Ecommerce & Retail · Sustainability Commerce
Carma
Carma embeds sustainability into the Shopify experience, tying customer loyalty and conversions to measurable reforestation and marine conservation.
- Focus
- SAAS, SHOPIFY, MICRO-SAAS
- Delivered
- 10 May 2023
- Location
- London, UK
- Live product
- Visit the site
Outcome
Merchants fund reforestation from checkout with no manual admin: 3 donation models, per product, per order or by value, with live FX for global stores.
Project Background
Carma was created as a Shopify app to enable eCommerce businesses to seamlessly integrate environmental contributions into their sales process. Developed for Carma.earth, an NGO dedicated to ecosystem restoration, the app allows merchants to plant trees and restore kelp forests with every order. By embedding sustainability into the checkout experience, Carma helps businesses enhance customer loyalty, boost conversions, and make a measurable impact on global reforestation and marine conservation efforts.
Through Carma, Shopify merchants can fund donations directly, allow customers to contribute post-purchase, or implement hybrid models based on sales, order value, or milestones. With real-time tracking, automated order processing, and detailed analytics, the app ensures transparency and impact visualization, helping businesses and customers see the direct results of their contributions.
The challenge
Developing Carma required creating a flexible and scalable donation system that accommodated various merchant preferences. Some businesses wanted to fund tree planting themselves, while others preferred customer-funded contributions. The app needed to support multiple donation structures, whether per product sold, per order, or based on order value, while remaining highly configurable and user-friendly.
Seamless Shopify integration was critical, requiring automated product creation, post-purchase donation extensions, and multi-currency support for global merchants. Additionally, user adoption and engagement were key factors, as many store owners sought sustainability solutions but needed a one-click setup, an intuitive dashboard, and customizable branding options.
How we solved it
To address the need for a flexible and scalable donation system, we built Carma with multiple contribution models, allowing merchants to choose between merchant-funded, customer-funded, or hybrid donation strategies. The app supports tree planting under 3 donation models, per product, per order, or based on order value, ensuring businesses can align environmental contributions with their sales strategy.
For seamless Shopify integration, we implemented an automated product creation system, enabling merchants to easily add tree-planting options to their store. The app also includes a post-purchase donation extension, allowing customers to contribute after checkout. To support global merchants, we integrated multi-currency support with real-time exchange rate conversion.
Technologies
What we built it with
- Front-end
- ReactJS
- TypeScript
- HTML5
- CSS3
- Back-end
- Laravel
- PHP
- DevOps
- Github CI
- Docker
- Linux
- Database
- MySQL
- Integrations
- Shopify
How we built it
Supported three donation models from the start, so the merchant chooses who pays rather than the app deciding. Some merchants fund tree planting themselves, some ask the customer, and some split it. Carma lets each configure donations per product, per order or by order value, with merchant-funded, customer-funded or hybrid contributions, which is what made one app fit stores with opposite philosophies. On the Shopify side, automated product creation adds the tree-planting option to a store in one step, a post-purchase checkout extension lets customers contribute after paying, and real-time exchange rate conversion means a global merchant's donations are correct in every currency.
In the client's words
“The Carma Shopify App has exceeded our expectations. The seamless integration have made this app a cornerstone of our mission to expand Carma's impact.”
Have a project like this in mind?
Tell us what you're building. We'll show you how we'd approach it and what it would take to ship.