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Retail has become very good at creating channels: an Online store, a physical store, POS, CRM, email, loyalty, and much more. The list goes on. The harder part is making those channels behave like one retail experience.
That is where VS Labs comes in.
VS Labs is the product and innovation arm of Visualsoft, created to build Shopify apps and in-store technology that connect eCommerce with the shop floor. It’s about solving the everyday gaps retailers already know too well: product data that does not carry through, pricing that falls out of sync, customer experiences that break between online and in-store, and manual workarounds that quietly become part of the operating model.
Those small gaps matter. ONS data shows that online sales accounted for 28.3% of total retail sales in Great Britain in December 2025, indicating that digital remains a major part of the retail mix. But the store has not gone away. In reality, customers move between both, often within the same journey.
What is VS Labs?
VS Labs has been launched to give this work a dedicated home. As Chris Fletcher, CEO at Visualsoft, explained:
“VS Labs is our new brand that we've launched at Visualsoft. This is our tech-specific brand, which lets us talk to retailers and agencies about the exciting things we've built for the Shopify ecosystem. This is new apps, new pieces of hardware and technology which help unify the retail experience.”
Retailers do not necessarily need more tools. In many cases, they already have too many. What they need is technology that makes Shopify work harder across the full customer journey, from the browser to the store, from product discovery to checkout, and from first purchase to repeat purchase - VS Labs is focused on building that connective layer.
Built around real retail problems
Our approach is fairly simple; every product starts with a clear retail problem.
That could be wishlists that need to work online and through Shopify POS. It could be custom product journeys that need to carry through to the shop floor. It could be smarter upsell opportunities, live shelf pricing, digital signage, kiosks, NFC stations, RFID tilltops, or AI-powered footfall technology.
The point is not to build a shiny demo and hope someone finds a use for it. VS Labs tests in live Shopify environments, using real product data, pricing, catalogue structures and retail workflows. Chris explained:
“As part of VS Labs, we've created a retail store within our Visualsoft HQ in Stockton. This allows us to truly test any of the technology that we've built in a retail environment, so we can have retailers and agencies come to our head office, look at the technology, test it, and give us real-time feedback.”
This is the important point. Retail technology can look convincing in a slide deck. It behaves differently when it meets real stock, real staff, real customers and, usually, a few awkward cases no one thought about during planning.
Our connection with Shopify
VS Labs is built around Shopify and the wider Shopify ecosystem.
“We work directly with Shopify's product and retail team. We speak with them about the gaps in the product, and they help us design what we will build. They help our roadmap, and therefore they're going to benefit by being on board more customers onto Shopify Plus.”
VS Labs is already building from a strong base, with the expertise of a Shopify Premier Partner, over 75 accredited Shopify specialists, and more than 200 years of combined retail technology experience across the team.
Security, performance and compliance are built in from day one, including PCI and DSS compliance. That may not be the most glamorous part of innovation, but for enterprise retail, it is often the difference between a promising idea and something you can actually roll out.
Born in the Lab
VS Labs has already launched a growing suite of Shopify apps, including Blueprint, Wysh and Impulse.
Blueprint supports product customisation across online store and POS. Wysh brings multiple, shareable wishlists into the unified retail journey. Impulse helps retailers drive online and in-store revenue through smarter upsells and insight. Chris explained:
“So we've currently got 8 apps in the App Store, which we've built for Shopify. We've got a lot more to come over the coming weeks and months. All of our apps are built to the highest possible standard, using our 27 years of development experience. These apps are robust, so we know where the data is, and they're built to scale for enterprise-level retailers.”
Beyond apps, VS Labs is also building in-store Shopify technology, including digital signage, electronic shelf labels, connected product touchpoints and hardware integrations that bring Shopify closer to the physical retail environment.
Pau Mas, Retail Partnerships at Shopify, described it simply:
“VS Labs are building the store of the future. Powered by Shopify.”
What's next?
Over the coming weeks and months, VS Labs will share more on the apps we have built, the partnerships we have created, and the in-store technology we are bringing into Shopify retail environments.
The team has already built our first suite of unified retail apps, now live on the Shopify App Store and used by thousands of merchants, including major high street brands.
Follow the VS Labs or check out their website to see what comes next.
