E-commerce Platforms

Overview

The following topic highlights my expertise in implementing and customizing a wide range of e-commerce solutions. I will demonstrate my work in developing custom plugins, building bespoke themes and optimising platform performance, to provide tailored online shopping experiences. By utilising platforms such as OpenCart, Craft CMS + Craft Commerce, and Shopify, I have been able to engineer solutions that are designed to enhance functionality, usability and scalability.

Key Experiences

Custom Plugin Development

• Designed and developed custom plugins for OpenCart and Craft CMS + Craft Commerce to extend core functionalities, such as GDPR compliance monitoring and eCard creation and distribution.

Theme Development and Customization

• Built responsive, user-friendly themes from the ground up for Shopify and OpenCart, ensuring seamless user experiences across any device.
• Customised existing themes to align with complex brand guidelines.

Platform Optimization

• Optimised platform performance, reducing page load times and enhancing scalability.
• Implemented caching mechanisms including redis and memcache, to efficiently cache database queries and static site assets.

Multi-Store and Multi-Language Support

• Configured platforms for multi-store use, enabling centralised management of multiple storefronts, all within a single platform installation.
• Implemented multi-language and multi-currency features to support global users.

Sample Implementations

Custom Plugin for OpenCart

This simplified example demonstrates a discount plugin for OpenCart to provide dynamic pricing based on cart value:

class ModelExtensionTotalDynamicDiscount extends Model {
    public function getTotal(&$total) {
        $subtotal = $this->cart->getSubTotal();
        if ($subtotal > 100) {
            $discount = $subtotal * 0.1; // 10% discount for orders over $100
            $total['totals'][] = [
                'code'  => 'dynamic_discount',
                'title' => 'Dynamic Discount',
                'value' => -$discount,
                'sort_order' => $this->config->get('total_dynamic_discount_sort_order')
            ];
            $total['total'] -= $discount;
        }
    }
}

Custom Shopify Theme Development

This simplified example shows a small section of a custom Shopify theme with enhanced product filtering:

{% for product in collections[collection_handle].products %}
  {% if product.tags contains 'featured' %}
    <div class="product-item">
      <h2>{{ product.title }}</h2>
      <img src="{{ product.featured_image | img_url: 'large' }}" alt="{{ product.title }}">
      <p>{{ product.price | money }}</p>
    </div>
  {% endif %}
{% endfor %}

Craft Commerce Integration

This sample demonstrates how to integrate a custom shipping calculator for Craft Commerce:

use craft\commerce\base\ShippingMethod;

class CustomShippingMethod extends ShippingMethod {
    public function getRates(\$order) {
        \$weight = \$order->getTotalWeight();
        \$rate = \$weight <= 10 ? 5 : 10; // Flat rate shipping logic

        return [
            [
                'description' => 'Standard Shipping',
                'amount' => \$rate
            ]
        ];
    }
}

My Results and Impact

• Increased conversions through customised themes and site performance optimisation.
• Reduced abandon cart rates with bespoke user experiences and optimised checkout processes.
• Enabled businesses to expand into international markets through multi-language and multi-currency support.

Example Tools and Technologies

• OpenCart: Flexible e-commerce platform for custom plugin development.
• Craft Commerce: Modern CMS with robust commerce capabilities.
• Shopify: Leading e-commerce platform for bespoke theme development.
• PHP: Core language for back-end customisations and integrations.

Conclusion

This topic demonstrates my ability to deliver in depth e-commerce solutions, tailored to any clients needs. From custom plugins, all the way to advanced theme development, I am able to create scalable and high-performance websites that drive business growth and improve user satisfaction.