Shopify Development Glossary
Definitions of the Shopify, Shopify Plus, migration and WordPress terms that come up in our projects. Each entry explains what the term means, when it matters for a growing brand and which SPLIT Development service covers it.
0–9
301 Redirect
Migration
A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one and passes most of the old page's ranking signals along. During a platform migration, every URL that earns traffic or backlinks needs a 301 to its closest new equivalent. Missing redirects cause most post-migration traffic drops.
A
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
WordPress
Advanced Custom Fields is a WordPress plugin for adding structured fields to posts, pages and custom post types, such as a price, a gallery or a related-items selector. Developers use it to give editors clean input forms, while templates control how the data appears on the site.
Average Order Value (AOV)
Checkout & CRO
Average order value is total revenue divided by the number of orders. Brands raise it with bundles, volume discounts, free shipping thresholds and post-purchase upsells. Meroda Cosmetics increased average order value across its store group by 22% after a Shopify 2.0 redesign and cart improvements by SPLIT Development.
C
Cart Abandonment
Checkout & CRO
Cart abandonment happens when a shopper adds products to the cart but leaves without completing checkout. Common causes are unexpected shipping costs, forced account creation and slow or confusing checkout steps. Meroda Cosmetics cut abandoned carts by 31% after cart and checkout improvements by SPLIT Development.
Checkout Extensibility
Shopify Plus
Checkout Extensibility is Shopify's framework for customising checkout through apps and checkout UI extensions instead of editing checkout.liquid. Custom fields, upsell blocks and branded styling stay compatible with Shopify updates and Shop Pay. Shopify Plus stores get the deepest access, including extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps.
CMS Migration
WordPress
A CMS migration moves a website's content, templates and URLs from one content management system to another, for example from Drupal, Sitecore or Kentico to WordPress. Beyond copying pages, it involves rebuilding templates, mapping content types and redirecting old URLs so search rankings carry over.
Content Freeze
Migration
A content freeze is a set period before a migration launch when the team stops adding products, editing pages or changing prices on the old store. It keeps the final data export complete and stops changes from getting lost between platforms. The freeze ends at cutover, when the new store goes live.
Conversion Rate
Checkout & CRO
Conversion rate is the share of sessions that end in an order, calculated as orders divided by sessions. It is the headline metric for how well a store turns traffic into revenue. After SPLIT Development rebuilt its store mobile-first, Jack & Friends Jerky saw mobile conversion grow by 34%.
Core Web Vitals
Checkout & CRO
Core Web Vitals are Google's three page experience metrics: Largest Contentful Paint for loading, Interaction to Next Paint for responsiveness and Cumulative Layout Shift for visual stability. They affect both rankings and conversion. On Shopify they usually suffer from heavy apps, unoptimised images and bloated theme code.
Custom Post Type
WordPress
A custom post type is a WordPress content type beyond the default posts and pages, such as case studies, team members, properties or events. Each one gets its own admin section, fields and templates. Custom post types keep structured content organised and make listings and filters much easier to build.
Cutover
Migration
Cutover is the moment a migrated store goes live: the domain points to the new platform, redirects activate and the old store stops taking orders. A cutover plan sets the order of steps, the owner of each one and how to roll back if something fails. Most teams pick the lowest-traffic window of the week.
D
Data Migration
Migration
Data migration is the transfer of products, variants, customers, order history and content from the old platform to the new one. Core records usually move with import tools, while custom fields need manual mapping. When SPLIT Development moved Woodies Clothing from WooCommerce to Shopify, catalog, customers and order history transferred with no sales downtime.
E
Expansion Stores
Shopify Plus
Expansion stores are additional stores included with a Shopify Plus plan, used for separate regions, brands or wholesale channels under one organisation. Each store has its own theme, catalog and settings, while staff and some data are managed centrally.
G
Gutenberg
WordPress
Gutenberg is the WordPress block editor. Every page is built from blocks such as paragraphs, images, columns and custom blocks, which developers can extend and lock into reusable patterns. A well-configured block setup lets a content team build new pages without breaking the design.
H
Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless commerce separates the storefront from the commerce engine. Shopify keeps running products, checkout and orders, while a custom frontend built with Hydrogen or Next.js handles what shoppers see. It gives full design and performance control but costs more to build and maintain than a theme-based store.
Headless WordPress
WordPress
Headless WordPress uses WordPress only as the content backend and delivers content through the REST API or WPGraphQL to a separate frontend, often built with Next.js. Editors keep the familiar admin, while the site gains speed and design freedom. It suits content-heavy sites that need app-like performance.
Hydrogen and Oxygen
Shopify Development
Hydrogen is Shopify's React-based framework for headless storefronts, and Oxygen is Shopify's hosting platform that runs them. Together they give developers prebuilt commerce components and global deployment without a separate hosting setup. Hydrogen suits brands whose design or content needs have outgrown a Liquid theme.
L
Launchpad
Shopify Plus
Launchpad is a Shopify Plus tool for scheduling product drops, flash sales and seasonal campaigns. It can switch themes, publish products and apply discounts at a set time, then roll everything back when the event ends. Nobody has to make changes by hand at midnight.
Liquid
Shopify Development
Liquid is Shopify's open-source template language. It pulls store data such as products, prices and customer details into theme files and decides what each page shows. Every Shopify theme is built on Liquid, so custom layouts, conditional content and reusable sections all start here.
M
Metafields
Shopify Development
Metafields are custom fields that store information Shopify doesn't track by default, such as ingredient lists, size guides or care instructions. They attach to products, variants, collections, customers or orders and can be displayed anywhere in a theme. They are usually the first tool for extending a catalog without another app.
Metaobjects
Shopify Development
Metaobjects are custom content types in Shopify, built from a group of fields you define. A brand can create a Designer or Ingredient entry once and reuse it across many products and pages. Metafields add a value to an existing resource, while metaobjects create a new structured entry of their own.
O
Online Store 2.0
Shopify Development
Online Store 2.0 is Shopify's theme architecture that brought sections to every page, not only the homepage. Merchants can add, remove and reorder content in the theme editor without code, and themes connect directly to metafields and app blocks. Most modern Shopify themes, including Dawn, are built on it.
R
Replatforming
Migration
Replatforming means moving an online store from one ecommerce platform to another, for example from Magento, WooCommerce or BigCommerce to Shopify. It covers data, design, integrations and SEO, not only a product export. A well-run project plans URL redirects and app replacements before any data moves.
Revenue per Visitor (RPV)
Checkout & CRO
Revenue per visitor is total revenue divided by the number of visitors. It combines conversion rate and average order value into one number, which makes it a reliable way to judge whether a redesign made the store more profitable. KXKS saw revenue per visitor rise 27% on its new Shopify store built by SPLIT Development.
S
Sections and Blocks
Shopify Development
Sections are reusable modules in a Shopify theme, such as a hero banner, product grid or FAQ. Blocks are the smaller elements inside a section, like a single slide or a text column. Well-built sections let a marketing team launch new pages in the theme editor without waiting on a developer.
Shopify App
Shopify Development
A Shopify app adds functionality the core platform doesn't include. Public apps are listed in the Shopify App Store and serve many merchants. Custom apps are built for one store's workflow, such as an ERP sync or a bespoke product configurator, and make sense when no public app fits the process.
Shopify B2B
Shopify Plus
Native B2B on Shopify lets a brand sell wholesale from the same store it uses for direct-to-consumer. It supports company profiles with multiple buyers and locations, custom price lists, payment terms, quantity rules and a dedicated B2B checkout. It replaces the separate wholesale storefront many brands used to run.
Shopify Flow
Shopify Plus
Shopify Flow is Shopify's automation tool. It runs workflows on a trigger, condition and action model, such as tagging high-value customers, flagging risky orders or alerting the team when stock runs low. Flow replaces repetitive admin work and connects with many third-party apps.
Shopify Functions
Shopify Plus
Shopify Functions let developers write custom backend logic that runs inside Shopify, such as discount rules, shipping rate filters, payment method rules or cart validation. They replace the older Shopify Scripts and run on Shopify's own infrastructure. Custom Functions built for a single store require Shopify Plus.
Shopify Markets
Shopify Development
Shopify Markets manages selling to several countries from one store. It handles local currencies, languages, domains or subfolders, duties and regional pricing, so international buyers see a localised storefront.
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is Shopify's enterprise plan for high-volume brands. On top of the standard platform it adds deeper checkout customisation, custom Shopify Functions, Launchpad, expansion stores and higher API limits. Brands usually move to Plus when revenue, international growth or wholesale makes the standard plans restrictive.
Shop Pay
Checkout & CRO
Shop Pay is Shopify's accelerated checkout. It saves shoppers' email, shipping and payment details, so returning buyers can check out in a few taps on any Shopify store that offers it. It also supports paying in instalments through Shop Pay Installments in eligible regions.
Storefront API
Shopify Development
The Storefront API is Shopify's public GraphQL API for building custom shopping experiences. It gives a frontend access to products, collections, carts and checkout, which makes it the backbone of headless stores, mobile apps and buy buttons embedded on other websites.
T
Theme App Extensions
Shopify Development
Theme app extensions let an app add blocks to an Online Store 2.0 theme without editing theme code. Merchants place the app's block in the theme editor like any other section, and uninstalling the app removes its code cleanly. It is Shopify's recommended way for apps to appear on the storefront.
U
URL Mapping
Migration
URL mapping is the spreadsheet that pairs each URL on the old store with its destination on the new one before launch. It covers products, collections, categories, blog posts and landing pages, and becomes the source for bulk 301 redirects. A complete map is what lets a migrated store keep its rankings.
W
WooCommerce
WordPress
WooCommerce is the open-source plugin that turns a WordPress site into an online store. It gives full control over code and hosting, but updates, security and performance become the merchant's job. Growing brands often weigh it against Shopify once maintenance starts taking more time than selling.
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