Before implementing the integration between Online Exclusive's Backoffice and Shopify, it is good to review the integration settings. They are divided into three different sections, each with its own default settings.
- The integration settings can be found in Shopify under Sales channel -> Online Exclusive. At the bottom of the page you will find settings related to synchronization and integration.
Integration settings: Inventory information
You can choose whether you want to maintain your inventory in Online Exclusive's Backoffice or in Shopify. If you want, you can leave inventory synchronization off completely.
This is how you select the synchronization setting for inventory information
Select the desired synchronization setting:
- If you want Online Exclusive's Backoffice to be the main inventory information system, select "From Online Exclusive to Shopify".
- If you want Shopify to be the main inventory information system, select "From Shopify to Online Exclusive".
- If you don't want to synchronize inventory at all, select "Do not synchronize inventory".
The default system setting is "From Shopify to Online Exclusive."
Next, we will go through how updating inventory works with the different options. These instructions are for a situation where you have a single warehouse in Shopify.
If you use multiple warehouses, you can find instructions for multi-warehouse support at the bottom of this article, under the heading Shopify's multi-location management feature.
Online Exclusive as the main inventory system
If the main inventory system is Online Exclusive:
- Online Exclusive sales reduces the stock quantity in Backoffice. The change in stock quantity is updated to Shopify with a delay of a few minutes, the next time the integration update is run.
- A Shopify online store order reduces the stock quantity first in Shopify. When the order is transferred to Backoffice, the stock quantity is reduced there as well. The stock quantity is synchronized back to Shopify if necessary.
- NOTE: If the main inventory system is Online Exclusive's Backoffice, manually updating the inventory in Shopify will not change the stock quantity.
Shopify as the main inventory system
If the main inventory system is Shopify:
- Online Exclusive sales must be synchronized from Backoffice to Shopify so that the stock quantity decreases correctly from one system to another.
- A Shopify online store order reduces the stock quantity immediately from Shopify, and the stock quantity is updated from Shopify to Backoffice.
- NOTE: If the main stock system is Shopify, manually updating the stock quantity in Online Exclusive's Backoffice will not change the stock quantity in Shopify.
NOTE: If the synchronization of orders is not on, the stock quantity will not stay up to date between the systems.
Checking stock quantity automatically
You can also check stock quantity automatically. This setting is off by default. You can enable automatic checks from the Shopify side, in the Online Exclusive add-on settings.
With the stock quantity check, you can easily make sure that stock quantities match between the systems. If there are differences in the stock quantities, the stock quantity check report will indicate them. The stock quantity check starts at midnight, and after it is completed, the results will be sent to the email address you specified.
Shopify's multi-location management
In Shopify, you can create several warehouses for your online store. The functionality is available in all of Shopify's different packages, and more detailed instructions on inventory management in Shopify can be found in Shopify's own instructions.
When many different warehouses have been defined in Shopify, you can enter the inventory per warehouse in Shopify's product page.
Thanks to multi-warehouse support, you can better control from which warehouses or to which warehouse inventory is synchronized.
If you only use one warehouse in Shopify, this is of no practical importance to you.
Multi-warehouse support: Shopify as the main inventory system
Define which warehouse inventory is synchronized in the application settings. The options are:
- Individual warehouse (warehouse name).
- In this case, only the inventory linked to this warehouse is exported to Online Exclusive's Backoffice.
- Number of warehouses.
- In this case, the integration calculates the total of ALL warehouses for the product exported to Online Exclusive's Backoffice. A product-specific inventory change made to each warehouse changes the amount and triggers an inventory change towards the cash system.
NOTE: If Shopify is the main system for inventory, orders from Online Exclusive will reduce the stock quantity of the starting warehouse's inventory. If the amount information is exported from Shopify, Online Exclusive orders are exported to Shopify's default warehouse.
Default setting: By default, inventory is synchronized from the last created warehouse.
Multi-warehouse support: Online Exclusive's Backoffice as the main inventory system
The merchant can define or update inventory in Backoffice and this information is synchronized to the defined warehouse in Shopify. The merchant can define only one warehouse to which inventory is exported.
In this case, it is good to note:
- If Online Exclusive's Backoffice is the main inventory system, the products must be in Shopify only in the warehouse defined as the target warehouse for the integration.
- We don't recommend using Shopify's multi-location management feature if Backoffice is the main inventory system.
Default setting: By default, inventory is synchronized from the last created warehouse.
For inventory in different warehouses, it is good to take the following things into account:
- If the destination or source warehouse setting is changed, changing the setting does not automatically synchronize all inventory information.
- If the target warehouse setting is changed, the new stock quantity is transferred directly to the new warehouse without resetting the values of the previous warehouse.
Example:
Online Exclusive's Backoffice as main inventory system. The target warehouse is Warehouse1, and the product has a quantity of 10 in Backoffice, which is exported to this warehouse with a quantity of 10.
If the target warehouse is changed to Warehouse2, from the moment of the update, the quantity of 10 is transferred to warehouse 2, but quantity of 10 still remains in warehouse 1.