3 Steps to Building a Custom Shopify App for Large SKU Company
The goal is to help our merchants sell more products and reduce the manual work embedded in their current processes. By removing manual steps and automating core workflows, we’re able to help businesses save time, reduce errors, and ultimately sell more products.
At Ambaum, we specialize in developing custom applications for merchants, with a strong focus on the parts and automotive industry. These businesses often come to us with complex needs—large product catalogs, intricate inventory systems, and pricing workflows that don’t fit into a standard ecommerce mold.
One recent example that showcases this kind of work was a custom app we built for a tractor supply company with a high volume of SKUs. The client needed a more efficient way to manage their product pricing and inventory levels—tasks that were eating up time and introducing human error. Here’s our approach.
Step 1: Building the App with PHP, Python, and Laravel
Our tech stack for this project included PHP, Python, the Laravel framework, and a MySQL database. This allowed us to develop a robust backend that could handle data-heavy operations, while still being flexible enough to evolve alongside the merchant’s needs.
We used Python scripts to help process bulk data tasks like CSV parsing and inventory syncing, while Laravel served as the core of the application—managing business logic, routing, and integrations.
Step 2: Seamless Integration into Shopify Admin
We wanted the app to be intuitive and easily accessible for the merchant’s team, so we built a custom interface directly within the Shopify Admin. This meant the client could use the app without switching between platforms, which made adoption much smoother.
From the Shopify dashboard, they could log in, access the tool, and start managing SKUs right where they already worked day-to-day.
Step 3: SKU Management with Bulk Upload Support
The primary function of the app was SKU management. We designed it to allow the merchant to input product part numbers or SKUs either one at a time or in bulk via CSV upload. This flexibility was key—sometimes they only needed to update a handful of products, but other times, entire product lines needed updating.
The app then automatically adjusted pricing and synced inventory levels, ensuring everything stayed accurate and up to date.
What This Means for Merchants
This is just one example of a custom app that can be built on top of Shopify. The goal is to help our merchants sell more products and reduce the manual work embedded in their current processes. By removing manual steps and automating core workflows, we’re able to help businesses save time, reduce errors, and ultimately sell more products.
Have any questions or need help thinking through a challenge or opportunity?
Speak to one of our Shopify professionals today. We are are here to help… no strings attached.
