Case Study: Current Boutique

Overview

Current Boutique's business operations required specialized integrations that did not already exist in the Shopify space. Instead of trying to overhaul Current Boutique’s existing technology to try and work with existing apps, Virid created custom integrations to meet their specific needs.

The Approach

As a high-end consignment retailer, Current Boutique needed to be able to link their Shopify site with Liberty Resaleworld, which provides their ERP, CRM, and POS systems,.

The Solution

Virid developed a tailor-made integration between Shopify and Current Boutique’s legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP), point of sale (POS), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to maximize operational efficiencies for the retail team and create the best user experience for their consigners and customers.

Creating this custom integration provided Current Boutique with: 

• Near real-time two-way inventory updates 
• Seamless omni-channel consignor account experience
• Deep order integrations with the legacy ERP and CRM system

The integration with Liberty Resaleworld for Shopify included standard order, inventory and product management, along with a unique CRM integration, linking offline consigner accounts and credits with online Shopify accounts. The website integration makes it possible so that customers can view their account details online and in-store. Customers can view contact and billing information, past orders, items in their cart, and store credit.

Inventory Transparency

Since Current Boutique is a consignment business with online and brick-and-mortar locations, it typically only has one quantity of each SKU (stock keeping unit) making it important that their inventory updates as close to real-time as possible. The custom two-way integration between their new Shopify site and legacy ERP system keeps in-store and online inventory in sync. This communication prevents overselling an item through the store and online, vital with only one piece of inventory. 

Unique Customer Accounts

The second key element of the integration created for Current Boutique was developing a seamless omnichannel consigner experience. Consigner accounts created in the Liberty system were automatically linked with either existing online Shopify customer accounts or, if none existed, a new account would be created for them. Updates to key information from either system would be synced, making the two accounts appear to the customer to be one.

Current Boutique’s CRM handles the product information of the consignors, who in many ways function similarly to a wholesaler or marketplace seller. When items are accepted by Current Boutique for listing, they are linked to the consigner with a unique identifier. Consigners earn credit when any of their items sell. Consigners can visit their online account and see items they previously listed, current listings, and earnings.

Order Management

Consigners and store credit added complexity to the order management integration. In addition to exporting orders in real-time from Shopify to the Liberty system, and syncing statuses and order updates across both systems, the integration needed to handle unique requirements to Current Boutique. The solution was built to track which items were from which consigner to ensure that credit was correctly assigned for sales. The custom order integration also needed to take in account order returns and cancellations and update consigner credit balances accordingly.

Point of Sale

In store, Current Boutique has a legacy POS system provided by Liberty Resaleworld, which allows consigners to spend earned credits in stores. Virid built a custom 3-way API integration between Shopify, Liberty, and the Shopify App Rewardify so consigners could now spend their earned store credit online as well. As soon as they purchase in either channel, consigner account balances in all systems update real-time, creating a seamless customer experience. 

The Impact

When migrating to Shopify, retailers like Current Boutique need to determine how they will link their existing systems to the new website. Not all legacy systems have Shopify apps, or if they do, some retailers have unique needs that require an out-of-the-box solution. Replacing existing systems is an option, but switching is often slow, costly and disruptive, requiring new development, registers, hardware, software, and staff retraining. Virid was able to deliver a rich omnichannel experience and minimize costs and disruption for Current Boutique by including a robust custom integration between their existing legacy systems and Shopify as part of their site migration.