Wix App Developers: Build a New eCommerce Business Solution

If you are developing a full-scale business solution that requires eCommerce capabilities (similar to Wix Stores, Wix Bookings, or Wix Restaurants Orders), you can integrate your app with the Wix eCommerce platform and take advantage of its features. To enable this integration, you need to:

  1. Set up automatic installation of the eCommerce app.
  2. Integrate an external catalog with your app.
  3. Integrate with additional eCommerce services. (Optional)

Step 1 | Set up automatic installation of the eCommerce app

The eCommerce platform’s functionality can be added to a Wix site by installing the Wix Checkout & Orders app. However, the Wix Checkout & Orders app isn’t a standalone app that a site owner can install independently. To integrate eCommerce capabilities into your own business solution app, you need to make sure that your app automatically installs the Wix Checkout & Orders app as a dependency.

Follow these steps to make your app install Wix eCommerce capabilities every time it's installed on a site:

  1. Go to your app's dashboard.
  2. In the left sidebar, click Market Listing.
  3. In the sidebar submenu, click App Audience.
  4. Under Required Wix Products, select Yes, additional products are required.
  5. In the Choose products list, select Wix Checkout & Orders.
  6. Click Save.

You have now configured your app to frontload the Wix eCommerce platform. Whenever your app is installed on a site, it now automatically installs the Wix Checkout & Orders app which adds standard Wix eCommerce pages and components to the site it’s installed on.

After installing your app, a Wix site will have these features:

Site pages:

  • Cart Page
  • Checkout Page (not visible in the editor)
  • Thank You Page

Dashboard pages:

  • Orders
  • Gift Cards

Step 2 | Integrate an external catalog with your app

Any business solution app that integrates with the Wix eCommerce platform needs to connect with an external catalog containing available products or services.

To get your app set up with an external catalog, follow these steps:

  1. Implement the Catalog service plugin to make your external catalog’s data available to Wix in the required format and structure. Refer to the Catalog service plugin documentation for detailed instructions.

  2. Create an Item Page (a Product Page, a Service Page, or equivalent) and/or a Gallery Page for your app that displays information about individual items for sale. This page should include functionality for adding items to the site visitor’s cart, using the Cart API. For guidance on creating a page for your app, consult About Site Page Extensions.

After following these steps, you should be ready to develop your eCommerce business solution app. For detailed instructions on developing Wix apps, consult our comprehensive documentation on building Wix apps.

Step 3 (Optional) | Integrate with additional eCommerce services

You can further customize your app's functionality by integrating with additional services available on the eCommerce platform.

For example, the Tax Groups service plugin enables you to create and manage custom tax groups to categorize items from your app's catalog based on distinct tax treatments. This integration is required to charge tax on your external catalog items.

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