Stability and speed during explosive growth

By late 2024, pressure started building on their Shopify store. Improvements and new features clashed. Performance dipped. Weekly launches became unpredictable and increasingly stressful. Customers began running into issues and the team found themselves firefighting instead of focusing on growth. In the lead up to Black Friday 2024, things reached an inflection point. A critical issue made the site almost impossible to browse, and after weeks of attempted fixes, Represent asked Function for help two days before Black Friday. We found the root cause, gave them a clear fix and stabilised the store in time for peak trading. They moved to us shortly after.

The Challenge

Represent needed a Shopify setup that matched their pace, but instead they were dealing with slow delivery, unexpected regressions and minor updates breaking unrelated areas. Work stalled and releases became unpredictable. Years of contributions from different developers had created inconsistent code and fragile patterns that slowed everything down. Mobile performance had begun to drop, which directly affected conversion during high demand, and launch days were turning into high pressure moments when they should have been smooth, controlled and predictable.

What we did

We carried out a full audit of the theme, its performance, configuration, release workflow and launch process. The goal was simple: find what was slowing them down, remove the friction and strengthen the foundation without disrupting the brand’s pace. We avoid rebuilds unless absolutely necessary.

For a brand moving this quickly, starting again would have been too slow and too risky, so we delivered targeted, high impact improvements. We removed more than fourteen thousand lines of unused or conflicting code and replaced only what was needed, maintaining full functionality while dramatically improving clarity. We stabilised the core shopping experience across PLPs, PDPs and the cart, fixing long standing issues that previously surfaced under pressure.

We simplified the theme by removing duplication and legacy logic, making development faster and safer. Mobile load times and interaction speed improved, which made browsing feel clean again. With a cleaner base and clearer workflows, releases became predictable and far easier for the ecommerce team to manage.

Results

Launches became calm and controlled. Customer issues during high pressure moments dropped sharply and the patterns that used to cause surprise regressions were gone. The ecommerce team regained their momentum and could finally plan with confidence instead of reacting to instability. Mobile performance improved, which lifted conversion by reducing friction for customers during peak traffic. Most importantly, confidence returned across the business. Releases stopped feeling risky and leadership could trust the platform again. The store finally matched the ambition of the brand.

What we delivered next

Once the foundation was stable, Represent could move forward with improvements that had been blocked for months. We rolled out multi language capability and improved regional routing so international customers were directed correctly without friction. We upgraded key parts of the platform by moving to Shopify’s new checkout, migrating core logic to Shopify Functions and removing outdated scripts that added unnecessary risk. We introduced new tools such as Tagalys to power smarter discovery and improved operational systems like Narvar to create a more intelligent, efficient store. With stability restored, we shipped richer brand led experiences including the dedicated 247 footwear experience and new interactive components that support storytelling without compromising performance.

Conclusion

Represent brought us in at a crucial moment. By restoring stability, improving performance and removing the friction that slowed them down, we created the space for the brand to move at full speed again. The result was not just a more reliable store but a stronger platform for global growth, modernisation and new brand experiences. Represent now has a Shopify foundation that matches their ambition and supports their continued rise as one of the most influential brands in the world.