Glossary

Shopify Technical Glossary.No empty jargon.

Precise definitions in 25 to 50 words. If you read something in one of our proposals that you don't understand, it's probably here.

Platform

Shopify and underlying architecture.

Precise technical definitions, free of empty jargon. Designed so you understand exactly what we build and why it matters.

Shopify: SaaS e-commerce platform founded in Canada in 2006. It allows users to create and operate online stores without managing servers or infrastructure. In 2026, it processes approximately 12% of global e-commerce.
Shopify Plus: Shopify's enterprise edition for brands with over $1 million in annual revenue. Enables checkout extensibility, scripts, multistore, Launchpad, and native B2B, plus 24/7 support and a dedicated account manager.
Shopify development: Shopify store development and customization using Liquid, JavaScript, CSS, and Shopify's own APIs. Includes theme customization, private app development, payment integrations, and checkout adjustments.
Liquid: Open-source templating language created by Shopify in 2006. It is used to insert dynamic content into HTML using tags and objects. Today, Jekyll and other static platforms also use it.
Amanecer: Free official Shopify theme launched in 2021. It is Shopify's recommended foundation for building custom stores: mobile-first, accessible, performant, and Online Store 2.0 compatible.
Tienda Online 2.0: Shopify theme architecture launched in 2021. It introduced sections everywhere, JSON templates, native metafields, and app blocks, enabling deep customization without touching code.

Migrations

Precise technical definitions, free of empty jargon. Designed so you understand exactly what we build and why it matters.

Shopify Migration: Technical process of migrating products, customers, orders, content, and design from an origin platform (WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, or Wix) to Shopify, preserving SEO through 301 redirects and with no more than 30 minutes of downtime.
Redirect 301: Permanent HTTP redirect. It tells Google and other search engines that an old URL has permanently moved to a new one, transferring approximately 100% of the link equity.
Matrixify: Shopify app (formerly Excelify) that allows bulk importing and exporting of products, customers, orders, redirects, and metafields using Excel/CSV files. It is the standard tool for medium and large migrations.
Replatforming: Synonym for migration when it involves moving from one platform to another (e.g., Magento to Shopify Plus). It usually also includes redesign, rethinking information architecture, and technological stack improvements.

Performance

Precise technical definitions, without empty jargon. Designed so you understand exactly what we build and why it matters.

Core Web Vitals: Three Google metrics that measure user experience: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) less than 2.5s, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) less than 200ms, Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) less than 0.1. They have impacted search ranking since 2021.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Time it takes to paint the largest element visible on the screen, typically the hero image. Goal: less than 2.5 seconds on 75% of loads. On Shopify, this is usually the main banner image.
INP (Interaction to Next Paint): Measures the latency of user interactions (clicks, taps, keyboard). Replaced FID in March 2024. Goal: less than 200ms for 75% of interactions.
PageSpeed Insights: Free Google tool that measures the performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices of any URL. It returns a score from 0 to 100 and real data from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX).
Lazy loading: A technique that defers the loading of resources (images, iframes, scripts) until they are near the viewport. In Shopify, it's implemented with loading="lazy" on secondary images and deferring non-critical apps.

Advanced

Precise technical definitions, without empty jargon. Designed so you understand exactly what we're building and why it matters.

Shopify headless / Hydrogen: Architecture where the frontend is decoupled from the Shopify backend using Hydrogen (Shopify's React framework) or Next.js. It enables custom experiences, improved performance, and catalog reuse across multiple channels.
Checkout Extensibility: System launched by Shopify in 2023 that replaces Plus's checkout.liquid. It allows checkout customization using UI extensions, Functions, and the branding API, while maintaining PCI compliance and optimized performance.
Shopify Functions: Shopify's serverless API for customizing backend logic (discounts, shipping methods, cart validations). Progressively replaces Shopify Scripts. Programmed in WebAssembly from JavaScript or Rust.
Metafields: Custom fields that extend native Shopify objects (product, collection, customer, order, etc.) without the need for apps. They support advanced types: rich text, references, JSON, dimensions, color.
Bloqueos de la aplicación: Drag-and-drop blocks that Shopify apps expose to be inserted into any section of the theme from the editor. They require Online Store 2.0 and reduce reliance on technical support.

Is a term missing?

We keep this glossary updated. If you work with Shopify and a concept isn't clear, we want to know.