Over the last several years, White Rabbit Group has built a reputation within FedEx for being a reliable company to send their clients to for API development. More notably, we work with the Cross Border team for launching their clients globally on Shopify. FedEx Cross Border is a platform that helps their clients process and ship orders internationally. It’s a fast, secure, and simple e-commerce technology that creates a more localized online checkout experience for their international customers.
Problem
Prior to working with us, the main problem FedEx Cross Border faced was that they didn’t have an API connector for their clients on Shopify. There was no way to order products online, have them sent to FedEx for processing, and then have that same order updated and sent back, all within the Shopify dashboard. Along with that, the users shopping on the website needed a way to view pricing in their local currency and checkout through the FedEx system.
The Objectives
- Implement Cross Border so clients can process and ship internationally.
- Auto-detect the user location and automatically display that local currency in real-time.
- Orders needed to funnel back into Shopify.
- Integration needed to feel native to the Shopify website.
Our Proposal
Our solution was to build a custom micro web app connecting the Shopify store to the Cross Border platform. The main processes of the app are:
- Currency conversion and storing of conversions.
- Storing order information and FedEx order status in the shipping process.
- Sending orders back/forth between the two systems.
The app connects to all of the currencies that are offered by FedEx. We run a cron every day that automatically updates the rates for that day. When the cron runs, we store/update the currency conversion rates and update the currencies live on the Shopify store. With the currency locally converted, a user can shop online knowing that they are dealing with a company that is accustomed to shipping internationally. The second part to the application for currency automatically detects the user’s location and displays that currency. We detect the user location by using a service called IP Stack and the rest is magic. Everything is displayed in their local currency, automatically.
Showing local currencies is one of the first steps to making an international customer feel comfortable.
With the currency solution solved, we then store order information and update everything back to Shopify. This is necessary for our client's team to manage their Shopify orders like they already do; either within the Shopify dashboard itself or another order management system. In short, the application stores basic order details and updates Shopify along the order process flow, from order received to order shipped!
The websites that we have implemented FedEx Cross Border on include Onia, We Wore What, Ninja, Ikonick, Logan Paul, and numerous other global eCommerce brands.
Reach out to the White Rabbit team if you’re trying to take your eCommerce website global. We can discuss whether or not it makes sense for your company and connect you with the FedEx team for more details; or feel free to learn more at the FedEx Cross Border website.
Technologies Used
Pixel perfection, always.
