I've been working to build and launch this store for the past (what month is it now, August?) 5 months. I started planning all this over a year ago. Well, here we are.... Welcome to the MUTATION Comics & More. I have learned a lot these past few months and expect the lessons are just getting started...
I wanted to build a store that could scale with more books. The first obstacle was being able to manage comic books in Shopify's product management system. It's totally fine for what it does, but it lacks many features that are specific to comics. Our inventory was already well organized in software designed specifically for Comic Books. This software allowed us to sort them in various ways, add and edit data as needed and organize where they're located in our storeroom.
However, I quickly found that trying to export a data file and import it into Shopify was a frustrating experience that required way too much manual intervention. Trying to do this with thousands of comics was going to be rough and would probably burn me out fast. I needed something with a bit more horsepower and customization. I needed a custom software solution. Thankfully, I know a guy...
So what started out as "Hey, I'm gonna open a Comic Shop online" quickly turned into "Nope, I guess I'm writing an app first". Two months in captivity and two self-imposed Sprints later I had an enormous backlog of enhancements and a working application that could take the data exported by my comic book software, reformat it any way I wanted and import it into an intermediate database.
With my inventory easily accessible, I could run processes that query data in any way I like and send it over to Shopify's API. This made the prospect of creating thousands of products at once a lot more manageable. More importantly, it made keeping them synchronized between Shopify and my Inventory software possible. So adding new products and managing the ones we have can be done through a high percentage of automation.
I'm satisfied with the results and generally happy with the website in its current form, it's a strange feeling for me. That said, there's so much more I want to do to make this store all that it can be.
First of all, we need to get better metadata to link our comics together with properties like Series, Creators, Characters, Genres, etc. The software my *ahem* guy... developed for synchronizing our inventory also automates the creation of this on the back-end. Unfortunately, the metadata I pull in from my inventory software to fuel those links is a bit lacking. So figuring out a solution is pretty high on my list of priorities.
Secondly, we need more inventory! The store was never going to launch unless I cut myself off at a number. We still have several hundred books on hand to add over the coming weeks & months (it's just me and a couple loving, patient family members right now). In addition, we intend to get out there and keep buying short boxes, long boxes, small lots, collections and whatever we can to beef this place up.
We also have sealed Action Figures, Trades, Cards and a bunch of other stuff I intend to add to the store over time. Once we're up and running smoothly we hope to start selling new Comics and Trade Paperbacks as well. Baby steps...
I want to build out our "Comics for Little Mutants" collection too. I have two kids of my own who have been exposed to comic books all their life. Having a nice selection of kid-friendly comics and books is important to me. I want parents and their children to be able to share the love of not only comics, but reading in general. Please stay tuned for more on that front.
Finally, we want to get out and start participating in the local comic shows. I've been to many of them as a collector/customer and would love the opportunity to vendor at one. That's going to be a whole thing on its own as we put together our table. So I think early 2024 is probably the most realistic target for us.
Thanks for coming by the store. I hope you found something you liked. If not, I hope you'll add us to your bookmarks and check back from time to time. We're going to be working hard to earn your business! Happy reading!
