Storefronts V2 and the future of Swell Apps

We've always believed that ecommerce should be accessible and adaptable—no matter the type of business or the scope of your ambitions. We've spent years building a robust platform that empowers merchants and developers to create unique online shopping experiences. But today marks a pivotal moment in our journey: we're excited to unveil Storefronts V2, a great leap forward that brings ready-to-launch storefronts to every merchant, backed by the new Swell Apps framework.

With Storefronts V2, we're delivering tools that make starting simple while keeping the door wide open for growth. And at the heart of it all is Swell Apps, our new framework for integrating full-stack applications that extend Swell's core capabilities in ways we've only dreamed of until now.

The journey that brought us here

When we launched Swell, our mission was to democratize ecommerce by providing flexible APIs that let merchants build what they needed. In 2020, we introduced Storefronts V1—a hosted solution designed to get stores up and running quickly. It showed promise, but we quickly hit roadblocks. The tech stack was overly complex, relying on a full JavaScript application that required developer expertise for even moderate customizations. Scaling proved tricky, the visual editor fell short, and functional changes often led to bugs or headaches. It was a start, but it didn't fully align with our vision of effortless onboarding merchants.

Then came the headless commerce boom in 2021. We leaned into Swell's strengths as an API-first platform, serving brands with the resources to develop custom frontends. It was exciting to watch our users push boundaries, but we saw a glaring truth: headless setups are resource-intensive. For most businesses, building and maintaining a custom frontend from scratch is a barrier too high—costly, time-consuming, and distracting from what matters most: growing their brand.

Over a year ago, we dove deep into rethinking storefront architecture. What if the storefront is able to define its own logic and functionality, with support for standardized themes and a visual editor, without the need for external hosting. At the same time, we recognized that Liquid themes—a well-known standard for storefront customization today—could bridge the gap. By building a storefront app that natively supports them, we could make Swell accessible to newcomers while preserving the depth for advanced users to grow beyond standard catalog stores.

This would close a great divide, between quick launches and rapid experimentation. Storefronts V2 is about more than just getting started quickly—it's a whole new approach, allowing developers to create new experiences that are as easy to adopt as any SaaS application.

Meet Proxima and Sunrise

At the core of Storefronts V2 is Proxima, our first official storefront app built on the Swell Apps framework. Proxima delivers a familiar structure for any online store: versatile content pages, dynamic product and category listings, seamless cart flows, and a complete customer portal. What sets it apart? It's runs Liquid themes, with built-in compatibility for Shopify themes. Merchants can simply upload their existing theme from the dashboard and hit the ground running. And, Proxima is open-source, so developers can fork it, tweak it, or build entirely new storefront apps with custom structures.

As for theming, we're releasing Sunrise, Proxima's default theme, pre-installed on every new Swell store. Sunrise is packed with customizable sections and blocks, empowering you to craft sleek, modern designs that captivate customers. Whether you're tweaking layouts or adding unique elements, it's designed for speed and style.

Complementing this is our all-new visual Theme Editor, a tool that feels instantly familiar to anyone who's used Shopify. From the Swell dashboard, you can drag-and-drop sections, adjust global settings, fine-tune page templates, preview across devices, edit content inline, and localize for multiple languages. When you're ready, publish with a click.

Unlike other platforms, where you're locked into a single "Online Store" app with limited backend flexibility—Swell Apps let you redefine the entire experience. Proxima simplifies the stack entirely, blending ease-of-use with real extensibility.

Swell Apps and the AI future of ecommerce

Looking ahead, Apps are ready to redefine what's possible with Swell. Beyond storefronts, the framework supports a universe of applications.

Our approach hints at some exciting developments to come: with a standardized and simplified model for full-stack apps, AI will be able to one-shot entire custom solutions.

Imagine creating storefronts on the fly to test bold ideas or optimize for niche audiences—all without writing a line of code. We're not just building a platform; we're fostering an ecosystem to help businesses of all sizes turn their visions into reality.

Plus, we're gearing up to launch an App Store, where developers and partners can share creations, letting merchants mix and match to fit their needs.

Grow with us

Ready to get started? Create a store today. We're eager for your feedback as we continue to refine and expand this ecosystem.

If you're an agency or expert, join us as a partner and help shape the next generation of ecommerce. We can't wait to hear from you.

Here's to easier starts, bolder growth, and the endless possibilities ahead.