Coontail
Coontail Modernizes Retail Operations with Shopify POS and a Unified Commerce Foundation
First Glance
Coontail is an outdoor lifestyle retailer serving customers who love life in the Northwoods. The company offers gear and apparel for biking, paddling, water sports and year-round outdoor adventure. With ecommerce sales nationwide and three retail locations in Wisconsin, Coontail needed a digital foundation that could support both in-store operations and online growth.
Before the project, Coontail already used Shopify for ecommerce, but its retail operations, POS, ERP and accounting workflows were still tied to Epicor Eagle. That created a split between the online store and the retail operation. Coontail wanted to modernize its business with a new ERP system, a stronger Shopify POS connection, improved inventory workflows and a redesigned ecommerce experience. Sunrise Integration was brought in to guide the transformation, define the technical approach and help move Coontail toward a more connected commerce operation.
The goal was to give Coontail a better way to run retail sales, online orders, special orders, purchasing, inventory, accounting and customer workflows from a modern platform stack. Sunrise Integration planned the future state around Shopify, Shopify POS, Cin7 and Xero, with Shopify acting as the central place for online and retail order capture, returns and fulfillment. Cin7 would manage inventory quantity, purchasing, receiving and ERP workflows while pushing stock updates back to Shopify.
The Challenge
Coontail’s previous setup made it harder to scale and utilize modern services. The business relied on Epicor Eagle for POS, ERP, inventory and accounting while using Shopify for ecommerce. This created a gap between in-store activity and online activity. Coontail needed a stronger connection between retail sales, online orders, customer profiles, product data, inventory and accounting. This setup made inventory management, sales workflows and online engagement harder to grow as demand increased.
One of the biggest challenges was inventory visibility. Coontail fulfilled online orders from its retail stores, but inventory was not properly attributed to Shopify Locations. Store teams also relied on manual verification, including calls between stores to confirm stock. This meant the process depended more on people than systems. For a multi-location retailer, that kind of workflow creates friction, slows fulfillment and increases the risk of stock confusion.
Product data also created a challenge. Not all products existed in Shopify, and the products that did exist were not always complete. Key product data was missing in Epicor Eagle, including images, tags and other ecommerce-ready details. Product creation in Eagle was difficult, so staff had to create some products manually in Shopify. That made it harder to create a clean product foundation for both Shopify POS and ecommerce growth.
Coontail also had unique in-store order workflows that needed to be supported in the new system. Standard in-stock purchases were straightforward, but the business also handled deposits, personalized items and special orders. Special orders were especially complex because they required customer details, partial payment, purchase order support and clear order identification inside Shopify. The discovery document notes that special orders are not a standard Shopify POS workflow, which meant Sunrise Integration needed to account for a process that crossed Shopify POS, Cin7 and store operations.
The migration itself also carried risk. Coontail was already running a live Shopify store, so the migration could not disrupt production ecommerce operations. Sunrise Integration had to plan for product data cleanup, SKU normalization, barcode handling, location mapping, customer data handling, gift card migration and validation before production changes could be made. The project needed to prepare the stores for day-one readiness while also building a scalable platform for the future.
The Solution
The Sunrise Integration design team crafted the new Shopify site theme working with Coontail on a design that matched their outdoor style. The full commerce stack is centered around Shopify as the unified order and customer platform. Shopify would handle ecommerce orders, Shopify POS orders, customer accounts, fulfillment, returns and customer-facing commerce activity. Cin7 would serve as the operational ERP layer for inventory, purchasing, receiving and stock synchronization. Xero would support accounting data as part of the future connected workflow.
The retail transformation centered on migrating Coontail’s three retail locations from Epicor Eagle POS to Shopify POS. Sunrise Integration planned the Shopify POS rollout with store hardware, payment settings, staff roles, Shopify Locations, POS workflows, receipts and in-store training in mind. This included guidance for Shopify POS-compatible card readers, receipt printers, cash drawers, barcode scanners, tablets, stands and mounts.
Sunrise Integration also expanded the role of Coontail’s existing Shopify store making them the central commerce layer for both online and in-store activity. Shopify Locations were created for each retail store, and each Shopify POS location would be mapped to the correct Cin7 location. This ensured that orders, fulfillments and inventory activity stayed tied to the correct store. Inventory changes from purchasing, receiving, stock adjustments, stocktakes, transfers and order commitments would be managed in Cin7, then pushed back to Shopify. Shopify would still show availability for ecommerce and POS, but Cin7 would control the operational inventory record.
The product migration was structured to reduce risk. Sunrise Integration planned to export product data from Epicor Eagle, transform it for Shopify, map key fields, normalize SKUs, validate barcodes and import products into Shopify in a controlled way. Since Coontail already had a live Shopify store, Sunrise Integration planned to run the migration in a Shopify test store first. That allowed Coontail to review the product catalog, confirm POS readiness and approve the structure before production migration.
For special orders, Sunrise Integration defined a workflow that started in Shopify POS and connected to Cin7. Store staff would create the special order at the POS, collect customer information, take partial payment and mark the order as unfulfilled. The order would sync to Cin7 as a Sales Order, where Coontail staff could create the needed Purchase Order for the supplier. When the item arrived, staff would receive it in Cin7, complete the customer pickup and reconcile the remaining payment through Shopify POS and Cin7.
The Outcome
Coontail’s move to Shopify POS gave the business a stronger operating model for modern retail. By bringing ecommerce, in-store sales and order management into Shopify, Coontail gained a clearer foundation for running the business from one connected commerce platform instead of depending on separate systems that each handled a different part of the customer journey. This gives the team a better way to support shoppers wherever the sale begins, whether that happens online, at the retail counter or through a special order request.
The new platform direction also creates a stronger path for ecommerce growth. The new Shopify-centered foundation gives Coontail the structure needed to sell more online without adding unnecessary pressure to the retail stores. As online demand increases, the business is better prepared to fulfill orders, manage products and support customers without creating more operational confusion.
With Shopify, Cin7 and Xero planned as connected systems, Coontail can move toward cleaner reporting across sales, inventory, purchasing and accounting. That gives leadership a better view of what is selling, where inventory is needed and how store-level activity connects to the larger financial picture. Instead of making decisions based on partial information, Coontail can build toward a more complete view of the business.
Sunrise Integration helped Coontail turn a complex technology change into a practical business improvement. The project gave Coontail a modern retail foundation, a more connected customer experience and a better structure for future growth. Instead of simply replacing Epicor Eagle POS, Sunrise Integration helped Coontail move toward a unified commerce model where each part of the business supports the next. That is the real value of the transformation: better systems, clearer workflows and a stronger platform for serving customers across every channel.
