Dealer-only store with RRP display and an approved-dealer locator

The challenge

A UK web agency asked us to adapt its client's online store for a business that sells through approved dealers rather than directly to the public. The store had to work as a trade catalogue: dealers needed to see recommended retail prices and choose product options quickly, while ordinary visitors were directed to their nearest dealer instead of a checkout.

The store ran on OpenCart 1.5.6.4, and none of these behaviours were available out of the box. The default catalogue hides options until the product page, shows only one price, and has no concept of a dealer network on a map. The agency also needed the client's product data workflow to keep working once the new price field existed.

What we did

• RRP always visible. A custom extension that shows the recommended retail price alongside product prices throughout the catalogue.
• Options on category pages. A custom extension that lets logged-in users select product options directly on category listings, so dealers can choose options without opening each product page. We demonstrated both extensions on our test site first, then installed them on the live store and converted the option extension to vQmod.
• Dealer registration and locator. Building on an existing store-locator extension, we added dealer registration so that approved dealers are placed automatically on a searchable map. For guest visitors, a "Find a Dealer" link replaces the Add to Cart button.
• Import/export for the new fields. We customised a free import/export extension to include the RRP column and the product options, and worked through the agency's correction rounds.

Tech stack

PHP, OpenCart 1.5.6.4, vQmod, store-locator map