Why top Shopify Plus merchants are using Instant for their store design

Rebecca Anderson

Why top Shopify Plus merchants are using Instant for their store design

No two Shopify Plus brands are alike, but what they do have in common is that they are usually fast-moving, high-volume, and often global. They’re not just selling products, they’re building experiences, scaling operations, and differentiating themselves in crowded markets. But as these brands grow, they quickly run into the limitations of Shopify’s native theme editor.

Why Shopify Plus brands are looking beyond the theme editor

From rigid layouts to time-consuming dev cycles, many Plus merchants realize the theme editor simply isn’t built for the level of speed, scale, and sophistication they need.

That’s where Instant comes in.

Instant is the page and section builder trusted by top Shopify Plus teams to unlock full creative and operational control, without compromising on performance or scalability.

In this blog, I’ll cover why leading brands like Casper, Spacegoods, and Prodigy Disc are turning to Instant for their Shopify store design.

Where the Shopify theme editor falls short for Shopify Plus brands

While Shopify’s default tools work well for smaller stores, they’re often not enough for the demands of an enterprise-grade merchant.

Here’s what’s holding Plus brands back:

Limited layout flexibility: Creating truly custom designs within the theme editor often requires expensive dev work or risky theme overrides.
Repetitive content management: Managing multiple storefronts or regional content is time-consuming and error-prone without reusable components or centralized controls.
Poor support for global storefronts: Shopify Markets is powerful, but many builders don’t support it properly, making it harder to scale internationally
Slow dev cycles for simple changes: Even small updates can get stuck behind dev backlogs or sprint cycles.
Navigation and structure limitations: Custom menus, footers, or editorial pages require dev lift, or are simply not possible within the theme constraints.

Common pain points for Shopify Plus brands like yours

Shopify Plus merchants have elevated requirements. They need scalability, performance, branding flexibility, and robust multi-market capabilities. But the default theme editor struggles to meet those expectations

For example, Spacegoods wanted to create a high-converting homepage that matched their brand’s aesthetic and guided shoppers clearly through the buyer journey. But their theme couldn’t support the level of customization they needed, so they used Instant to design custom homepage sections that look great and convert better.

Similarly, Mushie wanted a custom website that feels like an extension of their brand, not just another Shopify store. They created custom navigation elements, product showcases, and a testimonial slider, all powered by Instant. Their site now feels distinct, immersive, and cohesive from the first click.

And for teams managing global storefronts, the challenges are even bigger. Shopify’s native tools can make managing regional content a manual, repetitive task. Plus, many page builders don’t fully support Shopify Markets.

That’s where Instant’s deep integration with Markets comes in. You can build and translate pages directly in Shopify and assign localized content to specific Markets, without duplicating work or creating content silos.

How Instant solves these problems for Shopify Plus merchants

Shopify Plus merchants need a builder that moves at their speed. Instant was built specifically to support the workflows and challenges of large, fast-moving teams.

Flexible section-based design

With Instant, you’re no longer confined to rigid theme templates. You can design and publish custom sections anywhere on your site, from homepage hero areas to press tickers and editorial content.

BEACN is a perfect example. They needed a visually engaging way to showcase press and social proof, but their theme couldn’t support the design they envisioned, and dev time was limited.

“For quite some time, we’d been looking for a solution for building a really solid press/social section that would attract users’ attention, but everything that we could think of would cost dev hours from our team and would take away from the other work that they were doing. When Instant released the new social proof ticker in the wireframes kit, I was able to easily customize that section and get it live within about 30 mins tops.”
— Grant Spychka, Director of Marketing at BEACN

Built for both marketers and developers

Instant combines drag-and-drop simplicity with dev-friendly flexibility. Developers can use Liquid code blocks, clean code output, and version history. Marketers can build pages, test ideas, and launch without waiting on sprints.

Casper used Instant to offload implementation from developers, allowing the design team to own execution without compromising on brand standards.

“Our goal was to streamline our workflow by implementing new designs and interactions without overburdening developers... It also let us iterate quickly without involving dev sprints—freeing up developers to focus on more complex projects."
— Ryan Hiebendahl, Sr. Digital Product Designer at Casper

Shopify Markets compatibility

For Plus merchants operating across regions, Instant supports localized storefronts natively. Build once, localize content, and manage translations, all inside Shopify without any hacks or workarounds.

With Instant, you can translate pages, blogs, and PDPs built with Instant, directly in the Shopify theme editor:

Rapid testing with reusable Components

Instant makes it easy to turn any block, like a banner, CTA, or layout, into a reusable component. You can update it once and see changes reflected across your store.

For agile teams like BEACN, this means ideas can go from concept to live in minutes, not days.

“We’re a small team with big ideas and ambitions, so having a tool like Instant that lets us build, test, and launch in small timeframes is amazing. It makes it easier for me, in particular, because I can execute on an idea right away, instead of waiting on someone else to help out or build something from scratch. In the simplest terms, it improves our workflow more than almost any other tool we use.”
— Grant Spychka, Director of Marketing at BEACN

Mobile-first design for modern buyers

With over 70% of traffic coming from mobile, Prodigy Disc used Instant to build responsive, mobile-optimized layouts that improved UX and conversions.

“Instant has streamlined our website management by eliminating the need for coding expertise or external developers. This has expedited our ability to implement updates and enhancements, fostering an environment of rapid innovation.”
— Ben Rosenberg, Head of E-commerce & Digital Marketing

Here’s an example of a responsive, mobile-first hero Prodigy Disc designed in Instant:

Why Instant is built for Shopify Plus teams

Shopify Plus merchants need more than just a flexible page builder; they need a platform that’s purpose-built for scale.

Here’s what makes Instant the preferred choice:

Fully integrated with Shopify: Build, publish, and manage everything inside your Shopify store.
Scalable performance: Instant exports clean Liquid, so your site stays fast and SEO-friendly, even at enterprise scale.
On-brand customization: Go beyond themes with branded navigation, editorial sections, and custom layouts that make your store stand out.
Multistore support: Built-in compatibility with Shopify Markets means international stores are easy to manage.
Faster testing & deployment: From Figma to Shopify in minutes. Reusable components let you test and iterate without redundant work.
Dev + marketer workflows: Role-based access, version history, and Liquid code blocks make collaboration seamless.
Grows with you: Whether you manage one store or 20, Instant scales with your business.