Strategic & Commercial Proposal
MetroMart E-Commerce Platform
Prepared For
MetroMart
Prepared By
The Asylum Agency
Date
July 27, 2026
Proposal Version
Version 7.1
Commerce Foundation MVP
The MetroMart Blueprint describes an enterprise-class e-commerce ecosystem. Our recommendation remains a phased launch: begin with a commercially complete Release 1, learn from real customer, payment and operational data, then expand the backend in controlled stages.
Version 7.1 clarifies the complete Product Attribute commitment. Product Attributes and their management are part of the Release 1 platform foundation, and the existing attribute/value dataset will be migrated and normalised to the agreed launch-ready standard. An optional AI Catalog Intelligence Pack adds a deeper enrichment and ongoing quality layer.
Release 1 remains a single USD 20,000 commitment — Discovery USD 4,000 plus Build USD 16,000. Product Attribute Management, migration and launch-readiness normalisation are included within this price. Optional growth modules and support remain separately contracted.
Commerce Foundation MVP
Commercially usable first version: premium storefront, Product Attribute Management, launch-ready catalog migration, checkout, BoG + TBC payments, and a one-way 1C stock/price import.
Growth & Conversion Modules
Three à-la-carte add-ons, each priced separately: Critical Commerce Pack (+$12k), Stabilization Sprint (+$9k), and the optional AI Catalog Intelligence Pack (+$7.5k).
Operational Support
Optional post-launch retainer ($2,500/mo): monitoring, incident resolution, payment-callback analysis, and up to 40 hours per month.
Deliverables by stage
The USD 20,000 Release 1 includes Product Attribute Management plus migration and launch-readiness normalisation of MetroMart's existing attribute/value dataset. Optional modules remain separately contracted.
Commerce Foundation MVP Scope
Product Attribute Management & Migration — included foundation
The detailed taxonomy, mapping rules and acceptance criteria will be finalised during Discovery. Release 1 includes migration of MetroMart's existing attribute/value dataset, technical normalisation and the corrections required for working specifications, filters and daily catalog management. MetroMart will provide the source dataset and business decisions for ambiguous or conflicting values.
Included in Release 1
- Existing attribute/value dataset migration
- Mapping, deduplication and unit/format normalisation
- Category assignment, core validation and launch corrections
- PDP specifications, filters and admin management
Defined during Discovery
- Final taxonomy and category templates
- Source-of-truth and ambiguity rules
- Sample testing and measurable acceptance criteria
- AI Pack priorities, sources and review workflow if selected
Separate / at cost
- Manual reconstruction of missing specifications
- External research and unbounded item-by-item verification
- Complex custom rule engines beyond the agreed scope
- Ongoing catalog data-entry operations
A structured execution timeline
We divide execution into structured engineering phases, plus support and the optional AI Catalog Intelligence Pack. Click on any phase to review objectives and activities.
Modern, fast, and maintainable
We design bespoke architectures to optimize user load capacity, SEO ranking, and data synchronization.
Next.js (React)
Server-rendered, responsive storefront architecture with accessible components and search-engine-readable product and category pages.
Laravel or NestJS
Highly robust frameworks featuring enterprise queue systems. Safely schedules catalog synchronizations and parses webhooks in the background.
PostgreSQL & Redis
A relational model for categories, products, attribute definitions, allowed values, category templates and product attribute values. It supports specifications, filters, indexing and future comparison without duplicating product logic across the storefront.
Meilisearch / Typesense
Attribute facets, typo tolerance and fast catalog discovery.
Custom / Filament Admin
Role-aware management of categories, products, media, attribute groups, attribute definitions, values, import mappings and orders.
S3 & Cloudflare
Cloudflare manages edge-caching, dynamic file optimizations, and active DDoS mitigations, shielding the production cluster.
Budget breakdown and schedules
MVP discovery, design, and engineering milestones are committed as fixed fees in USD. Custom modules are invoiced according to the deliverables checklist.
AI Catalog Intelligence Pack — optional enrichment layer
Release 1 makes the existing catalogue operational and launch-ready. If the AI Catalog Intelligence Pack is selected, the catalogue is taken to an agreed enriched and quality-controlled standard through AI-assisted extraction, anomaly detection, terminology and unit normalisation, confidence scoring and administrator review. Priority categories, permitted source materials and acceptance criteria are locked during Discovery; no AI-generated or corrected data is published without review.
Keeping the build predictable
We operate under transparent alignment policies. Explore how we split integration uncertainty and what we need from you.
Capped Risk-Shared Operations
A small subset of database tasks carry extreme unknowns due to target system documentation gaps. To protect you from inflated fixed-price bids, these modules are confirmed during Discovery and handled against agreed caps or separate SOWs:
Contractual protections (both sides)
Clear boundaries keep the engagement predictable and protect both parties. These terms are written into the agreement.
Statement of readiness — the enterprise backend
The MetroMart blueprint also describes a deep enterprise backend. We are fully equipped and ready to build it — but it is intentionally excluded from this contract. It is a separate engagement, scoped, priced and negotiated on its own once Release 1 is live and proven on real data. Nothing here implies a commitment or a figure today.
When MetroMart is ready, this becomes a dedicated Statement of Work with its own discovery, scope and pricing. Treat this section purely as a declaration of capability — a signal that the Release 1 foundation is built to grow into it.
Scope Boundaries & Assumptions
Committed Deliverables Included:
- Engineering, interface design, standard QA testing, PM and launch orchestration for committed MVP scope.
- Product Attribute Management and agreed Excel/CSV import templates.
- Migration and launch-readiness normalisation of MetroMart's existing attribute/value dataset to the Discovery-locked acceptance criteria.
- Setup of staging sandbox and production server infrastructure.
- Staged milestone progress updates.
Excluded from Release 1 (separate / at cost):
- Server hosting, CDN, domain registration, SSL certificates, paid security plans.
- Missing-data reconstruction and external research: Manual collection of absent specifications from manufacturers or other external sources, unbounded item-by-item business verification and ongoing catalog operations, except where explicitly included in the AI Catalog Intelligence Pack scope.
- Advanced custom attribute tooling: Bespoke rule engines, complex inheritance or validation/enrichment workflows beyond the agreed Release 1 model and optional AI Pack scope.
- Content and legal: Translations, general copywriting, legal/terms content and product-content production beyond the agreed Release 1 or AI Catalog Intelligence Pack scope.
- Load/stress testing, DR rollback fail-safe, full WAF/DDoS hardening & rate-limiting, and CI/E2E pipelines.
- The enterprise backend (Release 2) — refunds automation, bidirectional 1C sync, CRM, RMA, marketplace feeds — handled under a separate future agreement.
Detailed Milestone Payment Schedule
Change Request Policy
To preserve delivery deadlines and budget accuracy, any requirement additions or design redirections requested after a phase scope freeze are estimated as distinct Change Requests. The client remains free to authorize development or defer the item to later releases.
Contractual Protections
- Separate, paid Discovery: Discovery ($4,000) is its own contract producing the locked SOW; the $16,000 build is committed only afterwards. If Discovery reveals materially different integration conditions, scope/price/timeline are re-baselined, or the client exits having paid only $4,000.
- Limitation of liability: total liability capped at fees paid; no liability for indirect/consequential loss, third-party outages (banks, 1C, Cloudflare), or loss from client-supplied ERP data.
- Cancellation & IP: milestone payments non-refundable; work to date billable; IP transfers on full payment.
- Warranty: 30-day warranty covers defects in delivered committed scope only — not new features or bank/1C-side breakage.
- Bank dependency: BoG & TBC are both included; each gateway's timeline depends on client-provided sandbox/merchant access. Client-side delays pause that gateway and do not block go-live.