Shopify Development · 2024 · Arboretum

Shopify Hydrogen storefront for a botanical skincare brand

Hydrogen storefront replacing a stock theme, with a subscription flow and editorial content model.

DTC · Skincare

United States

10 weeks

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Client

Arboretum

Industry

DTC · Skincare

Location

United States

Timeline

10 weeks

Results

What changed after launch

4.1s → 1.2s

LCP

18% → 34%

Subscription mix

10 weeks

Build window

Case study

Problem, approach, outcome

01 · Problem

The constraint

Six-figure DTC brand was capped by theme performance and couldn't ship editorial content fast enough.

Arboretum had grown to six figures on a stock Shopify theme, but LCP sat around 4.1s on mobile and every editorial campaign needed a developer. Subscription uptake stalled because the PDP and Recharge UX felt bolted on. Performance and content velocity were both capping growth.

02 · Approach

What we did

Hydrogen storefront, Sanity CMS for editorial, Recharge for subscriptions, custom PDP.

We rebuilt the storefront on Shopify Hydrogen with a custom PDP, Recharge-integrated subscription path, and Sanity for editorial so marketing could ship stories without theme tickets. Image strategy, edge caching, and lean JS were treated as first-class product work — not a post-launch sprint.

03 · Outcome

What shipped

LCP 4.1s → 1.2s; subscription revenue mix grew from 18% to 34% in six months.

Largest Contentful Paint improved from 4.1s to 1.2s. Over six months, subscription revenue mix grew from 18% to 34%, and the editorial calendar moved without blocking engineering.

Why it worked