Premium GCC Product Marketplace (Luxury eCommerce Platform)

Premium GCC Product Marketplace (Luxury eCommerce Platform)

I am seeking an experienced Shopify and senior full stack Shopify developer to build a premium luxury eCommerce marketplace aimed at GCC (Khaleeji) customers living in or visiting the United Kingdom.

This is **not** a standard Shopify store.

Our vision is to create the UK's leading destination for authentic Gulf products, combining premium international shopping with a seamless, luxury customer experience designed specifically for Arabic-speaking and GCC customers.

The successful developer must have proven experience building modern Shopify Plus or enterprise Shopify stores with advanced custom functionality, multilingual support, AI integrations and premium user experiences.

## Project Overview

The platform will enable customers to purchase authentic products from:

* Saudi Arabia
* United Arab Emirates
* Kuwait
* Qatar
* Bahrain
* Oman
* United Kingdom (including premium British brands)

The website should provide an elegant, fast and intuitive shopping experience with support for English and Arabic (RTL), country-specific catalogues and same-day UK delivery where available.

## Customer Experience

The platform should include:

* Luxury modern responsive design
* Mobile-first experience
* Arabic & English language support
* Country-specific shopping
* Smart personalised homepage
* AI-powered product recommendations
* Wishlist
* Recently viewed products
* Frequently bought together
* Product bundles
* Advanced predictive search
* Voice search
* Smart filtering
* Verified customer reviews
* Gift wrapping
* Privacy packaging option
* Gift messages
* Loyalty & rewards programme
* Referral programme
* Push notifications
* WhatsApp integration
* Live chat support

## Product Experience

Each product page should support:

* High-resolution image galleries
* Product videos
* 360° product views
* Zoom functionality
* Country of origin
* Ingredients
* Nutritional information
* Allergy information
* Halal certification (where applicable)
* Authenticity verification
* Related products
* AI product suggestions
* Questions & Answers
* Stock availability
* Delivery estimates

## Checkout & Payments

Support for:

* Secure checkout
* Guest checkout
* Customer accounts
* Saved addresses
* Discount codes
* Apple Pay
* Google Pay
* Shop Pay
* Credit & Debit Cards
* PayPal
* Cash on Delivery
* Buy Now Pay Later integrations (where available)
* Multiple shipping methods
* Same-day delivery
* Scheduled delivery
* Click & Collect

## Marketing & Sales

The platform should include:

* Social commerce integration
* TikTok Shop
* Instagram Shopping
* Facebook Shop
* Google Shopping
* YouTube Shopping
* Pinterest Shopping
* WhatsApp Business
* Klaviyo or Mailchimp integration
* SMS marketing
* Abandoned cart recovery
* Dynamic promotional campaigns
* SEO optimisation
* Analytics dashboard

## Administration

Comprehensive Shopify administration including:

* Product management
* Inventory management
* Country-based catalogue management
* Order management
* Customer management
* Sales reporting
* Marketing dashboard
* Discount management
* AI analytics
* Supplier management
* Future multi-vendor marketplace capability
* Commission management
* Performance reporting

## Future Expansion

The architecture should be designed so the platform can evolve into a full multi-vendor marketplace where GCC brands and suppliers can register, manage products and receive payouts whilst the platform manages approvals, commissions and quality control.

## Technical Requirements

Please include in your proposal:

* Recommended Shopify architecture
* Apps vs custom development recommendations
* Shopify Plus experience (if applicable)
* Technology stack
* Third-party integrations
* Security approach
* Performance optimisation strategy
* SEO strategy
* Mobile optimisation
* AI integrations you recommend
* Estimated project timeline
* Ongoing maintenance options
* Examples of comparable Shopify or luxury eCommerce projects you have delivered

## Existing Specification

A detailed Software Requirements Specification (SRS) has already been prepared and will be provided to shortlisted candidates. It includes extensive functionality covering multilingual support, country-based catalogues, social commerce integrations, loyalty programmes, AI recommendations, Shopify administration, analytics, customer engagement and future marketplace expansion.

## Important

Please do **not** apply unless you have demonstrable experience building premium Shopify eCommerce platforms or online marketplaces of similar complexity.

Applications should include examples of relevant Shopify projects, details of your proposed technical approach and recommendations for delivering a scalable, secure and high-performance platform capable of serving an international GCC customer base.