M7 builds custom integration for Local Boy Outfitters

M7 has started a data and technology engagement with Local Boy Outfitters to connect the apparel brand’s ERP, Shopify store and warehouse through a custom Boxcar integration. The first phase focuses on cleaning up product data and stabilizing the order-to-fulfillment workflow for the private equity-backed retailer.

Why it matters: - Local Boy Outfitters was running multiple core systems that did not agree with each other, creating operational friction across direct-to-consumer and wholesale sales. - The engagement is designed to reduce manual work, prevent data drift and give the brand a more reliable foundation as it grows. - The first phase is narrow on purpose, which lowers the risk of disrupting fulfillment while the new system is tested.

What happened: - M7 began a technology and data science engagement with Local Boy Outfitters, the Southern outdoor lifestyle apparel brand behind the “Livin’ Local” clothing line for men, women and youth. - The sponsor of the private equity-backed company brought in M7 to fix the systems supporting both sales channels. - M7 is linking ApparelMagic, Shopify and Extensiv through a custom Boxcar integration. - The work starts with product data, which M7 calls the foundation for the rest of the integration.

The details: - ApparelMagic is serving as the ERP, Shopify powers the online store and Extensiv manages the warehouse. - Earlier off-the-shelf integration attempts failed. - The product catalog had been entered more than once and drifted apart over time. - Operations staff had been hand-keying records to receive inbound inventory. - M7 established ApparelMagic as the single source of truth for the catalog. - M7 cleaned up the underlying product data and created governance standards to keep it accurate. - M7 built a custom integration manager as a software product on Boxcar, its own development platform. - The Boxcar-based approach was chosen instead of generic middleware. - The integration is designed around ApparelMagic’s behavior, including inventory derived from transactions, partial shipments and pick tickets as the warehouse’s unit of work. - Safety controls include a continuously operating service, a read-only validation step before writes, protection against duplicate inventory transactions, a kill switch on each flow and independent reconciliation running alongside the process. - The first release covers the full e-commerce order-to-fulfillment loop on a single dedicated warehouse. - Wholesale continues on its existing integration during the trial.

Between the lines: - The project reflects a common problem in retail technology: companies often buy the right software but fail to align the data and business rules connecting those systems. - M7 is signaling that integration quality depends as much on governance and process design as on software connectivity. - The decision to keep wholesale on the old setup suggests the company is treating the rollout as an incremental proof point rather than a full-scale switch.

What's next: - The first phase aims to deliver a working order-to-fulfillment loop. - M7 and Local Boy Outfitters will use the results to make an evidence-based decision on whether to extend the same architecture across the rest of the operation. - More information is available from Local Boy Outfitters. - M7’s website has company information.

The bottom line: - M7 is betting that fixing product data first will make the rest of Local Boy Outfitters’ systems easier to connect, safer to run and harder to break.