Shopify Developer for Vancouver Brands
Remote-first Shopify development for Vancouver's DTC scene. We already build for BC brands, and we're honest about the map.
Shopify Partner since 2012
Work we can show you
Named projects, with the client's permission. The operating style is the same on every one: phased delivery, weekly calls, and no disruption to a live store.
Multi-vendor marketplaceManual order routing, eliminated
The global leader in chemical-free decaf runs a marketplace where every order routes to an independent roaster. Routing on metaobjects, live carrier rates per origin, automated label dispatch, delivered in phases against a live revenue stream.
See the Swiss Water project →
Shopify → new storeA rebrand, replatformed in one week
The apparel line needed a new store fast. Storefront moved in seven days, theme licenses and apps carried over intact, and the cutover had no downtime.
See the OYM project →A brick-and-mortar retailer's first online store
Years of in-store BBQ retail, no ecommerce. We catalogued premium grills and outdoor kitchen equipment, structured the site so customers find the right one without digging, and targeted the keywords and local searches their customers actually use.
See the Capital Grills project →What We Offer in Vancouver
Custom Store Design & Development
Storefronts built mobile-first for apparel and outdoor brands competing in the most brand-literate city in Canada.
Shopify App Development
Custom apps on Gadget.dev when the App Store doesn't sell what your operations need. We've shipped them for BC brands.
Shopify Plus & Wholesale
Checkout extensibility and B2B price lists, with multi-market setups for brands selling into the US from day one.
Platform Migrations
WooCommerce and Magento exits handled end to end, with the redirect map that protects the rankings you've earned.
Google & Meta Ads
Paid campaigns judged on contribution margin, for brands competing nationally from the west coast.
Email Flows & Automation
Klaviyo programs that turn first orders into repeat customers between product drops.
Speed & Performance
Core Web Vitals tuned on every build, because slow stores lose mobile shoppers first.
The City That Taught Canada DTC
Vancouver didn’t just join the direct-to-consumer wave, it started a good part of it. Lululemon, Aritzia, and Herschel all grew up here, and the scene they seeded runs deep: athleisure and outdoor gear shaped by the mountains, wellness and food brands, sustainable goods with supply chains customers actually ask about. Shoppers here are brand-literate to a degree the rest of the country isn’t, and a storefront that looks like a template install reads as a red flag.
We’re Victoria Garland Creative Inc., a Shopify-only agency working with Vancouver brands remotely from Fergus, Ontario. 14+ years on one platform, 150+ shipped projects, and three apps of our own in the Shopify App Store.
We Already Build for BC
The proof point first: we’ve built a custom Shopify app for Swiss Water, a BC company. The case study is in our portfolio.
That’s the kind of work Vancouver brands tend to need from us. Not another theme install, the custom layer on top.
Getting Geography Out of the Way
We’re not in Vancouver, and you should be suspicious of any out-of-town agency that hides that. Here’s the honest version: Shopify lives in the browser, so the work is remote by nature no matter who you hire. We run kickoffs over video and keep a documented plan you can check any day, and we stay reachable through the build. The three-hour Pacific time gap means we’re deep into your project before your day starts. What you skip is the rent and account-management layer a Gastown or Yaletown shop bills into every invoice.
What Vancouver Merchants Hire Us For
Stores that hold up in a crowded market
When your customer has bought from Aritzia and Article, their bar for your product page is set by Aritzia and Article. Our design and development work treats performance as a launch requirement, not a follow-up ticket: fast mobile loads, variant selection that doesn’t confuse, a checkout that doesn’t leak paid traffic.
Custom apps when the App Store runs out
Some operations problems can’t be solved by installing one more app. We build custom Shopify apps on Gadget.dev, and because we maintain three of our own in the App Store, we know the platform’s edges from the inside.
Plus, wholesale, and selling south
A lot of Vancouver brands sell into the US from day one and run wholesale alongside retail. Shopify Plus covers multi-market setups and B2B price lists, and the checkout extensibility work, without a second platform to maintain. If you’re weighing the upgrade, our guide to what a Shopify Plus agency does walks through the decision honestly.
Leaving legacy platforms behind
Established BC businesses that built on Magento or WooCommerce a decade ago are done paying for patches and plugin conflicts. Platform migrations are routine work for us: data and redirects handled, then a clean break from plugin churn.
The Work That Comes After Launch
The Vancouver brands that grow from a local following to a national one treat the store as an ongoing program. Shopify SEO wins search terms over months. Klaviyo flows turn a first order into a second one. We stay on for that work with most of the brands we build, on retainers sized to the store rather than to a big-agency minimum.
We work with merchants across British Columbia and the rest of the country, from Calgary to Toronto and the rest of Ontario. Same team and same rates wherever you are. Browse the portfolio, then book a free discovery call and we’ll scope your project straight.
Get a Fixed Quote
Tell us what you sell, what platform you're on now, and what you need built or fixed. You'll hear back from the developer who would do the work, with a scope and a fixed quote before any code runs.
Rather talk first? Book the scoping call and skip the form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you based in Vancouver?
No, and we won't blur that. We're Victoria Garland Creative Inc., based in Fergus, Ontario, and we work with Vancouver brands remotely. Shopify work happens in the browser no matter who you hire, so what actually matters is platform depth, and that's the part we've spent 14+ years on.
Have you actually worked with BC companies?
Yes. We've built a custom Shopify app for Swiss Water, a BC company. That project is in our portfolio.
How does the three-hour time difference play out?
Mostly in your favour. We're online well before your morning starts, so questions you send in your afternoon are answered by the time you're back at your desk. Kickoffs and reviews run over video at times that suit Pacific hours.
How do your rates compare to Vancouver agencies?
Lower for equivalent work, because Fergus overhead isn't Gastown overhead. Theme customization typically runs $3,000 to $8,000 and fully custom builds run $10,000 to $30,000. We scope honestly on a free discovery call and tell you if the cheaper path covers what you need.
We're on WooCommerce and it's holding us back. Where do we start?
With a free discovery call. We run migrations end to end, full product and customer data transfer and a redirect map that keeps your search traffic through the move, usually with a feature-for-feature plan so nothing gets lost.
