Theme & App possiblities

Retired Boards Appdev Store Design
, ,

Topic summary

Feasibility of building a Shopify store for custom cakes with date-based capacity limits and complex product options.

  • Date limits and calendar on product page: Not native. Suggested app: Zapiet ‑ Pickup + Delivery to restrict available pickup/delivery dates and manage capacity.

  • Complex options and dynamic pricing: Native variants are limited (no per-option price adders; risk of variant explosion). Suggested apps: SC Product Options for dynamic price adjustments and conditional options; Easify Product Options as an alternative providing checkboxes, text fields, and size-based configurations (demo screenshots shared).

  • Explanatory text per option: Can be added via product description or metafields (custom data). To change text dynamically based on selections, use theme code combining JavaScript with Liquid (Shopify’s templating language).

  • UI references: Images of the desired product page and app demo examples are central to understanding the intended configuration.

Outcome/status: No final decision; recommendations provided to evaluate the above apps and consider custom theme coding for dynamic behavior. Discussion remains open.

Summarized with AI on January 7. AI used: gpt-5.
1

Hi everyone! I’ll be building a new store for a client, and we’re trying to choose an appropriate platform. I have a few questions regarding Shopify’s capabilities, as it’s a specific case in terms of products / options needed. Here are a few pain points:

  1. The store is going to sell custom made cakes / treats. They can only produce so many cakes for a certain date, so there needs to be some order limit per date. Customers should be able to pick an available delivery or pickup date at the product page (before they add the product to cart). This also needs to have some calendar interface for easier tracking.

  2. Each product has multiple options like size of the box (small/large), taste (7-10 options), options (as checkboxes) for piped message, or added greeting card with message which open a text area to enter text.

I’ve been exploring Shopify’s admin & apps. For variants, it seems there’s no dynamic calculation, and every possible scenario needs to be priced manually, rather than specifying “X option adds $10 to the price” for example. This would mean I need to setup 100s of options & variants for each product, which would be silly. Am I missing something?

  1. We need some added text & explanation to the different options as well. For example, on each product box sizes contain a particular amount of treats, which are listed below the option.

If you can point me to apps that allow said customization, that would be great. I’d be willing to code a theme from scratch to match our design & customize variant selection, but I need to know what’s even possible on the back end before we commit.

Here’s what we’re aiming for in the product page:

spas_0-1705934398875.png
spas_0-1705934398875.png618×647 43.2 KB

2

Hi - this project sounds very interesting, and while some of the requirements you have are not possible natively, there could be some apps you can use to achieve what you’re looking for.

  1. Order limit per date: this could be possible with Zapiet ‑ Pickup + Delivery, which allows you to set date restrictions on orders.

  2. Advanced variant and rules: Shopify’s standard variant system does have limitations regarding dynamic pricing and the number of options/variants. However, apps like SC Product Options can offer more flexibility and allow you to create options that dynamically adjust the product’s price based on the customer’s selection. For example, you can set a base price for a cake and then add additional costs for specific sizes, tastes, or extra features like a piped message or greeting card.

  3. Added Text & Explanation for Options: You can add descriptions and additional information directly in the product description section or through metafields. If you want this information to change dynamically based on the customer’s selection, you might need to use a combination of JavaScript and Liquid in your theme’s code.

Hope this helps,

1 Like
3

Hi @spas ,

You can consider utilizing the Easify Product Options app to fulfill your custom options needs. While it may not precisely mimic your reference, it’s capable of achieving similar goals :blush: .

Demo:

  • Small Box:

12.png
12.png2307×1733 269 KB

  • Large Box:

13.png
13.png2303×1712 273 KB

  • Checkboxes & Text fields:

14.png
14.png2300×2302 319 KB

If you’re interested in exploring this app further, feel free to let me know, and I can guide you through the setup process step by step :hugs: .

1 Like