Foster Commerce
Foster Commerce is a bootstrapped, remote-first B2B ecommerce agency that designs, develops, and manages custom websites on Craft Commerce, Shopify Plus, and OroCommerce for SMB to enterprise brands with complex catalogs or sales processes.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersColumbus, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Foster Commerce does
Foster Commerce is a privately held, bootstrapped digital agency that designs and develops custom B2B ecommerce websites, apps, and software for brands whose sales or catalog complexity does not fit off-the-shelf platforms. Founded in 2011 as Shoe Shine Design, LLC by Stephen Callender and rebranded under its current name in 2018, the firm operates as a remote-first organization with 1-10 employees distributed globally and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Its technical stack centers on PHP via Craft CMS and Craft Commerce, with Shopify Plus and OroCommerce as parallel engagement tracks, and front-end delivery on Nuxt.js/Vue.js with Laravel as a preferred custom framework; integrations span Klaviyo, ShipStation, Algolia, Meilisearch, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, and GitHub Actions.
The company's product surface consists of bespoke professional services and a small catalog of reusable software. Commerce Foundations is a pre-built, fully customizable ecommerce boilerplate on Craft Commerce and Nuxt 3 marketed as the first headless Craft Commerce product, alongside proprietary Craft CMS plugins including Foster Checkout, Variant Manager, Best Sellers, Klaviyo Connect, ShipStation Connect, Meilisearch Connect, Entry Type Rules, and Honeypot. Revenue is generated primarily through hourly and fixed-fee custom development engagements, recurring Site & Server Management subscriptions (with a 50% first-year discount for new clients), and nominal one-time plugin fees (ShipStation Connect at $59, Klaviyo Connect free). Customer acquisition is sales-led through Calendly-scheduled free consultations and project-inquiry forms, supplemented by partner-channel referrals via Verified Craft CMS, Certified OroCommerce, and Shopify Plus partner status, plus content marketing through the Commerce Minded blog and podcast.
Foster Commerce serves a mix of customer sizes including enterprise accounts (Maxon, Crawford Hoying, Haute Living), mid-market brands (Aretyn, SFS Architecture), SMBs (Shade Love, Elektroplate, Measure Meant), and nonprofits (AAC&U, Facade Tectonics Institute). The company holds Verified Partner status with Craft CMS, Craft Commerce and Enterprise, and OroCommerce, a Shopify Service Partner designation, and maintains average uptime above 99% on managed sites. Revenue and headcount trends are not publicly disclosed; the firm shows no evidence of external funding and remains founder-controlled.
Foster Commerce firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Foster Commerce
- Legal name
- Foster Commerce
- Website
- https://fostercommerce.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Foster Commerce is a bootstrapped, remote-first B2B ecommerce agency that designs, develops, and manages custom websites on Craft Commerce, Shopify Plus, and OroCommerce for SMB to enterprise brands with complex catalogs or sales processes.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Foster Commerce industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ecommerce Development Services
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Blogging & CMS Content Platforms (BPAMAJAG)
Keywords
Where Foster Commerce is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Columbus
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Foster Commerce business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Custom Development Services: Hourly rate billing for websites, apps, migrations, ongoing development, and consulting services. Work is delivered in short weekly sprints with value delivered quickly. For marketing websites of certain scope, fixed-fee rates may apply.
- ShipStation Connect Plugin: One-time purchase of Craft CMS plugin for $59, providing shipping integration for Craft Commerce stores.
- Klaviyo Connect Plugin: Free Craft CMS plugin for Klaviyo email marketing integration, available on Craft Plugin Store.
- Site & Server Management: Fixed-fee monthly subscription for ongoing site and server management services including updates, monitoring, security patches, backups, and support. First year discounted 50% for new clients.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Custom Development - Hourly Rate |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Marketing Websites - Fixed Fee Option |
| Subscription | Monthly | Site & Server Management - Fixed Monthly Fee |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | ShipStation Connect Plugin - $59 |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Klaviyo Connect Plugin - Free |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Foster Commerce product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Foster Commerce is a custom B2B ecommerce agency that designs, develops, and maintains bespoke websites, apps, and software on Craft CMS/Commerce, Shopify Plus, and OroCommerce platforms. The company sells its own headless Commerce Foundations boilerplate and a portfolio of proprietary Craft CMS plugins, and provides ongoing Site & Server Management with a 99%+ average uptime guarantee for managed sites.
Product overview
Foster Commerce is a custom B2B ecommerce agency (formerly Shoe Shine Design, rebranded in 2018) that builds bespoke websites, apps, and software rather than a single unified product. Their core software offerings include Commerce Foundations, a pre-built Craft Commerce/Nuxt 3 ecommerce boilerplate for rapid deployment, and a suite of Craft CMS plugins including Klaviyo Connect (email automation), ShipStation Connect (shipping management), Meilisearch Connect (search), Variant Manager (product variants), Best Sellers (analytics), Entry Type Rules (content restrictions), and Honeypot (spam protection). Services include custom development on Craft Commerce, Shopify Plus, OroCommerce, and Craft CMS platforms, plus Site & Server Management with 99%+ uptime guarantees.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Commerce Foundations A pre-built, fully customizable ecommerce boilerplate built on Craft Commerce and Nuxt 3 that gives B2B brands a jumpstart on digital transformation with a suite of features to accelerate time to market, saving weeks of development time.
- Klaviyo Connect
Quantifiable outcome
- Greater than 99% average uptime on managed websites
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Foster Commerce
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Foster Commerce technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature9 records
Foster Commerce partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Craft CMS (Pixel & Tonic)coreVerified Craft CMS Partner and Craft Commerce Verified Partner. Primary technology platform for many client implementations. Commerce Foundations built on Craft Commerce as first-ever headless Craft Commerce product.
- OroCommercecoreCertified OroCommerce Partner for building B2B ecommerce solutions for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers. Site & Server Management services offered for OroCommerce websites.
- Shopify PluscoreShopify Service Partner providing B2B website migration and customization services. Offers seamless and efficient migration for B2B websites to Shopify Plus for midsize, large, and enterprise-level B2B brands.
- LaravelcorePHP framework preferred for custom development alongside Craft CMS, Shopify Plus, and OroCommerce platforms.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Foster Commerce competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Digital Operative: Digital Operative is a digital agency specializing in B2B and B2C ecommerce strategy, design, and development, with deep experience on platforms including OroCommerce and other B2B-oriented stacks. It competes directly with Foster Commerce for complex B2B ecommerce RFPs requiring custom catalogs, sales-rep tools, and multi-site rollouts.
- Elogic Commerce: Elogic Commerce is a custom ecommerce development agency delivering storefronts, migrations, and integrations across multiple platforms including Shopify, Magento, and headless stacks. It is comparable to Foster Commerce in offering platform-agnostic custom builds with ongoing support services for mid-market and enterprise merchants.
- Bold Commerce: Bold Commerce is a custom ecommerce development agency focused on Shopify and BigCommerce, building headless storefronts, checkout, and subscription experiences for B2B and DTC brands. It mirrors Foster Commerce's services-led model of delivering bespoke commerce builds rather than selling a single platform, and competes for overlapping Shopify Plus partnership-sourced clients.
Broad incumbents
- Bounteous: Bounteous (which absorbed Gorilla Group) is a large digital experience and commerce consultancy building end-to-end ecommerce platforms for enterprise B2B and B2C brands. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Foster Commerce on custom platform builds and ongoing managed services but operates at significantly greater scale.
- Blue Acorn iCi: Blue Acorn iCi (now part of Cognizant) is a large-scale digital commerce agency delivering enterprise ecommerce, data, and experience services across Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, and BigCommerce. It competes with Foster Commerce at the high end of the B2B ecommerce market where procurement-grade scale and SLAs are required.
Others
- Pixel & Tonic: Pixel & Tonic is the creator of Craft CMS and Craft Commerce, the platform on which Foster Commerce's Commerce Foundations boilerplate and most proprietary plugins are built. It is not a competing agency but the platform vendor whose partner program drives a meaningful share of Foster Commerce's inbound leads and credibility.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Foster Commerce social profiles
Digital presenceFoster Commerce financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Foster Commerce leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Foster Commerce funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Foster Commerce M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Foster Commerce
What does Foster Commerce do?
Foster Commerce is a custom B2B ecommerce agency that designs, develops, and maintains bespoke websites, apps, and software on Craft CMS/Commerce, Shopify Plus, and OroCommerce platforms. The company sells its own headless Commerce Foundations boilerplate and a portfolio of proprietary Craft CMS plugins, and provides ongoing Site & Server Management with a 99%+ average uptime guarantee for managed sites.
Is Foster Commerce a public or private company?
Foster Commerce is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Foster Commerce founded?
Foster Commerce was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Foster Commerce based?
Foster Commerce is headquartered in Columbus, United States, in the North America region.
How does Foster Commerce make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Custom Development Services are the primary driver. The others are shipStation Connect Plugin, klaviyo Connect Plugin and site & Server Management.
Who are Foster Commerce's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Digital Operative, Elogic Commerce and Bold Commerce. Broad incumbents are Bounteous and Blue Acorn iCi. Pixel & Tonic is listed as an others.
Does Foster Commerce have an API?
No public API is recorded for Foster Commerce.
What industry is Foster Commerce in?
Foster Commerce's product category is Ecommerce Development Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAJAG, Blogging & CMS Content Platforms. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.