This article covers how to handle most problems with the sync breaking between Retail POS and Shopify.

Most product sync issues are caused when edits are made in both Shopify and Retail POS, when they should only be made in Retail POS. Other product issues can be due to product information, or timeout issues caused by system limitations.

Order sync failures may be due to Shopify limitations, or issues with your settings.

Understanding Retail POS as the system of record

Once your Retail POS and Shopify accounts are connected, Retail POS should be treated as the system of record. To keep your data accurate, only make changes to synced information exclusively in Retail POS. Updates made in Shopify may be overwritten, or cause syncing issues.

The Shopify integration syncs important information like online sales and associated customer and inventory information to Retail POS to keep stock levels accurate.

• Product syncing lets you manage and edit products you sell in Shopify from Retail POS.
• Order syncing connects customer purchases containing products, letting you manage them from Retail POS.

For integrations connected after December 18, 2024, edits made in Shopify may cause syncing issues.

Once integrated with Retail POS, you won’t be able to sell products exclusively on Shopify. If your Shopify store includes a product that isn’t already in your Retail POS catalog, the product will be automatically created in Retail POS to ensure the order can be fulfilled and the integration functions correctly.

Don't unlink and relink your stores unless you are planning on deleting all items from your Shopify store and starting over.

Shopify products aren’t syncing

If product information isn’t syncing between Shopify and Retail POS, the products might not be configured correctly. Confirm that:

• The product is published to Shopify.
• Inventory tracking is enabled for the product.
• SKU and Shopify handles aren’t mismatched. If they are, follow the troubleshooting steps for desyncs caused by editing products in Shopify.
• Syncs aren’t being impacted by Shopify’s rate limit. Sync time is affected by the volume of changes. It may take up to two hours to complete. Full inventory counts, large stock orders, or bulk edits may impact sync time.

Price updates not pushing to Shopify

Sometimes pricing updates might time out before they reach Shopify. This can be resolved by pushing small updates to the product:

• Navigate to Catalog > Products. Navigate to the product in Retail POS.
• Click the pencil icon next to the product or click to expand the row and click Edit.
• Make a minor change to the description, such as adding a space to the end.
• Click Save.

Shopify product sync limitations

Never edit a product's URL in Shopify. If you make updates to the URL, Retail POS will override the changes and the sync may fail. If you need to edit the URL for SEO reasons, update the handle in Retail POS.

Some product syncing issues can be caused by system limitations between Retail POS and Shopify:

• Product syncing can break if you use Shopify to edit a product’s name, price, variant information, description, handle, SKU, or inventory.

Product syncs may fail if:

• Updates are made to the URL in Shopify: Retail POS will override changes made in Shopify and the sync may fail. If you need to edit the URL for SEO reasons, update the handle in Retail POS.
• Products are edited in Shopify: Product syncing can break if you edit a product’s name, price, variant information, description, handle, SKU, or inventory Shopify. Always edit products in Retail POS.
• Inventory movements: Compare Retail POS' inventory movements view with Shopify's inventory history to verify all movements of a particular product. For example, you may have returned an order on Shopify, but didn't replicate that movement in Retail POS. Check each movement one at a time for any discrepancies.

Individual variant publishing is not supported at this time. If a product is made available to sell online, all variants will be available for purchase as well.

These product details do not sync between Shopify and Retail POS, so they can be safely edited in Shopify:

• Images: Retail POS will sync images to Shopify when the product is published, but not after. This means bulk un-publishing and re-publishing in Retail POS can delete Shopify-only images. For products that are linked, manage images on Shopify.
• UPC/barcode
• Collections
• Shipping weight
• Compare at price

Understanding Shopify's rate limit

Shopify limits the number of requests to their servers to keep them from becoming overloaded. Requests include things like logging in, asking a question on your computer, using an app, clicking a button, or saving a change.

Once the limit is reached, requests are queued and won't update to Shopify until earlier requests have been processed.

Additional Information

The rate limit on Shopify is not based on the Retail POS integration, rather at the Shopify account-wide level. This includes the calls coming from all other installed apps/plugins to Shopify. 

Inventory doesn't match between Retail POS and Shopify

Following the steps below will delete variant images and may impact SEO.

1. If you find changes, navigate to Catalog > Products and locate the product.
2. Open Shopify and locate the product.
3. Compare the product details between Retail POS and Shopify.
4. If you find discrepancies, in Retail POS, create a backup of your product. You can find a single product to export by filtering the product's name under Search for products.
5. Check the boxes next to the products you want to unpublish.
6. Click Choose an action > Unpublish from Shopify.
7. In Shopify, delete the product.

8. In Retail POS, navigate to Catalog > Products. Check the box next to the product to select it.

   

9. Click Choose an action > Publish to Shopify to restore the connection.

   

Shopify orders aren’t syncing

Order sync issues are typically caused by either system limitations or issues caused by your settings.

System limitations that cause order syncing issues

Retail POS can’t import some Shopify orders due to system limitations:

• Orders older than 60 days
• Archived orders
• Orders including deleted products or custom products
• Draft orders
• Refunds/returns don't sync both ways and must be processed manually

Orders placed on a third- party fulfillment app connected to Shopify can also fail.

Verify that Retail POS settings are set to check for new Shopify orders

Make sure Retail POS is set to check for new Shopify orders.

1. In Retail POS, navigate to Setup > Apps and click on the pencil icon beside Shopify.

   

2. Scroll down to Automatic updates and make sure the box beside Update Lightspeed Retail is checked.

   

3. Go to Get Shopify orders > Get new Shopify orders to confirm that your orders are syncing.

If the Update Lightspeed Retail box is checked and the orders haven't arrived in your sales history, your orders may be archived in Shopify. Follow the steps in the next section.

Unarchive orders in Shopify

Archiving an order in Shopify can prevent Retail POS from finding the order. You’ll need to ensure all the orders you want to appear in Retail POS are unarchived on Shopify’s side.

1. In Shopify, unarchive the order.
2. In Retail POS, navigate to Setup > Apps > Shopify.

3. From the Shopify portal, click Get Shopify orders > Get new Shopify orders. The missing orders should appear in your sales history.

   

What's next?