Wirecutter Store
Creating a unique Shopify Plus storefront experience.
Wirecutter is a leading product recommendation brand known for its thorough research, hands-on testing, and practical guidance. Covering everything from technology and home goods to travel and everyday essentials, Wirecutter helps shoppers cut through the noise and choose products with confidence.
Shopify Development
UI/UX
The Project
After launching a proof-of-concept Shopify store designed to test both functionality and consumer interest, Wirecutter contracted with BlueSwitch to collaborate on a unique Shopify Plus storefront experience. The goal was to create a destination where readers could easily discover and purchase products recommended by Wirecutter’s editorial team.
Through a comprehensive audit, we identified opportunities to improve the storefront design, functionality, and overall customer experience. As a consulting and development partner, we worked closely with Wirecutter’s design and commerce teams, customizing the Shopify theme to reflect the established visual identity of Wirecutter and The New York Times.
Leveraging Shopify Collective and Shopify Combined Listings to sync products with approved suppliers and streamline order fulfillment, the new Shopify storefront allows Wirecutter to curate, customize, and sell recommended products without managing day-to-day inventory, logistics, or fulfillment.
The Challenges
Shopify Collective restricted how certain supplier-managed product data could be edited or controlled by Wirecutter
Supplier product data often arrived inconsistently structured, creating challenges around accurate and uniform product presentation
Wirecutter’s exacting design standards exceeded much of the existing theme’s out-of-the-box functionality
The project required close coordination between BlueSwitch and Wirecutter’s internal development team, each working within different tools, processes, and levels of Shopify familiarity
Our Solution
Developing custom theme logic for Shopify Collective
To address the limitations and inconsistencies of Shopify Collective, BlueSwitch developed custom theme logic that could account for differences in supplier-managed product data. This allowed the storefront to present product details more accurately and consistently, even when the underlying data varied from one supplier or product to another. We also restructured how certain product information was interpreted and displayed, creating a more uniform customer experience without manually correcting every incoming product - as that is not supported by Collective.
Shopify Combined Listings deliver a rich customer experience
We utilized Shopify Combined Listings to connect related products and create a more intuitive variant-selection experience on product detail pages. Because the existing theme did not fully support this functionality, our team extended and customized it to ensure related products could be presented as a cohesive set of options, with consistent variant options. This gave customers a clearer way to move between colors, styles, or other product variations while preserving the structure needed for Shopify Collective and supplier fulfillment.
Multi-team collaboration to develop new internal processes
As Wirecutter’s internal teams would continue managing and developing the site, our role extended beyond implementation. We provided detailed guidance to the design, development, and commerce teams on Shopify data management, theme architecture, coding practices, development workflows, and storefront optimization. This helped establish a stronger internal process for maintaining the site, introducing future updates, and working within Shopify more effectively over time.