Bushwear

Bushwear had a clear objective — to upgrade their Shopify Plus store to the latest version of the Impulse theme and streamline their site infrastructure. Over time, the store had accumulated a number of third-party tools and scripts that were no longer essential, creating unnecessary complexity and potential performance bottlenecks.

Our task was to modernise the site while reducing technical overhead and optimising for long-term flexibility, maintainability and cost-efficiency across all touchpoints.

Following a technical review of their existing store and integrations, we scoped out a plan to replace legacy apps like Searchspring and Order Printer Pro with Shopify’s powerful native filtering, upselling and printing features. We included key UX enhancements such as rebuilding collection pages and updating homepage sections in the theme customiser.

We were also asked to upgrade their checkout opt-out mechanism integrated with Klaviyo. The focus was on delivering a cleaner, faster, and more scalable checkout experience.

Shopify theme upgrade

We delivered a modernised storefront experience for Bushwear by upgrading the Impulse theme for their Shopify Plus store and aligning it with current platform capabilities, enabling faster performance and easier, flexible long-term maintenance.

To support their team’s need for greater control and flexibility, we rebuilt the homepage and key templates using Shopify’s Online Store 2.0 section-based structure. This made it easier for the client to update content and visual merchandising without developer input.

Replacing Searchspring with native Shopify functionality

One of the biggest changes was the removal of Searchspring. We replaced its filtering and upsell functionality with Shopify’s native product recommendations and collection filter system.

This not only reduced ongoing app costs, but improved load speed and simplified the backend product structure. Where needed, we supported data manipulation to ensure the transition didn’t impact product visibility or filtering.

Simplifying third-party Shopify integrations

To further streamline the stack, we identified legacy scripts and apps no longer needed — such as Order Printer Pro — and removed them. Only two essential third-party integrations were reinstated and others like Klaviyo were reactivated natively.

Checkout opt-out and Klaviyo integration

We introduced a custom app block at checkout, allowing customers to opt out of email marketing — built in line with GDPR requirements and integrated with Klaviyo to ensure accurate data flow. This feature was scoped, proposed and developed specifically for BushWear’s needs, enhancing both compliance and customer trust.

Development, testing and launch

During development, we worked in a dedicated staging environment with cloned product data to ensure no disruption to the live site. Following the build, our team carried out structured testing, performance checks, and UAT support to address any tickets before launch.

To support Bushwear’s organic search performance following launch, we carried out a detailed technical SEO audit of the upgraded Shopify Plus store. This included reviewing key elements such as site speed, indexability, structured data, crawlability and internal linking to ensure the new setup preserved — and in some cases improved — their existing visibility.

As part of the SEO audit, we checked for any unexpected changes to on-page content, page templates or metadata that may have occurred during the theme upgrade. We ensured that important SEO elements like structured data and internal linking remained consistent across key page types, helping to preserve existing search visibility.

Following the Shopify theme upgrade, total search impressions grew by around 8%, signalling an improvement in keyword coverage. Click through rate via organic search was also increased by 11.5% — likely influenced by faster page load times and improved mobile usability, rather than any changes to on-page content or metadata.

The Shopify theme improvements supported better technical performance, which in turn helped Google surface pages more often — despite no changes to page structure, URLs or content. This demonstrates how site speed can influence search visibility even without a full SEO overhaul.

Beyond the SEO benefits, the upgrade delivered a faster, more maintainable storefront with reduced reliance on third-party apps and scripts. By streamlining the tech stack and moving to Shopify’s native features for filtering, upsells and product recommendations, the site is now easier to manage and better positioned for future enhancements.

The Bushwear team can update content more flexibly. and performance improvements across desktop and mobile have created a smoother experience for users. This theme upgrade laid the groundwork for future growth by aligning the site with Shopify Plus best practices.