Available for new retainers — Q2 2026

Your Shopify Expert in St. Louis, Missouri

I build Shopify apps, ship thoughtful ecommerce products, and partner with founders who care about the details. Based in Manchester, MO — working with clients everywhere.

Trusted by
Vīdl Life Watson Kennedy Built for Shopify 185+ five-star reviews Clients in 14 countries
Shopify Apps

Products, shipped & earning

Both apps hold Shopify's “Built for Shopify” status — their highest bar for performance, design, and integration. I design, build, and support them on my own.

Fundlet
4.8

Fundlet

Beautiful branded popup shops that turn fundraisers into a real acquisition channel for Shopify stores.

  • Custom popup shops, fully branded
  • Live progress tracking toward goals
  • Orders & items tagged per campaign
Built for Shopify · 2025 View on App Store →
Section Star
4.9

Section Star

A library of 150+ polished theme sections, blocks, and product bundles — drop-in page-building for any Shopify theme.

  • 150+ sections, blocks, and bundles
  • Tabs, popups, forms & countdowns
  • Clean, SEO-friendly output
Built for Shopify · Since 2023 View on App Store →
Selected Work

Stores I've helped build

Long-term partnerships where I function as an embedded engineer: strategy, design, build, and ongoing care.

Reviews

185 reviews. 4.8 average

A small selection of what merchants have written on the Shopify App Store.

Section Star

“Excellent collection of highly customizable sections and blocks. The developer is also highly skilled and responsive.”

Ling LabsShopify App Store · United States
Fundlet

“It's elegantly simple which I appreciate — nothing added that doesn't need to be there. I tried other apps and solutions; this is the best.”

Peleman IndustriesShopify App Store · United States
Retainer client

“From day one, Matt has been flexible, patient, and incredibly thorough. At no point did I feel rushed or dismissed. It's a partnership.”

A3 Beauty by ArhiShopify App Store · United States
Retainer Plans

Simple, predictable retainers

Pick the bucket of hours that fits your pace. Unused hours roll for 30 days. Month-to-month — cancel any time.

Starter

Maintain

$375/ mo
5 hours · $75/hr effective

  • Small fixes, tweaks, and updates
  • Monthly theme & app health check
  • Priority email support, <24h reply
  • Perfect for stable stores
Scale

Partner

$1500/ mo
20 hours · $75/hr effective

  • Everything in Build
  • Embedded, fractional engineering
  • Weekly standup & shared Slack
  • Custom app & integration work
  • First dibs on availability
Hours roll 30 days Month-to-month Cancel any time Need something else? Let's talk →
Services

What I can help you with

Most retainers draw from a mix of these. I'm one person you can hand ecommerce problems to.

01

Shopify theme builds

Custom themes and deep theme customization — editorial, fast, and easy for your team to edit.

LiquidOS 2.0Sections
02

App development

Private and public apps on Shopify's modern stack — I've done this twice, both Built for Shopify.

RemixPolarisGraphQL
03

Landing pages

High-converting launch pages, seasonal campaigns, and product storytelling for your team.

CopyDesignA/B
04

Performance & SEO

Audits, Core Web Vitals fixes, structured data, and page-speed work that moves the needle.

CWVSchemaAudit
05

Integrations

Stitching Shopify to the rest of your stack — Klaviyo, ERPs, fulfillment, custom flows.

KlaviyoFlowWebhooks
06

Fractional engineering

Your on-call ecommerce engineer. Roadmap, build, ship. I treat your store like it's mine.

RetainerWeeklySlack
Matthew Smith
Matthew SmithBallwin, MO
About

20+ YEARS BUILDING ON THE INTERNET

I'm Matt — an independent engineer and designer based in Manchester, Missouri. I've spent most of my career in the space where good design meets real code, with a particular soft spot for Shopify and the merchants who live on it.

Today I split my time between two things: running my own Shopify apps — Fundlet and Section Star — and working as a long-term partner for a small number of brands I believe in. I'd rather do a few things really well than a lot of things just okay.

If we work together you'll get one person, fast replies, and the same care I put into my own products.

Built for Shopify
185
App reviews
4.8
Average rating
14
Countries served
Let's work together

Got a store that needs a steady hand?

Book a 20-min intro call →
BasedManchester, MO · USA
Reply timeUnder 24 hours
Tweaks
Accent
Eyebrows
Section tint