Shopify: channel guide

About this article

This is a ChannelEngine guide on Shopify as a channel. Here you can find information on how to create an account on Shopify, how to configure this channel on ChannelEngine, what the specific requirements are, and more.

Table of contents

How to request an account

Associated costs

Channel features

Channel setup

Settings and configuration

On Shopify

On ChannelEngine

Mappings

Listed products

Additional information

How to request an account

To start selling via Shopify you first need to create an account on Shopify. This can be done via their website. We are able to connect with the Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus plans.

Associated costs

The costs related to Shopify can be found on the pricing section of their website.

Channel features

Supported	Not supported
Product offers (merchant product number matching)	Multiple fulfillment locations
Product content	Repricing
Product variations (size/color)	Draft orders
Product images	Metafields
Orders
Shipments
Cancelations
Returns/refunds (merchant and channel)
Discount codes
Publishing of products on all sales channels

Channel setup

Setting up every channel in ChannelEngine follows the same flow:

1. Go through the Setup
2. Create a Product selection
3. Complete the Categorization
4. Set up the Mappings (content, offers, and carriers)
5. Configure the Pricing (rules and currency conversion)
6. Finish the Activation
7. Check the Listed products overview

Settings and configuration

On Shopify

In order to connect your Shopify Store to ChannelEngine, you must add ChannelEngine as a private app in the back-end of your Shopify account.

To add ChannelEngine to Shopify:

1. On Shopify, in the left panel, click Apps and click Manage private apps.

1. In the top right corner, click Create a new private app.
2. Enter the name and the emergency developer email for the private app. While it is your choice on what to enter, we strongly recommend using the following information:
   • Private app name - ChannelEngine
   • Emergency developer email - [e-mail]
   • Update the permissions of the private app, so our system can have the required access:
   • Customers - read and write
   • Discounts - read and write
   • Fulfillment services - read and write
   • Inventory - read and write
   • Order editing - read and write
   • Orders - read and write
   • Products - read and write
   • Product listings - read and write
   • Shipping- read and write
3. Leave the webhook API version set to the latest version. Access to the storefront data is not required for ChannelEngine.
4. In the Create a new private app dialog box, click I understand, create the app. Do take heed of the warning that the API credentials should be kept safe
5. The API credentials should now be generated and visible.

On ChannelEngine

Once your Shopify account is active, you can setup Shopify on ChannelEngine.

To setup Shopify to ChannelEngine:

1. Add Shopify as a channel in your account.
2. Under the Setup tab of your Shopify account, enter the following information:
   • API key password - add the password of the private app. The password starts with shppa_.
   • API shop URL - your shop's URL. The URL looks like: [accountName].myshopify.com. E.g.: channelengine-nl.myshopify.com.
   • Shop URL - this is the URL of your shop where the customer can place orders.
   • Location identity on Shopify - you can find this number on Shopify under Settings > Locations > Open the default location. In the URL link you will find a number behind /locations/. This is your location identity. If this number is not added, we cannot update your stock and orders.
   • Currency - the currency used on your Shopify account.

   

3. There are also settings below the Advanced settings:
   • Set orders to closed after import - if enabled, imported orders are automatically set to 'Closed' – and inventory reservation is not updated. Shipments and returns are not imported and processed.
   • Shopify prices are excluding VAT - on Shopify, you have the option to switch off the setting All prices include VAT. If this is switched off, you need to switch off Shopify prices are excluding VAT on ChannelEngine too.
   • List products on all sales channels - ChannelEngine will publish all your products to all sales channels.
   • Filter order tags - this is a hidden setting currently only editable by ChannelEngine employees. This field can be used to filter on specific order tags so other orders are excluded. Because of the high impact (entering wrong values could lead to no orders being imported at all) please contact ChannelEngine if you want to filter on specific tags.
   • Notify customer on shipment/cancelation - ChannelEngine automatically triggers the notifications Shipment confirmation and Order canceled.
   • Include shipping costs for cancellation refunds - enable it to switch from refunding the total of the order lines to refunding the order total, i.e.: including the shipping costs.
   • Notify customer on return/refund - ChannelEngine automatically triggers the notification Order refund.
   • Restock items in case of refunds - enable this if you want items marked as Returned to be automatically added to the available stock.
   • Gifted order lines enabled - enable this if you use 'gifts' (extra order lines or items). Gifted order lines are not added to an order right away, if this setting is not enabled they may not appear in orders.

Mappings

The mapping only exists in the content mapping tab. In this tab, you will need to map the three required attributes:

• Price - used for exporting the sale price to Shopify.
• SKU - the merchant product number of the product. If you want to link to existing products, then this attribute should be the same as the SKU field on Shopify.
• Title - the name/title of the product.

Next to these three attributes, there are also optional attributes that ChannelEngine advises you to use:

• Barcode - the EAN of the product.
• Body HTML - the description of the product.
• Compare at price - creates the strikethrough pricing on your Shopify website.
• Option 1 - used for creating a single variation (parent-child).
• Option 2 - used if Option 1 is filled in. This option generates a double variation (grandparent-parent-child).
• Published - sets the status of the product on Shopify. If set to Yes, the product is published and sellable on all of your Shopify sales channels.
• Product type - the category of the product.
• Vendor - the brand of the product.

Listed products

Shopify does not state if a product is published or not. The only visible aspects are the tasks and these are running on ChannelEngine. At first, the status of a product is set to Created, and after it is created on Shopify it will change to Updated. Note that when the creation of the product does not go well, Shopify will only provide you with minor feedback. This feedback is shown under Reason, below the Last import from channel selection.

Additional information

In this selection you will find additional information about the Shopify channel integration:

• Adding new products
  To create new products in your Shopify back-end, ChannelEngine needs to perform three tasks: export the product content to Shopify; export the offers; and export product images. When all three tasks are completed, the products will be shown correctly in your Shopify account. Please check with your Customer Success Manager or Customer Onboarding Specialist when these tasks are scheduled for the Shopify channel, so you know how long it takes to see your new products online.
• Linking to existing products
  If you would like to link to existing products in your Shopify back-end, set up the correct SKU of each Shopify product in the mapping field SKU. Please inform your Customer Success Manager or Customer Onboarding Specialist before you do this, and do not activate the channel until you get the go-ahead. ChannelEngine must update an export product setting in our back-end for you.
• Working with product variations on Shopify or ChannelEngine
  The only way to create product variations on Shopify is to set up a correct grandparent-parent-child structure on ChannelEngine. Once this is set up, you need to fill in fields Option 1 and Option 2 under Mapping. E.g.: if you have a t-shirt in various colors and sizes, Option 1 should be connected to the field Color and Option 2 to the field Size. If you have a grandparent-parent-child structure set up on ChannelEngine, it is not possible to set up the products on Shopify as a standalone.
• Return and refund handling
  When using the Shopify integration, you have two options to set up return and refund handling:
• • • Shopify is leading - on Shopify you have the option to create a refund of an order. This refund becomes a return on ChannelEngine, which could be handled like a normal channel return on ChannelEngine.
    • ChannelEngine is leading - when creating a return on ChannelEngine, it becomes a refund on Shopify and a 'paid out' is triggered.

For more information about the return/refund handling, check this help article: Shopify (channel): why is my return not visible?.