Custom dropshipment app for specialist retailers
A specialist shop can't stock everything, but its suppliers can. With dropshipping, the supplier delivers directly to the customer. Appfront builds an app that lets shop staff show suppliers' ranges with their stock and delivery times, place the order with the customer there, and track its status without phoning, connected to your till and dropshipping software.
What is a dropshipping app for the specialist shop?
A customer in a specialist shop comes for advice and often asks about a size, colour or version that the shop doesn't have in stock. The supplier does. With dropshipping, the shop orders the product and the supplier delivers it directly to the customer, or to the shop for collection. That way the shop sells more than fits on its shelves.
In practice, this happens at the counter with a supplier portal, a phone call or an email. The employee doesn't know whether something is in stock, the customer goes home with the promise of a call, and when the customer later asks where their order is, someone has to track it down. Sales are lost to an online shop this way.
We build an app because that sale happens on the shop floor, with the customer there. The employee sees the suppliers' range with stock and delivery time, places the order, and the customer gets a message when it's on its way. For splitting orders, importing stock feeds and monitoring margin in the back office we have separate software, and the app and that software share the same model.
Range in the shop
Suppliers with stock and delivery time.
Ordering with the customer
On the shop floor, paid for at the till.
Status without calling
Track and trace for employee and customer.
How we build your dropshipping app for the specialist shop
We start on the shop floor: which questions do employees get about products you don't stock, which suppliers are orders placed with, and how does that work now. Then we define which suppliers provide stock and delivery time, and how orders reach them. We often begin by showing the range with stock, because the employee then has an answer for the customer straight away. Ordering via the till and the status for the customer follow after that. After launch, we keep the app up to date as suppliers or your systems change.
Questions, suppliers and current ordering.
Stock, delivery time and ordering.
Show, order, track.
Go-live, integrations and maintenance.
What a dropshipping app for the specialist shop actually does
The components below appear in almost every dropshipping app for the specialist shop. Which ones you need depends on your suppliers.
Range
From all suppliers.
Stock
And delivery time per item.
Comparing
With the customer there.
Order
Paid for at the till.
Status
Track and trace.
Customer message
When it's on its way.
Who we build a dropshipping app for the specialist shop for
The app is intended for specialist shops that want to sell more than what's on the shelves. The broader the suppliers' range, the more it delivers.
Bike shops
Many sizes and models. Stock matters.
Outdoor and sports
Seasonal items. Delivery time matters.
Music and hobby
Wide range. Advice is the core.
Franchise chains
Shared suppliers. Consistency matters.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we make your idea tangible in a single day for €1,150, so you know whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we deduct the cost in full.
View OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about the app on the shop floor. For splitting orders, stock feeds and margin in the back office, see our page on dropshipping software for the specialist shop; for an online shop with dropshipping, our page on a dropshipping webshop; and for the till, our page on point-of-sale software. You can read about our way of working on custom software development.
Why Appfront for your dropshipping app for the specialist shop?
A customer who goes home with the promise of a call, and an order nobody can find, cost a specialist shop sales to the online shop. That's what we build on: the full range in the shop, ordering with the customer there, and a status everyone can see.
Sell more
Not just what's on the shelves.
Instant answers
Stock and delivery time.
No chasing around
Status for everyone.
Security and privacy for a dropshipping app for the specialist shop
The app processes customer data, such as name, address and contact details for delivery, as well as order data and purchase prices. We only use the data that is needed, purchase prices are only visible to those who need them, and every order is logged.
The app and the underlying environment run in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. We record the processing in a data processing agreement.
Frequently asked questions about a dropshipping app for the specialist shop
Questions specialist retailers ask before getting started.
Dropshipment means the shop sells a product that the supplier delivers directly to the customer, or to the shop for collection. This lets a specialist retailer sell more than it has on the shelves, without holding the stock itself.
The software is for the office: splitting orders between your own stock and the supplier, importing stock feeds and monitoring the margin per line. The app is for the shop floor: the staff member who shows the range and places the order with the customer present. They can be built together and then share the same model.
From the stock feeds, portals or integrations that suppliers offer. In the first step we look at which suppliers provide what, and how often. For a supplier without a feed, the app can show a delivery time that you set yourself.
Through your own till, just like for a product from the shop. The app prepares the order and the till takes payment, so revenue and VAT end up in your accounts in the usual way. Exactly how this works depends on your till system.
Yes, if you want that. The customer receives a message when the order is on its way, with track-and-trace, or when it is ready for collection in the shop. The staff member sees the same status in the app.
On iOS and Android, on a phone or tablet on the shop floor. A tablet often works well for browsing the range together with the customer.
Check that first. Some till systems can order from suppliers. A custom app makes sense if you order from several suppliers, if stock and delivery times are not in the till, or if you want to give the customer a status update without having to phone.
The full range of your suppliers in the shop?
Tell us which suppliers you order from, how that works now, and which till system you use. We'll show you what the app looks like.