What is Shopify Tech Stack?
Shopify, a leading multi-channel ecommerce platform, is a multi-channel ecommerce platform used by over one million ecommerce businesses. It allows brands to create an online store and sell products through a number of mediums. Businesses utilize Shopify for its comprehensive but easy-to-use tools, offering themes, SEO tools, mobile optimization, and more to improve the customer experience. Brands of all sizes rely on the platform, known for its robust backend Shopify development, to boost their sales. At peak times, Shopify can handle up to 80,000 requests per second.
At Guidance, we specialize in leveraging the Shopify technology stack to boost sales and improve customer experience. This article delves into the Shopify stack and its significance in ecommerce.
What Is a Tech Stack?
A tech stack is all the digital services and technologies used to create and run a platform. This data ecosystem provides merchants with the tools they need to launch, customize and grow their online store. Backend Shopify solutions form a significant part of this, encompassing programming languages, services, and applications that dictate the platform's overall function. A company’s tech stack influences its customers’ experience, and in the case of Shopify, makes it very successful.
The Shopify tech stack includes various Shopify programming languages, services, and applications crucial for the platform's function. It influences customer experience, making the Shopify technology stack a cornerstone of its success.
Shopify's Current Tech Stack
Shopify's tech stack is a comprehensive and dynamic array of around 100 applications and technologies, defining what Shopify is built on. This includes key apps like Shopify POS and Shopify Ping, central to the Shopify infrastructure. The platform's technology stack not only facilitates a broad range of services but also supports high volume sales and scalability.
- Core Technologies: At the heart of Shopify's tech stack are essential technologies like Ruby on Rails, which forms the backbone of the platform. This robust programming language is supported by other technologies like JavaScript and HTML5, ensuring a responsive and interactive user experience.
- Database Management: Shopify leverages MySQL for its database needs, ensuring efficient data handling and storage. This is complemented by other database technologies like Memcached and Redis, enhancing the platform's data processing capabilities.
- App Ecosystem: The Shopify App Store is a vital part of the Shopify stack, offering a wide range of applications that extend the functionality of Shopify stores. These apps cover everything from marketing and sales to inventory management, providing users with the tools they need to succeed.
- Integration with Digital Tools: Shopify's tech stack seamlessly integrates with various digital tools and services. For instance, Google Analytics for data analysis, Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping for social commerce, and various SEO tools to enhance online visibility.
- Cloud and Hosting Solutions: Shopify's cloud-based infrastructure ensures reliability and scalability. This allows the platform to manage large volumes of traffic and transactions, a critical aspect of the Shopify technology stack.
- Security and Compliance: Security is a cornerstone of the Shopify framework. The platform employs advanced security measures to protect merchant data and ensure compliance with various e-commerce regulations.
- User Interface and Design: Shopify’s focus on user experience is evident in its use of modern UI/UX design principles. This aspect of the tech stack Shopify uses is crucial in creating visually appealing and easy-to-navigate online stores.
The diversity and depth of Shopify's tech stack reflect its commitment to providing a robust, scalable, and user-friendly ecommerce platform. This Shopify technology stack enables businesses of all sizes to create tailored online experiences that resonate with their target audience.
Capabilities of the Shopify Tech Stack
The Shopify Plus tech stack is designed to simplify operations, support business growth, and enhance customer engagement. This tech stack Shopify utilizes and offers streamlined business functions in several ways.
Types of Ecommerce Tools from the Shopify Tech Stack
Business tools in the Shopify stack are categorized into time-saving solutions and KPI-driven solutions.
The first is time-saving solutions, which automate business operations. Instead of creating documents and spreadsheets by hand, things like invoice generators, privacy policy generators, and bill of lading templates allow you and your employees to focus on other tasks.
The other category is KPI-driven solutions, which help you improve your revenue metrics, scale growth, and increase your profit margin. Tools like Shopify's CPM (cost per mile) calculator and profit margin calculator are KPI-driven. Both technology types can be immensely beneficial for merchants. Guidance recommends implementing a range of tools to get the most out of your ecommerce business.
Exploring Shopify’s Technology and Framework
Shopify technology includes a diverse range of tools and services. Understanding the Shopify framework and Shopify infrastructure is essential for businesses looking to leverage this platform. From Shopify programming language to technological foundations, each aspect of the tech stack plays a crucial role in creating a seamless ecommerce experience.
Leveraging Shopify Plus Tech Stack For Customization
For Verishop, it was the ease of customization. Most ecommerce websites are housed within a set navigation structure, and the homepage often exists as the front door to the rest of the customer experience. For Billie and Lett (Verishop's brands), the front door is the experience: in both designs, the homepage presents the entire catalog with full hi-res imagery all as an entirely shoppable Product Landing Page. This is unique to the ecommerce world and as such, it’s not a feature that presents out of the box with Shopify Plus, and usually requires some work from a Shopify Plus development company.
Using the beautiful designs and the creative vision from Billie and Lett, Guidance customized the homepage to be a fully immersive “quick shop” experience with colorways and sizes available on hover-state and Add-to-Cart features directly on the PLP.
Shopify Plus was selected as the ecommerce platform for its quick time to market coupled with the ease of management post-launch. By using an ecommerce platform like Shopify Plus, Verishop can focus on its specialty, fashion, without worrying about the technical details. As a SaaS platform, Shopify Plus removes the burden of hosting, security updates and managing downtime.
Shared Code for Flexibility and Speed
For K-Swiss Global Brands, launching nine Shopify Plus sites across Europe, the UK, the US, and Canada was a significant challenge due to the varied currency regions. Opting for Shopify Plus offered not just reduced licensing costs but also enabled less technical users to manage content and promotions with ease, thanks to its user-friendly backend.
To efficiently handle this rollout, Guidance implemented a single shared code base for all nine sites. This approach, leveraging the Shopify Plus tech stack, ensured consistency and efficiency across different regions, perfectly aligning with the diverse tracking and marketing requirements. This strategy demonstrates the adaptability and scalability of the Shopify technology stack in managing complex, international ecommerce operations.
Shopify Tech Stack: Internal Tools and Apps
Shopify's Shopify tech stack relies on MySQL as its primary relational database, utilizing SQL for efficient content management. With increasing data demands, Shopify technology evolved beyond MySQL's capabilities, leading to advancements in their internal Shopify infrastructure.
Shards to Pods
Addressing scalability in its Shopify framework, the platform initially used sharding to manage data growth. However, to enhance stability and scalability, Shopify's technology stack transitioned to a 'pods' architecture, leveraging Kubernetes and Docker. This shift in the Shopify stack significantly improved data handling and system resilience.
Shopify Admin Tech Stack
The evolution of the Shopify Admin tech stack reflects Shopify's technology advancements. Beginning with HTML and Prototype JavaScript, it has transitioned through technologies like Batman.js, now relying on React and TypeScript. This development in the Shopify technology stack optimizes server-independent operations and improves resource access.
What Platform is Shopify Built On?
Shopify is one of the oldest and largest apps built on the Rails framework. The platform still uses the original codebase Lütke created in the early aughts, though it has expanded over the years. To this day, Ruby on Rails is the backbone of Shopify's core application and many other apps within the Shopify framework.
Shopify's foundation on Ruby on Rails is a critical aspect of its tech stack. This Shopify programming language has enabled Shopify to evolve from a startup to a global company, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Shopify technology stack.
Shopify Plus Solutions
Shopify Plus is a top-rated ecommerce website platform offering a broad range of solutions for merchants. Some of the most notable solutions offered on the platform include the following:
- Enterprise Online Store- Allows you to design your web store and customize your checkout experience using HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Liquid.
- Shopify Flow and Scripts- Enables you to personalize product recommendations based on your customers' behaviors.
- Multi-Channel Ecommerce- Helps you expand your horizons to selling on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and eBay.
- Launchpad- Makes it easy to automate your sales, promotions, and campaigns across all channels.
- International Ecommerce- Helps you reach international audiences with multiple stores and currencies.
- Shopify POS- Allows you to move between online and in-store retail with built-in omnichannel merchandising. This tech solution includes customizable checkout, inventory management, unlimited cataloging, local pickup and delivery, fully synced customer profiles, integrated loyalty programs, hassle-free returns and exchanges, and unified reporting.
Other Shopify Plus solutions include Headless Ecommerce, Wholesale, and B2B Ecommerce. Altogether, Shopify’s list of solutions provides you with expansive capabilities that you will not find with other ecommerce platforms.
Shopify Plus Tech Stack App Partners
For recurring billing, you can utilize:
For affiliate marketing, you can use:
- Refersion
For conversion optimization, Shopify syncs with:
- Nosto
- Justuno
- LimeSpot
- Privy
For managing returns and exchanges:
- Loop Returns
- Returnly
For content and visual merchandising, you can leverage:
- Searchspring
- Findify
- Klevu
- Shogun
If you're using UGC (user-generated content), you can implement:
- Yotpo
- Okendo
- Pixlee
- PowerReviews
Merchandisers who want to create loyalty and rewards programs can download:
- Emarsys
- Smile.io
- LoyaltyLion
- Swell
For PIM (product information management), you can integrate:
- Salsify
- Jasper
For CRO (conversion rate optimization), business intelligence, and reporting:
- Daasity
- Grow.com
- Listrak
- Yagurara
- Zaius
For tax support, you'll want to integrate:
With these extensive partnerships, Shopify combines solutions for all of your business needs in just one easy-to-use platform.
Shopify Plus Ecommerce Web Development by Guidance
Shopify Plus is an integral part of the ecommerce development services we offer at Guidance. If your business sees a high volume of online sales, you'll need a powerful, scalable, secure cloud-based platform. Guidance can create a Shopify Plus website for your enterprise that's tailored to your brand's product offerings, customer base, existing marketing strategy, and goals.
Guidance works with mid-market and enterprise-level merchandisers and manufacturers in both B2C and B2B industries. We've been delivering dependable Shopify Plus ecommerce site development for over 25 years and implement cutting-edge technologies and innovations that work—take a look at our Portfolio of Shopify Plus clients to see how. Whether you need assistance with B2B or B2C ecommerce development, we can help—contact us today!
