--- title: "Retail and Ecommerce Software Development | Arbocode" description: "Retail software with real-time inventory sync, POS integration, EDI 850/810/856 for wholesale partners, and AI-powered search and merchandising." url: https://arbocode.com/industries/retail-ecommerce --- 1. [Home](https://arbocode.com/) 2. [Industries](https://arbocode.com/industries) 3. Retail & E-commerce Industry # Retail & E-commerce Software Development Inventory, POS and storefront software that stays synchronized across every channel, with EDI connected for your wholesale partners. [Get a free estimate](https://arbocode.com/get-a-quote) [Speak with an engineer](https://arbocode.com/contact) NDA on request · Free, no-obligation estimate · Reply within one business day NDA signed before we start Full IP ownership on payment Your repository from the first commit Live demo at the end of every sprint Built by senior engineers [How we work](https://arbocode.com/process) Overselling and stockouts cost retailers and DTC brands more revenue than almost any other software failure, since inventory typically sits in three unconnected places: the point of sale, the warehouse system and the online storefront. Once that sync problem is solved, most of the remaining retail stack gets simpler to build. We build headless and platform-based storefronts, real-time inventory management tied to POS and warehouse data, and EDI integration for the wholesale and big-box partners that require it in a specific transaction format. AI-driven search and product recommendations get built against your actual catalog and purchase history, not a generic plug-in that ignores your merchandising rules. Where a retailer sells through a marketplace, a POS, a wholesale EDI feed and a direct storefront at once, we design one inventory system of record that all four channels read from, so a sale in one place actually reduces available stock everywhere else within seconds. The problem ## The hard parts of retail & e-commerce software - ### Inventory drifts out of sync across channels POS, warehouse management and the online storefront each keep their own count unless they are wired together in real time, which leads directly to overselling and canceled orders during high-traffic periods. - ### Wholesale partners require specific EDI transactions Big-box retailers and wholesale distributors typically mandate EDI 850 purchase orders, 810 invoices and 856 advance ship notices in exact formats, and a missed or malformed transaction can trigger chargebacks. - ### PCI DSS scope spans POS and online checkout at once Card data touches physical terminals and an online payment form, and both need to stay out of scope through tokenization, or the assessment covers far more of the stack than it needs to. - ### Search and recommendations need to reflect real merchandising rules A generic recommendation plug-in ignores margin targets, seasonal promotions and out-of-stock substitutions that a retailer's own merchandising team already knows matter. - ### Returns and reverse logistics get more complex with every added channel A return bought online but returned in-store, or bought on a marketplace but returned to a warehouse, needs one workflow that updates inventory and refunds correctly regardless of channel. - ### Storefront accessibility is now a legal exposure, not just a UX concern ADA-related litigation over inaccessible online stores has grown enough that WCAG 2.2 conformance is now a risk-management question for retail legal teams, not only a design preference. What we build ## Retail & E-commerce systems we build - ### Headless and platform-based storefronts Custom or Shopify Plus-based storefronts built against your product data and merchandising logic, not a theme that fights your catalog structure. - ### ERP-integrated inventory management Real-time stock sync across POS, warehouse and storefront, with reservation logic that decrements available inventory the moment an order is placed rather than at end-of-day batch sync. - ### POS system development Point-of-sale software wired into the same inventory and customer data as your online store, so a store associate can see the same stock level a website visitor sees. - ### EDI integration for wholesale and big-box partners EDI 850, 810 and 856 transaction handling built to each partner's specific requirements, with validation before submission so a malformed transaction is caught before it triggers a chargeback. - ### AI-powered search and merchandising Product search, recommendations and substitution logic trained on your catalog and purchase history, tuned to your margin and promotion rules instead of a generic ranking model. - ### Subscription and recurring order billing Recurring order management for subscription boxes or replenishment programs, integrated with the same payment and inventory systems as one-time purchases. - ### Returns and reverse logistics workflows A single return workflow across buy-online-return-in-store and marketplace returns, updating inventory and refund status consistently regardless of where the return happens. ## Regulations and standards we design for - PCI DSS requirements for card data across point-of-sale terminals and online checkout, addressed through tokenization at both. - CCPA/CPRA and GDPR requirements for customer data collected through storefronts, loyalty programs and marketing tools. - WCAG 2.2 accessibility conformance for online storefronts, increasingly required to limit ADA-related litigation exposure. - CAN-SPAM and TCPA requirements for email and SMS marketing communications. - Economic nexus sales tax obligations following South Dakota v. Wayfair, which require tax calculation and remittance across multiple states. ## Platforms we integrate with - Shopify Plus and headless commerce APIs - Stripe and Adyen for payment processing - Avalara for multi-state sales tax calculation - NetSuite and Odoo for ERP and inventory - ShipStation and ShipBob for fulfillment - Klaviyo for marketing automation - EDI 850, 810 and 856 via SPS Commerce or a direct VAN connection ## Real-time inventory sync across POS, warehouse and storefront We build inventory as a single system of record with event-driven updates: a sale at the register, a pick in the warehouse, or an online order all decrement the same stock count within seconds, not at the next batch sync. Safety stock thresholds and channel-specific allocation (holding back a percentage of stock for in-store sales during a launch, for example) are configuration, not a hardcoded rule buried in one channel's code. ## EDI integration for wholesale and big-box retail partners We build EDI 850 (purchase order), 810 (invoice) and 856 (advance ship notice) handling to each partner's specific implementation guide, since two retailers using the same transaction type still often require different segment formatting. Validation runs before submission, catching a malformed ASN or a mismatched item code before it becomes a chargeback deducted from a future payment. ## AI-powered search and merchandising that reflects real business rules We train search and recommendation models on your actual catalog, purchase history and margin data rather than deploying a generic e-commerce recommendation widget. Out-of-stock substitution, promotion boosting and margin-aware ranking get built as explicit rules the merchandising team can adjust, not a black box that occasionally surfaces a discontinued item. Services ## How we serve retail & e-commerce companies - [AI in Retail Software DevelopmentRecommendation, demand forecasting, and search relevance models tuned and judged against real conversion data.](https://arbocode.com/services/ai-development/retail-ecommerce) - [Retail ERP Software DevelopmentERP with a single inventory record across every channel, so an online sale cannot oversell a unit sitting in a store.](https://arbocode.com/services/erp-development/retail-ecommerce) - [E-commerce DevelopmentShopify and WooCommerce storefronts, headless commerce front ends and custom checkout flows, all shaped to your catalog, pricing and fulfillment setup.](https://arbocode.com/services/ecommerce-development) - [Mobile App DevelopmentWe build native and cross-platform mobile apps, handle App Store and Play Store submission, and design for the offline gaps and device permissions a phone has to cope with.](https://arbocode.com/services/mobile-app-development) - [CRM DevelopmentWe build the system that follows a customer from first contact to renewal, as a custom CRM or as an extension of Salesforce, HubSpot or Dynamics.](https://arbocode.com/services/crm-development) Solutions ## Retail & E-commerce solutions we deliver - [Ecommerce Chatbot DevelopmentA chatbot that finds the right product, checks a real order and adds to cart, acting as a shopping assistant where a FAQ widget only answers policy questions.](https://arbocode.com/industries/retail-ecommerce/ai-chatbot) - [Retail Inventory Management SoftwareInventory logic covering size runs, channel allocation and bundles, which a generic system reduces to a single number.](https://arbocode.com/industries/retail-ecommerce/inventory-management-system) - [Retail POS Software DevelopmentA register that knows about the online order, the loyalty balance and the return policy as well as the item in the customer's hand.](https://arbocode.com/industries/retail-ecommerce/pos-system) - [Subscription Billing SystemsRecurring billing that handles proration, failed payment retries and tax calculation correctly, using an existing billing platform as the base.](https://arbocode.com/solutions/subscription-billing) - [BI & Reporting DashboardsReporting on a single data model in place of five spreadsheets, with dashboards that stay quick against years of history.](https://arbocode.com/solutions/bi-dashboards) Technology ## Technologies we typically use - [React](https://arbocode.com/technologies/react) - [Next.js](https://arbocode.com/technologies/nextjs) - [Shopify](https://arbocode.com/technologies/shopify) - [Node.js](https://arbocode.com/technologies/nodejs) - [PostgreSQL](https://arbocode.com/technologies/postgresql) - [AWS](https://arbocode.com/technologies/aws) FAQ ## Retail & E-commerce software FAQs How do you keep inventory in sync between our POS and online store? We build a single inventory system of record that both the POS and storefront read from and write to in real time, using event-driven updates rather than batch syncs. A sale at either channel decrements available stock everywhere within seconds. Can you build EDI 850 and 856 support for a specific big-box retailer we sell through? Yes. We build to that retailer's specific implementation guide, since segment formatting and required fields vary between trading partners even within the same EDI transaction type. Validation runs before submission to catch errors that would otherwise trigger a chargeback. How long does a custom ecommerce platform with ERP-integrated inventory take? A storefront with real-time inventory sync to an existing ERP typically takes three to five months. Adding POS integration, EDI for wholesale partners, or AI-driven search extends that depending on how many systems need to stay synchronized. Does an AI recommendation engine need a lot of historical data to work well? It helps, but is not strictly required. Where purchase history is thin, we start with rules-based merchandising logic (margin, promotion and stock-driven ranking) and layer in model-based recommendations once there is enough data to train against. Can returns bought online be processed in a physical store without breaking inventory counts? Yes. We build buy-online-return-in-store as one workflow against the shared inventory system, so a return updates stock and issues a refund the same way regardless of which channel the original purchase or the return happened in. Insights ## Further reading - [7 min readERP vs CRM and Which Your Business Needs FirstERP vs CRM compared: what each system manages, where the two overlap, and how to decide which one your business should implement first.](https://arbocode.com/blog/erp-vs-crm) - [6 min readWhat Custom CRM Development Cost Looks LikeCustom CRM development cost starts near $40,000 for a focused pipeline tool and reaches $250,000+ for a multi-team platform with automation and reporting.](https://arbocode.com/blog/crm-development-cost) - [7 min readCustom CRM vs Salesforce ComparedCustom CRM vs Salesforce, compared fairly on setup speed, per-seat cost at scale, how far each can be customized, and which suits your sales process.](https://arbocode.com/blog/custom-crm-vs-salesforce) ## Talk to us about your retail & e-commerce project Send a short description of the project. A senior engineer reads each request and answers with questions, next steps and an early budget range. [Get a free estimate](https://arbocode.com/get-a-quote) [Speak with an engineer](https://arbocode.com/contact)