details

Client
Universal Music Group
Services
Shopify Plus, Custom App

the brief

The world's leading music company, Universal Music Group (UMG), faced a significant challenge in their ecommerce operations on the Shopify platform: the absence of a native product bundling feature that could handle both inventory management and individual product sales effectively. The goal was to develop an innovative Shopify app that enabled the bundling of various items like records, t-shirts, and hats into single purchasable units at a discounted bundle price, while maintaining accurate inventory counts for both the bundles and their components.

challenges faced

  • Complex Product Relationships: The basic coding techniques for creating bundles failed due to complex parent-child relationships between bundles and individual products.
  • Database Management Difficulties: Managing a separate database for bundles led to data duplication, making it hard to keep bundle records synchronized across 1500 music artist stores.
  • Inventory Synchronization Issues: The high demand and fast pace of sales, especially during major releases by well-known artists, created race conditions, where the system processed orders more slowly than they were placed, leading to inventory discrepancies and over-selling.

the solution

To address these challenges, our team engineered a unique solution:

  • Unique JSON Data Structure: We developed a specialized JSON data structure to hold bundle information, which was embedded directly within Shopify's existing framework.
  • Dynamic Code Integration: Code was inserted into the Shopify theme to dynamically break down bundles into their individual components and apply the correct pricing at the "Add to Cart" action. This integration ensured that bundle pricing and inventory were managed accurately at the point of sale.
  • Advanced Data Handling: By eliminating data duplication and creating a system that could store data in a unique and accessible manner, we ensured that bundle information was managed effectively within Shopify's backend, regardless of the inventory setup.

project outcome

The creation of the Shopify bundling app significantly enhanced UMG's ecommerce operations. The app allowed for easy creation of product bundles, with flexible pricing options that encouraged more sales, while ensuring accurate inventory and integration with UMG's shipping platform. This led to improved customer satisfaction due to reliable product availability, faster processing times during checkout and established a new standard for product bundling within Shopify.

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