challenges required a flexible, high-performance architecture that combined design freedom, operational control, and scalability.

Solution

ControlZ migrated to a headless architecture with Next.js frontend and NestJS backend, deployed on AWS with CloudFront CDN. Key aspects of the solution include:

Independent frontend and backend:

Headless architecture allowed rapid updates and flexible feature development without being constrained by Shopify's platform.

Next.js frontend:

Apple-inspired scroll animations and smooth UI.
Lazy loading, dynamic imports, and code splitting to improve performance.
Optimized media delivery for content-heavy product pages.

NestJS backend:

OMS (Order Management System) with PostgreSQL for accurate tracking of high-value iPhones.
PMS (Product Management System) with DynamoDB for inventory and product management.
Custom admin panel for full control over orders, inventory, and analytics.

Infrastructure and deployment:

AWS ECS for scalable deployments.
CloudFront CDN for fast global content delivery.

Custom commerce features:

4-step warranty claim process designed specifically for renewed devices.
Student discount program with verification.
Cart-specific experiences including milestone progress bars, dynamic freebies, and announcement banners.

Backend and operations:

All products are first created in the ERP system and then synced to the headless platform. Transactions are processed securely via JustPay, and shipments are managed through ClickPost for accurate fulfillment tracking.

Q&A

A: Shopify's templated structure limited design flexibility and the ability to implement complex workflows. Headless commerce provided the freedom to create a custom UI, optimize performance, and control backend operations.

A: Headless commerce separates the frontend (customer-facing store) from the backend (order, product, and inventory systems). This allows brands to deliver custom experiences, scale faster, and integrate complex workflows seamlessly.

A: By using Next.js with lazy loading, dynamic imports, and a global CDN like CloudFront, headless platforms can serve content-heavy pages quickly, even with high-resolution images and videos.

A: Yes. ControlZ's platform supports a 4-step warranty claim process, student discounts, milestone messaging in the cart, and dynamic freebies, all fully automated and scalable.

A: Headless is ideal for brands needing advanced customization, premium UX, and operational control. While simpler stores may still thrive on Shopify, brands like ControlZ benefit from the flexibility and scalability of headless architecture.

Impact

Page load times improved by 40%

0 downtime migration from Shopify to headless

Customer engagement increased by 24.6%

Conversions grew by 15.8%

Backend efficiency improved by 31.2%

Client PoC

Yug Bhatia

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