Breaking Shopify's Limits: Overcoming Challenges
As Bids.com expanded, scaling its Shopify storefront while providing customers with the best product auction experience became increasingly difficult due to Shopify Apps' API and frontend limitations. These restrictions prevented them from launching unlimited auctions and hindered their ability to provide a smooth bidding process.
As the number of products accelerated to thousands, system speed significantly decreased, which caused creating auctions at a rate no faster than eight per minute.
Another obstacle they faced was combining an automated inventory management system and a multi-level marketing program with matching their multi-channel approach. Managing auction data with a CSV file was labor-intensive and restrictive, so the client needed a more robust tool to keep tabs on orders and stock levels.
As the client's needs grew, so did their desire for a headless storefront to manage endless scalability and improve SEO performance. Unfortunately, the existing system had limitations on its front end which hindered other auctions from being launched or further enhanced to provide an effortless auction experience.
Undeterred by the obstacles, Bids.com was motivated to build a renowned international auction platform serving individual entrepreneurs and large organizations. They contacted VT Labs for assistance in overcoming these challenges to reach their aspirations.
Empowering Growth: Our Strategic Solution
Overcoming Shopify Online Store Limits
We upgraded to the more robust Shopify Plus platform with Shopify store limits in mind. Right away, we began curating our tech stack for the project.
Jamstack architecture is a popular approach for headless solutions that leverages static rendering on the client side. Although Jamstack excels at technical SEO for statically generated pages, it did not fit our project since multiple auctions close every 30 seconds. So, we could not use a serverless architecture for better product auction app performance and needed server-side rendering.
We used server-side rendered React for the front end, which is excellent for SEO. SSR allows users to see the content directly without waiting for React to run first, and Google does not have to use Javascript to render the content. Nodejs is a very convenient platform for hosting and running a web server for a React application.
But as Ruby on Rails powered the existing product auction app, we dug deeper and decided to follow the current stack and keep Rails to allow server-side rendering of our front end. By taking control over the backend, we removed limitations and boosted SEO.
Ruby on Rails Product Auction App
With Ruby on Rails' product auction app, users can partake in a highly competitive bidding process. Unlike auction apps from the Shopify App store, it was designed to support multiple bids within moments for an immersive experience that allows you to stay ahead of the game and ensure victory!
This application featured an innovative real-time bidding system, providing users with instantaneous notifications of the highest bid to decide promptly whether to offer a better price or withdraw from the auction.
Ruby on Rails auction app stood out for its user-friendly design, guaranteeing a smooth experience even for first-time users. Each category of active auctions was listed on the collection page, making finding and bidding on items of interest effortless.
With this intuitive interface, there was no hassle in navigating the platform and participating in bidding activities.
Not only did the app contain comprehensive shipping and payment processing abilities, but it also provided a secure transaction system to guarantee all transactions were sound. As a result, it was quick and straightforward for sellers to receive payments without worrying about fraudulent activities.
The Ruby on Rails auction app provided a stellar and enjoyable auction experience by combining a user-friendly interface, real-time bidding system, auto-bidding, buyout price, request a quote, hide price, 7-day free trial for shipping, and efficient payment/shipping features to develop a robust platform that caters to both buyers and sellers.
Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) programs
To further the success of our Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) strategy, we chose tapfiliate.com as an affiliate tracking solution that allows the client to easily encourage their massive global network of members to increase recruitment efforts. In addition, Tapfiliate's API connects seamlessly with Shopify and makes it simple for anyone to become an online promoter – share your referral links on social media!
Inventory Management
With their company gaining traction, the client found it increasingly harder to maintain order and inventory data. To make matters worse, utilizing Excel was a tedious process that hindered further growth opportunities - such as opening up the e-commerce platform for third-party sellers.
Adhering to our client's specifications, we chose a Shopify inventory management app with automated workflows as the solution. This powerful app allows us to set up auction time and automatically generate purchase orders, thus eliminating any concerns about running out of stock. In addition, all data is managed effortlessly and in one place for maximum convenience.
The auction app provides numerous features: you can easily create auctions, manage bulk auctions, and identify unsuccessful auctions to help maximize profits.
Administrators can easily customize the auction page and edit the entire auction, manage auction, set minimum price, set increment rules, and delete auction with just a few clicks. Additionally, they have access to three types of bidding - reserve price, proxy bidding, and popcorn bidding feature - sure to maximize user engagement on their page.
Checkout Customization
Shopify Plus provides powerful features and allows stores to customize their checkout page for specific needs. For example, we tailored our cart and checkout pages so customers could add items from multiple directories in one basket.
For example, with Shopify's help, customers were previously limited to buying auction items only; however, now it's possible for them to include 'Auction' and 'Buy Now' directory exchanges on top of that!
Web Design and Additional Functionality
The customer requested that the pre-existing store web design be preserved, so our team used Bootstrap to make it responsive. Additionally, we pinpointed and remedied some errors and made minor improvements to enhance the user interface/interaction.
Revolutionizing Online Auctions with Custom Development
Ultimately, our auction app development utilizing the power of Ruby on Rails and React enabled us to circumnavigate the restrictions of Shopify. Server-side rendering allowed for SEO optimization, while React use was a guarantee that page loading would be expedited with an optimal user experience in mind. The result is a highly reliable and scalable platform that can meet your ever-changing needs.
With our custom auction app boasting advanced features such as real-time bidding, automatic bidding, and powerful analytics, we've created an exciting and streamlined experience for both buyers and sellers. Our hard work is reflected in the amazing 70% conversion rate increase - a feat that could not have been accomplished without our dedicated development plan.
Our project displays the power of custom development and how it can revolutionize the online auction experience. We are delighted with our outcomes and are eager to deploy our knowledge to assist other businesses in attaining their objectives through tailored development solutions.
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