InkService: a custom print platform replacing seven stacked Shopify apps
Why Gihonix proposed a custom platform instead of more Shopify apps for InkService, a print business in Kuwait, and what it covers: catalogue, quotations, artwork upload and one admin view. Work in progress.
The Gihonix team · · 3 min read
Key takeaways
- InkService needed enquiries, quotations, artwork upload and one admin view, which Shopify would deliver through seven or more paid apps.
- A custom platform gives the client its own database and removes recurring app fees.
- This project is in progress, so no results are claimed yet.
InkService is a print business in Kuwait that sold through a Shopify store. Gihonix proposed building a custom platform that InkService owns outright, instead of adding more paid apps to Shopify. The project is in progress, so this case study describes the problem and the approach, not results.
The challenge
InkService's requirement document, written in August 2026, asked for much more than a standard shop:
- a larger commercial-print catalogue,
- a services section driven by enquiries and quotations,
- artwork upload tied to each order,
- WhatsApp integration, and
- a single admin view showing, for every order, the uploaded files, special instructions and whether the files had arrived.
Shopify does not provide an enquiry pipeline, a quotation workflow or that unified order and artwork view natively. The requirement document itself routes nearly every item through a third-party app or custom work: artwork upload, a mega-menu, search, enquiry forms, a quote calculator, order tracking and live chat. That is seven or more separate apps, each billed monthly on top of the Shopify plan, and each able to change or break on its own schedule.
Why a custom platform
Our proposal made three points, each tied to the brief rather than to a general view about platforms.
- Ownership. On Shopify the database and logic belong to the platform and its app vendors. A custom platform gives InkService its own database, so orders, enquiries and artwork sit in systems it controls.
- Cost shape. App fees recur and grow with usage. A custom build is paid for once and then runs on hosting.
- One system. The enquiry pipeline, the order and artwork view and the admin dashboard are designed together instead of being stitched together from separate tools.
The proposal does not argue that Shopify is a poor platform in general. For a standard online shop it is often the right choice. The case for a custom build comes from this specific scope: the enquiry, artwork and admin requirements that Shopify cannot meet without extra apps.
What we are building
A custom platform with a React front end and a Laravel back end, with an OpenAPI-documented API:
- a storefront with the expanded commercial-print catalogue,
- quotation and enquiry workflows,
- artwork upload attached to each order,
- an admin dashboard where the sales team sees orders, enquiries and files together.
What changes
Because the project is in progress, we are not claiming results. The aim is one coherent system the sales team can run from a single screen, with no stack of subscriptions behind it. We will add the outcome here once the platform is live and the client agrees.
Technology
React, Laravel, and a documented REST API.
Work with Gihonix
Gihonix is a software, AI and web development company based in Coimbatore, India. If a shop platform is forcing you to stack apps to get the workflow you need, see our web development and redesign and migration services, or contact us.