Beyond study session #32 Shopify app developer talks! We held an explanation of Shopify customization

Hello.
I'm Mandai, in charge of Wild on the development team.
This is a report on the 32nd Beyond study session, which was attended by many people, ``Shopify app developer talks! Explanation of Shopify customization''.
Beyond's shopify development know-how is on display!
Each section is filled with knowledge gained during development, so reading each section will definitely help you improve your Shopify app development!

First session: Reality of Shopify app development

The top batter is "The Reality of Shopify App Development" by Sato from the System Development Department, but to put it simply, it's too real to publish.
It was a tear-jerking section of the study session report, but the comparison with a large-scale e-commerce site that was far more realistic than the previous presentations was refreshing.

By the way, the previous mild session is here.
“Shopify introduction story” Beyond Co., Ltd. Daisuke Sato - YouTube

The biggest advantage of opening a store with Shopify is that while you can develop your store with your own domain and a free layout, behind-the-scenes store management can be easily done using Shopify's functions.
Up until now, if you wanted a brand feel, you had to develop a site from scratch, but with Shopify, you can maximize your unique brand feel without having to develop functions related to product management. This means that development costs can be reduced.

There are also functionality extension apps that can be installed from the Shopify official page in the category of public apps, so if the desired functions match, it will be smoother to use the public apps, but many of them are not available in Japanese. It can be difficult at times.
There are apparently over 5,000 public apps registered with Shopify, so it seems like most things can be done with public apps.

If you develop an app called a private app, you can make fine adjustments, but the real story from here on is that the development cost will be high.
If you casually receive a quote, there will be a slight gap in cost between you and the public app, as some people may be disappointed in the price you receive, or some may say they will consider it but never contact you.
Of course, Beyond also handles private app development, but I wonder if a development company with a track record of creating similar functions and know-how will be able to reduce costs.
It may be a little difficult to find a development company, but in order to keep costs down, it is best to contact a variety of companies.

It's so real~

 

Second session Overview and flow of private app development

In the second section, Mr. Fukui, also from the System Development Department, introduces the general flow of actually developing a private app for Shopify.
It seems like you can open a store without any hesitation.

There is also a development store, which has the following features:

• Unlimited test order
• Create unlimited dummy products
• Create up to 10 private apps

All of them are useful for testing during development, so it's a good idea to use them actively.

Shopify also provides APIs and webhooks to integrate with external applications.
These two things allow you to extend the functionality of Shopify with your own applications, but webhooks are particularly important.

There are many different types of webhooks, so we couldn't provide an exhaustive list in this section, but you can check the list in
the Webhooks · Shopify Help Center I don't think it's necessary to explain the API any further, but I think it's good that there are two types of APIs available: REST format and GraphQL format, and you can choose the one that suits your backend system.

Finally, an introduction to Liquid for page creation.
At first glance, I got the impression that it looked similar (or is it the same?) as ruby's erb file, but there are template engines like this for any programming language, and they all have slightly different functions and writing styles, so there are some differences. It doesn't seem like it would be too much trouble.

Now that you know that the features that Shopify provides for developing private apps are mostly based on technologies that you use on a daily basis, the hurdles may have been lowered considerably.

[Shopify] "Overview and flow of private app development" Hiroto Fukui [Beyond study session #32] - YouTube

 

Third session: How to develop private apps for Shopify

Lastly, Hase from the System Development Department from the Yokohama office will introduce how to develop private apps in Kansai dialect!

Shopify itself comes with enough features to start e-commerce, but if you have already started e-commerce or want to link it with existing services such as point functions and subscriptions, you will need a private app. Masu.
This time, we will take a look at a site that sells bags that can be customized for each part, and proceed with the development of a private app.

The ability to allow users to select each part and customize the finished product would be quite a pain to create from scratch, but by judiciously using Shopify's functions and the processing on the private app side, it is possible to achieve this functionality with less man-hours. It seems like it can be done.
The ability to hook private app processing to Shopify-side processing is interesting as a mechanism, and is an essential feature when creating private apps, but now you know the tricks to how to use it.

Depending on your ideas, it seems that you can develop as many private apps as you like to improve user convenience, such as the point linkage introduced in the introduction of private apps.

"About how to develop a private app for Shopify" Tatsuya Hase [Beyond study session #32] - YouTube

 

summary

Beyond has a strong image of being an infrastructure company, but we also do system development! So, it was a system development department jack episode without any talk about infrastructure.
If you watch this video, you may be able to understand how to create a private app.

It's okay to make it yourself, but if you don't have the time, please contact us.
Contact form | Beyond Co., Ltd.

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lastly

I have opened the system development service site "SEKARAKU Lab" to which I belong.
Beyond is a one-stop service for everything from server design and construction to operation, so if you have any trouble with server-side development, please feel free to contact us.
SEKARAKU Lab: [https://sekarakulab.beyondjapan.com/](https://sekarakulab.beyondjapan.com/)