How can we improve app interoperability for better ecommerce workflows?

Store Design
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Hi There,

Apps don’t fully talk to one another, breaking their functions. For example, we can’t combine pre-orders with bundles, or free gifts, or cart upgrades etc. After 5 years, we’re actually kind of lost and deflated sorry.

While some apps are compatible most are not. And if you find a combination that works, you end-up with bloated features you don’t need and a bill that’s double or triple the cost of your Shopify subscription. We’re not on the basic plan and so far, haven’t found a combination that gives us everything we need.

Although Shopify staff in these forums have dismissed me as just airing grievances, this problem has a huge impact on our ability to complete basic ecommerce workflows each day, things like:

  • Pre-orders
  • Buy one get one free subscriber deals
  • Free gift with purchase advertising deals
  • Cart upgrades
  • Combo/bundle deals

We actually have a growing business but are still tiny so could never afford Shopify plus with custom solutions. Besides, these workflows are far from custom, they’re talked about in literally millions of blog posts and ecommerce business courses as: ‘if you’re not doing these 5 things, you’re not doing it right’ etc.

Are we really the only merchants struggling with app interoperability?

Why can’t Shopify offer these basic workflows so everything works together?

Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards, Ben

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The cheapest route is to shortlist apps and in that list find the most broad set provided by a single developer that has a broad set of apps like Boldcommerce , Powr apps ,etc .

And do the accounting of app costs vs ROI; if cost < ROI over 10 years then build apps if not then remove cruft selling methods eating time.

Otherwise do a reality check: either fix expectations removing cruft from your business model or build the needed features investing in your business on a platform.

Apps are not meant to be 100% interoperable, that that will never happen there are just too many systems and ways to implement things along with some systems that are just one app only at a time.

Apps allow you to quickly explore functionality and business models in a way unlike anything else before.

Apps are not a be all end all.

You can model a prototype car out of legos, duplos , Lincoln-logs, & tinker-toys but your not gonna win a formula1 race in it as most the time it doesn’t even stick together.

If you need specific third party features that don’t work together in the specific ways for your specific business needs that’s the clue you have to engineer it.

Why can’t Shopify offer these basic workflows so everything works together?

They are not basic, saying it’s “basic”, “easy”, etc does not make it so. It’s a disingenuous cliche on the forums used by many to rationalize their specific needs as the most important while ignoring shopify is a platforms for millions and meeting everyone’s needs requires robust generalized features not wishes for “basics” that are in actuality very specific and complex.

The clue is: If it’s so basic why can’t you do it without shopify.

It’s a trap of wishful thinking that gives merchants something to play a game of blame & wait.

Quite often to avoid engaging with real underlying problems in the business in a proper way getting real solutions in the here and now that have nothing to do with the platform being used.

At a minimum start documenting, and getting consults with developers, or get details of limitations from some of the apps-support-reps to understand WHY they cannot interoperate.

This can save a ton of long-term frustration at fist shaking at shopify for a fantasy of things you wished they’d do for your business needs. More importantly it could help identify core platform issues and aid finding the right feature-request threads to add your voice too that could result in a generalized feature facilitating a business need.

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Thanks so much for the reply @PaulNewton , great idea to only use apps from a single developer, they’re more likely to talk to each other - right? Just to clarify, I’m a designer but I’m actually a merchant, I didn’t realise I’d posted as a partner sorry.

To reply to your comments overall, yes, implementing this stuff via apps is not basic/simple and yes, pre-orders, gifts with purchase, bundling and cart upgrades were formula one stuff a few years back. But if you invest in ecom training or mentoring, you quickly discover it’s basic ecom in 2021 - it moves fast.

But nothing mentioned is specific to our business, every store on the platform would benefit hugely, that’s why everyone says you have to do it.

As for our own business shortcomings, it’s a mission! We invested heavily in training, mentoring, marketing. That’s how we learnt that retailers aren’t doing this stuff because they’re ‘advanced’, they’re doing it to survive. Implementing this stuff as best we could has turned our business around (further evidence it’s a requirement) but we’re always learning, adapt or die - right?

Possible Solution

Pre-orders are the thing breaking other apps because it modifies the buy button before or after other apps try to access the same thing. If Shopify provided a solution for pre-orders, maybe merchants could get the simultaneous features we need from apps, and Shopify limits/protects the app eco system?

But maybe Shopify will never go there however, feature requests go into a big black hole at Shopify.

Is the ability to take pre-orders and offer bundles simultaneously really that earth-shattering? I didn’t think I was a fist-shaking, on-another-planet merchant, or for asking how others deal with it. But maybe I am so sorry for that.

Thanks again for your suggestion of only using apps from the same developer. Cheers, Ben

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Implementing this stuff as best we could has turned our business around (further evidence it’s a requirement)

If that is backed by a/b testing and you have the accounting done proving the ROI then yes that’s ALOT more than some merchants have: Evidence to invest.

Wrong questions in wrong ways get wrong answers to wrong ways.

This is one of the reasons for the feeling of feature-requests going into a black hole:

Your not actually asking for anything, what is “Pre-order”.

By pre-order is the underlying need payment captures longer than 14 days?

Keeping credit cards on file?

Is it automatic fulfillment scheduling and notifications?

etc etc etc etc

In what ways can it not be be solved with an advanced theme customization for pre-order/backorder ; instead of relying on an app that trips up other apps through frontend manipulation of the AtC.

You’ve put a label on a thing but the detail is non-existent and among a million stores if you ask what that thing is that is not going to be a match with whatever tiny segment uses the forums or other online spaces.

Linking to existing feature-requests - I’m not saying to post a maximum-effort book each time you type pre-order but at minimum try to consistently beat the low-effort forum cliche by at least linking to existing feature-request discussions where at least someone…anyone has defined things to some level of workable detail that’s not just an echo chamber of no-effort back and forth merchants talking about different things under umbrella-terms not moving any needles.

, and Shopify limits/protects the app eco system?

They do, against bad actors. 4th parties software being proprietary and not intercommunicating or interoperating is not seen as a platform issue, it’s a merchants business process issue.

But maybe Shopify will never go there however, feature requests go into a big black hole at Shopify.

That is an growing sentiment I see happening. Meanwhile most feature requests are vague , nebulous , low effort, with little ground work and no backing ; making a situation where a platform reps can only respond with similarly vague, nebulous low effort non-backed responses :

"we’ve seen this and told X keep an eye on our changelog if it comes out ".

A lot of stuff DOES come out : https://changelog.shopify.com/

So it’s a fine cheap way to add a voice to awareness around an issue for a possible long-term payoff.

That is IF the feature works the way YOU need it to when it’s created. (see automatic discount limitations discussions).

It’s a passive gamble hoping something else solves a business problem instead of an active investment into business needs.

Is the ability to take pre-orders and offer bundles simultaneously really that earth-shattering?

An good example here is the need is for having long duration payment authorization windows across all payment gateways then yes it is that earth shattering.

Goodluck.

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For other merchants having this issue, we spent a few hours finding and contacting the big app developers that had multiple apps with these features: Hubify Apps, Nexus Media_ua, Power_io, Conversion Bear, Bold Commerce and Codeinero.

Interestingly, only Power_io and Codeinero got back to us but only Codeinero said their suite of apps talk to one another to deliver these features together: SALES ROCKET ‑ 40+ APPS in One

We’ve just installed it and set-up the pre-orders and the chat help to make it not look broken with the Debut theme was instant and the CSS wasn’t messy - kudos.

We’ll implement the other features today but so far, they’ll be getting 5 stars. Thanks for the suggestion, it’s working so far.

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Thanks for sharing this amazing information with us. It helped me a lot. I was in search of this from the last 2 months.