Steve welcomes Mac King, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Domaine, for a masterclass in building Shopify stores that actually scale. With over 350 sites launched globally and deep roots in the Shopify Plus ecosystem from day one, Mac brings the perspective of someone who’s seen thousands of brands hit growth ceilings—and knows exactly how to break through them.

The conversation starts with a critical distinction: there are two ways to use Shopify. The DIY version is beautiful—anyone can launch a store in a weekend using the theme store and app ecosystem. But that same accessibility creates a trap. Over time, you accumulate 40-50 apps, each adding scripts and slowing your site. You patch solutions together without thinking about architecture. Eventually, you hit a wall where your site can’t handle traffic, conversions drop, and expanding internationally feels impossible without a complete rebuild. Mac breaks down why $2-3M is the inflection point where DIY stops working—and why building for scale from the start saves months and massive costs down the road.

You’ll hear specific strategies for tech stack optimization: how to audit app bloat, identify what’s driving value versus creating conflicts, and rebuild your store architecture with scalability in mind. Mac explains how Domaine gets multi-region storefronts live in 8-12 weeks with localized currencies, duties, taxes, and languages. He walks through the philosophy of treating your Shopify store as infrastructure, not just a website—and how that mindset shift changes everything from app selection to theme customization to preparing for traffic spikes.

The episode covers when headless and composable commerce actually make sense (spoiler: most brands don’t need it yet, but when you do, the use cases are specific and compelling), what to look for in a development partner versus hiring in-house, and why brands that scale successfully think about their online store the way they think about warehouse operations—as systems designed for efficiency and growth, not just patched together as problems arise.

Mac also shares Q4 prep strategies across business stages. For early-stage brands, it’s about user testing your site flow before traffic spikes—understanding where visitors click first, what catches their attention, and ensuring your site can handle increased traffic without breaking. For mid-market and enterprise brands, the focus shifts to building brand loyalty during high-traffic periods through loyalty programs and VIP experiences that convert one-time holiday shoppers into repeat customers.

This isn’t just tactical advice—it’s a framework for thinking about your Shopify store as a growth engine rather than a cost center.

👉  Treat app audits like code debt—they compound over time and eventually break your store. That collection of 40-50 apps you’ve accumulated? Each one adds scripts, creates potential conflicts, and slows your site incrementally until conversions drop and you can’t figure out why. Brands that scale successfully do quarterly app audits, ruthlessly cutting anything that isn’t driving measurable value. If you can’t quantify an app’s ROI, you probably don’t need it.

👉  Build for where you’re going, not where you are—but know the inflection points. The $2-3M revenue range is where DIY architecture typically hits a wall. If you’re approaching that threshold, start planning your rebuild now rather than waiting until site speed and conversion issues force an emergency overhaul. The difference between proactive architecture planning and reactive firefighting is six months and six figures in opportunity cost.

👉  International expansion doesn’t require six months if you architect correctly from the start. Brands launching multi-region storefronts in 8-12 weeks aren’t just moving faster—they’re building with internationalization in mind from day one. Whether you’re expanding now or in two years, thinking about how your store structure supports multiple currencies, languages, and tax regimes early saves massive rebuilds later.

👉  User testing before Q4 traffic spikes isn’t optional—it’s insurance. Tools like first-click testing and heatmap analysis show you where visitors actually focus versus where you think they focus. Running these tests before BFCM means you’re not guessing about whether your site can handle increased traffic—you know which elements work, which create friction, and what needs fixing before your biggest sales period.

👉  Loyalty programs during high-traffic periods turn holiday shoppers into lifetime customers. If you don’t have a loyalty program yet, Q4 is the perfect time to launch one. You’re already getting more eyeballs on your brand—capture those one-time holiday shoppers and convert them into repeat customers with points, VIP tiers, or exclusive drops. Solutions like Yotpo, Smile.io, and Loyalty Lion can go live quickly and start building retention from day one.

👉  Headless commerce isn’t for everyone—know when it actually solves real problems. Most brands don’t need headless or composable architecture yet. The added complexity, cost, and maintenance only make sense at specific scale points or when you have unique use cases that Shopify’s native architecture can’t handle. Before jumping into headless, ask whether the problems you’re solving are actually bottlenecks or whether better architecture within standard Shopify would get you 90% there.

Mac King
Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Domaine

Mac King co-founded Domaine, which has grown into the world’s largest independent Shopify design and development partner with over 350 sites launched globally. But his influence on the Shopify ecosystem started long before Domaine existed. Mac joined Shopify in the platform’s early days and played a pivotal role in launching the Shopify Plus Partner Program—literally flying around North America convincing skeptical agencies that becoming Plus Partners was worth it back when the program was brand new and unproven.

That early-days Shopify experience gave Mac a unique perspective: he saw firsthand which agencies and brands succeeded at scale and which hit growth ceilings. After leaving Shopify, he co-founded Half Helix before eventually starting Domaine with a specific mission—helping mid-market and enterprise brands build Shopify stores that actually scale. His philosophy centers on treating ecommerce sites as infrastructure rather than just websites, designing systems that can handle 10x traffic, support international expansion, and avoid the tech debt that comes from DIY approaches.

What makes Mac’s perspective valuable isn’t just the technical expertise Domaine brings to complex builds. It’s his understanding of the full scaling journey—from convincing early agencies to join Shopify Plus, to working directly with hundreds of merchants across every growth stage, to now leading a team that solves the architectural challenges separating brands doing $5M from brands doing $50M. He’s seen thousands of stores hit walls and knows exactly which early decisions make the difference between smooth scaling and expensive emergency rebuilds.