Arabian Oud Shopify Build
Unified E-Commerce Architecture Across 37 International Markets
Executive Summary
Arabian Oud is replatforming its international e-commerce operations from Salla to a unified Shopify Plus infrastructure. The international business currently spans 37 countries operated across separated storefronts, with all backend management handled by the technical e-commerce department in Arabian Oud's head office.
This document outlines commercial build ballparks for a unified e-commerce architecture designed to give the international commercial team operational agility, resolve historical conversion friction, and establish an automated, reliable fulfillment pipeline through Arabian Oud's existing central Order Management System (OTO).
- Phase 1 Pilot (1 RTL + 1 LTR): Validates all technical touchpoints (Shopify store, OTO sync, ERP order return, payment methods, and 6-bottle EU rule) in production across 1 agreed flagship RTL market and 1 agreed LTR market (e.g. UK or France / EU fulfillment hub).
- Phase 2 Global Rollout (35 Markets): Rolls out the remaining 35 international markets in structured waves once Phase 1 operational benchmarks are verified.
Conversion & Operational Bottlenecks
Arabian Oud has identified five specific root causes depressing conversion rates and slowing commercial execution. This project directly addresses each bottleneck:
A bespoke, lightweight Shopify 2.0 theme built for rapid mobile rendering, eliminating bloated legacy code and slow asset delivery.
Custom address input and validation engineered via Shopify Checkout Extensibility to eliminate friction and failed deliveries across international destinations.
A unified store topology utilising Shopify Markets to provide tailored currencies, localised pricing, and regional language layouts per country.
Native integration with Shopify Discounts and Promotions, empowering the international commercial team to launch seasonal campaigns, bundles, and tiered promotions immediately without technical delays.
Empowers the international commercial team to adapt and change websites quickly, addressing promo activation latency and operational dependencies highlighted as a primary conversion opportunity.
Core Architectural Objectives
Unified Store Topology
Consolidate 37 regional Salla storefronts into a centralized Shopify Plus architecture using Shopify Markets for regional pricing, localized currencies, and native RTL/LTR layouts.
Automated OTO OMS Pipeline
Preserve existing 3PL warehouse logistics and central ERP reconciliation via direct bi-directional synchronization between Shopify Plus and Arabian Oud's central OTO platform.
Checkout Conversion & Address UX
Resolve historical sub-0.8% conversion bottlenecks through Shopify Checkout Extensibility, localized address validation, and native self-serve promotional controls.
European Compliance & Tax Hub
Automate the 6-bottle perfume checkout restriction for European destinations and integrate automated tax engines (Avalara for US, Quaderno / EU OSS for France fulfillment hub).
Architectural Rationale: Native Shopify 2.0 vs. Headless
While headless architectures (e.g. Hydrogen or bespoke decoupled frontends) are often evaluated for large international catalogs, a native Shopify 2.0 theme architecture has been selected as the optimal framework for Arabian Oud for the following reasons:
Commercial Team Autonomy
Headless frontends require engineering tickets and developer intervention for routine layout changes, navigation edits, and promo landing pages. Native Shopify 2.0 empowers the international commercial team to adapt storefronts quickly using self-serve visual controls in the Theme Editor.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Headless setups introduce decoupled hosting infrastructure, ongoing API orchestration layers, and custom middleware maintenance across 37 storefronts. Native Shopify Plus eliminates hosting overhead, server maintenance, and middleware points of failure.
Native Checkout Extensibility & App Ecosystem
Native themes integrate directly with Shopify Checkout Extensibility, native promotional Functions, and standard partner apps (Avalara, WebEngage, Matrixify). Headless builds require custom API plumbing and bespoke checkout workflows for third-party tools.
Edge Performance & Bi-Directional Layouts
Modern Shopify 2.0 themes deliver fast mobile rendering and native bi-directional layout switching (RTL and LTR) directly on Shopify global CDN edge nodes without the latency of third-party rendering servers.
Scope of Work
Delivery is structured into 12 focused engineering and migration work packages addressing storefront UX, OMS integration, logistics compliance, data migration, and staged rollout.
WS 01
Discovery, Technical Architecture & Data Mapping
4 Days
- Full audit of all 37 Salla storefront URLs and backend service configurations.
- Ingestion and schema mapping of Salla customer, order, and product data exports.
- Technical mapping of OTO OMS endpoints for bidirectional inventory and order synchronisation.
- Confirmation of bi-directional layout coverage (RTL and LTR reading directions) and Quaderno tax status for France.
WS 02
Storefront UI/UX Design & Bi-Directional Design System
8 Days
- Premium fragrance visual design reflecting Arabian Oud brand equity.
- Native bi-directional interface design supporting both Right-to-Left (RTL) and Left-to-Right (LTR) reading directions.
- Mobile-first UX with bottle size variant selectors (50ml, 100ml, 200ml) and scent/colour collection attribute displays.
- Side-cart drawer styling with localised currency displays.
WS 03
Storefront Theme Development & RTL/LTR Build
10 - 12 Days
- Front-end build of custom Shopify 2.0 theme adhering to approved designs.
- Full RTL/LTR bi-directional template engineering and rapid AJAX side-cart drawer.
- Bespoke PDP components for bottle sizing and collection scent/colour variants.
- Mobile navigation architecture optimized for high-speed catalog browsing across all 37 storefronts.
WS 04
Checkout Address Optimisation & Promotional Engine
7 Days
- Address Validation & Capture: Streamlined address collection via Shopify Checkout Extensibility, tailored to eliminate address input friction and checkout drop-off.
- Promotional Agility: Native configuration of Shopify Discounts and Functions, giving commercial teams self-serve promotional controls to launch and schedule promotional campaigns without technical delays.
WS 05
OTO OMS Connector & Order Synchronisation
8 - 10 Days
- Direct integration between Shopify Plus and OTO (Arabian Oud central Order Management System).
- Real-Time Stock Updates: Automated inventory sync pulling live quantity levels from OTO into Shopify Plus.
- Automated Order Injection: Orders placed on Shopify Plus pass directly into OTO for automated reconciliation with ERP and dispatch routing.
- Fulfillment & Tracking Updates: OTO pushes carrier tracking numbers and fulfillment statuses back to Shopify Plus, triggering customer notifications.
- Preserved 3PL Network: Uses OTO's established connections to all regional 3PL partners without custom carrier API development.
WS 06
European 6-Bottle Order Restriction & France Shipping Hub
3 Days
- Native Shopify Functions Checkout Validation rule enforcing max 6 perfume bottles per checkout order for European delivery addresses.
- Configuration of dedicated European fulfillment profile for shipments dispatched from France across EU member states.
WS 07
International Tax Architecture
4 - 5 Days
- United States: Avalara (AvaTax) integration for automated state sales tax calculation and reporting.
- European Union: Quaderno integration (or native EU One Stop Shop VAT rules) for orders fulfilled from France across EU destinations.
- Rest of World: Native fixed VAT rate configuration per destination market.
- Multi-Entity Tax Routing: Multiple entity linking is outside the estimated effort for this task and will need further discussion and scoping during discovery. Connecting distinct corporate entities, subsidiary tax registrations, or segregated merchant accounts into Avalara and Quaderno requires dedicated evaluation.
WS 08
Data Migration
9 - 12 Days
- Full migration of ~400 fragrance SKUs, bottle size variants (50ml, 100ml, 200ml), and color/scent collection variations.
- Extraction, cleansing, normalization, and ingestion of customer accounts and profiles.
- Ingestion of under 100,000 historical orders preserving customer purchase history, past order records, and order financial statuses.
- Data will be exported directly from the existing Salla platform rather than via API integration, followed by formatting and ingestion via Matrixify.
WS 09
SEO Migration
3 Days
- Full crawl of existing 37 Salla storefronts and extraction of all live PDP, category, and content URLs.
- Construction of complete 1:1 SEO 301 redirection matrix mapping legacy paths to the new Shopify domain topology.
- Redirect CSV import, post-launch indexation checks, and canonical audit across international search engines.
WS 10
WebEngage CRM Integration
2 Days
- Standard WebEngage app and web pixel installation to continue the client's ongoing marketing rollout.
- Instrument core e-commerce lifecycle events: product views, cart additions, checkout initiations, and completed orders.
WS 11
Phase 1 Pilot Launch & Quality Assurance
5 Days
- End-to-end integration testing across OTO inventory sync, order capture, and tax engine calculation.
- Cross-browser and mobile device QA across both RTL and LTR storefront layouts.
- Production cutover and commercial go-live for Phase 1 Pilot: 1 agreed RTL market and 1 agreed LTR market (e.g. UK or France / EU fulfillment hub).
WS 12
Phase 2 Global Market Rollout & Handover
4 - 5 Days
- Staged activation and rollout of remaining 35 international markets via Shopify Markets.
- Full 37-domain redirect verification and canonical indexation check.
- Operational training and handover documentation for the international commercial team.
Project Exclusions
Clear scope boundaries ensure alignment and prevent project friction. The following items are explicitly excluded from this migration ballpark:
- In-Store Pickup (Click-and-Collect / BOPIS): Physical boutique pickup is not currently active across the store network. While noted as an area of client interest, all in-store pickup and POS retail integration workflows are excluded from this project scope and may be explored as a post-launch enhancement once retail store requirements are defined.
- Custom ERP Middleware & Carrier API Builds: No bespoke middleware or direct carrier API builds are included, as inventory sync, order reconciliation, and 3PL carrier handoffs are managed entirely through the existing OTO OMS connection.
- Translation Authoring & Content Entry: All localized copy, product descriptions, and multi-language translations across all 37 markets are to be provided by Arabian Oud. The project scope is strictly limited to template engineering and facilitating the two reading directions (RTL and LTR).
Two-Stage Phased Delivery Roadmap
Delivery is structured in two sequential stages across a 21-week schedule with stage-gated milestones.
Phase 1: Pilot Launch (1 RTL + 1 LTR)
Validates all technical touchpoints in production across 1 agreed flagship RTL market and 1 agreed LTR market (e.g. UK or France / EU fulfillment hub). Proves OTO inventory sync, ERP order returns, tax calculation, and the European 6-bottle rule in live operations.
Phase 2: Global Market Rollout (35 Markets)
Deploys the remaining 35 international markets in structured waves via Shopify Markets once Phase 1 operational benchmarks are verified. Includes complete 37-domain SEO validation and full commercial handover training.
21-Week Delivery Schedule
Project Effort Breakdown & Commercial Investment
Effort is estimated in working days (1 Day = 8 Hours). QA, project management, and technical architecture are absorbed within each workstream.
| # | Workstream Deliverable | Core Focus & Deliverables | Effort Range | Ballpark (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery & Technical Specifications | 37 Salla URL audit, OTO endpoint mapping, language matrix, Quaderno verification | 4 Days | AED 16,000 |
| 2 | Storefront UI/UX Design System | Bi-directional (RTL & LTR) UI design kit, PDP size/scent selectors, luxury side-cart | 8 Days | AED 32,000 |
| 3 | Storefront Theme Development & RTL/LTR Build | Custom Shopify 2.0 theme build, RTL/LTR templates, PDP components, AJAX cart | 10 - 12 Days | AED 40,000 - 48,000 |
| 4 | Checkout Address UX & Promo Engine | Address validation via Checkout Extensibility; native Shopify Discounts setup | 7 Days | AED 28,000 |
| 5 | OTO OMS Connector & Order Sync | Bi-directional OTO sync: real-time stock from ERP, automated order return, tracking sync | 8 - 10 Days | AED 32,000 - 40,000 |
| 6 | European 6-Bottle Order Restriction | Shopify Functions rule enforcing max 6 perfume bottles for EU delivery; France hub config | 3 Days | AED 12,000 |
| 7 | International Tax Architecture | Avalara AvaTax (US); Quaderno / native EU VAT (France hub); fixed VAT for Global / Rest of World | 4 - 5 Days | AED 16,000 - 20,000 |
| 8 | Data Migration | Full catalog (~400 SKUs), customer accounts, and historical orders (<100k) exported from Salla platform and ingested via Matrixify | 9 - 12 Days | AED 36,000 - 48,000 |
| 9 | SEO Migration | 37 Salla storefront URL crawl, 1:1 legacy URL mapping, 301 redirects, indexation audit | 3 Days | AED 12,000 |
| 10 | WebEngage CRM Integration | WebEngage app and web pixel setup with core e-commerce lifecycle event tracking | 2 Days | AED 8,000 |
| 11 | Phase 1 Pilot Launch & QA | End-to-end testing with OTO, tax validation, and cutover of 1 RTL + 1 LTR pilot market | 5 Days | AED 20,000 |
| 12 | Phase 2 Global Rollout (35 Markets) | Staged rollout of remaining 35 international markets, 37-domain SEO validation, handover | 4 - 5 Days | AED 16,000 - 20,000 |
| Total Build Ballpark | 67 - 76 Days | AED 268,000 - 304,000 | ||
Commercial investment based on a fixed agency blended rate of AED 4,000 per day (AED 500 per hour; equivalent to £880/day / £110/hour). Effort ranges reflect functional discovery variance and scope refinement across the 37 international markets.
Stage Payments Schedule
Payments are strictly tied to milestone completions and formal client sign-off gates.
| Milestone Gate | % Billed | Amount (AED) | Trigger & Acceptance Gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Kickoff & Deposit | 40% | AED 107,200 - 121,600 | Contract execution, project initiation, and kickoff. |
| Design & Specs Approval | 20% | AED 53,600 - 60,800 | Client sign-off on Functional & Technical Specification and bi-directional (RTL & LTR) UI design kit. |
| Release for UAT | 20% | AED 53,600 - 60,800 | Frontend code freeze, verified bi-directional OTO sync on staging, data migrations loaded, 301 matrix ready (End W10). |
| Phase 1 Pilot Launch | 10% | AED 26,800 - 30,400 | Production cutover and commercial go-live of Phase 1 Pilot markets: 1 agreed RTL and 1 agreed LTR market (End W16). |
| Phase 2 Rollout Completion | 10% | AED 26,800 - 30,400 | Completion of remaining 35 market rollout, 37-domain SEO 301 verification, and operational handover (End W21). |
| Total Project Invoicing | 100% | AED 268,000 - 304,000 | Stage-gated billing structure. |
Next Steps: Ballpark to Final Proposal
This document provides preliminary commercial build ballparks. Full project kickoff takes place following initial discovery and production of a final proposal and quote.
Ballpark Review & Sign-Off
Formal review and commercial sign-off on this ballpark proposal by Arabian Oud and Al Jasser Holding.
Discovery Workshop
Collaborative technical deep-dive to audit 37 storefront URLs, inspect OTO OMS endpoints, and confirm regional language and tax rules.
Final Proposal & Fixed Quote
B2 Agency to produce the definitive Statement of Work, delivery schedule, and final contract proposal before project kickoff.