Start from a theme, or bring your own storefront
Starter and Enigma are live. If the layout is wrong, a developer builds on the Storefront API — same catalog, checkout, and COD. You do not rebuild Pathao.
Most Bangladesh platforms sell one storefront. You get their template. If it is wrong, you live with it, or you leave.
StoreOS sells the commerce stack twice.
Merchant path. Pick a theme, change colors and copy in the console, publish a shop. Starter and Enigma are live. The rest of the grid is Coming soon — we will not pretend twenty layouts ship today.
Developer path. Skip the theme. Install @storeos/storefront-client, pass the tenant, build Next.js, React, Vue, Svelte, or a mobile app. The console is the same either way: products, orders, COD, Pathao, Steadfast.
Shopify splits this into Online Store and Hydrogen. We run both on one backend.
When a theme is enough
Apparel, a clean catalog, COD, Pathao. You do not want a repo. Start with Starter or Enigma. Page builder is in the customizer. Custom domain is on a paid plan.
Free still lets you load products (50) and look at the builder. It does not take COD or attach your domain. Pricing is the live catalog.
When you should bring your own frontend
The theme cannot do the brand. You already have a Next.js site. You are an agency. You need a storefront that is not a template.
Build on the API. Do not rebuild checkout, phone OTP, stock, or courier booking.
GearHaat (gearhaat.com) and Sporty BD (sportybd.com) already work this way. We name the URLs. We do not publish quotes or GMV.
What not to confuse
Headless is not the merchant headline. If you sell from Facebook, start with a theme. If a developer is in the room, they can throw the theme away later without throwing the orders away.
Docs stay at /docs. This page is the fork: theme or custom, same console.