If you have existing products in both Retail POS and Shopify, we recommend linking these products so that stock changes are correctly synced between the two platforms. This article lists three common scenarios you might encounter when linking your Retail POS and Shopify products. 

What product information syncs with Shopify?

Important

• Once your Retail POS and Shopify accounts are connected, Retail POS becomes the system of record.
• You should manage your product catalog, pricing, and inventory information in Retail POS to ensure everything stays accurate and up-to-date.
• Shopify feeds important information back to Retail POS, such as online sales, new customer or existing customer information associated with a sale, and inventory from a sale to keep stock levels in sync.
• Please click the following link for more on how to use the Shopify integration!

Scenario 1: I have common products in Retail POS and Shopify with matching SKUs and handles.

If you have common products in Retail POS and Shopify, the sync will link your products from Shopify with the same products in Retail POS by matching the product SKUs and handles.

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

2. In the Shopify settings page, click Get Shopify products. Then, select Get all Shopify products from the drop-down.

3. Any products with matching SKU and handle combinations will be linked together. If you are using barcodes in Shopify, you will need to transfer these to the Variant SKU field in Shopify before you sync your products. This is to ensure that products on Shopify will match existing Retail POS products.

Important

Selecting Get all Shopify products will sync information from Shopify to Retail POS, and overwrite what is currently in Retail POS. Confirm product information is correct in Shopify before initiating the sync to Retail POS. You can also create backups of your current Retail POS products by following the steps below:

1. Export and save your product list to a CSV file. This is a copy of your current inventory levels in Retail POS.
2. Link your Shopify products with Retail POS. Products have successfully linked to Shopify when they display the "View on Shopify" banner on the Retail POS Products page. The inventory levels for the product will also be the same on both platforms.
3. If you experience an issue when linking products, locate the CSV file you saved at step one and import it into Retail POS before trying again.

Scenario 2: I have different products in Retail POS and Shopify, but I want to link and keep all products on both platforms.

If you have one group of products in Retail POS and a different group in Shopify, and you want to combine the two so that you have the same products on both platforms, follow the steps below:

1. First, sync the Shopify products to Retail POS by navigating to Setup > Apps. Then, click the pencil icon next to Shopify.

2. Click Get Shopify products. Then, select Get all Shopify products from the drop-down.

Important

Any images attached to products in Shopify will not sync to Retail POS. If you want these images in Retail POS, you’ll have to upload the images manually.

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

By doing this, all active products in Retail POS will be published to your Shopify store.

Important: Retail POS will only send the main product image to Shopify. Additional images, such as images for variant products, will need to be uploaded separately.

Scenario 3: I have products in Retail POS and Shopify, but not all SKU and handle combinations match.

Sometimes you may have the same products in Retail POS and Shopify, but the SKUs and/or handles for these products do not match up between Retail POS and Shopify. To fix this:

1. Make sure that the common products in Retail POS and Shopify have the same SKU and handle combination.

2. If any common products in Retail POS and Shopify do not have matching SKU and handle combinations, then edit the SKUs or handles for these products in either Shopify or Retail POS.

Important

Before going ahead with this change it is important to note the implications of changing SKUs and handles in Retail POS or Shopify:

Changing the handle in Shopify: This will change the last bit of the product URL, meaning any SEO, FB campaign, Google Adwords and other digital marketing links will break.

Changing the handle in Retail POS: The handle of a standard product can be changed via CSV and directly in Retail POS. However, the handle of a product with variants can only be changed directly in Retail POS and not via the CSV.

Changing the SKUs in Retail POS: If you use barcodes in store then you’ll have to print the barcode again for the new SKUs.

We recommend contacting Shopify Support regarding the implications of changing the SKUs and handles for your products.

3. Once you have the handle and SKU match for every product, navigate to the Shopify settings page in Retail POS and click Get Shopify products. Then, select Get all Shopify products from the drop-down. Retail POS will look for the SKU and handle combinations of the Shopify products and link them together.

4. It is important that you following the Get all Shopify products when you first link Shopify with Retail POS. Once you’ve done this, all future products should be created in Retail POS, as Retail POS will be the system of record for all inventory and product management going forward.

When using this feature, the barcode field may be used if SKUs are missing.