When Shopify is the right storefront but the wrong backend.
A streetwear brand at $2.8M in revenue needed wholesale pricing, loyalty mechanics, and inventory logic that Shopify couldn't model. A custom backend integrated via Shopify API handled all three — while keeping the Shopify storefront the marketing team runs without developer involvement.
A fashion brand's wholesale channel, loyalty program, and drop-based inventory logic couldn't be implemented correctly in Shopify — requiring manual workarounds that produced customer-facing errors during high-traffic launch events.
The brand's business model had three components that Shopify's standard feature set didn't support correctly: B2B wholesale (25 boutique retail partners, account-specific pricing, net-30 terms, minimum order quantities per SKU); a points-based loyalty program with specific earning and redemption mechanics tied to the brand's marketing calendar; and a drop-based retail model where new collections launched at specific times with inventory allocations that needed to enforce per-customer purchase limits.
The Shopify app solutions attempted for each: 6 wholesale apps evaluated, none handled the specific pricing tier structure correctly; 3 loyalty apps evaluated, none supported the blackout-period redemption rules required for sale events; and the drop inventory limit was attempted with a Shopify discount code system that was easily exploited (customers shared codes and exceeded the limit).
The failure cost was most visible during launches: at the most recent drop, 140 customers purchased quantities exceeding the per-customer limit, requiring manual order cancellations and customer service overhead. The loyalty blackout period was accidentally not enforced at the last sale event, costing approximately $4,200 in loyalty redemptions that should have been blocked.
A custom operations backend handling wholesale pricing, loyalty point mechanics, and drop inventory management — integrated with Shopify via API — eliminating the launch-day errors and the manual inventory management.
B2B wholesale module
Wholesale customer accounts with account-specific price tier configuration. Shopify storefront calls the custom API to retrieve the customer's prices before rendering the product page (using Shopify's Storefront API customisation). Net-30 invoicing generated automatically from wholesale orders. Minimum order quantity enforcement at the cart validation stage.
Custom loyalty engine
Point accumulation events: purchase (1 point per $1), product review (50 points), social share (25 points, verified via a social analytics webhook). Point redemption as Shopify discount codes generated programmatically. Blackout period configuration: a calendar of dates when redemption is blocked. Point expiry after 12 months with 30-day advance notification email.
Drop inventory management
Per-customer purchase limits enforced at checkout using Shopify's cart validation API — the validation queries the custom backend, which checks the customer's order history for the drop product and returns an error if the limit is exceeded. Inventory allocation rules: the first N units reserved for loyalty members for the first 30 minutes, then opened to general access.
Operations dashboard
Wholesale order management with invoice status tracking. Loyalty program management with member search, point adjustment, and redemption history. Drop inventory monitoring with real-time purchase limit enforcement status.
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 operations backend handling wholesale pricing, loyalty point mechanics, and drop inventory management — integrated with Shopify via API — eliminating the launch-day errors and the manual inventory management.
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
Specific problems with measurable costs. Fixed scope, fixed price with clear ROI framing.
Related engagements.
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Read moreQuestions, answered.
Three integration points: the product page price display (Shopify's theme calls the custom API via JavaScript to get the customer-specific price for wholesale customers); the cart validation (Shopify's cart validation webhook fires before checkout, the custom backend validates purchase limits and returns allow/deny); and the loyalty redemption (the custom backend generates a Shopify discount code and injects it into the customer's account via the Admin API).
The Shopify storefront falls back gracefully: wholesale customers see standard retail pricing (the Shopify product price) rather than custom pricing, and the error is logged for resolution. The checkout flow doesn't block — the purchase limit validation is a best-effort check rather than a hard gate, with post-purchase order review as the fallback for limit violations during backend downtime.
The loyalty program configuration is managed via the admin dashboard: blackout dates, point earning rules (the multipliers), and the redemption thresholds. Structural changes to the earning logic or redemption mechanics (new event types, new reward structures) are developer changes.
$44,000 for the wholesale module, loyalty engine, drop inventory management, and admin dashboard. 12 weeks.
Zero per-customer limit violations (down from 140 at the previous drop). Zero unintended loyalty redemptions. Wholesale pricing accuracy: 100% correct on first pull (previously approximately 95% accurate, requiring manual price checks on 5% of wholesale orders).
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.