Case Study: An AI-Supported Shopify Store for a Furniture Seller That Sold Mainly Through Online Marketplaces

Overview

Cospa Creation Co., Ltd., which deals in furniture and interior goods, sold directly to consumers through online marketplaces such as Rakuten Ichiba and Yahoo! Shopping. Marketplaces are strong at attracting customers, but the pages and checkout had to follow each marketplace's specifications, which brought constraints such as not being able to collect the information needed for furniture delivery at the time of ordering.

Following our renewal of Tsuhan Sozai, the company's B2B ordering service for business partners, the client came to us again, and we developed Precocirico, its own e-commerce site built on a heavily customized Shopify. Starting with the sales foundation, we have expanded its features step by step: AI handling of pre-purchase inquiries, and after-sales support that lets buyers complete post-purchase procedures on their own.

Challenges

• Delivery requests and required information could not be collected at the time of ordering, which led to extra back-and-forth between customer support and buyers after the order
• How products were presented, how products were linked to each other, and which payment methods were offered could only be adjusted within the marketplaces' specifications
• There was no place where the company could test its own site structure and sales initiatives and keep improving them

What We Did

• Built custom product variants, cart, and checkout that Shopify's standard features could not handle, with a mechanism for collecting delivery information at the time of ordering
• Synchronized order and product information with the core system, and automatically reflected product information managed in spreadsheets into Shopify
• A chat in which AI answers pre-purchase questions about products
• After-sales support that lets buyers change their address, cancel, or change the expected delivery date on screen, 24 hours a day
• When Shopify ended its standard support for Amazon Pay, built a custom integration so that payments with Amazon Pay could continue

Results

• Buyers can resolve more situations on screen by themselves, improving customer satisfaction
• Inquiries about post-order confirmations and procedures decreased, improving customer support productivity
• The client can update banners, messages, and sales initiatives on their own, putting in place an operating structure where initiatives can be tested without waiting for the development team

Making Full Use of an Off-the-Shelf E-Commerce Platform, Tailored to the Business

Shopify comes with membership registration, payments, an admin panel, and more from the start, so a company can launch its own e-commerce site in less time and at lower cost than building from scratch. However, with a furniture catalog full of combinations, parts that the standard features could not handle came to light during development. The spreadsheet used to manage product information also had a limit that was reached when handling an enormous number of product patterns.

Our approach was to build the parts whose specifications were clear first, and to test the unclear parts on a small scale before deciding the direction together with the client. In twice-weekly meetings, we shared test results and screen prototypes, and each time a constraint was found, we decided together how to deal with it. Rather than giving up because of constraints, we kept choosing the most effective approach within them, and as a result we achieved everything the client wanted to do on Shopify.

Since completion, Shopify's ease of use has paid off in operations. The client can now run sales initiative updates themselves, and we are currently working on continuous improvements such as faster page loading.

Our Scope of Work

• Requirements definition
• Screen design
• Design, development, and testing
• Integration with the core system and external services
• Infrastructure setup
• Continuous improvement after release

Client Information

Company Name

Cospa Creation Co., Ltd.

Business Overview

• Wholesale of furniture and interior goods, and direct e-commerce sales to consumers

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need our own e-commerce site if we already sell on online marketplaces? It depends on your products and the buying experience you are aiming for. In this case, we built an own e-commerce site to deliver experiences that are difficult within marketplace specifications, such as collecting delivery information at the time of ordering and letting buyers complete post-purchase procedures by themselves. We compare marketplaces, e-commerce platforms, and building from scratch, including cost and timeline, and propose the option that fits.

Can you develop the parts that Shopify's standard features do not cover? Yes. In this case, we custom-built product variants, the cart, checkout, favorites, and order details, and integrated them with the core system and spreadsheets.

Can AI be brought into handling inquiries on an e-commerce site? Yes. We developed a chat that answers pre-purchase questions about products, and after-sales support that guides buyers through post-purchase address changes and cancellations. When AI cannot resolve an issue, the design hands the buyer over to the contact form or phone.

Related Information

• Development of own e-commerce sites using Shopify, and of systems that integrate with core systems → System development
• Using AI for inquiry handling and customer support → AI implementation support

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