Building the Dot & Key Mobile App with Custom Integrations
Dot & Key, one of India's fastest-growing skincare brands, wanted a mobile app to extend its Shopify website with exclusive perks, advanced cart logic, faster content management, and effortless scalability. We built a custom ecosystem using Shopify for commerce, AWS middleware for business rules, Strapi CMS for content, and integrations like Exotel and Nuggets.
Problem Statement
Shopify's native mobile capabilities were too limited for Dot & Key's ambitions. The gaps included:
- Lack of support for app-exclusive offers to incentivize downloads.
- Inability to handle complex promotions.
- No integrated way to manage IVR-based customer support.
- Limited content management flexibility for high-frequency marketing pushes.
- No native way to implement different pricing between website and app.
Dot & Key needed a solution that would not just replicate its website but create a differentiated app-first experience.
Solution
The new Dot & Key mobile app isn't just an extension of the website, it is completely custom built, designed and developed from scratch to be a strategic growth channel.
Shopify Backend and Strapi CMS on AWS
- Shopify Backend: Managed core commerce data like products, orders, customers, and cart.
- Strapi CMS (deployed on AWS): Handled marketing content, in-app banners, and campaign assets, enabling the marketing team to push content updates 40% faster.
- Custom Shopify App: Extended Shopify's core capabilities specifically for app requirements.
Middleware Layer on AWS
We built a scalable middleware engine to handle business rules beyond Shopify’s scope:
- Wishlist Management – persistent across sessions for personalized shopping.
- Cart Promotions – custom logic for BOGO, cashback, and IP-targeted offers.
- App-Exclusive Offers – ensured app users always saw rewards that weren't available on the website.
- Price Management via Two-Cart System:
- Shopify Cart for baseline operations.
- Middleware Cart applied dynamic price logic, synced with Shopflo for checkout. This dual-cart system allowed Dot & Key to run different pricing strategies for app vs. website users.
3rd-Party Integrations
- Exotel IVR: We created custom API endpoints to connect Shopify workflows with Exotel's IVR. This automated order-related calls and support flows, giving customers real-time updates and faster resolution without manual intervention.
- Nuggets: Integrated via API, Nuggets added decentralized identity verification and secure payments. This reduced repetitive data entry during checkout, improved data privacy, and built greater customer trust.
Impact
Client PoC
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