A US vape store,
off Shopify.
A US vape retailer ran on Shopify for about five years. Shopify restricts vape, and every feature the store needed was another paid app. We moved it to a platform we designed, built and still run: storefront, backend, admin, warehouse tools and compliance, one codebase, no monthly app fees.
Status: live · Stack: Next.js · FastAPI · Postgres · Redis · Typesense
Why vape is hard
One of the most regulated niches in US e-commerce.
Shopify restricts vape
Vape is a restricted category on Shopify. Every workaround was a risk to the store.
An app for every feature
Age checks, tax, reviews, loyalty, warehouse tools: each one was another monthly app fee, and the apps did not talk to each other.
Tax and shipping by state
Each US state sets its own vape excise tax and its own shipping rules, and they change. Federal PACT Act reporting comes on top.
Age and order limits
Every buyer has to be age-verified, and some orders have to be held or capped. Checkout must enforce it, not a person after the fact.
What we built
The whole stack, end to end.
Storefront and search
1,500+ products, 150+ collections and 350+ articles on a fast Next.js storefront with instant search.
Migration without losing rankings
A permanent redirect for every old Shopify URL, so years of search history carried over. Customer accounts moved with magic-link sign-in.
Compliance engine
State excise tax and shipping restrictions as data the team edits in the admin, not code. PACT Act reports, age verification with order hold, order limits and checkout rules.
Warehouse software
Pick and pack with bundles, receiving that works offline on bad warehouse Wi-Fi, monthly A/B/C cycle counts and shipping labels.
Admin and reports
One admin for catalog, orders, customers and content. State tax reports with product cost. Staff roles and permissions.
Operations
Zero-downtime blue/green deploys, smoke tests every 5 minutes, health checks and rolling database backups. We run it, not just build it.
When to leave Shopify
Most stores should stay on Shopify. Some outgrow it.
For most merchants Shopify is the right choice, and we build on it every day. A custom platform makes sense when the platform itself restricts your category, or when the monthly app bill and the gaps between apps cost more than owning the code. This store hit both.
Not sure which side you are on? Read why we usually recommend Shopify, or see our warehouse and fulfillment software work.