Named Engineer Model

Dedicated Shopify Maintenance Retainer & Engineering SLA

A named Shopify engineer on call for campaigns, speed, and quarterly Core Web Vitals audits.

Discuss Maintenance Retainer →See our Speed Optimisation work

✓ Overlapping US (EST) & UK (GMT) sprint hours✓ 100% Code ownership & clean GitHub handover✓ Fixed-scope & fixed-price quotation

Dedicated Shopify Maintenance Retainer & Engineering SLA Architecture Blueprint

THE ONGOING MAINTENANCE PROBLEM

Shopify stores are never 'done' — and ad-hoc agencies always start from zero

Every feature release, platform update, and campaign adds complexity to your store. Agencies hired per-project never understand the codebase they inherit — you pay onboarding cost every time, and critical bugs surface at the worst moment.

⚠ Avg. 3-week backlog before BFCM

BFCM & Campaign Readiness

Feature work, discount code logic, landing pages, and inventory rule changes pile up before peak seasons. Without a dedicated engineer, your backlog hits crunch mode every time.

⚠ 34% of Plus stores fail CWV within 6 months of launch

Core Web Vitals Decay

Every new app, theme section, and marketing pixel added to a Shopify store degrades LCP, INP, and CLS scores. Without quarterly audits, speed erodes silently — affecting both rank and conversion.

⚠ Shopify releases 40+ platform updates/year

Platform Update Regressions

Shopify rolls out platform changes that interact with custom theme code in unexpected ways. Without ongoing cover, regressions go undetected until a customer reports them.

⚠ eCommerce fraud up 18% YoY in 2024

Security & App Vulnerability Patches

Outdated Shopify app dependencies, exposed storefront API tokens, and insecure webhook endpoints are real attack surfaces. Regular audits and patching close them before exploitation.

OUR RETAINER MODEL

A named Shopify engineer — not a helpdesk ticket queue

You get a dedicated engineer who has read your codebase, knows your stack, and joins your Slack. Monthly hours roll over (up to 50%), same-day response for P1 bugs, and a quarterly health audit covering speed, security, and Core Web Vitals.

✓Named engineer assigned at retainer start — same person every month

✓Monthly hour block (10, 20, or 40 hours) with up to 50% rollover

✓Same-day P1 SLA for checkout failures, 404s, and payment gateway issues

✓Quarterly Core Web Vitals audit with Lighthouse CI baseline report and remediation plan

✓Monthly security scan: storefront API exposure, app permission audit, webhook integrity check

✓Campaign sprint capacity: landing pages, discount logic, A/B test variants, feature flags

VERIFIED TECH STACK

GitHub

Version Control

Full codebase access, branch-per-feature, PR-based review

Shopify CLI

Development

Theme and app development with local preview and deployment

Lighthouse CI

Performance

Automated Core Web Vitals tracking on every deploy

Core Web Vitals Monitoring

Observability

Field data via CrUX, RUM alerts for LCP/INP/CLS regression

Shopify Flow

Automation

Campaign automation, fulfilment routing, loyalty trigger setup

Linear / Jira

Project Management

Shared sprint board — full visibility on hours and deliverables

PROVEN RESULTS · 12-Month Maintenance Retainer

12-month retainer: 3 major campaigns shipped, LCP maintained at 1.3s, zero P1 incidents

A UK home and garden brand on Shopify Plus needed ongoing engineering cover after their previous agency relationship ended. We provided a 20-hour monthly retainer with a named engineer, delivered three seasonal campaign sprints (Easter, Summer, Christmas), completed four quarterly Core Web Vitals audits, and maintained a 1.3s LCP throughout — despite three new app installs and a theme section update.

Major campaign sprints delivered

1.3s

LCP maintained over 12 months

P1 checkout incidents

Quarterly CWV audits completed

“Having the same developer every month — someone who already knows our store inside out — is priceless. Response times are incredible and our store has never been in better shape.”

— eCommerce Manager, UK Home & Garden Brand

WHAT YOU GET

Engineering deliverables checklist

Every engagement includes fixed scope, clear milestone verification, and direct engineer access with zero junior account managers in between.

✓

Named engineer assignment

Codebase handover session, Slack/GitHub access, sprint board setup

Day 1

✓

Monthly hour block

10, 20, or 40 hours with up to 50% rollover to next month

Monthly

✓

Same-day P1 SLA

Checkout failures, payment issues, broken navigation — same-day resolution

On demand

✓

Quarterly CWV audit

Lighthouse CI report, CrUX field data review, remediation plan

Quarterly

✓

Monthly security scan

API token exposure, app permissions, webhook integrity

Monthly

✓

Campaign sprint capacity

Landing pages, discount logic, feature flags, A/B test variants

As scheduled

TECHNICAL FAQS

Frequently asked questions

Specific answers to common technical, timeline, and architectural questions from US and UK ecommerce directors.

What does 'named engineer' mean and why does it matter?+

It means you work with the same Shopify developer every month — not a different person each ticket. Your named engineer reads your codebase at onboarding and maintains context across every sprint, so there's zero ramp-up cost on each request and no knowledge lost between engagements.

What is included in the quarterly Core Web Vitals audit?+

We run a Lighthouse CI audit against your live store across key template types (homepage, collection, PDP, checkout). We cross-reference with CrUX field data for real-user LCP, INP, and CLS scores. You receive a written report with prioritised remediation tasks and we implement the fixes within your monthly hour allocation.

What qualifies as a P1 incident under your same-day SLA?+

P1 incidents are events that prevent customers from completing a purchase or significantly degrade the shopping experience: checkout failures, payment gateway errors, 500-level errors on core pages, broken navigation, and order confirmation failures. We respond within 2 hours and resolve same-day.

Can I use my retainer hours for new feature development, not just maintenance?+

Yes. Your monthly hours are yours to direct — maintenance, bug fixes, new sections, campaign landing pages, A/B test implementation, or app integrations. We help you prioritise at the start of each sprint to get maximum value from your allocation.

Do unused hours roll over?+

Up to 50% of unused hours roll over to the following month. For example, on a 20-hour retainer, if you use 10 hours in month one, 10 hours carry over — giving you 30 hours in month two. This gives flexibility around quiet periods and busy campaign seasons.

RECOMMENDED DEEP DIVE ARCHITECTURE GUIDE

Read our in-depth technical playbook

Learn how our engineers tackle real-world Shopify performance, data migration, and architecture constraints.

Read Technical Guide →

RAPID 3-DAY TURNAROUND · NO OBLIGATION

Let's audit your store architecture

Book an architecture call or send your store URL for a free 40-point technical code, speed, and conversion audit. Delivered in 3 business days.

Discuss Maintenance Retainer See our Speed Optimisation work