Is a service based business possible with shopify?

[likesmith]

I am trying to set up a service-based business and am curious if it's possible with Shopify. We are a delivery company and want to achieve the following: A user can come to the site, enter a pickup and drop-off address (using Google autocomplete), and select various configurations such as the type of service (speed), and whether they need a van or a truck. The price will dynamically be calculated for them based on the distance and the configuration. The users can make payments and view their order history by logging in, see the status, and also place new orders from their authenticated dashboard. I am planning on building a custom store front with hydrogen + remix for context.

[theycallmemakka]

Sure thing! You can totally use Shopify to run your service business. Even though Shopify is mostly for selling stuff online, it can be adjusted to fit services too.

Here's a simple breakdown of what you'd need to do:

1. Make it easy for people to enter their pickup and drop-off addresses by adding a feature that suggests addresses as they type. You can use something called Google Places for this.

2. Figure out how much to charge for each service based on things like how far you're traveling or what kind of service it is. You might need some extra tools or apps to help with this.

3. Let people create accounts on your website so they can keep track of their orders and see what they've ordered before. You might want to add some extra features to these accounts.

4. Set up a safe and secure way for people to pay you online. Shopify works with different payment methods, so you can pick one that suits you and add it to your website.

5. Customize your website to look and work exactly how you want it to. There are tools like Hydrogen and Remix that can help you do this.

6. Keep track of orders and make sure everything gets delivered on time. Shopify has tools to help you with this too.

7. If your delivery business is more complicated, you might need to connect Shopify with other systems that help manage deliveries.

So, while there might be some technical stuff involved, Shopify is a good choice for running your service business online. With a bit of customization and the right tools, you can make it work smoothly.

[eComInsider]

Yes, Shopify can support your service-based delivery business setup, especially with a custom storefront using Hydrogen and Remix. Here’s how each requirement can be met:

1. User Input for Pickup/Drop-off with Google Autocomplete: Hydrogen is flexible enough to add custom functionality. You can add Google Places API for address autocomplete to your Hydrogen storefront. This will allow users to input addresses and simplify location input.

2. Dynamic Pricing Calculation: For dynamic pricing based on distance and configurations (e.g. service speed and vehicle type), you can add custom pricing logic in Hydrogen. You can use a third party service for distance calculations (like Google Maps Distance Matrix API) and custom pricing rules you define in your backend.

3. Checkout and Payments: Shopify’s checkout system can handle payments for service-based offerings if you configure each “service” as a product with variants based on configurations like vehicle type and service speed. You can pass dynamically calculated prices into the checkout process, but this would require some extra customization.

4. Authenticated Dashboard for Order History and Status: While Shopify has a basic customer accounts feature, a custom dashboard in Hydrogen would allow users to see order history, place new orders and track order status. You can use Shopify’s Storefront API to pull this data and build an interface where customers can view and manage orders.

5. Order Status Tracking: You’ll need a backend that talks to your delivery system for real-time updates. You can use Shopify’s metafields to store order status and update it as deliveries go out. This can be displayed in the customer dashboard.

This should give you a user friendly experience for your delivery service business, using Shopify’s infrastructure and custom functionality with Hydrogen and Remix.