Your Shopify store sells 40 of a range the kiln only made 32 firsts of
Custom Shopify development for a Stoke-on-Trent pottery runs $30k to $90k over 2 to 5 months. The trigger is that a stock theme or template store counts a whole kiln load as available the moment it's logged, so the store sells firsts that were actually graded as seconds, and a customer's order can't be fulfilled.
Shopify themes and template stores are built for products that simply exist in a warehouse. A Potteries range doesn't exist until it's fired, and even then only the firsts are sellable at full price. A standard theme syncing from a basic inventory feed will happily show 40 mugs available because the kiln load was 40, when grading downgraded eight to seconds. The order goes through, the picker can't find the stock, and a heritage name sends an apology.
The other gap is that template stores treat trade and retail as the same shopfront. A Potteries firm selling both to gift shops and to consumers needs tiered pricing, minimum order quantities for trade, and a way to surface seconds as their own ranges. A premium theme bolted to a basic stock feed handles none of that, so the firm either runs two stores or loses the trade channel online.
Budgeting a shopify build in Stoke-on-Trent
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Custom theme with graded-stock sync | $30k to $55k | 2 to 3 months |
| Store with trade portal and seconds ranges | $55k to $90k | 3 to 5 months |
| Headless or multi-store Potteries setup | $90k+ | 5 to 8 months |
The case for owning your shopify
Custom Shopify work connects the store to graded reality. Stock pushes from your ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or inventory system only after grading, so the count online is firsts you can actually ship, seconds appear as their own managed ranges, and trade buyers get tiered pricing and minimums behind a login. You keep Shopify's checkout and ecosystem while fixing the one thing that loses you orders: a stock number that lied.
- Ranges oversell because the theme counts ungraded loads as available
- You want to sell seconds online as a managed revenue stream
- You sell to both trade and retail and need tiered pricing online
- Your store needs live stock from a real ERP, not a flat feed
- You sell finished, pre-graded stock that simply exists in a warehouse
- A premium theme plus a stock app covers your whole workflow
- You're retail-only with no trade-pricing needs
- Volumes are low enough that occasional manual stock edits suffice
What your build should include
Stoke-on-Trent shopify: the full scope
Everything a shopify build here can cover: Shopify app development, headless Shopify, Shopify migration, Shopify checkout customization, Liquid development, ecommerce development and payment gateway integration.
Delivery, week by week
Exactly what you get
You get a Shopify store that tells the truth about stock. Inventory pushes from your ERP or inventory management system only after grading, so the count online is firsts you can actually ship. Seconds appear as their own ranges with their own prices, trade buyers get tiered pricing and minimums behind a login, and delivery promises draw on real courier rates. You keep Shopify's checkout, apps and payments while removing the oversell that a heritage name can't afford. It works hand in hand with a custom inventory management system and your ERP.
How to choose a developer in Stoke-on-Trent
Pick a Shopify developer who's wired a store to a real stock system before, not just one who themes prettily. The whole value here is the sync: only firsts show as available, and only after grading. Ask for a reference where they connected Shopify to an ERP or inventory feed, ask how they'll handle trade pricing and seconds ranges, and check their plan for keeping the store upgradable as Shopify evolves. A developer who appreciates the craft story can also help you surface firing and range provenance on product pages, which sells in the Potteries.
- Available stock reflects graded firsts, so popular ranges stop overselling
- Seconds sold as their own ranges instead of dumped or hidden
- Trade-account pricing, minimums and credit terms alongside retail checkout
- Live sync from your ERP or inventory the moment a load is graded
- Keep Shopify's payments and apps while fixing the stock-truth problem
- Custom theme and app work costs more than buying a premium template
- Deep customisation can complicate future Shopify platform upgrades
- You'll need to maintain the ERP-to-Shopify sync as both ends evolve
- Some bespoke logic may bump against Shopify's platform limits
- !They treat stock as a flat feed; ask how the store knows a load was graded before showing it as available
- !No plan for trade pricing; ask how a gift-shop buyer logs in to wholesale rates
- !They ignore seconds; ask how downgraded ware is sold rather than hidden
- !No ERP sync experience; ask for a reference where they linked Shopify to a real stock system
- !Heavy theme hacks with no upgrade plan; ask how future Shopify updates are handled
If shopify is on the roadmap, wordpress, pos, project management usually follow within the year. Budget them as one conversation.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why does our Shopify store oversell ranges?
Because the theme treats a kiln load as available stock the moment it's logged, before grading splits firsts from seconds. The store shows the full count, sells past the firsts you can actually ship, and the order can't be fulfilled. The fix is to sync stock only after grading, so the count online is real.
Can we sell seconds on the same store?
Yes, and you should. Custom work lets you present seconds as their own managed ranges with their own prices, turning downgraded ware into a revenue stream instead of a write-off. Generic themes have no clean way to do this, so seconds usually get hidden or dumped.
Can one store serve both trade and retail?
With custom development, yes. Trade buyers log in to tiered pricing, minimum order quantities and credit terms, while retail customers see standard prices, all in one Shopify store. A premium template can't do tiered trade pricing on its own, which is why many firms wrongly run two stores.