Custom dropshipping software for specialist retailers
Appfront builds dropshipping software for specialist retailers who hold part of their range in their own stock and have the rest shipped directly by the supplier: the order is split, the supplier receives its part with the delivery address, the supplier's stock feed determines what is available to sell, and the customer sees one shop with one confirmation.
What is dropshipping software for a specialist retailer?
Dropshipping for a specialist retailer combines elements that most off-the-shelf solutions do not handle: a core of your own stock, which is what the shop is known for, and a broad range around it that the supplier ships directly to the customer. A single order can contain both. The software splits it, sends the supplier's part with the address and your packaging arrangements to the supplier, tracks what the supplier has dispatched, and gives the customer one overview.
Without a system like this, the shop does everything by hand: the order comes in, someone checks what is in stock and what isn't, emails the supplier, waits for a shipping confirmation and then updates the webshop. At ten orders a day that is manageable; at a hundred it isn't. And the webshop shows whatever the supplier has in stock: if that isn't synced automatically, you end up selling a bottle the importer ran out of last week.
We build custom solutions because every supplier works differently and because a specialist shop has its own rules: which products must never be dropshipped because the shop wants to pack them itself, how a split order is explained to the customer, and what the minimum margin must be before an item may be sold through a supplier. A dropshipping plugin knows one supplier and one rule; a specialist shop has ten suppliers and an opinion on each.
Order splitting
Per order line: own stock or supplier. The supplier's share goes out automatically with the delivery address, packing instructions and your reference; your share goes to your warehouse.
Supplier stock and pricing
The stock and price feed from each supplier is imported, with your margin and exclusion rules applied, so the webshop only shows what can actually be delivered.
Shipping, returns and margin
Track and trace from the supplier to the customer, returns via the agreed route, and the margin per line after purchase and shipping costs.
How we build your dropshipment software for a specialist shop
We start with your suppliers and your rules: who can dropship, how they supply orders and stock, and what you want to keep doing yourself. The software follows from that.
Which part is your own stock, which suppliers can ship directly, how they provide stock and prices, and how orders need to reach them. We look at the orders from the past few months.
The rules that decide per order line who fulfils it, the supplier order in each supplier's format, and the confirmation back.
Importing stock and prices per supplier, the margin rules and exclusions, and passing them on to the webshop.
Track and trace to the customer, returns via the agreed route, the integration with your accounting, and then management and onboarding of new suppliers.
What dropshipment software for a specialist shop actually does
The components below come up in almost every specialist shop that dropships. Which ones you need depends on the number of suppliers and how they work.
Splitting rules
Per item or group: always own stock, always supplier, or supplier when own stock runs out. With a minimum margin as a condition.
Supplier order
The order to the supplier in their format: interface, file or email, with address, packaging arrangement and reference, and the confirmation back.
Stock and price feed
Stock and purchase prices imported per supplier at the frequency they offer, translated into what the webshop shows and at which price.
Track-and-trace
The supplier's shipping number linked to the customer order, passed on to the customer as a shipment from your shop.
Returns
A return on a dropship line via the route agreed with the supplier: back to the supplier, back to you, or non-returnable, with the customer informed.
Margin monitoring
The margin per order line after purchase, shipping and any supplier costs, and an alert when an item sells below the threshold.
Who we build dropshipment software for
The software is intended for specialist shops where the webshop is a serious channel and the range is bigger than their own stock can carry.
Wine and delicatessen shops
Own selection in stock, the rest from importers. Importer stock feeds and shipping arrangements for fragile goods are the core.
Hobby and sports specialist shops
Thousands of items from wholesalers, with some stocked in the shop itself. Splitting rules and margin per line matter most.
Book and music shops
A large share goes through the distributor, with your own stock for the shop. The distributor's feed and split orders are what's needed.
Specialist shops with multiple suppliers
Every supplier has its own way of working. The format per supplier and the confirmation back are the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about dropshipping alongside your own stock. For a webshop that runs entirely on dropshipping, see our page on a dropshipping webshop, and for keeping stock in sync across shop, webshop and marketplaces, see our page on multichannel stock synchronisation. You can read about our approach at building software.
Why choose Appfront for dropshipping software for a specialist shop?
Dropshipping is only as good as the agreement with the supplier and the rule that decides who ships. That is what we build on.
Your rules, not the plugin's
Which item you pack yourself and which the supplier sends is your call as a shop. The software carries it out, per article, per situation.
Suppliers as they are
One has an interface, another a file each night, the third wants an email. All three are a supplier in the system.
The customer sees one shop
One confirmation, one track and trace per parcel, one place for a return. That the order comes from two parties is your concern, not the customer's.
Security and privacy in dropshipping software for a specialist shop
Orders contain customer addresses that go to suppliers. The software sends each supplier only the address and the lines it needs, records which data went to whom and when, and deletes it at the supplier where the integration allows that. We set the data processing agreements with suppliers alongside what the software actually does.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups. Integrations with the webshop, suppliers and accounting use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about dropshipping software for a specialist shop
Questions specialist shops ask before getting started.
It splits each order between your own stock and suppliers according to your rules, automatically sends the supplier's part to the supplier, reads stock and prices from suppliers so the webshop stays accurate, passes track and trace on to the customer, and monitors margin per order line.
According to rules you set: always own stock, always supplier, or supplier once own stock runs out. With conditions attached, such as a minimum margin or an exclusion for items you want to pack yourself. The rule sits on the article or group, and can be overridden case by case.
They receive the order as a file or an email in their format, and confirm in the way they already use; the confirmation is read in or processed with a single click. Stock can come from a nightly file. A supplier without an interface is slower, not impossible.
As one order with your shop, with a dispatch notification and a track-and-trace number for each parcel. The customer does not see which supplier ships, unless you choose to show it. For a return, they get the route that belongs to that item, under your shop's name.
Yes. Per order line, it calculates the margin after purchase price, shipping costs and supplier costs, and it raises a flag when an item drops below the threshold, for example because the supplier has raised its price. Items below the threshold can be removed from the webshop automatically.
Yes. Orders come in from your webshop, stock and prices flow back to it, and the till remains the place for in-store sales. We connect to what you already use; the software does not become a second webshop or a second stock management system.
Ask that first. A plugin works well with one supplier that has an interface and no stock of its own. Custom software makes sense if you combine your own stock with suppliers, if suppliers work differently from one another, or if you need rules on margin, exclusions and returns per item.
A wide range without holding everything in stock?
Tell us which part of your range is held in your own stock, how many suppliers you would like to ship from directly, and which webshop platform you use. We will show you what the split, the feeds and the margin monitoring look like.