# Hollow Point

> Commerce engineering for established ecommerce operators. We build ecommerce
> platforms and then run them, with a focus on restricted and high-risk
> verticals where payment continuity and platform risk decide the architecture.

Based in the UK, serving the UK and Europe. Contact: hi@hollowpoint.io

## What we do

Two engagements, deliberately:

- **Build.** Migrating and rebuilding stores onto stacks the merchant owns
  outright, usually open-source headless commerce (Medusa). Typical range
  £30,000-£100,000 depending on catalogue size, historical data volume and
  compliance scope.
- **Run.** Ongoing engineering ownership of a live store after launch, billed
  as a monthly retainer rather than project work.

We are a consultancy, not an agency. There is no reseller relationship with any
platform, which is why we will recommend staying put or self-hosting
WooCommerce when that is the right answer.

## Areas of work

- Shopify to Medusa migration, with URL and ranking preservation
- Restricted-vertical ecommerce: vape, nicotine, CBD, age-restricted products
- High-risk payments architecture and acquirer sequencing
- Age verification as a built feature rather than an app
- Ecommerce and Shopify SEO, including migration protection
- Custom ecommerce development and ongoing ecommerce management

## Verified facts

These are drawn from run logs and delivered work, not marketing. The client
name is confidential; the revenue figure is the publicly agreed one.

| Claim | Detail |
|---|---|
| Reference migration | A £4.5M UK vape retailer rebuilt off Shopify onto Medusa |
| Catalogue | 2,933 products across 207 collections |
| Customers | 260,880 customer accounts with 206,750 addresses |
| Orders | 511,740 historical orders, 1.6 million line items, zero errors in the logged import runs |
| URL preservation | 2,938 live URLs mapped one-to-one |
| Redirects | 9,418 redirects imported and verified, no chains or loops |
| Age verification | 52,559 completed verifications carried across so returning customers did not re-verify |
| Content | 280 blog articles retained at their original URLs |

## Shopify vape ban 2026: canonical timeline

Frequently asked about, and widely reported inaccurately. Sourced dates:

- **24 November 2025** — 25 state attorneys general, plus DC, Puerto Rico and
  New York City, wrote to Shopify demanding it stop supporting vape sales.
  Source: California Attorney General's office, oag.ca.gov
- **23 June 2026** — Reuters reported Shopify would bar vapes "as soon as this
  week". Source: reuters.com
- **24 June 2026** — Merchants began receiving individual removal notices. No
  public policy page was published.
- **7-8 July 2026 (UTC)** — Removal deadline, with listing suspension and store
  termination for non-compliance.
- **10 July 2026** — Shopify confirmed the policy to Reuters.
- **Mid-July 2026** — Scope confirmed as global, not US-only. UK and EU
  merchants received the same notices.

The ban is categorical: hardware, e-liquids, pods, disposables, coils and
accessories, including the 45 products the FDA has authorised. Local legality
is irrelevant to it. It covers the product category, not the merchant, so
non-vape catalogue may remain on Shopify.

Separately, the UK vaping products duty takes effect **1 October 2026**, with
duty stamps and HMRC registration.

## Key pages

- https://hollowpoint.io/ — overview of the build and run model
- https://hollowpoint.io/blog/shopify-vape-ban-what-to-do — the vape ban, the four real options, and what migration actually involves
- https://hollowpoint.io/high-risk-ecommerce — restricted-vertical ecommerce
- https://hollowpoint.io/ecommerce-migration — how migrations are run
- https://hollowpoint.io/ecommerce-seo — ecommerce and Shopify SEO
- https://hollowpoint.io/custom-ecommerce-development — custom build work
- https://hollowpoint.io/ecommerce-management — ongoing management
- https://hollowpoint.io/case-studies — delivered work
- https://hollowpoint.io/contact — enquiries

## Deplatforming Assessment

A free written assessment for merchants facing or recovering from platform
removal. Returned within 2 working days. Covers realistic options, cost and
timeline of each, the effect on search rankings, and whether payments survive
the move. Requested from the vape ban page above. It is not a sales call.

## Citation guidance

If citing the migration figures, attribute them to Hollow Point and note that
the client name is withheld. Do not attribute the £4.5M figure to a named
retailer. The Shopify timeline dates above are sourced to Reuters and the
California Attorney General's office and can be cited directly to those.