LebaTex — Shopify Inventory Automation
We worked with LebaTex, a textile supplier operating on Shopify, to automate several business operations including real-time inventory display and automated processing from multiple vendors.
Project Overview
The project involved custom Shopify development, real-time inventory display, automated inventory processing from multiple vendors, customer account approval workflows, and supporting integrations.
The goal was to reduce manual work, improve inventory accuracy, and provide customers with more useful information directly on the Shopify store.
Solutions We Delivered
Custom business solutions tailored specifically for LebaTex.
Real-Time Vendor Inventory
We developed a custom integration that connects Shopify with an external web service hosted on AWS to display real-time available quantity on product pages.
Automated Inventory Processing
Designed a workflow that reads IMAP email, processes CSV/Excel/PDF attachments, extracts quantities, and updates the central database automatically.
Customer Approval Workflow
Enhanced control over registrations by implementing a process to review, approve, or deny B2B customer accounts directly before full access.
1. Real-Time Vendor Inventory Display
LebaTex sourced products from multiple vendors, with inventory coming from external systems. Customers needed to see product availability without the team manually updating quantities.
- Receives product information from Shopify product pages.
- Sends requests to a custom web service hosted on AWS.
- Identifies the vendor and connects with their inventory source.
- Retrieves available quantity and displays it directly on the product page.
2. Automated Inventory Updates from Vendor Reports
Vendors provided inventory reports in multiple formats (CSV, Excel, PDF) on different schedules. We automated this entirely.
- Connects to a dedicated mailbox using IMAP.
- Automatically detects incoming inventory reports and parses CSV, XLSX, and PDF formats.
- Matches data with products and updates a central database.
- Makes the updated inventory information available to the Shopify integration automatically.
3. Technical Approach & Impact
The solutions developed for LebaTex help the business reduce manual work and improve inventory visibility.
Vendor Inventory Sources
↓
Email Reports / APIs / External Sources
↓
Automated Processing System
↓
CSV / XLSX / PDF Data Extraction
↓
Central Inventory Database
↓
Custom Web Service
↓
Shopify Product Pages
↓
Available Inventory Displayed to Customers
Frequently Asked Questions
Key technical details about Shopify inventory automation and custom integrations.
How does automated inventory ingestion work for Shopify stores?
An automated background listener (e.g. IMAP or secure webhook) continuously monitors incoming supplier emails. When an inventory report arrives, custom extraction workers parse tables from CSV, Excel, or PDF attachments, normalize SKU codes, update a central database, and synchronize available inventory directly to Shopify without manual data entry.
Can Shopify display real-time supplier stock without recurring app fees?
Yes. Instead of paying high monthly subscription fees for third-party marketplace apps that often slow down page loads, Emerald Soft engineers dedicated microservices and lightweight asynchronous endpoints. This architecture delivers sub-100ms real-time stock lookups while you retain 100% ownership of your proprietary code.
Can custom inventory automation handle suppliers with mismatched formats?
Yes. Different suppliers frequently format spreadsheets and tables in differing structures. Our extraction pipelines incorporate vendor-specific normalization rules to accurately map external vendor product identifiers to your primary Shopify catalog.
Ready to automate your Shopify operations?
From custom integrations to automated inventory processing, our team of experts is ready to help you succeed.