Shopify, offers flexible shipping options via “shipping profiles” occasionally encounters limitations that may hinder businesses seeking tailored solutions. This is where the freedom to develop carrier service applications becomes a game-changer, allowing companies to transcend constraints and customize freight charges to suit their unique needs.

First Light created a carrier service application for our client to handle the shipping rates/ methods for bulky items delivered around Australia. The logic was relatively complex to serve the correct delivery method and cost across a valet service (provided by the merchants own delivery vehicles), delivery to the nearest depot to the customer via a third party service and in select cases based on location and product provide an option to deliver from the depot. There was also a different set of rules applied for rental products vs purchased products and accessories. 

The First Light team were able to produce a solution by taking the desired logic and developing a custom Shopify application leveraging the Google routes API, Google address validation API and Google geocoding API. The result is greater shipping cost recovery and a smoother experience at checkout with upfront information about delivery methods and expectations. 

If you are facing limitations with delivery options and rates to suit your business model please contact us to discuss your shipping strategy and explore the options. 



Custom Shipping Application (Carrier Service)

First Light built a punchout catalog integration between an equipment supplier and a large Australian government organization. This allows the government organization to log into their procurement system (SAP) and be automatically logged into the supplier's e-commerce website (Shopify).

Once the user has added items to their cart and clicks "create purchase requisition," a purchase requisition is created in SAP for approval by the manager. Once the purchase requisition is approved, a purchase order is created and sent to Shopify. Shopify then pushes the order to the supplier's ERP system.

If you are confused about what a punchout catalog is, here is some general information. 

**What is a punchout catalog?**

A punchout catalog is a type of electronic commerce (e-commerce) catalog that allows buyers to purchase goods and services from suppliers directly from within their own procurement system. This is achieved through a process called "punchout," in which the buyer is temporarily redirected to the supplier's website to browse and select items. Once the buyer has finished shopping, they can "punch back" to their own procurement system to complete the purchase order.

Punchout catalogs offer a number of benefits for both buyers and suppliers. For buyers, punchout catalogs can help to streamline the procurement process by eliminating the need to manually enter product information into their procurement system. This can save time and reduce the risk of errors. Additionally, punchout catalogs can help buyers to enforce their procurement policies and procedures, such as by requiring approval for all purchases over a certain amount.

For suppliers, punchout catalogs can help to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction by making it easier for buyers to purchase their goods and services. Additionally, punchout catalogs can help suppliers to reduce their operational costs by automating the processing of orders.

**How do punchout catalogs work?**

Punchout catalogs are typically implemented using a standard called cXML (commerce XML). cXML is a messaging format that allows buyer and supplier systems to communicate with each other.

When a buyer wants to purchase an item from a supplier's punchout catalog, they initiate a cXML message to the supplier's website. The message contains information about the buyer's procurement system and the items that the buyer wants to purchase.

The supplier's website then authenticates the buyer and displays the requested items in the buyer's shopping cart. The buyer can then browse the catalog, add items to their cart, and edit their order.

Once the buyer is finished shopping, they can submit their order to the supplier's website. The supplier's website will then process the order and generate a cXML purchase order message, which will be sent back to the buyer's procurement system.

The buyer's procurement system will then process the purchase order and send it to the supplier through cXML. The supplier will then fulfill the order and ship the goods or provide the services to the buyer.

**Benefits of using punchout catalogs**

Punchout catalogs offer a number of benefits for both buyers and suppliers, including:

*   Streamlined procurement process: Punchout catalogs can help buyers to streamline the procurement process by eliminating the need to manually enter product information into their procurement system. This can save time and reduce the risk of errors.

*   Enforced procurement policies and procedures: Punchout catalogs can help buyers to enforce their procurement policies and procedures, such as by requiring approval for all purchases over a certain amount.

*   Increased sales: Punchout catalogs can help suppliers to increase sales by making it easier for buyers to purchase their goods and services.

*   Improved customer satisfaction: Punchout catalogs can help suppliers to improve customer satisfaction by providing a seamless and efficient purchasing experience.

*   Reduced operational costs: Punchout catalogs can help suppliers to reduce their operational costs by automating the processing of orders.

**Conclusion**

Punchout catalogs are a valuable tool for both buyers and suppliers. They can help to streamline the procurement process, reduce errors, enforce procurement policies, increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce operational costs.

If you are a buyer or supplier who is not currently using punchout catalogs, I encourage you to learn more about how they can benefit your organization.






SAP x Shopify punchout catalog integration 

#### Problem

A multi store, multi channel retailer had staff spending several hours per day creating branch transfers to stores in their ERP for backorders and click and collect orders when out of stock in store.

#### Solution

We created a Shopify/ Cin7 custom application to leverage the native Shopify click and collect functions and behind the scenes automatically create branch transfers in Cin7 (inventory system) when applicable. The result is a saving in 3 hours labour daily and the ability for customers to click and collect (or in store backorder) items from any location.


Click and collect automations

#### Problem

A marketing agency needed a high level view of the performance of multiple Shopify stores.

#### Solution

Using Shopify QL we created queries directly to their clients' stores via a custom application and displayed these results in a Google sheet that is updated several times per day.


Shopify store reporting dashboard

#### Problem

Shopify is generally used to sell multiple units of a single product SKU (product variant ID). The surfboard industry operates in a different way where each individual unit is identified (surfboard ID). This causes many problems when trying to sell in a conventional way on Shopify and use Shaperbuddy as the ERP system.

#### Solution

First Light created a custom Shopify application to consolidate individual products and product information into a single surfboard product model page. Stock status is managed to determine if a stock size has stock on hand or if it needs to be made to order. The end result is that the merchant can deliver a conventional ecommerce experience while maintaining an industry specific ERP. 





Shaperbuddy/ Shopify integration

#### Problem

A multi brand ecommerce retailer was investing a lot of time into maintaining lists of competitor pricing and setting prices based on this alongside fluctuating landed costs. 

#### Solution

First Light built a custom application to regularly scrape competitors' websites for pricing benchmarks, we then stored this in a database, applied pricing logic against COGS and automatically adjusted pricing in their ecommerce system (Shopify Plus) based on these rules.






Dynamic pricing engine 

#### Problem 

A merchant using Shiphero as their warehouse management software and inventory management system was unable to accurately measure profitability as Shiphero updates costs of products to the latest purchase order. It also did not factor in a breakdown of associated landed costs to apply to the goods. 

#### Solution 

First Light built a custom application to run the merchants selected cost of goods sold logic (average weight cost of goods sold) every time a purchase order was received and then update this to Shiphero and their ecommerce platform (Shopify Plus). This process also ran when additional costs were incurred after the PO had been received e.g import costs. 






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