Can Shopify Do This Or Do I Need To Build My Own Storefront?

[dlasso002]

Hi guys. I posted this in Technical Q&A recently but only got crickets. Forgive the cross-post here, hoping to get some help!

I’m new to the Shopify ecosystem. I need help determining if Shopify can do what I’m about to describe. I think the answer is no – but please tell me if I’m totally wrong!

My business is going to be selling “widgets” and allowing customers to pick a delivery date (or delivery window date range). The delivery window(s) available depend on the customer’s location and the particular product being ordered.

Products are produced in a number of distribution centers scattered around North and South America. One product may be produced in any number of DCs. If the customer wants it delivered next day, we’ll produce it in the US and charge more for it. If the customer can wait for it (or wants delivery in the future), we can produce it in South America and charge less overall.

Based on the product & delivery date/window the customer selects, the order needs to be routed to the most appropriate DC for fulfillment.

The shipping method depends on which product and which DC. We will have UPS and FedEx and DHL accounts, and likely be integrating with smaller carriers over time. The system needs to be smart enough to pick the most appropriate shipping method based on a set of criteria or rules.

Each product being ordered has its own delivery date/window. And ideally the customer needs to be able to order multiple products in the same order, all having different delivery dates/windows (coming from different DCs).

Product availability (inventory/stock) is generally known ahead of time, but can change in real time. The products are being made to order rather than sitting in a warehouse. We need to be able to integrate with an inventory management system (i.e. DEAR) in the short term, and perhaps a more full-featured ERP system in the future.

I’ll stop there…it gets a bit more complicated, but that gives you the gist. I assume I’ll need to build my own storefront instead of using Shopify. But is there a way with Shopify to do everything I mentioned? Are there apps/plugins/what have you that enable all of this?

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate you helping me out!

[PaulNewton]

@dlasso002

Hi guys. I posted this in Technical Q&A recently but only got crickets. Forgive the cross-post here, hoping to get some help!

Hi @dlasso002 Your post isn’t clear about the problem you may think shopify can/cannot solve, and there’s a lot of moving parts described with no focused questions in the description.

Which is a bit of a non-starter when you need technical answers in a technical forum or any forum.

If I go from only the title as the question then NO you do not have to build your own storefront as it seems everything you described is backend logistics processes that you will be wiring to the products data , inventory & shipping data either through manual updates, CSV import, or the api by a custom app or an app from the app store or an ERP integration, etc.

Things like the “storefront” api’s still consume data from the admin’s backend data itself so making a custom storefront does not remove the need for backend development for a specific use case.

system needs to be smart enough to pick the most appropriate shipping method based on a set of criteria or rules.

Possibly related, if needing custom shipping during checkout you’ll need to be using the carrier service api

https://shopify.dev/api/admin-rest/2022-01/resources/carrierservice

And if needing frontend customization during /checkout you will need a shopify Plus enterprise account

Whether I’m on target or not you should pursue a 1 to 1 consult with a shipping expert either in setup or app development as it seems your going to have a lot of clarifications and follow on questions for using shopify.

https://experts.shopify.com/services/store-setup/configure-settings?serviceTaskHandles%5B%5D=shipping_setup

https://experts.shopify.com/services/development-and-troubleshooting/custom-apps-integrations

Also see the shipping forums https://community.shopify.com/c/payments-shipping-and/bd-p/payments-shipping-fulfilment though you definitely want to be more targeted in your search or questions.

[dlasso002]

Thanks Paul! I appreciate your response despite my somewhat hand-wavy description of my intended requirements.

[kingstore]

Hey @dlasso002 this is a relatively complex situation and I agree with Paul that this is all on the backend logistics and not so much on the storefront itself. That said Shopify will still provide a good storefront to build on.

For the back-end logistics, you can look at SKUSavvy, which will provide you the order routing, and enable you to provide delivery windows for those customers, as you can see below:

To address the logic orchestrator as to which order should go where based on the customer’s order preferences at checkout, this would require some work, and you could make this happen with the SKUSavvy API, or you can work with us on an implementation.

This system will enable you to manage inventory across multiple warehouses, and order routing to those warehouses. It will help you keep an accurate inventory and generate digital pick batches to pick-pack-ship and keep track of work-in-progress inventory via kits that can be assembled within the warehouse.

Your warehouses will run smoothly with visual inventory management that enables cross-docking, bin to bin replenishment, and purchasing based on order volume and lead time.

Since you’ve got a more complex situation, let’s go ahead and get on a call to discuss this further and identify the full fit here.

[PaulNewton]

@kingstore given the storefront mentions by OP does skusavvy provide any widgets or frontend api to expose those windows on a website to customers as that seemed to be part of problem, though it could just be a shipping rates|profiles issues.