Brief
For a well-known computer manufacturer, we designed and implemented a dedicated order status tracking platform, fully integrated with their Shopify store. The solution includes an administration panel and a customer portal, helping to increase transparency in the order fulfillment process for custom-made products.
Problem and Challenge
Company Y is a renowned gaming computer manufacturer that offers customers the ability to configure systems according to their individual preferences. Due to the complexity of the fulfillment process, which includes ordering individual components, staged assembly, and packaging, there was a growing number of inquiries from customers who regularly contacted customer service to get information about their order’s current status and expected shipping date.
The lack of process transparency caused customer frustration and overwhelmed the customer service department.
Given these problems, the client needed a solution that would:
- Allow customers to continuously track their order progress.
- Reduce the number of inquiries to customer service.
- Enable transparent internal order management.
- Be fully integrated with their Shopify store.
- Maintain visual consistency with existing brand identity.
Solution
To address these challenges, we implemented a dedicated web application fully integrated with the Shopify platform. Our solution consisted of two main components:
- Administrative panel for employees, which enables automatic order retrieval from Shopify, status updates (e.g., waiting for parts, computer assembly, packaging, shipping), and assignment of individual orders to specific team members.
- Customer portal, where customers can quickly check their order’s current status, details of selected components, and get package tracking links. Access is provided without requiring login, which further enhances user experience.
We used modern technologies to create the platform, ensuring scalability and reliability:
- Frontend: React.js
- Backend: Node.js
- Shopify Integration: REST API
- Infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes, AWS
As a result of implementing this solution, Company Y noted:
- A significant decrease in customer inquiries to customer service
- Improved customer satisfaction through greater order process transparency
- Streamlined internal order management and employee action documentation
This is another of our implementations that involved expanding Shopify platform capabilities through integrated web applications that meet client needs.
The previous one involved collecting information from users through a form. We write about it here: Custom Shopify Solution for Dermatology E-Commerce.
Lessons Learned
In summary, we can successfully handle challenges related to:
- Effective use of Shopify API, enabling real-time data synchronization between systems
- Creating applications that run parallel to Shopify while maintaining full functional integration
- Maintaining visual consistency even in applications independent of the main platform
- Thoroughly investigating Shopify limitations – based on this, we consciously decided to build a separate platform, though we could have equally well delivered these features as a plugin
- Designing clear, multi-stage order tracking systems
Through this project, we gained practical experience in effectively expanding Shopify platform capabilities, allowing us to successfully execute similar projects for other e-commerce companies.
If you’re facing similar challenges – contact us. We’ll build a solution tailored to your process.
