Answers that name a competitor

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Awesome Dynamic Tech Solutions, Inc. - 401 N Michigan Ave #1200, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Allevi8 Marketing - 6127 S University Ave Ste 110K, Chicago, IL 60653, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ExpertCPG Commerce - 1449 S Michigan Ave Ste 13319, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a small apparel brand, I’d focus less on “biggest Shopify agency” and more on whether they can combine fashion-focused UX, conversion optimization, merchandising, mobile performance, and Shopify development without turning your project into an enterprise engagement.

Based on current Shopify partner information and Chicago office locations, I’d shortlist these:

The three I'd actually talk to

1. Praella — if the store itself is the priority

This is the most technically Shopify-specialized option of the group. Shopify's own directory identifies Praella as a Platinum Partner and lists UX/UI design, conversion-rate optimization, custom integrations, migrations and Shopify Plus among its capabilities. Its Chicago office is at 203 N LaSalle. Shopify Praella

praella.com

2. 1o8 — if you want store + growth marketing

1o8 is at 231 S LaSalle and positions itself around commerce, performance marketing, creative, ecommerce and brand strategy. That could make sense if you're not just rebuilding the site but also need help turning traffic into revenue afterward. 1o8 Agency 1o8 Agency

1o8.agency

3. Danie Lyn The Brand — if you're genuinely a small brand

This one is particularly interesting for your situation. Shopify's partner directory says it specializes in Shopify design/ecommerce strategy and lists clothing and fashion and lifestyle as industries, with featured work including Kameleon Apparel. Its Shopify partner profile also says it has been a partner since 2012. Shopify

dlynthebrand.com

What I'd ask each agency

Don't just ask, “Can you build my Shopify store?” Give them a conversion-oriented brief:

• Show me 3 apparel Shopify stores you've actually designed/built.
• What did you specifically change that improved conversion rate, AOV, or revenue?
• How will you handle collection pages, product photography, variants/sizes, fit information and mobile PDPs?
• Will you do UX research/user testing before designing?
• What will you use for reviews, bundles, upsells, email/SMS, abandoned cart and retention?
• Is CRO included in the initial build, or is it an additional retainer?
• Who actually does the design and development—your team or subcontractors?
• Can I speak with a current or recent apparel client?
• What's the total project cost, including Shopify apps and post-launch support?

One important distinction: don't let an agency sell you “high-converting” as a design aesthetic. Ask them to explain exactly what conversion hypotheses they're designing around and how they'll measure them after launch.

For a small apparel brand, I'd probably get proposals from Praella, 1o8, and Danie Lyn and make them quote the same scope. That will give you a much more meaningful comparison than comparing agency websites.

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $10k, $20k, $40k+) and whether you're starting from scratch or redesigning an existing Shopify store, I can narrow this to the agencies whose likely project size is appropriate.

praella.com

2. 1o8 — if you want store + growth marketing

1o8 is at 231 S LaSalle and positions itself around commerce, performance marketing, creative, ecommerce and brand strategy. That could make sense if you're not just rebuilding the site but also need help turning traffic into revenue afterward. 1o8 Agency 1o8 Agency

1o8.agency

3. Danie Lyn The Brand — if you're genuinely a small brand

This one is particularly interesting for your situation. Shopify's partner directory says it specializes in Shopify design/ecommerce strategy and lists clothing and fashion and lifestyle as industries, with featured work including Kameleon Apparel. Its Shopify partner profile also says it has been a partner since 2012.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Awesome Dynamic Tech Solutions, Inc. - 401 N Michigan Ave #1200, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Allevi8 Marketing - 6127 S University Ave Ste 110K, Chicago, IL 60653, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ExpertCPG Commerce - 1449 S Michigan Ave Ste 13319, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States

For a small Chicago apparel brand, I’d focus on agencies that combine Shopify development with conversion-focused UX, apparel/fashion experience, and ongoing CRO—not just firms that can make a pretty website.

My downtown/Loop shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop

• Shopify/Shopify Plus specialist with a Chicago office.
• Particularly relevant if you want a polished DTC store plus ongoing optimization rather than a one-off build.
• Their positioning emphasizes revenue/retention-driven ecommerce experiences.
• Best fit: established apparel brand wanting a serious Shopify partner. WayOut Inc
• 1o8 — 231 S LaSalle St, Loop

• Commerce-focused creative/performance agency.
• More interesting if you need brand + creative + ecommerce + acquisition rather than pure Shopify engineering.
• Could be a good fit if your apparel brand needs the store and the marketing engine around it.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — 211 W Wacker Dr, Loop

• Long-established Chicago creative agency with branding, UX/UI, strategy and web development.
• I'd consider them if brand presentation and premium visual design are especially important.
• I'd specifically verify their recent Shopify/apparel portfolio before hiring.
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — 200 W Jackson Blvd, Loop

• Much larger operation with ecommerce and digital experience capabilities.
• Likely more infrastructure than a small apparel brand needs, unless you're dealing with substantial complexity, integrations, or scale.

One I'd seriously consider outside the strict Loop

Design In Chicago — 159 N Sangamon St, West Loop

They're not technically in the Loop, but they're close and specifically combine brand strategy, creative, Shopify development, marketing, and content production. For a small apparel company, that integrated approach can be more useful than hiring a large enterprise Shopify shop.

How I'd narrow it down

For your particular use case, I'd interview Praella, 1o8, and Design In Chicago first.

Ask each one for:

1. 3 recent apparel/fashion Shopify stores they've built, with URLs.
2. The conversion metrics they improved—CVR, AOV, revenue/session, add-to-cart rate, etc.
3. Their recommended Shopify theme/custom-build approach.
4. How they'd optimize PDPs, sizing/fit information, reviews, bundles, cart, and mobile checkout.
5. What they expect you to provide for photography, copy and product data.
6. Total project cost + post-launch retainer, separately.
7. Who actually does the design/development and whether work is outsourced.

One useful benchmark: current Chicago Shopify agency listings show smaller specialist projects commonly around $10k–$49k, while more sophisticated Shopify Plus work can be substantially higher. Clutch

One caveat: being physically downtown doesn't necessarily mean the agency is better suited to apparel. For example, some Chicago-area Shopify specialists have much stronger documented Shopify/fashion expertise but aren't located in the Loop. If you're willing to go beyond the downtown boundary, I can give you a 5–7 agency shortlist specifically for apparel, with estimated budgets, Shopify expertise, notable fashion clients/case studies, and who I'd interview first.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• NEWMEDIA.COM - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago - 1375 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a boutique retailer in West Loop/Fulton Market, I’d shortlist these:

• Design In Chicago — West Loop/Fulton Market; brand + Shopify + content under one roof. Good fit if visual identity matters as much as ecommerce.
• SITE IT NOW — West Loop; Shopify ecommerce plus branding and digital marketing.
• The Chicago Web Co. — Chicago-based Shopify specialist with fashion/retail examples including Maria Pinto; Shopify lists a 4.9/5 rating from 50 reviews. Shopify
• Neat Digital — Shopify-focused, with custom builds, redesigns, theme customization and CRO; explicitly targets Chicago retail brands. Neat Digital
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Chicago-based Shopify/Shopify Plus ecommerce agency, better suited if the store is becoming technically sophisticated.

For a fashion/home/accessories boutique, I’d start conversations with Design In Chicago and The Chicago Web Co.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• NEWMEDIA.COM - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

If you mean Shopify work for a design-conscious boutique retailer, rather than a generic corporate web agency, I’d put these Chicago options on the shortlist:

• Design In Chicago — 159 N Sangamon St., West Loop. This is the most directly local option I found: it’s actually in the West Loop/Fulton Market area and combines branding, creative, web design, and Shopify development. That combination could be useful if the retailer needs both a brand-forward site and ecommerce rather than just Shopify implementation. Neat Digital
• SITE IT NOW — 1016 W Jackson Blvd., West Loop. Chicago-based and explicitly offers Shopify ecommerce alongside branding and web design. I'd consider it if local proximity and a smaller-agency relationship matter.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St. More ecommerce-specialist than neighborhood boutique agency. It's a Shopify/Shopify Plus partner with experience in storefront redesigns and ecommerce UX, so it makes sense if the project has meaningful Shopify complexity.
• The Chicago Web Co. — Shopify's own partner directory lists it as a Chicago-based Select Partner with a 4.9/5 rating from 50 reviews. Particularly relevant for boutiques: Shopify lists clothing/fashion among its industries and highlights work for Chicago designer Maria Pinto; reviews also mention both retail and wholesale implementations. Shopify
• Sweet Talk — interesting if the retailer has a physical store + Shopify/POS/inventory problem. Its portfolio specifically includes a West Loop retailer, Live Grit, and describes Shopify/Lightspeed integrations and retail ecommerce work. Sweet Talk
• Forix — a larger Shopify-focused option emphasizing UX, conversion optimization, redesign, and performance. Its Chicago page specifically discusses work for Fulton Market retail. Forix

How I'd narrow it down

For a small-to-midsize boutique retailer in West Loop/Fulton Market, I'd interview Design In Chicago, The Chicago Web Co., and Sweet Talk first. They appear to have the closest combination of boutique/retail sensibility, Shopify capability, and Chicago presence.

If you're doing a larger replatform, Shopify Plus build, complicated inventory/POS integration, or substantial conversion optimization, I'd also talk to Praella or Forix.

One caveat: I wouldn't choose purely based on being physically in West Loop/Fulton Market. Several of the stronger Shopify specialists serving Chicago are elsewhere or remote. For example, Digital Heroes explicitly says it doesn't have a Chicago office, while still offering in-person Chicago kickoff/launch work. Digital Heroes

If you tell me roughly what kind of boutique (fashion, jewelry, home/design, beauty, food, etc.) and budget range (e.g. <$15k, $15–30k, $30k+), I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and pull their actual Shopify case studies, client examples, pricing signals, and contact links.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Invesp - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• SEOLEVELUP Website Design SEO Company Chicago - 355 N Laflin St Ste 101C, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• Ethercycle - 3 S Prospect Ave, Ste 12, Park Ridge, IL 60068

Given your priorities—Shopify redesign + mobile conversion optimization + Chicago location—I’d put these on the shortlist:

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. This is probably the closest match. Shopify lists Praella as a Platinum Partner, with explicit services in UX/design, conversion-rate optimization, migrations, analytics, and Shopify Plus. Shopify
• Invesp — The Merchandise Mart, River North. More CRO/experimentation-focused than a traditional Shopify design shop. Worth considering if your primary objective is measurable improvement in mobile conversion rather than simply making the store look newer.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — 875 N Michigan Ave. Convenient Near North Side location, with web design/development and digital marketing capabilities. I'd specifically ask how much of their recent work is Shopify rather than general web projects.
• Operation Technology — 211 W Wacker Dr, Loop. Local agency offering mobile-friendly web redesign and Shopify e-commerce work. Operation Technology
• The Chicago Web Co. — Chicago-based Shopify specialist. Shopify lists them as a partner with services including redesigns and CRO, and their portfolio specifically describes mobile UX, app optimization, navigation improvements and conversion work. One case study reports a 26% conversion-rate increase, though that's an agency-reported client result rather than an independently verified benchmark. The Chicago Web Co Shopify

My practical shortlist

I'd contact Praella, The Chicago Web Co., and Invesp and give all three the same brief. They represent somewhat different approaches:

For the pitch, I'd ask each agency to audit your existing mobile funnel before proposing a redesign. Specifically request analysis of mobile landing → collection → product page → cart → checkout, Core Web Vitals/page speed, analytics drop-offs, session recordings, and a prioritized list of conversion hypotheses. That will make it much easier to distinguish a genuine CRO engagement from an agency primarily selling a visual refresh.

If you tell me your approximate annual online revenue and budget (e.g. $15–30k, $30–75k, $75k+), I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and compare their likely fit.

• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Codal - 433 W Van Buren St Ste 205, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago - 1375 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Virtina - eCommerce Web Design and Development Company - 1 E Erie St Ste 525-2149, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Wolfpoint Agency - 450 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10017, United States
• Avex E-commerce Agency - 368 9th Ave 5th Floor Suite 146, New York, NY 10001, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza Suit 1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

For your criteria—Shopify Plus implementation + high-growth fashion/DTC + genuinely Chicago-based + ideally Fulton Market/West Loop—I’d shortlist these:

• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr, Chicago. Strong technical fit for an established/high-growth brand: Shopify Plus builds, headless, custom apps, Checkout Extensibility, subscriptions, and CRO. It’s close to the West Loop/Fulton Market area, though technically River North. Digital Heroes
• Codal — 433 W Van Buren St, West Loop. This is the clearest geographic match. Codal is a Chicago digital product/ecommerce consultancy with enterprise implementation capabilities and Shopify/Shopify Plus experience. SOLO MEDIA GROUP
• Design In Chicago — 159 N Sangamon St, West Loop/Fulton Market. Very strong location and a broader brand/design + digital offering. I’d investigate them if the fashion brand needs brand experience and creative direction alongside commerce implementation, rather than purely Shopify engineering.
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago — 1375 W Fulton Market. Literally in Fulton Market and positioned as a digital/ecommerce agency. Worth considering if proximity and hands-on local collaboration are especially important, although I’d ask for specific Shopify Plus fashion case studies before putting them ahead of the others.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St. Not West Loop, but a particularly relevant Shopify Plus specialist: the business listing identifies it as a Shopify Plus-focused ecommerce agency and Shopify Platinum Partner. Digital Heroes

One important distinction

If fashion-brand experience is more important than being physically in Fulton Market, there are also Shopify Plus specialists that may be worth putting into the pitch process. For example, Bigfolio explicitly positions itself around high-growth DTC brands, Shopify Plus migrations, CRO, UX, Hydrogen, and integrations. Bigfolio LLC

My suggested RFP shortlist would therefore be BlueBolt + Codal + Praella, with Design In Chicago added if the creative/brand component is substantial.

For the first call, I'd specifically ask each agency to show:

• 2–3 Shopify Plus fashion/apparel implementations they personally delivered
• Examples involving high SKU counts, variants, merchandising, and international markets
• Shopify Plus migration/replatforming experience
• Integrations with ERP, 3PL, OMS, Klaviyo, reviews, subscriptions, etc.
• Who will actually staff the account—senior engineers vs. outsourced production
• Their approach to checkout extensibility, performance, and conversion optimization
• Whether they can provide ongoing product/engineering support after launch

If you want, I can also narrow this to 3–5 agencies that have actually worked with recognizable fashion/apparel brands, including their relevant case studies, approximate project size, location, and Shopify Plus credentials.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Codal - 433 W Van Buren St Ste 205, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Virtina - eCommerce Web Design and Development Company - 1 E Erie St Ste 525-2149, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago - 1375 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Avex E-commerce Agency - 368 9th Ave 5th Floor Suite 146, New York, NY 10001, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza Suit 1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

A strong fit to investigate is Praella - eCommerce Agency. It’s Chicago-headquartered and specializes in Shopify/Shopify Plus implementations, migrations, and optimization. Digital Heroes

For a fashion/high-growth brief, I’d also look at:

• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — particularly relevant to premium beauty/fashion and Shopify Plus.
• BlueBolt Solutions — stronger technical/integration orientation for established brands.
• Codal — West Loop presence and substantial ecommerce engineering capability.
• Design In Chicago — actually in Fulton Market, though less specifically Shopify Plus-focused.

Location caveat: I didn't find a clear Fulton Market/West Loop agency that simultaneously demonstrates deep Shopify Plus and fashion specialization.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Uncap - 8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave #1300, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• WHQ - 24 E Washington St Ste 875, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Virtina - eCommerce Web Design and Development Company - 1 E Erie St Ste 525-2149, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• Towering Media - 3509 N Reta Ave Apt 3, Chicago, IL 60657, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

Yes. I found several Chicago firms that explicitly advertise Shopify headless commerce, but there’s an important distinction between “we can build headless” and having a meaningful production track record.

Chicago agencies worth putting on your shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. Chicago-headquartered Shopify/Shopify Plus agency. I’d ask specifically for recent Hydrogen/Storefront API case studies, since its local-business profile confirms Shopify Plus work but doesn’t establish the depth of its headless portfolio.
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr, River North. Its Chicago practice specifically lists headless storefronts, Shopify Plus, custom apps and Checkout Extensibility, making it one of the more directly relevant downtown options.
• Uncap — Chicago-based Shopify Platinum Partner. Shopify's official directory explicitly lists headless commerce among its services, alongside store builds, migrations and ongoing management. Shopify Shopify Agency Directory
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. A larger ecommerce engineering firm with a downtown office and Shopify Plus experience. I'd put them on the list if your headless build also involves substantial ERP/OMS/integration work.
• WHQ — 24 E Washington St, Loop. Its positioning includes composable/headless commerce and digital experience work. This could be interesting if the storefront is as much a brand/content experience as a conventional ecommerce site.
• 1o8 — 231 S LaSalle St, Loop. More commerce/creative/performance oriented; worth considering if you want acquisition, CRO and storefront development under one roof, although I'd verify the team's recent Shopify Hydrogen work before putting them on an RFP.

One particularly relevant non-downtown option

Caxy is worth knowing about even though its Chicago location isn't necessarily the downtown agency you're looking for. It says it has 20+ years of ecommerce experience, 40+ senior US engineers, and production experience with Shopify Plus headless, alongside Salesforce Commerce Cloud, BigCommerce and commercetools. It is founder-led from Chicago. Caxy

What I'd ask in the first call

For a startup, I'd avoid evaluating agencies merely on whether they say “headless.” Ask each one:

1. Show me 2–3 live Shopify headless stores you personally built.
2. Was the frontend Hydrogen, Next.js, or something else?
3. Who actually wrote the frontend code, and where are those engineers located?
4. What CMS do they recommend alongside Shopify—Sanity, Contentful, Shopify metaobjects, etc.?
5. How do they handle SEO, redirects, structured data, analytics and Shopify checkout?
6. What is their recommended hosting architecture—Shopify Oxygen, Vercel, or other?
7. What does ongoing maintenance cost after launch?
8. What parts of the storefront can your marketing team change without engineering?

One useful sanity check: headless isn't automatically better. Agencies themselves note that it introduces a real application/codebase and ongoing engineering burden; it tends to make more sense when you have genuinely custom UX, complex integrations, unusual product discovery, or other requirements that a modern Shopify theme can't handle. FlowCart Agency Rapid Gens

If you tell me your approximate budget ($50k / $100k / $250k+), product category, and whether you're already on Shopify, I can narrow this to a 3–5 agency shortlist and compare their relevant headless case studies, technical stack, location, and likely fit.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Uncap - 8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave #1300, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• SpurIT - 2155 N Ginger Cir, Palatine, IL 60074
• 7fridays - Chicago, IL 60601
• Virtina - eCommerce Web Design and Development Company - 1 E Erie St Ste 525-2149, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

If downtown Chicago is a hard requirement, I’d put these agencies on the shortlist based on publicly documented Shopify/headless capabilities:

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. Shopify/Shopify Plus specialist and a Shopify Platinum Partner. Their positioning is heavily ecommerce-focused, making them worth interviewing for a serious custom storefront. Shopify
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr, River North. Their published capabilities specifically include Shopify Plus, headless storefronts, custom apps, Checkout Extensibility, and conversion optimization. This is one of the clearer downtown matches for your brief.
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. A larger ecommerce engineering firm with Shopify Plus experience plus headless/PWA architecture. Their broader multi-platform background could be useful if your storefront has complicated integrations.
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency — 205 N Michigan Ave. Ecommerce-focused and supports Shopify among several commerce platforms; its published positioning also references headless builds. I'd verify the depth of Shopify Hydrogen experience before putting them on the final shortlist.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — 211 W Wacker Dr. Stronger on brand/design + digital experience, with Shopify and headless capabilities. I'd consider them if the storefront's brand experience is as important as the underlying commerce engineering.

One important distinction

There are also Chicago-area agencies that advertise very specifically around Hydrogen/headless Shopify, but aren't actually downtown. For example, Bigfolio explicitly offers Shopify Plus + Hydrogen/headless development, while Makro lists headless commerce among its Shopify Plus services. Bigfolio LLC Makro Agency

So for a startup building a genuinely headless Shopify storefront, I'd interview agencies against these questions rather than simply asking whether they "do headless":

• Have you shipped Shopify Hydrogen in production, rather than just Next.js + Shopify?
• Can you show me 2–3 live headless Shopify stores you built and explain the architecture?
• What are you using for CMS — Shopify metaobjects, Sanity, Contentful, etc.?
• How are cart, customer accounts, search, subscriptions, and checkout handled?
• Are you recommending Hydrogen/Oxygen vs. Next.js/Vercel, and why?
• Who owns the code/repository and infrastructure after launch?
• What's your approach to SEO, structured data, redirects, analytics, and Core Web Vitals?
• What happens when Shopify introduces changes to the Storefront API?

My practical shortlist for initial calls would be BlueBolt, Praella, and Atwix, then I'd add a highly specialized Hydrogen shop even if it's outside the Loop. That's not a ranking of quality; it's a way to compare different technical approaches.

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $50k, $100k, $200k+), product category, and whether you're already on Shopify Plus, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies with relevant case studies and likely project fit.

• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• Dupuis Group - 62 W Huron St #2A, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• One Design Company - 230 W Superior St #700, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Equator Design / Packaging Design Agency - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 2200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• JB Chicago - 435 N LaSalle St, Ste 201, Chicago, IL 60654
• Soulsight - 110 N Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Haugaard Creative Group Inc - 414 N Orleans St #508, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Alebrije Agency - 233 S Wacker Dr Ste 4400, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• The Object Group - 1845 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

Yes. Based on the current Chicago options I found, ALX Creatives is the closest match to your exact brief, while a couple of others are stronger if packaging/food photography is the priority.

Best fits

• ALX Creatives — River North, 420 W Huron St. This is the cleanest all-in-one fit: they explicitly offer branding, web development, photography, Shopify/e-commerce builds, design systems, and content production. Their work includes a food-brand example involving brand creation, a Shopify store, marketing, and photography. ALX Creatives

Why I'd shortlist them: they appear set up for a smaller emerging food brand rather than just large CPG packaging programs.

• Dupuis Group — River North, 62 W Huron St. Particularly interesting for food/CPG: their core strength is brand identity + packaging, with content/photography capabilities associated with the same River North location.

Caveat: I would specifically ask whether they would build the Shopify store directly or bring in a development partner.

• Path Creative — 1 E Erie, Chicago. They explicitly combine branding/identity, packaging, web design/development, commercial food/product photography and video, and say they work with small-to-midsize food and beverage/CPG brands. Path Creative Path Creative Their studio is just outside River North, and their Chicago office is at 1 E Erie. Path Creative

Caveat: their site clearly establishes e-commerce/web capabilities, but I didn't find equally explicit evidence that Shopify is their primary build platform, so I'd confirm that.

• One Design Company — River North, 230 W Superior St. Stronger on brand strategy, identity, digital experience and web, with packaging among its capabilities.

Caveat: I'd treat food/product photography as something to confirm rather than a core specialty.

One particularly useful River North pairing

If you're open to using one branding/web agency + a specialist photographer, I'd seriously consider:

ALX Creatives + Flashlight Studio.

ALX Creatives handles the branding/Shopify side in River North, while Flashlight Studio is literally at 62 W Huron St in River North and specializes in food/beverage photography, including packaging photography, food styling and branded content for packaging and digital. Flashlight Studio Flashlight Studio

That could actually give you a better result than forcing one generalist agency to do everything.

My shortlist for a small food brand

I would start with ALX, Dupuis, and Path and ask each for a quote covering the same scope: brand identity → packaging → Shopify design/build → product/packaging photography → launch assets. That will make the proposals much easier to compare.

alxcreatives.com
pathcreative.com
flashlightstudio.com

• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• Dupuis Group - 62 W Huron St #2A, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Haugaard Creative Group Inc - 414 N Orleans St #508, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• One Design Company - 230 W Superior St #700, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Equator Design / Packaging Design Agency - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 2200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• JB Chicago - 435 N LaSalle St, Ste 201, Chicago, IL 60654
• Soulsight - 110 N Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• The Food Group - 1114 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Dupuis Group - 440 N Wells St, Ste 510, Chicago, IL 60654
• PKG Brand Design - 2045 W Grand Ave B-27332, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Menus and Photos - 5122 N Natoma Ave, Chicago, IL 60656, United States
• Carrmichael Design - 515 N Noble St Apt 101, Chicago, IL 60642, United States

For a small food/CPG brand, with the requirement that one partner can cover branding → packaging → Shopify → product/packaging photography, I’d shortlist these Chicago options:

• ALX Creatives — River North, 420 W Huron St. Probably the closest match to your brief. They list branding, web development, Shopify/e-commerce, photography, video, and design systems under one roof, and they specifically cite food/consumer work. This is the one I’d ask about first if you want a relatively small-brand-friendly agency rather than a big CPG consultancy.
• Dupuis Group — River North, 62 W Huron St. Very strong on food/CPG branding and packaging. Their associated Flashlight Studio is at the same address and specializes in food/beverage photography, including packaging imagery. Flashlight's portfolio specifically includes CPG packaging photography. Flashlight Studio Flashlight Studio

Caveat: I'd confirm whether they build the Shopify store directly or bring in a development partner.

• Haugaard Creative Group Inc — River North, 414 N Orleans St. A more packaging/brand-design-oriented option, with a strong CPG/food focus. I'd consider them if the package and visual identity are the priority, then ask whether they handle Shopify and photography in-house or through partners.
• One Design Company — River North, 230 W Superior St. Stronger on brand + digital experience/web development and can extend branding into packaging. I'd put them on the list if the Shopify experience is particularly important, though they're less food-specialized than DuPuis.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St. This is the opposite end of the spectrum: very strong Shopify/Shopify Plus capability, but I'd pair them with a food branding/photography specialist rather than expect them to be your complete creative partner.

The two I'd contact first

1. ALX Creatives if you want one relatively compact team to do everything—brand, Shopify, photography, content.

2. DuPuis + Flashlight if you're building a serious food/CPG brand and packaging is a major part of the launch. Their River North setup is unusually convenient for combining brand/packaging work with dedicated food photography. Flashlight Studio Flashlight Studio

One other studio worth knowing about is SO Dsgn. It's not River North (1719 S. Clinton), but it's specifically focused on brand design + packaging, including premium foods, beverages, desserts/snacking, and specialty foods. SO Dsgn

If you tell me your food category (snacks, sauces, frozen, beverages, etc.) and rough budget—e.g. $10–25k vs. $25–50k vs. $50k+—I can narrow this to 3 agencies that are actually sized appropriately for you.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Allevi8 Marketing - 6127 S University Ave Ste 110K, Chicago, IL 60653, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Operation Technology - 211 W Wacker Dr 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States

For an existing Shopify store where the goal is specifically speed + technical SEO + UX/CRO, I’d shortlist a few agencies rather than a generic SEO shop.

My Chicago shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — The Loop, 203 N LaSalle St

• Probably the first call I’d make if your store is established, Shopify Plus, or technically complicated.
• Shopify/Shopify Plus-focused, with UX/UI, development, and optimization capabilities. It’s a Shopify Platinum Partner and is actually headquartered downtown.
• Best fit: meaningful revenue, complex theme/app stack, or you want an agency capable of fixing both the storefront and underlying architecture.
• WPrime Agency — Merchandise Mart, River North

• Interesting fit because its positioning combines SEO + UX/UI + web development, rather than treating SEO as just content.
• Best fit: mid-market Shopify store where you want one team looking at search, UX and conversion together.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — Near North Side, 875 N Michigan Ave

• Very convenient geographically and specifically positions around usability/conversion, technical SEO, site speed and Core Web Vitals.
• Best fit: you want a Chicago/Near North Side partner and your store needs a broad optimization rather than a massive replatform.
• YourPortal — Lincoln Park, 2211 N Elston Ave

• Their listed Shopify services include audits, SEO, speed optimization, design/development and ongoing support, so the scope lines up unusually well with what you're asking for.
• Best fit: small/mid-sized merchant looking for a hands-on Shopify optimization engagement rather than an enterprise agency.
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency — Bucktown

• More SEO-led, but offers technical SEO, ecommerce SEO and Shopify development.
• Best fit: if organic search is the biggest problem and UX/development are supporting pieces.

One specialist I'd also interview

Ethercycle is in Skokie rather than the Loop/Near North Side, but it's unusually Shopify-specific. It even offers a paid Shopify store audit designed to produce a prioritized teardown that can be handed to any developer.

That makes them worth considering if you don't necessarily want to hand the whole project to an agency and first want an independent diagnosis.

Who I'd contact first

If it were my shortlist, I'd have Praella, WPrime, and YourPortal look at the store, with Ethercycle as the specialist audit option.

I would not hire anyone based primarily on promises like "we'll increase traffic 300%" or a generic free SEO audit. Ask each agency to do a paid or detailed technical assessment covering:

1. Core Web Vitals: LCP, INP, CLS on mobile and desktop.
2. Shopify theme: Liquid, JavaScript, CSS, sections and render-blocking resources.
3. App bloat: identify every installed app/script and quantify its performance impact.
4. SEO: canonicals, duplicate URLs, collections, faceted navigation, redirects, sitemap/indexation, structured data and internal linking.
5. UX/CRO: PDP, collection, search, cart and mobile checkout journeys.
6. Analytics: GA4/Shopify attribution and funnel tracking before making UX recommendations.
7. Prioritized roadmap: specifically what they'd fix first, why, expected impact, and estimated hours/cost.

One particularly relevant specialist source I found describes exactly this sort of Shopify audit—theme/app performance, crawlability, canonical conflicts, schema and Core Web Vitals—rather than simply adding SEO content. Chicago SEO Company

If you give me your Shopify URL, I can also do a preliminary teardown and tell you which of these agencies is the most appropriate for the problems your store actually has, rather than choosing purely by agency profile.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Allevi8 Marketing - 6127 S University Ave Ste 110K, Chicago, IL 60653, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Bounteous - 4115 N Ravenswood Ave #101, Chicago, IL 60613, United States

If you want one agency to audit an existing Shopify store rather than immediately sell you a redesign, I’d put Praella at the top of the shortlist. They’re actually in the Loop, at 203 N LaSalle, and are specifically focused on Shopify/Shopify Plus optimization. Praella - eCommerce Agency

My shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Loop

Best fit if you want a Shopify-native technical audit + optimization partner. They work specifically with Shopify/Shopify Plus and position themselves around ecommerce experience, optimization and long-term support. Their downtown location also makes them convenient for in-person work. eSEOspace
I'd interview them first.

• WPrime Agency — Merchandise Mart / River North

Interesting option if the engagement needs to be SEO + UX + development, rather than purely Shopify engineering. Their local listing specifically identifies SEO, UX/UI and ecommerce development as capabilities.
Good second interview.

• YourPortal — Lincoln Park / Near North-ish

They explicitly offer Shopify audits, custom development, integrations, SEO and ongoing maintenance. This could be a better fit if you're a small/mid-sized brand that doesn't need a large enterprise agency.

• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — Near North, 875 N Michigan

Convenient if being genuinely close to the Near North Side matters. Their offering spans UX, SEO, site performance/Core Web Vitals and web development.
I'd consider them if UX/conversion optimization is weighted as heavily as Shopify engineering.

• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency — Michigan Ave / Loop

More explicitly ecommerce-oriented, with Shopify support, UX/UI, SEO and ongoing development. Worth getting a proposal from if you want a broader ecommerce-growth relationship.

One specialist I'd also talk to

Ethercycle is in the Chicago area rather than the Loop itself, but it's unusually relevant to your exact request. Ethercycle They advertise a productized Shopify audit that produces a prioritized teardown and video walkthrough, which is exactly the sort of engagement I'd want before authorizing a major rebuild.

There's also a Chicago SEO specialist explicitly focused on Shopify technical issues—canonicalization, crawl waste, theme/app bloat, Core Web Vitals, schema and Merchant Center. Chicago SEO Company If organic search is a major revenue channel, I'd consider getting their audit as a second opinion.

What I'd ask for

Don't ask them simply for a "Shopify SEO audit." Ask for a fixed-scope diagnostic followed by implementation, covering:

1. Speed: Core Web Vitals, LCP/INP/CLS, Liquid/theme bottlenecks, image delivery, fonts, third-party scripts and app bloat.
2. Technical SEO: indexing, canonicals, collection/product URL duplication, redirects, sitemap, structured data, faceted navigation and internal linking.
3. UX/CRO: mobile PDPs, collection navigation, search/filtering, cart, checkout, trust signals and friction points.
4. Analytics: GA4/Shopify analytics/Search Console validation and identification of where users actually drop out.
5. Prioritized roadmap: ideally impact × effort, with specific fixes rather than a 50-page generic audit.
6. Implementation: have the same team actually fix the highest-value issues and measure the before/after.

My practical move: get proposals from Praella + WPrime + Ethercycle. Give all three the same brief and ask them to audit the existing store without redesigning it. Compare the specific problems they identify—that will tell you much more about their expertise than their sales presentations.

If you give me your Shopify URL, I can also do a preliminary public-facing audit and tell you what I'd want the agency to investigate before you spend money.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• NEWMEDIA.COM - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States

For a growing beauty brand with subscription/replenishment as a meaningful part of the business, I’d shortlist these rather than choosing purely on neighborhood.

My Chicago shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — River North/Loop edge. This is the first agency I’d interview. It is Chicago-headquartered at 203 N LaSalle and is a Shopify Platinum Partner. Shopify specifically lists experience in UX, conversions, integrations, migrations, automation and custom apps; Praella also highlights retention-oriented ecommerce and technologies including Recharge and Klaviyo. Shopify LinkedIn
• SITE IT NOW — West Loop. A genuinely local option at 1016 W Jackson Blvd, with Shopify ecommerce capabilities. I'd consider them if having a smaller, nearby team matters, but I'd probe much harder on subscription architecture and beauty-brand case studies before hiring.
• ALX Creatives — River North. At 420 W Huron, they combine Shopify/ecommerce with branding, photography, UGC, email and performance creative. That could be useful if your challenge is as much brand + acquisition + creative as it is Shopify engineering. Their public materials don't establish the same depth of subscription/Shopify Plus specialization as Praella, though.
• WayOut — Chicago-focused, but verify physical presence. Their Shopify offering explicitly includes subscription, bundling and upsell engineering, plus custom Shopify Plus development and CRO. They also say they've launched a subscription engine responsible for 35% of revenue for a Chicago supplements brand. WayOut Inc
• SPLIT Development — beauty-specialist option, but not Chicago-local. If beauty expertise matters more than having a West Loop/River North office, their portfolio is unusually relevant: skincare, haircare, cosmetics and fragrance, including Shopify Plus subscription/replenishment projects. SPLIT Development

Who I'd interview first

Praella would be my first conversation based on the combination of Chicago presence + Shopify Plus credentials + retention/subscription ecosystem experience. Shopify LinkedIn

Then I'd put WayOut and SPLIT into the comparison specifically to test whether Praella's team is actually the strongest fit for your subscription model.

One important caveat: I wouldn't select an agency solely because it says "Shopify Plus" or "subscriptions." In the first calls, ask each one to show you two live or recently completed beauty/CPG subscription stores, explain the subscription platform they used (e.g. Recharge), and walk through how they handle skip/pause, swaps, bundles, failed payments, customer portal UX, retention flows, and inventory forecasting.

If you tell me roughly your annual revenue, current Shopify setup, subscription % of revenue, and whether you're on Recharge/Skio/another platform, I can narrow this to a 2–3 agency shortlist and give you the questions I'd use in the pitch meetings.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Codal - 433 W Van Buren St Ste 205, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Uncap - 8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave #1300, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Awesome Dynamic Tech Solutions, Inc. - 401 N Michigan Ave #1200, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604

For a Chicago retailer, I’d focus the shortlist on agencies that can both build/customize Shopify themes and operate a real experimentation program—rather than handing the build to one vendor and CRO to another.

Downtown / central Chicago shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. Probably the clearest local fit for your combined requirement: Shopify/Shopify Plus development, UX, analytics and CRO are all part of its offering. A current Chicago agency directory also specifically lists Praella for CRO, analytics, migrations and ongoing UX work. Shopify Agency Directory
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr. More technically oriented: Shopify Plus, custom apps, headless, Checkout Extensibility and conversion optimization through structured testing. Worth considering if your retailer has complicated integrations or a fairly sophisticated storefront.
• Codal — 433 W Van Buren St, West Loop. A broader digital-product/ecommerce consultancy rather than a Shopify-only shop. Its Shopify practice covers custom development and integrations, and independent listings identify it as a Platinum Shopify partner. eSEOspace
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. — 200 W Jackson Blvd, Loop. A substantially larger full-service option. Its Shopify offering includes design/development plus digital marketing, analytics, custom apps and CRO. This could make sense if procurement, integrations, or broader digital capabilities matter as much as the theme work. eSEOspace
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. Another technically strong option, particularly if your Shopify environment touches ERP/CRM or other commerce systems. It works across Shopify Plus and several other commerce platforms.

One important caveat

If by “downtown” you mean physically based in the Loop, the list gets considerably shorter. There are other Chicago Shopify specialists I'd put into an RFP, but they aren't actually downtown. For example, Uncap is Chicago-based but up near O'Hare, while the current Chicago Shopify landscape also includes specialists such as Code2Commerce and other firms. Shopify Agency Directory

For your particular brief, I'd structure the agency evaluation around these five questions:

1. Theme: Can they show 2–3 recent Shopify 2.0/OS 2.0 builds where they owned both UX and Liquid development?
2. Testing: Do they actually run statistically sound A/B tests, or does “CRO” mean periodic UX recommendations?
3. Operating model: Who stays on the account after launch, and how many development/testing hours are included monthly?
4. Retail complexity: Experience with large catalogs, promotions, inventory, Shopify POS, loyalty, search/filtering and omnichannel journeys?
5. Measurement: Can they own the experimentation roadmap from hypothesis → design → implementation → test → readout, with GA4/Shopify analytics and your testing stack?

If I were building an RFP rather than ranking agencies, I'd invite Praella, BlueBolt, Codal and Americaneagle.com to respond, and use Uncap as a fifth benchmark if you're willing to go beyond downtown. That gives you materially different agency models to compare without assuming that one is universally “best.”

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Codal - 433 W Van Buren St Ste 205, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

For a Chicago retailer needing Shopify theme development + an ongoing CRO/testing relationship, these downtown/central options are worth putting on an RFP list:

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle. Shopify/Shopify Plus, UX, development, and CRO; particularly relevant for a retailer wanting strategy + execution. Shopify Agency Directory
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle. Shopify Plus, integrations, technical support, and CRO/experimentation.
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency — 205 N Michigan. Shopify development plus CRO, SEO, paid media, and ongoing growth services.
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker. Stronger fit if integrations/complex commerce architecture matter alongside Shopify development.

For your specific brief, I'd put Praella and BlueBolt into the first-round RFP, then ask each to show 2–3 examples where the same team handled theme development and subsequent experimentation rather than handing CRO to another group.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• 216digital - 2208 E Enterprise Pkwy, Twinsburg, OH 44087, United States

If you specifically want downtown Chicago and the rebuild needs to treat accessibility as a core engineering requirement—not an accessibility overlay added at the end—I’d put these firms on the initial outreach list:

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. Chicago-headquartered Shopify/Shopify Plus agency with substantial ecommerce experience. I’d ask them specifically for their WCAG 2.2 AA testing/remediation process and examples of accessible Shopify builds.
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr, River North. Focuses on Shopify/Shopify Plus, custom development, integrations and more complex ecommerce builds. Worth interviewing if your rebuild involves significant custom functionality.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — 211 W Wacker Dr, Loop. A downtown design/development agency that works with Shopify and explicitly incorporates usability/accessibility into its UX work. This could be a good fit if design-system and UX work are substantial parts of the rebuild.
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — 30 N Michigan Ave, Loop. Works with Shopify and advertises accessibility/WCAG-oriented development. I'd verify the depth of their technical accessibility testing before selecting them.
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. Larger ecommerce engineering firm with Shopify Plus experience and integrations expertise. Particularly worth considering if this isn't just a theme redesign but involves ERP, inventory, B2B, or other complicated integrations.

One particularly relevant Shopify example

The Chicago Web Co. isn't downtown, but it's worth adding to your RFP because its portfolio specifically documents a Shopify Plus redesign for Naked Cashmere described as ADA-compliant, alongside UX/UI and ecommerce work. The Chicago Web Co Shopify's partner directory also lists the company as a long-standing Shopify partner. Shopify

What I'd put in the RFP

Don't just ask, "Are you WCAG compliant?" I'd ask each agency:

1. Target: "Will you build to WCAG 2.2 Level AA?"
2. Testing: "Who performs manual keyboard, screen-reader and focus-order testing—not just automated scans?"
3. Scope: "Does accessibility cover the Shopify theme, product pages, collection filters, cart, search, navigation, forms, modals and third-party apps?"
4. Third parties: "How do you handle inaccessible Shopify apps/widgets that we can't directly modify?"
5. Acceptance criteria: "Will WCAG findings be tracked as launch-blocking defects and retested before launch?"
6. Deliverables: "Will you provide an accessibility test report and remediation log at launch?"
7. Maintenance: "How will you prevent accessibility regressions when we add products, apps and content after launch?"

That distinction matters: a genuine accessibility engagement should involve code remediation and manual/assistive-technology testing, rather than simply installing an accessibility widget. A recent Chicago accessibility-agency review similarly emphasizes WCAG auditing, code remediation, assistive-technology testing and documentation as the meaningful components of the work. Web Tonic

If you tell me roughly your store's annual revenue, Shopify vs. Shopify Plus, number of SKUs, and whether you need ERP/POS integrations, I can narrow this to a practical 3-agency RFP shortlist and give you the questions I'd use to compare their proposals.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a downtown Chicago Shopify rebuild with WCAG as a core requirement, I’d contact:

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St. Shopify/Shopify Plus-focused; particularly relevant for a substantial ecommerce rebuild.
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr. Shopify Plus and custom-commerce engineering.
• Clique Studios — 20 N Wacker Dr. Strong UX/engineering and documented WCAG-oriented work.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — 211 W Wacker Dr. Design, UX and development.
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — 30 N Michigan Ave; explicitly positions accessibility/WCAG as part of its builds.

For accessibility depth, also consider Mightybytes, which states its deliverables comply with WCAG 2.2 AA by default, although its office is outside downtown. Mightybytes

When requesting proposals, require manual keyboard/screen-reader testing, WCAG 2.2 AA acceptance criteria, remediation of the actual Shopify theme/code (not merely an overlay), and post-launch regression testing.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SEO Design Chicago | Digital Marketing & Web Design Agency - 2068 N Western Ave 1F - Front, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Awesome Dynamic Tech Solutions, Inc. - 401 N Michigan Ave #1200, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a large-catalog Shopify store with complex filtering, faceted search, technical attributes, B2B/B2C needs, ERP integrations, or thousands of SKUs, I would not hire a general Shopify theme shop. I’d look for a Shopify Plus partner that has experience with information architecture, product taxonomy, search, metafields, integrations, and performance.

My shortlist in Chicago:

1. Praella - eCommerce Agency — best overall enterprise Shopify Plus candidate

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-761-3218)

Good fit if you have:

• 5,000–100,000+ SKUs
• complicated product data
• custom apps/integrations
• Shopify Plus migration
• B2B + DTC in one ecosystem

They position themselves around Shopify Plus builds, migrations, integrations, and custom commerce experiences.

I’d put them on the shortlist if the store is mission-critical.

2. Shero — strong for complex B2B/catalog commerce

Shero CommerceEspecially interesting if you are:

• industrial/manufacturing
• wholesale
• distributor
• selling products with lots of specs

Their experience areas include B2B portals, ERP integrations, migrations, and Shopify Plus development. Shero Commerce

3. Ethercycle — Shopify specialist

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 877-384-3740)

A good option if you want a Shopify-focused team rather than a broad digital agency. They emphasize Shopify design/build and ongoing optimization.

4. Bigfolio — strong technical Shopify Plus option

Bigfolio LLCWorth considering if you need:

• Shopify Plus
• custom storefront work
• performance optimization
• possible Hydrogen/headless evaluation

They highlight Shopify Plus development, migrations, custom apps, integrations, and enterprise support. Bigfolio LLC

5. Uncap — particularly good for manufacturers/distributors

UncapIf your catalog looks like:

• industrial parts
• replacement components
• configurable products
• dealer pricing
• account-based purchasing

they may be a very relevant fit. Uncap

Who I would put "in the loop" before hiring

For a serious catalog build, I would assemble a buying team like this:

1. Ecommerce architect / Shopify Plus lead

Must-have. This person owns:

• Shopify architecture
• app strategy
• search/filter approach
• scalability decisions

Ask:
"Show me a catalog with 10k+ SKUs where you designed the taxonomy and faceted search."

2. UX architect / information architect

Do not let the agency jump straight into visual design.

They should define:

• category hierarchy
• filters
• attribute model
• PLP/PDP experience
• merchandising rules

For large catalogs, this is often more important than the theme.

3. Product data / PIM specialist

Critical if you have messy catalog data.

They should handle:

• SKU normalization
• attributes
• variants
• collections
• metafields
• search synonyms

4. Shopify developer(s)

Need experience with:

• Liquid
• Shopify Functions
• APIs
• custom apps
• search integrations

5. Search/faceting specialist

Depending on complexity, evaluate:

• Shopify Search & Discovery
• Algolia
• Klevu
• Searchspring
• Boost Commerce
• custom search layers

Do not accept "we'll install a filter app" as the whole strategy.

6. ERP/integration lead (if applicable)

Bring them in early if you have:

• NetSuite
• SAP
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Acumatica
• Epicor
• custom inventory systems

Questions I would ask agencies before signing

1. "What is the largest Shopify catalog you have launched?"
2. "How did you model product attributes and filters?"
3. "Who owns taxonomy decisions — UX, merchandising, or developers?"
4. "What search engine did you use and why?"
5. "How do you prevent thousands of indexed filter URLs from hurting SEO?"
6. "Can you show a before/after example of improving product findability?"
7. "What happens when we add 50,000 new SKUs?"

If this is a true enterprise catalog (industrial, parts, medical, wholesale, apparel with many variants, etc.), my first calls would probably be:

1. Praella
2. Shero
3. Uncap
4. Bigfolio

Then I’d make them compete on a paid discovery phase rather than choosing purely from portfolios. Shero Commerce Uncap Bigfolio LLC

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• ExpertCPG Commerce - 1449 S Michigan Ave Ste 13319, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• HiFi Brands - Oak Park, IL 60302
• The Food Group - 1114 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Foodmix Marketing Communications - 103 Arthur St, Elmhurst, IL 60126, United States
• Queue Brand Communications - 29 E Madison St #800, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Virtina - eCommerce Web Design and Development Company - 1 E Erie St Ste 525-2149, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a Chicago restaurant looking to sell merchandise + recurring subscriptions through Shopify, I’d put the most relevant agencies into two buckets: food/consumer expertise and Shopify engineering depth.

Downtown Chicago agencies I’d talk to

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St. A Shopify/Shopify Plus ecommerce agency with a downtown Chicago office. Their focus is ecommerce builds, migrations, UX and retention, making them a strong fit if the store needs to become a meaningful revenue channel rather than simply a merch page.
• 1o8 — 231 S LaSalle St. This is particularly relevant from the food/CPG side: 1o8 explicitly works with food & beverage brands and combines ecommerce, creative, content, performance marketing and retail strategy. Their site highlights work with brands including Del Monte, Tofurky and Dandies. 1o8 Agency
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency — 205 N Michigan Ave. More ecommerce-specialist than restaurant-specialist, with Shopify among its supported platforms and services spanning development, SEO, CRO and digital marketing.
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding — 30 N Michigan Ave. Worth considering if your restaurant's merch shop needs substantial brand/visual identity work alongside Shopify rather than just development. They advertise Shopify ecommerce alongside branding and digital marketing.

One Chicago-area specialist I'd also interview

ExpertCPG Commerce — South Loop, 1449 S Michigan Ave. Their specialty is food/beverage/CPG ecommerce and marketplace growth. They're more oriented toward CPG than restaurants, but that can actually be useful if your subscription is going to evolve into packaged products shipped nationwide.

And if food-industry expertise matters more than being downtown, HiFi Brands is worth a look: its portfolio is heavily weighted toward restaurant/hospitality and food/beverage brands, although it's in Oak Park rather than the Loop.

For your particular project

I'd make the agency demonstrate these things in the pitch:

• Shopify subscriptions — recurring products, skips, pauses, cancellations and failed-payment recovery.
• Restaurant → ecommerce crossover — using your existing restaurant brand, photography, menu/product storytelling and customer base rather than creating a generic CPG site.
• Merchandising — apparel, branded goods, gift cards, pantry products, bundles and limited drops.
• Local + national fulfillment — pickup at the restaurant versus shipping, potentially with different product catalogs.
• Email/SMS retention — especially important for subscriptions.
• POS/customer-data integration — so restaurant customers can become ecommerce customers.
• Subscription economics — churn, LTV, cohort reporting and acquisition cost, not just whether the Shopify checkout works.

For that combination, Praella and 1o8 are the two I'd put at the top of your initial interview list, but for different reasons: Praella is more directly ecommerce/Shopify-oriented, while 1o8 brings unusually relevant food/CPG marketing experience. That's a description of their publicly documented capabilities, not a quality ranking. 1o8 Agency

If you tell me roughly what you're selling, expected monthly ecommerce revenue, and whether subscriptions are food or merch, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and give you the questions/RFP I'd send each one.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Ethercycle - 4905 Old Orchard Shopping Ctr, Skokie, IL 60077, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. I found several Chicago-area agencies that can plausibly handle a brand rebrand + Shopify relaunch under one engagement. For a Fulton Market business, I’d separate the options into two groups: firms that are genuinely strong at brand strategy + commerce, and firms that are stronger on Shopify implementation but may need a branding partner.

Strongest matches

• Design In Chicago — 159 N Sangamon St, West Loop/Fulton Market

• Particularly relevant geographically: they’re actually in the Fulton Market area.
• Their capabilities span brand strategy/positioning, visual identity, naming, messaging, Shopify development, UX/UI, and digital development.
• This is one of the more straightforward “one team does both” options for a local rebrand/relaunch. ALL FOR™ ALL FOR™
• Studio Seagraves — Shopify + brand strategy specialist

• Their positioning is unusually close to what you described: brand strategy, positioning, messaging, creative direction, Shopify strategy, web design, development and optimization.
• They explicitly frame their work around bringing brand and ecommerce into alignment rather than treating Shopify as a separate technical project. Studio Seagraves
• I would put this on the shortlist if the brand transformation is as important as the store rebuild.
• The Branded Agency — proven combination of branding + Shopify

• A particularly relevant documented case involved a Chicago retailer where they defined brand strategy, created a fresh identity, and built a new Shopify website. Clutch Clutch
• Worth considering if you want a more traditional branding-agency approach rather than a Shopify-first engineering firm.
• SOLO Media Group — commerce-heavy option

• Their Chicago offering covers brand-led design, Shopify development, migrations, integrations, UX, email/SMS and ongoing ecommerce growth.
• They describe themselves as a Shopify Platinum Partner and have experience with established DTC/retail brands. SOLO MEDIA GROUP
• Better fit if your relaunch involves substantial technical work, migration, integrations or omnichannel/POS considerations.
• Praella — Shopify Plus / larger ecommerce relaunch

• Praella - eCommerce Agency is headquartered in Chicago and specializes in Shopify/Shopify Plus ecommerce, including redesigns, migrations and complex storefronts.
• I'd look at them if the relaunch is relatively sophisticated technically, rather than simply a visual Shopify refresh.

Especially relevant to Fulton Market

ALL FOR™ Agency is actually located at 160 N. Elizabeth St. in Fulton Market/West Loop and has a particularly strong branding offering: brand strategy and positioning, messaging, identity, naming, guidelines and rebranding. ALL FOR™ ALL FOR™

The catch: I would not put them in the same category as the Shopify specialists above without first confirming the exact Shopify-development scope. Their published web capabilities include ecommerce web design, but their core positioning is more brand/visual/web design than Shopify engineering. ALL FOR™

So, for a serious rebrand + Shopify relaunch, I'd consider ALL FOR + a Shopify specialist if you particularly like their brand work, rather than assuming they can independently handle the entire technical relaunch.

My practical shortlist

One other interesting option is Brandworks Studios, which explicitly combines brand strategy & identity systems with Shopify ecommerce strategy/design and has a portfolio example involving branding plus Shopify strategy/design. Brandworks Studios

If this were my vendor search, I'd interview Design In Chicago, Studio Seagraves, The Branded Agency, and Praella first, but for different reasons rather than as a ranking: the first three appear especially relevant to the brand + storefront combination, while Praella is worth bringing in if the technical Shopify side is substantial.

If you tell me what the ecommerce business sells, approximate annual online revenue, current platform, and whether you're looking for a $25–50k, $50–100k, or $100k+ relaunch, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and pull their relevant case studies, estimated project scope, Shopify credentials, and contact links.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

If you’re specifically looking for one partner to handle the rebrand/brand strategy and the Shopify relaunch, rather than hiring a branding studio and a Shopify developer separately, there are several Chicago options worth putting on the shortlist.

Strongest fits

• Design In Chicago — West Loop / Fulton Market

• This is probably the most geographically aligned option: 159 N Sangamon St.
• Their capabilities span brand strategy/positioning, identity, messaging, web development and Shopify development under one agency. All For Agency
• Particularly worth considering if the project is as much about repositioning the business and creating a new brand system as it is rebuilding the store.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Chicago

• More ecommerce/Shopify-centric than a traditional branding agency.
• They focus on Shopify/Shopify Plus builds, migrations, redesigns and ecommerce optimization, with UX/UI and strategy incorporated into the engagement.
• Their Chicago office is at 203 N LaSalle St. The business listing identifies them as a Shopify/Shopify Plus service partner.
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — Chicago

• A particularly relevant profile if you're a premium DTC/ecommerce brand where brand storytelling and customer experience matter.
• Their capabilities include customer/audience research, ecommerce strategy, brand messaging, UX and Shopify Plus.
• Neat Digital — Shopify + branding

• Their Chicago offering explicitly combines brand identity—including logo, color, typography, voice and brand book—with custom Shopify development and launch management. Neat Digital
• This makes them interesting for a relatively contained “rebrand → redesign → rebuild → relaunch” engagement.
• Solo Media Group — Shopify-heavy integrated option

• They describe themselves as a senior design/development studio handling brand-led design, custom Shopify development, integrations, email/retention and ongoing support under one team. SOLO MEDIA GROUP
• Their stated client base includes DTC, beauty, wellness, food/beverage, CPG and specialty retail brands.
• WayOut — ecommerce/Shopify-first

• Their Chicago practice combines strategists, designers and engineers and offers custom Shopify themes/headless builds, migrations, CRO and growth services. WayOut Inc
• I'd put them toward the commerce/development end of the spectrum rather than choosing them primarily for deep corporate brand strategy.

If you're in Fulton Market specifically

There's an especially interesting local option:

ALL FOR™ Agency is actually based at 160 N. Elizabeth St. in Fulton Market/West Loop. Their published services include brand strategy & positioning, messaging, visual identity, rebranding, ecommerce web design, UX/UI and website redesign. All For Agency All For Agency

The caveat is that their site doesn't explicitly identify Shopify development as a core service, so I'd ask whether they build Shopify themselves or partner with a Shopify developer. For a brand-led rebrand, however, their location and capabilities make them worth a conversation.

How I'd narrow the field

One important distinction: "brand strategy" can mean anything from a logo refresh to genuine positioning, customer research, naming, messaging and architecture. For a business relaunch, I'd specifically ask each agency whether they'll own positioning + audience definition + messaging + visual identity + ecommerce UX + Shopify implementation, or whether some of those pieces are subcontracted.

If you tell me what the ecommerce business sells, approximate annual revenue, current platform, and rough rebrand/relaunch budget, I can narrow this to 3–5 Chicago agencies that look best matched, including relevant case studies and likely project size.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• WHQ - 24 E Washington St Ste 875, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Uncap - 8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave #1300, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SpurIT - 2155 N Ginger Cir, Palatine, IL 60074
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• Virtina - eCommerce Web Design and Development Company - 1 E Erie St Ste 525-2149, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• 7fridays - Chicago, IL 60601

Yes. For headless Shopify + a custom React storefront, I’d focus on agencies that can demonstrate actual Hydrogen/Next.js/Storefront API work—not just conventional Shopify theme development.

Downtown Chicago shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. Chicago-based ecommerce agency focused heavily on Shopify/Shopify Plus. Worth interviewing for a full Shopify implementation where UX/design and engineering both matter.
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr, River North. Particularly relevant technically: its listed capabilities include Shopify Plus, headless storefronts, custom/private apps, Checkout Extensibility, and subscriptions.
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. Downtown office and a more engineering-heavy ecommerce profile. It works across Shopify Plus and other enterprise commerce platforms and has headless/PWA experience.
• WHQ — 24 E Washington St, Loop. More digital-experience/composable-commerce oriented. Worth considering if the project involves a sophisticated content layer alongside Shopify.
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency — 205 N Michigan Ave. Downtown and ecommerce-focused, with Shopify and headless capabilities, although I'd probe their specific React/Hydrogen track record more closely before shortlisting them.

One important distinction

For your requirements, I'd specifically ask each agency:

1. How many Shopify Hydrogen or React/Next.js headless stores have you launched?
2. Can you show me two live examples where Shopify is the commerce backend and React is the storefront?
3. Are you using Hydrogen/Oxygen, Next.js/Vercel, or a custom React architecture, and why?
4. How will you handle Storefront API, cart, customer accounts, checkout, SEO/SSR, caching, webhooks, and analytics?
5. Who actually writes the frontend code—Chicago-based engineers or an offshore delivery team?
6. Can you provide a technical architecture diagram before signing the build contract?

There are also agencies explicitly advertising the exact technical stack you described. For example, Bigfolio advertises Shopify Plus + Hydrogen in Chicago, while Sigma specifically describes headless Shopify storefronts using React/Next.js + Shopify Storefront API. Bigfolio LLC Sigma Infosolutions

For a genuinely React-heavy build, I'd put BlueBolt, Atwix, and Praella into the first conversation, then use the architecture questions above to distinguish actual headless engineering capability from agencies that primarily build Shopify themes. Commerce-UI

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $50–100k, $100–250k, $250k+) and whether you need Shopify Plus, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and compare their headless experience, downtown location, likely fit, and publicly documented Shopify/React work.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• BlueBolt Solutions - 415 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Atwix - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• WHQ - 24 E Washington St Ste 875, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• Always Coded Fresh - 155 N Wacker Dr #4250, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Fresh Design Studio - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 256, Chicago, IL 60604
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Danie Lyn The Brand - 401 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60611
• Windy City Digital - Chicago, IL 60614
• 7fridays - Chicago, IL 60601

If you specifically need headless Shopify + a custom React storefront, I’d focus on firms that can show real work with Hydrogen/React or Next.js + Shopify Storefront API, rather than agencies that mainly customize Shopify themes.

Downtown / central Chicago firms to investigate

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — 203 N LaSalle St, Loop. Shopify/Shopify Plus is a core specialization, and the firm is listed as a Shopify service/Platinum partner. This is one of the more directly relevant downtown options for a Shopify-heavy engagement.
• BlueBolt Solutions — 415 N LaSalle Dr, River North. Their listed capabilities specifically include Shopify Plus, headless storefronts, custom apps, and Checkout Extensibility. This is a particularly relevant technical match for your requirements.
• Atwix — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. An enterprise ecommerce engineering firm with Shopify Plus experience and substantial integration/commerce-platform expertise. Good candidate if your build involves ERP, PIM, complex catalog, or other enterprise integrations.
• WHQ — 24 E Washington St, Loop. Their offering includes composable/headless commerce alongside UX and digital experience work. I'd investigate them if the project is as much about the customer experience and product discovery as the underlying commerce engineering.
• Clique Studios — 20 N Wacker Dr, Loop. More of a broad digital transformation/engineering agency; their public work emphasizes headless CMS and custom digital platforms. Worth considering if Shopify is one component of a larger digital ecosystem.
• Always Coded Fresh — 155 N Wacker Dr. A smaller digital/product shop whose published technical stack includes React and Next.js. I'd verify their specific headless-Shopify portfolio before putting them on an RFP list.

The technical shortlist I'd start with

For your exact brief, I'd put BlueBolt, Praella, and Atwix through the first round, then ask each for:

1. 2–3 live headless Shopify projects they personally engineered.
2. Whether the frontend was Hydrogen or Next.js, and why.
3. Their approach to Shopify Storefront API, cart, customer accounts, checkout, and webhooks.
4. How they handle SEO/SSR, Core Web Vitals, caching, preview environments, and deployments.
5. Who actually writes the React code—local senior engineers, offshore team, or subcontractors.
6. Post-launch ownership and React/Shopify maintenance.

There are also Chicago-serving agencies explicitly advertising the stack you're after. For example, Sigma says it builds headless Shopify storefronts with React/Next.js + Shopify Storefront API, while WayOut advertises Hydrogen/Next.js headless builds and Mejix advertises Hydrogen/Next.js headless storefronts. Sigma Infosolutions WayOut Inc Mejix

One caveat: “Chicago agency” doesn't necessarily mean the engineering team is physically downtown. I'd verify where the actual delivery team sits before treating office location as a selection criterion.

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. $50–100k, $100–250k, $250k+) and whether you need Shopify Plus, I can narrow this to a 3–5 agency shortlist with relevant case studies, locations, and contact links.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• C2 Creative Studio - 308 S Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago - 1375 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Spoon Creative Inc - 220 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• AdEasel Chicago - 1304 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• McMillan & Phillips Digital Creative Agency - 555 W Madison St, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Nicer Collaborative: A Creative Studio - 1361 N Ashland Ave Storefront, Chicago, IL 60622, United States

For a bundled launch partner covering photography + copywriting + Shopify, I’d look at:

• Design In Chicago — West Loop/Fulton Market; full-service creative/digital, with product/lifestyle photography, content production, branding and development.
• C2 Creative Studio — West Loop; creative strategy, messaging, photography and web design. Confirm Shopify specifically.
• SITE IT NOW — West Loop; Shopify/ecommerce development plus branding/creative. Confirm whether photography and copy are handled in-house.
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago — West Loop/Fulton Market; branding, ecommerce/web and digital marketing.
• ALL FOR™ — 160 N. Elizabeth, West Loop; brand strategy, messaging, ecommerce web design and packaging. Its published services don't explicitly list photography or Shopify, so I'd ask about a bundled launch scope. ALL FOR™ ALL FOR™
• ALX Creatives — River North rather than West Loop, but unusually close to the full brief: photography, copywriting, branding and Shopify/ecommerce builds are all explicitly listed.

Most directly aligned with your “one agency, launch everything” brief: Design In Chicago and ALX Creatives. If West Loop location is non-negotiable, I'd start with Design In Chicago, C2, and SITE IT NOW.

• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• C2 Creative Studio - 308 S Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Evolve with Digital - Web Design Chicago - 1375 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• ALX Creatives - 420 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• BatesMeron Sweet Design - 1006 S Michigan Ave #601, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a new ecommerce line, I’d look for a partner that can own brand story + product photography + Shopify build rather than a pure Shopify developer. In and around West Loop/Fulton Market, these are the closest fits I found:

A few additional Shopify-heavy options:

• WayOut focuses on Shopify builds, custom themes, headless commerce, and growth-oriented ecommerce work. WayOut Inc
• Neat Digital offers Shopify builds, redesigns, CRO, SEO/speed work, and ecommerce support. Neat Digital

For a new consumer product line, I’d shortlist:

1. Design In Chicago — if you want one team to shape the brand, imagery, copy, and launch experience.
2. ALL FOR™ — if brand identity, packaging, and visual polish are central. ALL FOR™
3. SITE IT NOW or The Chicago Web Co. — if Shopify execution and conversion are the priority. Shopify

When interviewing them, I’d specifically ask:

• “Do you have an in-house copywriter, or do you subcontract?”
• “Can you produce ecommerce-ready product photography (white background + lifestyle + ads)?”
• “Who actually builds the Shopify theme?”
• “Can you provide a launch package: brand voice, PDP copy, email flows, analytics, and post-launch optimization?”

If you share the category (beauty, apparel, food, home, etc.) and approximate launch budget, I can narrow this to the 3–5 agencies most likely to fit.