Rainy City Agency - Award-Winning Shopify Plus Agency

What Rainy City Agency - Award-Winning Shopify Plus Agency does

Rainy City Agency is a privately held, Manchester-based digital agency operating as a Shopify Platinum Partner since its 2016 founding. The firm designs, builds, and migrates eCommerce stores on Shopify and Shopify Plus, and extends its offering into conversion rate optimisation, paid media management across Meta, TikTok and Google, React Native mobile applications, and ongoing growth retainers. Underlying technical capabilities span Liquid templating, JavaScript, React Native, Node.js, headless commerce architecture, and bespoke integrations such as Node.js-hosted connectors to Orderwise ERP and the AgeChecked age verification service. A proprietary Master Theme Template System allows multi-brand groups to share a codebase across distinct storefronts.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: one-off bespoke build and migration projects priced on scope (typically 4-6 weeks for migrations and 2-3 months for new builds), recurring monthly Growth Package retainers bundling development, design and paid media, and percentage-of-spend Meta/TikTok/Google ad management. GTM motion is consultative direct sales combined with Calendly-driven inbound booking; the agency targets ambitious DTC brands and mid-market to enterprise Shopify Plus merchants primarily in fashion, beauty, home & lifestyle, and regulated verticals such as vape.

Rainy City claims to have supported 600+ brands and to have managed paid media delivering £100M+ in tracked client revenue. It is one of only approximately 20 Shopify Plus Partners in the UK and holds multiple UK, European and Global eCommerce and agency awards. Leadership comprises a small founder-led team with Rebecca as CEO, Becca as Operations Director, and Peter as Marketing Director; no external institutional investment is evidenced.

Name

Rainy City Agency - Award-Winning Shopify Plus Agency

Legal name

Rainy City Agency LTD

Website

https://rainycityagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rainy City Agency is a Manchester-based Shopify Platinum Partner founded in 2016 that designs, builds, and migrates Shopify Plus stores, plus delivers CRO, paid media, and mobile app services to DTC and mid-market brands. It has supported 600+ brands across the UK, Europe, and North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

E-commerce Development Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Shopper/Commerce Creative Agencies (Retail & Marketplace Creative) (MPAAAAAH)

Keywords

• Shopify Plus development
• E-commerce design services
• Conversion rate optimization
• Digital marketing agency
• Mobile app development

Headquarters

HQ city

Leigh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Project-Based: One-off design, development, and migration projects billed on a project scope basis. Includes bespoke Shopify builds (typically 2-3 months), platform migrations (4-6 weeks), and specific service engagements (CRO audits, UX redesigns).
2. Monthly Retainers / Growth Packages: Recurring monthly retainer engagements providing continuous access to Shopify developers, designers, and marketing experts. Includes regular store updates, new feature implementation, bug fixes, UX enhancements, performance optimisation, and ad management. Packages are tailored to client needs and scale with the business.
3. Paid Ad Management: Management of Meta, TikTok, and Google Ads campaigns, typically bundled within Growth Packages. Revenue is derived from ad spend management and strategic optimisation services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels13 records

Core offering

Rainy City Agency is a UK-based Shopify Plus agency that designs, builds, and grows e-commerce stores for direct-to-consumer and regulated-product brands. Their core services encompass bespoke Shopify Plus builds, migrations from other platforms to Shopify Plus, conversion rate optimization (CRO), paid media management across Meta, TikTok and Google, mobile app development, and ongoing support/growth retainers.

Product overview

Rainy City Agency is a full-service Shopify Platinum Partner offering a comprehensive suite of eCommerce services centered on the Shopify and Shopify Plus platforms. The core offering spans bespoke Shopify store builds, platform migrations, conversion rate optimization, and paid advertising management across Meta, TikTok, and Google. Supplementary services include ongoing support & maintenance retainers, growth packages with monthly access to specialists, mobile application development, UX design, and strategic eCommerce consulting. Services are delivered by an in-house team of designers, developers, and marketers, with documented results across 600+ brands including 100M+ in tracked revenue for clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bespoke Shopify Plus Builds End-to-end design and development of custom Shopify Plus stores for direct-to-consumer brands, including creative direction, custom theme development, integration setup, and launch support. Intended for DTC merchants needing a high-craft, custom storefront on Shopify Plus.
• Shopify Plus Migrations Replatforming service that migrates e-commerce stores from legacy or alternative platforms onto Shopify Plus, including data migration (products, customers, orders), redirect mapping, design recreation/refresh, and post-launch stabilization. Targeted at brands that have outgrown or are dissatisfied with their current e-commerce platform.
• Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) Conversion rate optimization service consisting of audits, A/B testing, UX and design iteration, analytics review, and data-driven experiments aimed at increasing store conversion rates. Designed for Shopify Plus merchants with traffic but underperforming checkout/cart conversion.
• Growth Packages Recurring monthly retainer offering that bundles CRO, paid media management, and ongoing store optimization to drive sustained revenue growth for Shopify Plus clients. Intended for post-launch clients looking to graduate from project work into a long-term growth engagement.
• Support Plans (Ongoing Support) Ongoing monthly support retainers providing Shopify Plus clients with continued access to the agency's development and design teams for bug fixes, minor feature work, theme updates, and ad-hoc change requests after the initial build is complete.
• Meta (Facebook & Instagram) Ads Management Paid media management service covering campaign strategy, creative production, audience targeting, and ongoing optimization for Facebook and Instagram (Meta) ads — including handling regulated-vertical accounts. Targeted at Shopify Plus DTC merchants seeking profitable paid social acquisition.
• TikTok Advertising TikTok ads management service covering campaign setup, creative direction, audience targeting, and optimization on the TikTok Ads platform. Aimed at DTC brands targeting younger demographics and short-form video-led acquisition.
• Google Ads Management Google Ads management service covering Search, Shopping, Display, and Performance Max campaigns, with keyword strategy, bidding, and conversion tracking tailored to Shopify Plus storefronts. Targeted at merchants seeking intent-driven acquisition.
• Shopify Mobile App Development Custom mobile app development service building iOS and Android storefront apps for Shopify Plus merchants, enabling branded mobile shopping experiences, push notifications, and loyalty/re-engagement features outside the website. Aimed at established DTC brands with significant mobile traffic.
• UX Design Services Dedicated UX design service offering user research, wireframing, information architecture, and experience design for Shopify Plus stores, often as part of CRO engagements or stand-alone UX audits.

Quantifiable outcome

• +300% conversion rate for Fushi Wellbeing
• +22 more outcomes

Named customers52 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability3 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RebuycoreTechnology or IntegrationRebuy is Rainy City's recommended personalisation engine partner. Rainy City integrates Rebuy's AI-driven product discovery engine across client Shopify stores to increase Average Order Value (AOV) through intelligent product recommendations at every stage of the user journey. The partnership is showcased through joint content (Partner Spotlight blog post) and is a standard recommendation in Growth Packages. For Mycube Safe, Rebuy delivered a 6% AOV increase within 90 days.
• Shaded The StudiominorGTM or Marketing PartnerShaded The Studio is a content agency that helps DTC brands create revenue-driving content. Featured in Rainy City's Partner Spotlight series as a recommended creative/content partner for Shopify brands looking to improve their content marketing and social presence.
• FlowiumminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFlowium is an email and SMS marketing agency for eCommerce. Contributed the 'VIP Customer Cultivation' guide featured on Rainy City's blog about turning first-time Shopify Plus buyers into returning customers. Represents a content collaboration and referral partnership.
• Orderwise (ERP)coreTechnology or IntegrationOrderwise is the ERP system used by Vapouriz Group clients. Rainy City built custom Node.js connectors (hosted on Heroku) to enable near real-time inventory sync between Shopify Plus and Orderwise with 2-5 minute latency. Each store is treated as a separate web shop within Orderwise, enabling multi-brand ERP management.
• AgeCheckedcoreTechnology or IntegrationAgeChecked provides age verification technology for restricted product categories (vape, alcohol). Rainy City integrates AgeChecked into Shopify Plus builds for clients in regulated industries to ensure compliance with advertising and sales restrictions, particularly for vape eCommerce clients.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• OuterBox: OuterBox is a US-based Shopify Plus agency offering design, development, SEO, and digital marketing for eCommerce brands. They are a comparable partner-tier agency serving mid-market and enterprise Shopify merchants with a similar full-funnel growth proposition.
• We Make Websites: We Make Websites is a London-based Shopify Plus Partner agency offering design, development and CRO services to DTC and enterprise brands, directly competing with Rainy City for UK Shopify Plus clients. Both agencies target ambitious DTC and mid-market merchants on Shopify Plus with a similar full-service offering.
• BlueSwitch: BlueSwitch is a US Shopify Plus agency providing design, development, and digital marketing services to eCommerce brands. They compete with Rainy City for enterprise and mid-market Shopify Plus engagements, especially in the North American market.
• Absolute Web: Absolute Web is a US-based eCommerce agency offering Shopify Plus design, development, and digital marketing. They are a comparable partner-tier agency competing for enterprise Shopify Plus migrations and growth engagements.
• Fuel Made: Fuel Made is a Shopify Plus agency specializing in design, development, and digital marketing for DTC brands. They are a direct competitor in the Shopify Plus partner ecosystem with a similar emphasis on conversion-focused builds.
• Shape (ShapeBlaze / Shape Ltd): Shape is a UK digital agency with a Shopify Plus practice offering design, build and CRO for eCommerce brands. They are a competing UK-based Shopify Plus partner serving similar DTC and enterprise clients.
• Eastside Co: Eastside Co is one of the leading UK Shopify Plus Partners, providing bespoke Shopify builds, migrations, CRO and growth retainers. They compete head-to-head with Rainy City for Shopify Plus brand engagements across the UK and internationally.
• GroupFiftyFive (G55): GroupFiftyFive is a Shopify Plus agency and Google Premier Partner offering bespoke builds, CRO, paid media and lifecycle marketing for DTC brands. They overlap with Rainy City across Shopify Plus enterprise, CRO and paid advertising services.
• Straight Edge Studio: Straight Edge Studio is a Shopify Plus-focused design and development agency serving premium and enterprise brands. They target the same high-end Shopify Plus segment as Rainy City with a similar emphasis on bespoke builds and replatforms.

Others

• Rebuy: Rebuy is an AI-driven product recommendations engine that Rainy City integrates into client Shopify stores. They are an ecosystem partner and adjacent technology vendor rather than a direct agency competitor, but core to Rainy City's AOV improvement services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rainycityagency
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@rainycityagency1001
• Facebookfacebook.com/rainycityagency
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/rainy-city-agency
• Instagraminstagram.com/rainycityagency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rainy City Agency - Award-Winning Shopify Plus Agency