CDNs and edge delivery
How AB Genius runs on top of Shopify’s CDN, edge network, and official extensions.
How AB Genius works with Shopify’s global CDN infrastructure
Shopify runs a massive ecommerce CDN.
Stores benefit from edge delivery. Pages are served from the data centre closest to the visitor.
AB Genius is designed to work inside this model.
What edge delivery means for your store
A visitor in London gets content from a nearby edge server, not a distant origin.
Shopify’s CDN caches and distributes theme assets (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images) across a global edge network. This keeps stores fast worldwide.
How AB Genius integrates with edge delivery
AB Genius is delivered via Shopify’s Theme App Extension system.
Theme App Extensions are treated like native theme assets.
That means AB Genius is:
Distributed through Shopify’s CDN.
Served from the closest edge server.
The script (ab-live.js) loads from Shopify’s edge, not a third-party domain.
No separate CDN. No external script domain. No extra DNS lookup.
When a visitor needs assignment, AB Genius makes a single lightweight API call.
To reduce calls, assignment is cached locally in the ab_data cookie for one hour.
The visitor identity cookie (ab_vid) persists for one year. Returning visitors stay consistent.
For price tests, AB Genius uses Shopify’s Cart Transform Function.
This runs inside Shopify’s server-side checkout pipeline.
It’s not a client-side script. It’s not an external API call.
The test price payload is passed via cart attributes. It is secured with an HMAC signature, so visitors can’t tamper with it.
Event tracking and the Web Pixel
AB Genius tracks events using Shopify’s Web Pixel extension.
The Web Pixel runs sandboxed in the browser. It doesn’t affect rendering.
Events are captured and transmitted asynchronously. They don’t block interactions.
Multi-region stores and geo-targeting
AB Genius runs consistently across regions because it sits on top of Shopify’s global CDN.
For country-based targeting, AB Genius detects location using:
Browser timezone mapping.
Cloudflare geo-IP headers (via Shopify’s CDN).
This happens without extra network requests.
The bottom line
AB Genius doesn’t add a new infrastructure layer.
It uses official Shopify extension points:
Theme App Extension for the storefront.
Cart Transform Function for checkout.
Web Pixel for event tracking.
Visitors get the same fast, globally distributed experience they’d get without any testing app installed.
