uStore

U STORE

Building seamless shopping experiences

The Future of Scalable eCommerce for Global Brands

uStore is an advanced online store developed for Unilever Sri Lanka Limited, one of the world’s largest multinational consumer goods companies. It’s a headless eCommerce platform built with a WordPress frontend and a Laravel backend, integrating Shopify for intelligent inventory management.

My role involved maintaining the platform, enhancing key features, and introducing advanced product variation functionality to ensure scalability and future readiness as a part of Ecom Lanka Services.

TECHNOLOGIES

Tools and technologies

To bring it LIVE

PHP

Laravel

Livewire

JavaScript

Alpine.js

WordPress

Shopify

Microservices

Payment Gateway

MySql

OVERVIEW

Integrating multiple technologies for speed, flexibility, and manageability.

Poject Overview: Balancing Performance, Flexibility, and Scalability

uStore combines WordPress, Laravel, Shopify, and Livewire to create an optimized buying experience. By separating the frontend and backend, the project delivers lightning-fast performance, flexible content control, and seamless shopping management.

CHALLANGES

Redefining eCommerce complexity at scale.

The Product Variation Dilemma

A significant challenge was the lack of product variation management in the existing system. Adding this feature meant re-structuring how products, orders, and inventories interacted. The transition needed to preserve existing data continuity, synchronize orders, and ensure zero downtime for active users. Key issues included migration conflicts, data model compatibility, and real-time order synchronization between Shopify and Laravel.

APPROACH

Combining data integrity, agile development, and headless design principles

Strategic Problem Solving

I applied modular architectural thinking and an iterative development approach, gradually layering the variation system on top of existing product structures. Using Laravel’s Eloquent ORM and custom Livewire components, updates were synchronized dynamically with Shopify’s API logic. The agile process helped in minimizing disruption and ensuring continuous deployment.

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SOLUTION

Bridging data models and improving the user experience.

Headless Harmony in Action

The final implementation introduced a dynamic product variation module supporting attributes like size, color, and packaging type.

Built an automated product sync between Shopify and Laravel.
Developed a custom admin interface within WordPress for managing variations seamlessly.
Ensured full compatibility with Unilever's existing product catalog and future scalability.
Integrated payment gateways for multiple regions.

RESULTS

Real Business Impact

Creating measurable results through user-centric engineering.

The enhanced platform improved key performance metrics:

This project empowered Unilever’s regional teams to manage digital inventory in real time and deliver consistent product experiences globally.

FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a headless eCommerce platform?

A headless eCommerce platform separates the frontend (user interface) from the backend (data and logic) to improve flexibility, scalability, and performance.

Why was Shopify used instead of a custom inventory system?

Shopify provided robust inventory control and integration APIs that complemented the Laravel backend, saving development time while ensuring reliability.

What technologies powered the uStore project?

Laravel, PHP, JavaScript, Livewire, WordPress, Shopify (Liquid), and REST APIs for integration.

How did the product variation feature improve user experience?

It enabled customers to browse and select variations more efficiently, leading to higher engagement and conversion.

What lessons were learned?

Maintaining data harmony between multiple systems requires strong API versioning, robust middleware, and continuous testing automation.

Blogs

Updates & Blogs

Database

25 Dec,2025 By Sanjewa

Project Information