99 Counties
99 Counties is a mission-driven marketplace connecting regenerative farmers with conscious consumers. After migrating to Shopify Plus, they found themselves navigating the complexities of a highly customized storefront that didn’t always align with their operational reality. The site, originally built by another agency, featured heavy customizations—including a now-defunct local pickup system—that left behind “ghost code” and technical friction.
We were brought in as the technical cleanup crew. Our mission was to audit the existing Shopify Plus environment, strip away the weight of unneeded legacy code, and repair broken functionalities. By treating the site with the precision of a “Growth Engine,” we helped 99 Counties regain control over their digital storefront, ensuring their mission wasn’t slowed down by technical debt.
The Challenge
When a high-growth brand inherits a custom Shopify Plus site, they often inherit the "thousand tiny decisions" of the previous developers—some of which no longer serve the business. 99 Counties had a defunct local pickup system and various custom scripts that were either non-functional or actively hindering the user experience.
- Legacy Code Bloat: Residual code from defunct delivery features was slowing down the site and complicating the backend.Functional Gaps: Core elements of the custom theme were not performing as intended, leading to "leaks" in the conversion funnel.Platform Complexity: Managing a Shopify Plus store requires a delicate touch to ensure custom Liquid code doesn't interfere with native Plus features.
The Solution
Technical Audit and Strategic Optimization
We focused on a "Search and Repair" mission. Rather than a total overhaul, we applied surgical precision to the Shopify Liquid files and scripts, removing what was broken and fortifying what was working.
- Codebase Sanitization: We identified and stripped out the defunct pickup and delivery code, significantly reducing the site's "weight" and potential for errors.Feature Repair & Triage: We systematically fixed non-functioning elements within the custom theme, ensuring the UI/UX aligned with 99 Counties' high brand standards.Shopify Plus Performance: Optimized the integration of custom scripts and apps to ensure the site leveraged the full speed and reliability of the Plus platform.Operational Agility: By cleaning up the backend, we empowered the 99 Counties team to make updates and manage products without fighting "broken" legacy systems.
TopOut never ceases to impress me with their professionalism. They have assisted us over the years with WordPress, Shopify and Vue.js expertise. They're wonderful to work with and have a great team and process in place.
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