Replace Shopify. Drop the App Tax. Keep the Functionality.

Shopify Plus at $2,300-$3,500/month before per-app fees + per-feature upgrades + 0.15-0.6% transaction fees on non-Shopify-Payments. The app-tax (Klaviyo, Recharge, Yotpo, Gorgias, Loop, etc.) typically adds $5-50K/month for mid-market DTC. Aeion Commerce ($79/month) + Fulfillment + Marketing + CRM (each $49/month flat, unlimited users) ship those features native — about $275/month combined + 0% Aeion transaction fee (Stripe still charges its 2.9%). Headless + multi-storefront + B2B/B2C/marketplace on one tenant.

Aeion Module ↔ Shopify App Mapping

Shopify Plus → Aeion Commerce

B2C, B2B, and marketplace storefronts on one backend, with a headless API, Liquid-equivalent templating, and a React-based storefront — plus multi-currency and multi-language support native from day one. Read Commerce →

Klaviyo → Aeion Marketing

Email, SMS, and lifecycle automation with RFM segmentation and per-subscriber personalization — without Klaviyo's per-contact pricing climbing every time your list grows. Read Marketing →

Recharge → Aeion Subscriptions (via Commerce)

Subscription billing, dunning, and upsells built into Commerce itself, replacing a $300-1,500/month Recharge bill plus its transaction fees.

Yotpo / Stamped → Aeion Commerce Reviews

Per-product reviews, UGC, and Q&A with SEO-friendly schema markup, wired natively into your loyalty program instead of syncing through a third-party app.

Gorgias / Zendesk → Aeion Helpdesk

Customer support across email, chat, and social with full order context on every ticket, so agents never have to go hunting for what a customer actually bought. Read Helpdesk →

Loop / Returnly → Aeion Returns (via Fulfillment)

Returns, exchanges, and RMA workflows with per-product return policies, built into the same fulfillment system that shipped the order. Read Fulfillment →

ShipStation → Aeion Fulfillment

Order routing across your 3PLs, per-warehouse inventory, per-carrier rate shopping, and pick-pack-ship workflows, all in one place.

Shopify Audiences → Aeion CRM

A true customer-360 view across every channel, with RFM segmentation and per-customer lifetime-value scoring built in. Read CRM →

Shop Pay → Aeion Commerce Express Checkout

One-click checkout via Stripe Link, with cookie-less guest flows that don't force a customer to create an account just to buy something.

The Shopify Math

Typical Shopify Plus + app stack (mid-market $20M GMV merchant):

Shopify Plus: $27,600-$72,000/year
Klaviyo Pro: $1,200-$5,000/month = $14-60K/year (per-contact pricing)
Recharge Pro: $300-1,500/month = $3.6-18K/year + transaction fees (~1-2% of subscription revenue)
Yotpo Pro: $1,500-5,000/month = $18-60K/year
Gorgias Pro: $300-2,000/month = $3.6-24K/year
Loop Returns: $0.5/return × ~2,000/month = $12K/year
ShipStation: $200-1,500/month = $2.4-18K/year
Misc apps (12-30): $1-3K/month total = $12-36K/year
0.15% transaction fee on non-Shopify-Payments: $30K/year on $20M GMV
Total: $123-330K/year + transaction fees

Aeion replacement:

Aeion Commerce + Fulfillment + Marketing + CRM: ~$275/month flat (~$3,300/year) — unlimited users, 14-day free trial, no per-contact or per-order tax
Stripe transaction fees (only): 2.9% + 30¢
LLM inference (Aeion Claw): $5-30K/year (usage-based, pass-through to your AI provider)
Total: ~$8K-33K/year (plus Stripe processing)

Year-1 savings: $90K-320K + recovered app-stack admin time + simpler ops Plus headless: launch DTC + B2B + wholesale storefronts on one platform

The cost win matters but the bigger win is headless flexibility + multi-storefront + B2B from day one.

The Migration Playbook

Phase 1 — Discovery (Weeks 1-2):

Shopify store audit via Singularity connector
App-stack inventory + replacement mapping
Product catalog + variants + metafields → Aeion Commerce schema
Customer history + LTV → Aeion CRM
Subscription customers → Aeion Subscriptions
Theme + Liquid templates → React Storefront

Phase 2 — Parallel Build (Weeks 3-8):

Aeion Commerce environment provisioned
Storefront cloned (Liquid → React-based template)
Checkout flow replicated (Stripe + cart logic)
Apps replaced with Aeion modules
Klaviyo flows → Aeion Marketing automations
Yotpo reviews → Aeion Commerce Reviews
Gorgias tickets → Aeion Helpdesk

Phase 3 — Data Migration (Weeks 9-10):

Product catalog → Aeion (Singularity Shopify connector)
Customer records + history → Aeion CRM
Order history → Aeion Commerce (read-only archive)
Subscription contracts → Aeion Subscriptions (live)
Review imports → Aeion Commerce Reviews
Inventory snapshots → Aeion Fulfillment

Phase 4 — Cutover (Weeks 11-12):

DNS cutover (Shopify → Aeion storefront)
Apps disabled in Shopify
Shopify admin → read-only
Customer redirects (Shopify auth → Aeion)
30-day Shopify-read-only safety period

Phase 5 — Decommission (Months 4-6):

Final data export from Shopify
Shopify contract non-renewal
Per-app contract terminations
Final archives stored in Aeion Aegis

Typical timeline: 8-16 weeks for mid-market Shopify Plus merchant.

Why Replace Shopify (Beyond Cost)

Headless flexibility: Build any storefront on top of Aeion Commerce API. Next.js / Remix / Hydrogen / SvelteKit / custom React. No Liquid lock-in. Multiple storefronts per backend (DTC + B2B + wholesale + marketplace).

Native B2B + B2C in one backend: Shopify B2B is bolt-on (Shopify B2B Edition). Aeion Commerce treats B2B + B2C as first-class. Per-customer pricing, NET 30 invoicing, company hierarchies, multi-buyer accounts — all native.

Marketplace from day one: Aeion Commerce supports multi-vendor marketplace patterns. Stripe Connect split payments. Per-vendor admin. Per-vendor analytics. Shopify Marketplace Kit is in beta; Aeion ships marketplace native.

Per-region storefront: Per-region tenant or per-region storefront. Per-region tax + payment + shipping. EU + APAC + US separately deployed if needed for compliance.

Subscription + retention native: Recharge-like subscription billing without per-transaction tax. Dunning, retention campaigns, upsells, cancellation flows all built in.

Same database as your other Aeion modules: Customer purchase → CRM record → marketing automation → support ticket → fulfillment → loyalty reward all on one tenant DB. No Zapier / Workato integration tax.

0% transaction fee on Aeion: Stripe still charges its 2.9% + 30¢ — but Aeion takes 0% additional. Shopify-Payments is required to avoid the 0.15-0.6% Shopify markup; with Aeion any payment processor is fine.