A Shopify store outgrew Shopify. Here's what we built to replace it.
An apparel brand at $3.2M revenue was hitting Shopify's limits: multi-warehouse inventory routing that Shopify's fulfillment network didn't support, a B2B wholesale channel with pricing rules Shopify couldn't model, and a custom loyalty program the existing Shopify apps couldn't implement correctly. The custom backend replaced all three problems. Shopify stayed for the customer-facing storefront.
An ecommerce brand needed warehouse routing logic, B2B wholesale pricing, and a custom loyalty program that Shopify's app ecosystem couldn't handle — leading to manual overrides, operational errors, and a customer experience the brand was embarrassed by.
The brand was running 3 warehouses: one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, and a 3PL partner in Texas. Shopify's native fulfillment logic routes orders to a single fulfillment location without the routing rules the brand needed: fastest delivery wins (route to the closest warehouse with the item in stock); if East Coast and West Coast are equidistant, prefer East Coast for margin reasons; split shipments only as a last resort and only if the split saves more than 2 delivery days. No Shopify app implemented this routing logic correctly.
The B2B wholesale channel (40 retail partners, $800k/year) required customer-specific pricing tiers, minimum order quantities per SKU, and net-30 payment terms — none of which Shopify's wholesale channel or third-party wholesale apps handled without significant manual workaround. The operations team was manually applying wholesale pricing as Shopify discount codes that were one step from accidentally being used by retail customers.
The loyalty program had been through 3 different Shopify apps in 18 months. The brand's loyalty model (points on purchase, bonus points on social share events tracked via a partnership with a social analytics tool, and points redemption with blackout periods during sale events) wasn't a fit for any of the generic loyalty apps.
A custom ecommerce backend handling inventory routing, B2B pricing, and loyalty — integrated with Shopify via API — eliminating the manual overrides and operational errors while keeping the storefront Shopify's team managed.
Inventory routing engine
A routing algorithm that evaluates warehouse stock levels, location relative to the customer's ZIP code, and the brand's priority rules to assign fulfillment location on order creation. Integrated with Shopify via the Admin API — the routing engine assigns the fulfillment location on order creation webhook. Split shipment logic with the business rule guardrails.
B2B wholesale module
Customer-specific pricing tiers stored in the custom backend, not as Shopify discount codes. The Shopify storefront for wholesale customers calls the custom API to get the customer-specific prices before displaying them. Net-30 invoicing via QuickBooks integration. Minimum order quantity enforcement at checkout via Shopify cart validation.
Custom loyalty program
Point accumulation on purchase (synced from Shopify order webhooks). Bonus points from social share events (synced from the social analytics partner API). Point redemption as Shopify discount codes created programmatically with blackout period enforcement. Customer loyalty dashboard showing balance and transaction history.
Operations dashboard
Admin view for warehouse routing decisions, B2B order management, loyalty program management, and the integrated view of orders across all three fulfillment sources.
One honest number to start.
Fixed-scope, fixed-price. The number below is the starting point — final scope is built from your brief.
A custom ecommerce backend handling inventory routing, B2B pricing, and loyalty — integrated with Shopify via API — eliminating the manual overrides and operational errors while keeping the storefront Shopify's team managed.
Three steps, every time.
The same repeatable engagement on every project. No surprises, no mystery, no billable ambiguity.
Brief & discovery.
We send you questions, then get on a call. Output: a written scope with every step, feature, and integration listed.
Build & ship.
Fixed schedule, weekly reviews. No scope creep unless you change the scope — and if you do, we reprice it transparently.
Warranty & retainer.
30-day warranty on every launch. Most clients stay on a monthly retainer for ongoing features and maintenance.
Why Fixed-Price Matters Here
The scope was defined by the 3 existing problems. Fixed price against specific deliverables.
Related engagements.
Shopify is the right platform for 90% of e-commerce businesses. We build for the other 10%.
Read more02Your ecommerce backend works perfectly at 100 orders a day. At 1,000, it breaks.
Read more03You've tried every SaaS tool in the category. None of them fits how your business actually works.
Read moreQuestions, answered.
The brand's marketing and design team runs the storefront. Shopify's CMS, theme ecosystem, and marketing integrations are genuinely the right tool for the customer-facing store. The problems were in the operational logic behind the storefront — which is where the custom backend lives. The Shopify API is well-documented and stable; integrating with it is the correct architecture for a brand that wants to keep Shopify's team-accessible storefront.
The routing engine runs on order creation and on fulfillment failure webhooks. If a warehouse reports a stockout after routing assignment, the engine re-routes to the next-best fulfillment option and updates the Shopify order. The brand's operations team gets a notification for split shipments and rerouting events.
The Shopify storefront continues to function — it doesn't depend on the custom backend for the purchase flow. Orders created during backend downtime are queued and processed when the backend recovers. The only customer-visible impact during downtime is the loyalty dashboard unavailability.
$51,000 for the full custom backend with routing engine, B2B module, and loyalty program. 14 weeks.
Warehouse routing errors reduced from 12/week to 0. B2B pricing errors eliminated. Loyalty program complaints (previously the top support ticket category) reduced by 94%.
Tell Ryel about your project.
Describe what you’re building and what outcome you need. You’ll have a written, fixed-price scope within the week.