Once your Retail POS and Shopify accounts are connected, Retail POS should be treated as the system of record for both platforms. Understanding what product information syncs will help you to avoid errors when managing your catalog.

Understanding how product information syncs to Shopify

Not all information can be synced between Shopify and Retail POS due to differences in system limitations.

The following information syncs from Retail POS > Shopify:

• Name > Title
• Description > Description
• Supplier or Brand > Vendor
• Handle > Handle (end of URL)
• SKU > SKU
• Product category > Product type
• Tags > Tags
• Variant Name/Value > Option value
• Variant Attribute > Option name
• Retail price > Price
• Active/Inactive > Product availability
• Inventory > Quantity
• Stock Tracking
  • Off - N/A
  • On - On, product only sold when inventory > 0

Some information doesn't sync with Shopify:

• Images > Media
• Supply price > N/A
• N/A > UPC/barcode
• N/A > Collections
• N/A > Shipping weight
• N/A > Compare at price

Syncing products in Retail POS (X-Series) and Shopify

1. Back up your products on Shopify and Retail POS. Backups let you revert back to your original product catalog if you make a mistake or run into an issue.
   1. Export and save your product list. This export includes your current inventory levels in Retail POS.
   2. Export and save your Shopify products. This is in case you need to restore your catalog on Shopify.

2. Confirm that the Product Vendor in Shopify setting in Retail POS correctly matches either the Brand or Supplier field to the Vendor field in Shopify.

   This setting tells Retail POS how to handle the Vendor field in Shopify. For example, if you’re keeping supplier information in Shopify’s Vendor field, but this setting is set to synch Brand from Retail POS, then your brand info will overwrite the supplier info when it synchs to Shopify.

   To confirm the setting is correct:

   1. Navigate to Settings > Apps > edit icon next to Shopify.
   2. Make sure you’ve chosen the right setting for your Shopify setup.
   3. Click Save.
3. Ensure that your SKUs and handles match across both platforms.

   • If you’re using barcodes in Shopify, move these to the Variant SKU field in Shopify.

   • SKUs can be edited in Shopify, or in Retail POS by editing the product or with a spreadsheet import. Handles for variant products can only be changed directly in Retail POS and not via CSV. If you change SKUs in Retail POS, you’ll need to print barcode labels for the new SKUs.

     Editing Shopify handles changes the product URL, which can break tracking and digital marketing links. Contact Shopify Support for full details on changing SKUs and handles for your products in Shopify.

4. Navigate to Setup > Apps and click the pencil icon next to Shopify.

   

5. From the Shopify settings page, click Get Shopify products. Then, select Get all Shopify products from the drop-down menu.

   Pulling products from Shopify overwrites whatever products in Retail POS. Back up your product catalog before importing. Ensure that product information is correct in Shopify before initiating the sync to Retail POS.
   Only use the Get all Shopify products function when you first link Shopify with Retail POS. While the Get new Shopify products function is available in Retail POS, any sync from Shopify can unintentionally overwrite product information.

   

   Any products with matching SKU and handle combinations will be synced. Variant and composite products are displayed as a single product in Shopify. The outlet linked to your Shopify store determines the inventory of composite products. Shopify can only have 100 variant combinations per product.

6. Optionally, add product images in Shopify. The first time you publish a product to Shopify, Lightspeed will only publish the primary image in Retail POS for that product. Additional images must be added to Shopify manually.

Importing products that only exist in Shopify

If you have different products in your Shopify store that aren't in Retail POS, you can import them.

1. Navigate to Setup > Apps.
2. Click the pencil icon next to Shopify.

   

3. Click Get Shopify products. Select Get all Shopify products from the drop-down menu.

   Pulling products from Shopify overwrites whatever products are currently in Retail POS. Ensure that product information is correct in Shopify before initiating the sync to Retail POS.

   

All online and in-store products should be available in your Retail POS catalog to ensure the integration functions correctly. If a new order is placed on Shopify with a product not in your Retail POS catalog, the product will be created automatically.

Publishing products from Retail POS to Shopify

To publish the Retail POS products to Shopify, navigate to the Shopify settings page in Retail POS and click Publish products to Shopify.

Once you publish products to Shopify, all active products in Retail POS will be published to your Shopify store.

What's next?