Full-service replatforming is the default engagement shape for $5M-$50M DTC brands moving onto Shopify Plus. One agency owns the entire migration — discovery, data, theme, apps, SEO, launch, stabilisation — from kickoff through the eight-week post-launch window.
The advantage of full-service over split engagements is coordination. One agency, one PM, one runbook, one accountability surface. The disadvantage is cost: full-service agencies carry coordination overhead that split engagements skip. The trade is real and depends on internal team capacity to coordinate split work themselves.
This page describes what a typical full-service engagement actually covers, what it does not, and what brand profiles it fits well. Use it to scope agency conversations and to recognise when a full-service shape is the right call versus when a split or boutique engagement fits better.
What it includes
In scope
Structured discovery (2-4 weeks)
Redirect map build, data dictionary, app re-implementation plan, go-live runbook. The discovery deliverables become the engagement contract; change orders work against the same baseline.
Data migration workstream
Catalog, customer, recent order history via automated migration platform (Cart2Cart, LitExtension) plus Matrixify reconciliation. Metafield mapping, B2B data, subscription state migration.
Theme rebuild
Premium template selection, customisation, design system handoff. Page builder configuration (Shogun, PageFly) for marketing pages. Theme performance optimisation pre-launch.
App re-implementation
Shopify-side equivalents for source-platform apps: subscriptions (Recharge/Skio), loyalty, reviews, search/filtering, customer accounts. Configuration and integration testing.
SEO migration audit
Indexed-URL audit, redirect map validation against staging, sitemap submission, post-launch ranking monitoring. The discipline that determines whether SEO survives.
Launch and stabilisation
Cutover runbook execution, day-zero monitoring, the first eight weeks of post-launch incident response and redirect-map gap closure.
What it does not include
Out of scope
ERP / OMS integration beyond standard
Standard Shopify integrations (Shopify Plus B2B, multi-location inventory) are in scope. Custom ERP, NetSuite, or proprietary OMS integration is its own workstream and typically requires iPaaS.
Ongoing post-launch optimisation
The engagement ends at the eight-week stabilisation mark. Ongoing CRO, theme evolution, and growth services are separate engagements with different agencies or service tiers.
Brand or design strategy work
The engagement uses existing brand and design assets. Brand-refresh work concurrent with replatforming requires a separate strategy engagement before or alongside the migration.
Custom Shopify app development
Standard apps from the Shopify App Store are in scope. Custom Shopify apps requiring development (private apps, embedded apps, public app submission) are separate engagements.
Brand fit
Who this engagement fits
Fits well
Brands without dedicated migration capability internally
Single-agency ownership reduces coordination burden on the internal team. Brands with limited product or design capacity benefit most from full-service.
$5M-$50M DTC brands with standard complexity
Standard catalog, customer, and order migration patterns. The engagement model is calibrated for this brand size; outliers above or below need different shapes.
Brands wanting accountability concentrated in one place
When something breaks mid-engagement, the single agency owns the resolution. Brands that have had bad experiences with split engagements often prefer full-service for this reason alone.
Does not fit
Brands with strong in-house product and design teams
Full-service engagements duplicate internal capacity. Split engagements (data migration partner + in-house theme team) often produce better outcomes at lower cost for brands with the internal capacity to coordinate.
Enterprise brands ($50M+) with complex integration footprints
Full-service mid-market agencies often lack the depth for enterprise integration work. Boutique data + enterprise SI partner is usually the better shape.
Brands needing concurrent brand refresh
Full-service migration agencies are not brand strategy partners. Brands wanting to combine replatforming with rebranding need to engage a brand-strategy partner first, then a migration partner against that strategy.