01 · Project Overview
A ground-up Shopify migration for Midland Book
This document is Troopod's formal proposal for Midland Book's full platform migration and e-commerce build on Shopify. The engagement is structured as a 3-phase rollout (Migration, Build, and Scale-up) covering 50,000+ products and a complete reimagination of the customer experience.
Engagement at a glance
50k+
Products to Migrate
3
Phases
2
Months (Ph 01 + 02)
301
Redirect Mapping
The three phases
Phase 01
Migration
Phase 02
Shopify Build
Phase 03
Scale-up
Why this approach
- Phase 01 de-risks the migration by moving Midland to Shopify through structured migration, source-data-based validation, and URL redirects for all available legacy URLs.
- Phase 02 builds the customer experience on top of a stable Shopify foundation, covering theme, discovery, checkout, plugins, SEO, analytics, and go-live readiness.
- Phase 03 adds growth and scale-up features only once the store is live and stable, including loyalty, personalisation, Klaviyo, POS, and other advanced requirements.
- Each phase has a clear outcome and handoff, and no phase moves forward without written sign-off.
02 · Understanding the Brief
The brief, and how we read it
Midland Book needs more than a platform swap. This is a full reimagination of how a 50,000-product bookstore operates online, from discovery to checkout to post-purchase. Here is our read of every critical dimension.
Non-negotiables (our commitment)
01
URL preservation for available legacy URLs
Every existing product URL shared, exported, or discoverable from the current platform will be mapped to its Shopify equivalent using a custom migration script and 301 redirects to minimise link breakage and SEO disruption. Unshared, deleted, non-exportable, or historically broken URLs are excluded unless provided by Midland Book before migration sign-off.
Non-negotiable ✓
02
Full customer data migration
All customer accounts, delivery addresses, and order history will be migrated to Shopify. One important note: Shopify does not allow importing password hashes from third-party platforms. Customers will be prompted to reset their password on first login. This is a platform-level constraint, not a gap in our migration.
Non-negotiable ✓
Password reset required
Platform objectives (our read)
03
A bookstore built for discovery
Author pages, AI search, category browsing, and related book recommendations. Midland wants customers to find books they didn't know they were looking for. This shapes how we architect the theme and the data model.
04
Conversion-first checkout
Urgency signals, streamlined checkout, coupon codes, and fast add-to-cart. Store pickup and offline operational workflows are kept for Phase 03 scoping so Phase 02 remains focused on the core online purchase flow.
05
Pan-India and global reach, made visible
Delivery reach should be a visible, persistent signal across the store, not buried in an FAQ. Every product page and the cart should communicate this clearly.
06
Phase 03 features need Phase 02 infrastructure
Loyalty, wallet, personalisation, and Klaviyo flows cannot run well without a clean product data structure and a live, stable store. This is precisely why we phase them out: not to delay them, but to ensure they actually work when they go live.
03 · Scope of Work
Three phases. Clear boundaries.
Each phase has a defined set of deliverables. Nothing is vague. If it's not listed here, it's not in scope and we'll quote it separately before touching it.
Phase 01 — Migration Month 1
Phase 01
Migration
✦
50,000+ product data migration: all product titles, descriptions, images, variants, metadata, and categories migrated to Shopify via custom migration scripts.
✦
URL preservation: every available existing product, collection, and content URL mapped with 301 redirects to minimise SEO disruption, subject to URL availability/export from the existing platform.
✦
Customer data migration: all accounts, saved addresses, and order history imported where exportable. Customers may need to activate or reset their password on first login (Shopify platform constraint). Customer-facing communication for password reset/migration will be approved and sent by Midland Book unless separately scoped.
✦
Shopify store setup: payments (Razorpay + international gateways), shipping zones (Pan-India + global), taxes, and basic admin configuration. Shopify subscription fees, gateway charges, and provider approvals remain Midland Book's responsibility.
✦
Domain transfer: existing domain pointed to the new Shopify store with DNS configuration and SSL.
✦
Pan-India and worldwide delivery messaging: persistent banner and product-level delivery callout configured across the store.
Phase 02 — Shopify Build Month 2
Phase 02
Shopify Build
✦
Paid theme setup and customisation: a premium Shopify theme selected and customised across all page templates: Homepage, Collection, Product, Author, Search Results, and standard content pages.
✦
Author pages: built using Shopify Metaobjects. Each author gets a dedicated page with bio, photo, and all linked books. Products linked to authors via metafield.
✦
Quick add-to-cart: on all collection and search result pages via Shopify AJAX Cart API.
✦
Product page: reviews and ratings (Judge.me), related book recommendations, and clear delivery information per product.
✦
AI-powered search: Searchanise plugin. Search by author, title, description, and category with typo tolerance and predictive suggestions.
✦
Homepage: Top 10 categories: admin-customisable featured category section on the homepage.
✦
Checkout urgency signals: "X bought in last 6 hours" and "N people viewing now" via Fomo or Nextsale plugin.
✦
Order tracking page: AfterShip plugin. Branded tracking page on the Midland domain.
✦
Request a Book feature: custom form for unavailable titles. Submissions routed to admin.
✦
Google Reviews carousel + Instagram feed: Elfsight for Google Reviews, Instafeed for Instagram. Both plug-and-play.
✦
Discount coupon codes: native Shopify. Percentage, fixed amount, free shipping, and buy X get Y.
✦
SEO setup: metadata and Open Graph images configured across all product and collection pages.
✦
Customer support integration: Gorgias helpdesk connected to Shopify. Chat and email support live.
✦
Analytics dashboard setup: Shopify native analytics configured. Sales reports, product insights, order summaries, COD vs online breakdown, and top customer reporting. Accounting, ERP, GST invoice, Tally/Zoho, or custom finance integrations are excluded unless separately scoped.
Phase 03 — Scale-up Timeline TBD
Phase 03
Scale-up
✦
Coffee Table Books and Children's Books: distinct collection templates with a completely different visual direction and layout.
✦
Multi-language support: Shopify Markets. Language-specific URLs, translated content, and currency switching for global audiences.
✦
AI recommendations and personalisation: LimeSpot or Rebuy. Personalised book recommendations based on browse and purchase history.
✦
Loyalty points system: Smile.io. Points earned on purchase, redeemable for discounts.
✦
Wallet / store credit: Rise.ai. User wallet with balance management and redemption at checkout.
✦
Gift vouchers: Shopify native gift cards enabled and surfaced on the storefront.
✦
Email marketing via Klaviyo: abandoned cart flows, VIP segmentation, campaign setup, and checkout email capture.
✦
Corporate section: dedicated B2B page covering public library setup services, existing clients, and completed projects.
✦
Store pickup at checkout: Shopify native local pickup configured for Midland's physical store location, subject to Phase 03 scoping and operational confirmation.
✦
POS / inventory integration: Shopify POS or third-party POS/ERP/inventory middleware. Requires a dedicated scoping discussion with the Troopod CTO and is not included in Phase 01 or Phase 02.
Note on Phase 03 pricing: Timeline and commercials for Phase 03 will be scoped and confirmed separately after a CTO discussion. POS, real-time inventory sync, ERP/accounting integrations, GST invoicing customisations, loyalty, wallet, personalisation, and multilingual work are excluded from Phase 01 + 02 unless separately agreed in writing. Nothing in Phase 03 begins without a separate written agreement.
Phase 01 + 02 exclusions
✦
Inventory/POS/ERP sync: real-time stock sync, offline store inventory sync, POS middleware, ERP/accounting integrations, GST invoice formats, Tally/Zoho integrations, and returns/exchange workflow automation are not included unless explicitly scoped.
✦
Data cleanup or enrichment: category restructuring, author normalization, ISBN correction, duplicate removal, missing image sourcing, metadata rewriting, or manual correction of book records beyond migration is excluded unless separately scoped.
✦
Customer communication execution: customer email/SMS campaigns for password reset, migration notice, or launch announcements are not included unless separately agreed. Troopod can support copy or setup if scoped separately.
04 · Deliverables
What Midland Book walks away with
Phase 01 deliverables
🗃️
Fully migrated Shopify store
All 50,000+ products live on Shopify based on available source data, including titles, descriptions, images, variants, categories, and mapped fields where exportable from the existing platform.
🔗
URL redirect map
A 301 redirect file mapping available/exported/shared legacy URLs to their Shopify equivalents. Shareable and auditable.
👤
Customer database on Shopify
All customer accounts, addresses, and order history accessible in Shopify admin. Password reset email triggered on first login.
⚙️
Configured Shopify admin
Payments, shipping zones, taxes, and domain live. Store operational from Day 1 of Phase 02.
Phase 02 deliverables
🎨
Fully customised Shopify theme
Premium paid theme customised across all page templates: Homepage, Collection, Product, Author, Search Results, and content pages.
✍️
Author pages with linked books
Full Metaobject-powered author directory. Every author page live with bio, photo, and linked product listings.
🔌
All plugins configured and live
Judge.me, Searchanise, AfterShip, Fomo, Gorgias, Elfsight, Instafeed. All installed, configured, and tested.
📊
Analytics dashboard
Shopify analytics configured with all key reports: sales, inventory, customer behaviour, and COD vs online breakdown.
🚀
Live store ready for customers
Full QA across desktop and mobile. Store live at the end of Phase 02 with staging sign-off from the Midland team before go-live.
05 · Team & Resources
Who's working on this
🧠
Product Consultant
Strategy & Direction
Leads kickoff, stakeholder alignment, phase planning, and overall quality oversight.
⚙️
CTO
Tech Leadership
Migration architecture, data mapping, Shopify config, and Phase 03 POS scoping.
🎨
Designer
UI / UX
Theme customisation, page templates, author pages, and visual direction.
💻
Developer
Frontend & Integrations
Theme build, plugin integrations, Metaobjects, and QA.
How work flows across phases
01
Kickoff & Data Audit
Product Consultant and CTO lead the kickoff. Existing platform data is audited, URL structure mapped, and migration scripts prepared. Current platform access required from Day 1.
02
Phase 01 — Migration execution
CTO runs the migration pipeline. Products, customers, and URLs migrated in batches with validation checkpoints. Midland team does spot-checks on migrated data before sign-off.
03
Phase 02 — Theme and build
Designer and Developer work in parallel on theme customisation, plugin integration, and author pages built simultaneously. Weekly check-ins with the Midland team.
04
Staging review before go-live
Complete store shared on staging for Midland's review and sign-off. No page goes live without written confirmation from the Midland team.
05
Go-live and handover
Store goes live. 2-week post-launch support window begins. Phase 03 scoping discussion scheduled within the same window.
06 · Timeline & Milestones
Two months to a live Shopify store
Phase 01 and Phase 02 run back-to-back over 8 weeks. Phase 03 is scoped and scheduled separately once Phase 02 is live.
Phase 01 — Migration (Weeks 1–4)
Week 1
Kickoff & Data Audit
Kickoff call. CTP access to current platform granted. Full data audit covering products, customers, URLs, and images. Migration script development begins.
Week 2
Shopify Store Setup + Migration Run 1
Shopify store created. Payments, shipping, taxes configured. First migration batch executed. Products imported, URL map drafted.
Week 3
Customer Migration + Data Validation
Customer accounts, addresses, and order history migrated. Midland team does spot-checks. Data validation and error correction cycle.
Week 4
Domain Transfer + Phase 01 Sign-off
Domain pointed to Shopify. 301 redirects live. Final data check. Phase 01 formally signed off before Phase 02 begins.
Phase 02 — Shopify Build (Weeks 5–8)
Week 5
Theme Setup + Author Pages
Paid theme purchased and installed. Homepage and collection pages customised. Author Metaobjects created and products linked.
Week 6
Product Pages + Plugin Integrations
Product page template built. Judge.me, Searchanise, AfterShip, Fomo, Gorgias, Elfsight, and Instafeed installed and configured.
Week 7
Checkout, SEO & Analytics
Checkout customised with urgency signals and coupon codes. SEO metadata and OG images configured. Analytics dashboard built out. Store pickup remains Phase 03 / separately scoped.
Week 8
QA + Staging Review + Go-Live
Full QA across desktop and mobile. Store shared on staging for Midland sign-off. Go-live on confirmation. 2-week post-launch support begins.
Timeline assumptions: Timelines assume access to the current platform from Week 1, consolidated feedback within 3 business days per review round, all required assets delivered on schedule, timely support on any additional creatives or content inputs required during the build, and timely purchase/approval of Shopify, themes, apps, payment gateways, and domain/DNS changes. Delays or dependency gaps on the Midland team's side will shift timelines proportionally.
07 · Commercials
Transparent pricing, no surprises
Project investment
Phase 01 — Migration
Month 1 · 50k product + customer migration + Shopify setup
₹1,25,000
Phase 02 — Shopify Build
Month 2 · Theme, plugins, author pages, SEO, analytics
₹1,25,000
Phase 03 — Scale-up
Loyalty, personalisation, Klaviyo, POS, multi-language
To be discussed
Payment terms (Phase 01 + 02)
01
Full advance — Phase 01 + Phase 02
Due on project sign-off. Work begins only once the full Phase 01 + Phase 02 advance is cleared.
₹2,50,000
Paid theme cost (approx. ₹8,000–₹15,000), Shopify subscription fees, plugin/app subscription fees, payment gateway charges, shipping provider charges, SMS/email/notification credits, and any third-party platform costs are not included in the above and will be borne by Midland Book directly. Troopod will recommend specific options before purchase.
08 · Assets Required
What we need from Midland Book
Migration cannot begin without access to the current platform. The faster these are shared, the faster Phase 01 starts.
Required from Day 1
✦
Admin access to current platform: full backend access for data export and URL mapping.
✦
Current domain login credentials: for DNS transfer to Shopify.
✦
Brand assets: logo (SVG/PNG), brand colours, fonts, and any existing brand guidelines.
✦
Payment gateway details: Razorpay or preferred gateway credentials for Shopify integration.
✦
Shopify account and operational inputs: Shopify store/admin access, preferred plan confirmation, shipping/tax rules, inventory source-of-truth clarity, and any existing POS/ERP/accounting context needed for scoping exclusions or Phase 03 planning.
Required before Phase 02
✦
Author data: author names, bios, and photos for all authors to be featured on dedicated pages.
✦
Homepage content decisions: which 10 categories to feature, hero banners, and any promotional messaging.
✦
Theme preference: Troopod will shortlist 2–3 paid theme options; Midland confirms before purchase.
✦
Creative and content support: Midland to support with any additional creatives, images, copy, content inputs, or approvals required during the build, beyond the assets already listed above.
✦
Physical store address: for Shopify local pickup configuration at checkout.
✦
Customer communication approvals: approved copy and sender/process for password reset, migration notice, order-status messaging, or any other customer-facing communication required around launch.
09 · Next Steps
How we get started
01
Sign off on this proposal
A written email confirmation from the Midland team constitutes formal sign-off. This triggers invoicing for the full Phase 01 + Phase 02 advance payment.
Midland Book
02
Advance payment
₹2,50,000 advance payment received for Phase 01 + Phase 02. Work does not begin until the full advance is cleared.
Midland Book
03
Kickoff call scheduled
Troopod schedules the kickoff within 2 business days of full advance receipt. Current platform access shared on this call.
Both teams
04
Migration begins
Data audit starts immediately after kickoff. Phase 01 is underway.
Troopod
05
Phase 03 scoping call
Scheduled during Phase 02 go-live week. CTO walks through Phase 03 options, POS requirements, and provides a separate commercial proposal.
Both teams
10 · Terms & Conditions
Clear terms, clear ownership
These terms are designed to keep the project commercially clean, protect delivery timelines, and make responsibilities clear across migration, build, go-live, and post-launch support.
Commercials & Payment
01
Full advance for Phase 01 + Phase 02
Phase 01 and Phase 02 are payable 100% in advance. Troopod will not commence work until the full ₹2,50,000 advance payment for Phase 01 + Phase 02 has been received and cleared.
02
Advance is non-refundable once work starts
The Phase 01 + Phase 02 advance payment is non-refundable once work has commenced. This covers discovery, data auditing, migration preparation, Shopify setup, design planning, build preparation, resource allocation, and project scheduling costs incurred from Day 1.
03
Cancellation mid-project
If the project is cancelled after the advance is paid and work has begun, the advance remains non-refundable. Any additional out-of-scope work, Phase 03 work, emergency work, or third-party coordination already approved in writing will be invoiced separately as per the separately agreed commercials.
04
Additional work payment terms
Any work outside Phase 01 and Phase 02, including Phase 03, new integrations, new custom features, bulk content cleanup, or post-launch enhancements, will require separate written approval and may require advance payment before execution. Troopod reserves the right to pause such additional work if related payments are overdue by more than 7 business days.
Scope, Phase Boundaries & Change Requests
05
Defined scope only
Troopod will deliver the items expressly listed under Phase 01 and Phase 02 in this proposal. Any work not specifically listed in the agreed scope will be treated as out of scope and quoted separately before execution.
06
Phase boundaries
Each phase is treated as a discrete engagement. Phase 02 begins only after Phase 01 is completed and signed off. Phase 03 is not included in the Phase 01 + Phase 02 commercials and will require a separate scope, timeline, and commercial agreement.
07
Change requests
Any work outside the agreed scope, including additional pages, new templates, new integrations, custom app behaviour, extra migration fields, platform changes, or post-sign-off changes, will be scoped and quoted separately. No out-of-scope work begins without written confirmation from Midland Book.
08
Review rounds
Phase 02 includes up to two consolidated review rounds on the storefront/theme implementation before go-live. Additional design, layout, content, functionality, or stakeholder-led revision rounds beyond these review rounds will be treated as change requests and scoped separately.
Client Responsibilities & Delays
09
Access and dependency responsibility
Midland Book is responsible for providing correct and timely access to its current platform, domain/DNS, Shopify account, payment gateway, shipping/tax settings, third-party tools, brand assets, product data, author data, creative inputs, and content inputs required for project execution.
10
Client-side delays
Any delay caused by Midland Book, including but not limited to delayed approvals, delayed feedback, late platform access, late asset delivery, pending creative or content inputs, stakeholder unavailability, delay in purchasing approved themes/apps/plugins, delay in third-party approvals, payment gateway approvals, domain/DNS access issues, or any other Midland-side dependency, will extend the delivery timeline proportionally. Troopod will not be responsible for missed deadlines, launch delays, or related business impact caused by such client-side delays.
11
Feedback and approval windows
Each review or approval request carries a 3-business-day response window unless otherwise agreed in writing. If feedback or approval is not received within this window, Troopod may either proceed based on the last approved direction or pause the project timeline until confirmation is received. Any pause or delay caused by pending feedback or approval will extend timelines accordingly.
Migration, Data & SEO
12
Source data quality
Troopod will migrate the data made available from Midland Book's existing platform on an as-is basis. Troopod is not responsible for correcting inaccurate, incomplete, duplicated, inconsistent, outdated, incorrectly categorised, or missing source data unless separately scoped. Any bulk cleanup, enrichment, manual correction, ISBN/category restructuring, metadata rewriting, or content rewriting beyond the agreed scope will be quoted separately.
13
Migration limitations
Migration will be based on the data fields, export formats, permissions, and technical limitations of the existing platform and Shopify. Some elements may require mapping, transformation, approximation, manual review, or exclusion if the source platform does not provide exportable or compatible data.
14
Midland Book review and spot-checking
For large-volume migration, Troopod will perform implementation checks and share the migrated store for review. Midland Book is responsible for spot-checking migrated products, URLs, customer/order samples, pricing, inventory values, and key content before sign-off. Written sign-off confirms acceptance of the migrated data set except for implementation bugs directly attributable to Troopod.
15
Customer passwords
Shopify does not allow importing customer password hashes from third-party platforms. Customers may need to activate or reset their password on first login. This is a Shopify platform constraint and not a migration gap. Midland Book will be responsible for approving and sending any customer-facing communication related to password reset, account activation, migration notice, or launch unless separately scoped.
16
SEO and URL protection
Troopod will implement URL mapping for available/exported/shared legacy URLs, 301 redirects, metadata, Open Graph setup, and standard SEO best practices as agreed to minimise disruption. Unavailable, deleted, unshared, non-exportable, historically broken, or third-party-created URLs are excluded unless provided before migration sign-off. Troopod does not guarantee search ranking, traffic, indexing timelines, or SEO performance outcomes, as these are dependent on search engines and external factors.
Inventory, POS & Accounting Exclusions
17
Inventory source of truth
Phase 01 and Phase 02 assume Shopify will be configured using the inventory data and operational rules provided by Midland Book. Real-time inventory sync with physical stores, POS systems, ERP systems, warehouses, or external stock sources is not included unless separately scoped.
18
POS and offline operations
Shopify POS, third-party POS middleware, offline billing, store returns/exchanges, partial stock logic, unavailable/pre-order workflows beyond the listed Request a Book feature, and multi-location inventory operations require separate CTO scoping and are not included in Phase 01 or Phase 02.
19
GST, invoicing and accounting
Basic Shopify tax configuration is included. Custom GST invoice formats, e-invoicing, Tally/Zoho/ERP/accounting integrations, custom finance reports, and reconciliation workflows are excluded unless separately scoped.
Third-party Platforms, Apps & Costs
20
Third-party costs
Shopify subscription fees, paid theme costs, plugin/app subscription fees, payment gateway charges, shipping provider charges, SMS/email/notification credits, and any third-party platform costs, including but not limited to Judge.me, Searchanise, AfterShip, Fomo/Nextsale, Gorgias, Elfsight, Instafeed, or replacement apps, are borne directly by Midland Book. These are not included in Troopod's project fee.
21
Third-party app limitations
Any functionality delivered through third-party Shopify apps will be subject to the capabilities, limitations, pricing, uptime, data handling, and policy changes of those apps. If Midland Book requests functionality beyond what the selected app supports natively, such customisation will be scoped separately.
22
Platform liability
Troopod is not responsible for issues arising from Shopify platform outages, Shopify policy changes, theme updates, third-party app outages, third-party app conflicts, gateway failures, shipping provider issues, or external platform changes. Any fix required due to such third-party changes after go-live will be treated as out of scope and quoted separately.
Ownership, Handover & Portfolio
23
Ownership on payment and handover
Ownership of custom storefront code and assets created specifically by Troopod for Phase 01 and Phase 02 transfers to Midland Book upon receipt of the full Phase 01 + Phase 02 advance payment, subject to completion and formal handover of the applicable deliverables. Third-party themes, plugins, apps, licensed assets, and Shopify platform components remain governed by their respective ownership and license terms.
24
Troopod tools and reusable IP
Pre-existing Troopod tools, frameworks, scripts, migration utilities, internal processes, templates, know-how, and reusable components remain the intellectual property of Troopod. Midland Book receives ownership only of the final custom implementation created specifically for its Shopify store, not Troopod's underlying reusable systems.
25
Formal sign-off
A written email confirmation from the Midland Book team constitutes formal sign-off at every stage. Verbal confirmations do not count as approval. No phase will be considered complete without explicit written confirmation, except where work proceeds or pauses under the feedback and approval window clause above.
26
Portfolio rights
Troopod reserves the right to feature the completed work in its portfolio, website, sales materials, and case studies unless explicitly requested otherwise in writing by the Midland Book team prior to project commencement.
Go-live, Support & Liability
27
Go-live approval
Go-live means the domain is pointed to Shopify, the storefront is accessible to customers, key pages are QA-tested, checkout/payment is tested, and Midland Book has provided written confirmation to launch. The store will go live only after staging review and written go-live approval from Midland Book. Any delay in go-live approval, final QA feedback, DNS approval, payment gateway approval, app purchase approval, or customer communication approval will shift the launch date proportionally.
28
Post-launch support
Troopod provides 2 weeks of post-launch support from the go-live date of Phase 02. This covers bugs directly attributable to Troopod's implementation and minor amends within the agreed scope. It does not include new features, new page designs, new integrations, app subscription issues, third-party platform bugs, data cleanup, SEO/content work, or changes requested after go-live.
29
Business outcome limitation
Troopod is responsible for delivering the agreed implementation scope. Troopod does not guarantee revenue, conversion rate, traffic, SEO ranking, customer adoption, operational savings, or any other business outcome unless separately agreed in writing as part of a performance-linked engagement.