Walkthrough: Set up and use the Shopify Connector

This section demonstrates some typical scenarios and takes you through the steps to test or train users on the workflow of the integrated Business Central and the Shopify store.

Prerequisites

Shopify

You must have:

  • A Shopify account
  • A Shopify online store

Learn more about how to create Shopify trials and recommended settings at Create and Set Up a Shopify Account.

Business Central

You must have a Business Central account.

For example, you can create a demo account or start a trial. Learn more at Prepare Demonstration Environments of Dynamics 365 Business Central and Sign up for the trial.

Connect Business Central to the Shopify shop

In Business Central, do the following:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Shops, and then select the related link.
  2. Select the New action.
  3. In the Code field, enter DEMO1.
  4. In the Shopify URL field, enter the URL for the online shop that you want to connect to.
  5. Activate the Enabled toggle and then review and accept the terms and conditions.

To configure the Shopify shop, follow these steps:

  1. Turn off the Allow Background Syncs toggle.
  2. Select To Shopify in the Sync Item field.
  3. Select To Shopify in the Sync Item Images field.
  4. Turn on the Sync Item Attributes toggle.
  5. Turn on the Inventory Tracked toggle.
  6. Select Deny in the Default Inventory Policy field.
  7. Turn on the Auto Create Unknown Customers toggle.
  8. Fill in the Customer/Company Template Code field with the appropriate template.
  9. Fill in the Shipping Cost Account, the Tip Account with the revenue account. For example, in the US, use 40210.
  10. Turn on the Auto Create Orders toggle.
  11. Turn off the Auto Release Sales Orders toggle.

Configure location mapping:

  1. Select the Locations action to open Shopify Shop Locations.
  2. Select the Get Shopify Locations action to import all locations defined in the Shopify. Select entry with Is Primary toggle is selected.
  3. In the Location Filter, enter ''|EAST|MAIN.
  4. To enable an inventory sync for a selected Shopify location, in the Stock Calculation field, select Projected Available Balance at Today.

Walkthrough: Start selling products online

Scenario

Let's say that you want to try Shopify as an online store without spending much time on setup, especially because you already maintain your items in Business Central properly. After you launch your Shopify online store, you immediately get new customers who are happy with your shop and their buying experience. So, they decide to leave tips at checkout.

Steps

In Business Central, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Products, and select the related link.
  2. Select Add Items.
  3. In the Shop Code field, enter DEMO1.
  4. In the Item Category Code field, set the filter CHAIR.
  5. Turn on the Sync Product Images toggle.
  6. Turn on the Sync Inventory toggle.
  7. Select OK and wait until initial synchronization of items, prices, images, and inventory is completed.

In the Shopify online store:

Tip

Open Shopify admin by navigating to the URL specified in the URL field of the Shopify Shop Card page. Select the eye icon next to the Online Store sales channel, located in the sidebar of Shopify admin.

Open the product catalog. Notice:

  • Product titles, images, and prices.
  • Availability indicator (sold out for out-of-stock products).

Choose any product that can be sold. For example, the BERLIN Swivel Chair, yellow. Notice that the description contains item attributes.

Select Buy it now and proceed to checkout.

  1. In the Email or mobile phone number field, enter [email protected] (or an email address where you want to receive order and shipping confirmations).
  2. In the First name and Last name fields, enter Claudia and Lawson.
  3. Enter the local address.
  4. Select the Save this information for next time checkbox.
  5. Keep Standard as the shipping method.
  6. In the Credit Card number field, enter 1 if you use (for testing) Bogus Gateway, or enter 5555 5555 5555 4444 if you use Shopify payments in test mode.
  7. Fill in the Name on card field.
  8. In the Expiration date field, enter the current month/year.
  9. In the Security code, enter 111.
  10. Optional: Select 10% tip.
  11. Select Pay now.

In Business Central, do the next steps:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Orders, and then select the related link.
  2. Select the Sync Orders From Shopify action.
  3. Select OK.

The imported order is ready for processing.

  1. Select the imported order to open the Shopify Order window.
  2. Notice that the new customer and sales orders are created.
  3. Explore the Risks and Shipping Cost actions.
  4. Select Sales Order to open the Sales Order window. Sales order is a demand that, if necessary, can be covered with assembly, production, or by purchase with the help of the planning engine. It also supports various warehouse handling processes with complete separation of duties.
  5. In the Agent field, enter DHL. Reopen order if needed by choosing Reopen action.
  6. In the Package Tracking No., enter 123456789.
  7. Select Post, keep the Ship and Invoice option, and then select OK.

Now physical and financial data is registered in Business Central. It’s time to notify Shopify about the changes.

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Sync Shipments to Shopify, and select the related link.
  2. Select OK.

In Shopify Admin, notice that the order is now marked as Fulfilled. You can also review shipment details and see the tracking URL there. If you run Sync Orders From Shopify again, the order will be archived in both systems.

Walkthrough: Add your customers to your new online store

Scenario

After a successful quick launch of your new online store, you want your current customers to visit it and start placing orders. Depending on your Shopify plan and process you can try B2B and DTC flows.

DTC Steps

In Business Central, do the following:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Customers, and select the related link.
  2. Select Add Customers.
  3. In the Shop Code field, enter DEMO1.
  4. In the No. field, set the filter 20000.
  5. Select OK and wait until initial synchronization of customers is completed.

In Shopify Admin, notice that the customer was imported. Open the customers and notice that the first and last names of the customer are coming from the Contact Name field of the Customer Card. The company name can be found in the default address, linked to the customer. If you use Classic customer accounts, then you can select Send account invite to invite the customer. With New customer accounts, a password isn't required for customers to sign in. Instead, Shopify lets your customers sign in using a one-time, 6-digit verification code sent by email.

B2B steps

Note

This feature is available from 2024 release wave 1, and requires a Shopify Plus subscription. To get access to B2B features, remember to request an access token. For more information, see Request the access token.

In Business Central, do the following:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Companies, and select the related link.
  2. Select Add Company.
  3. In the Shop Code field, enter DEMO1.
  4. Set the filter 30000 on the No. field.
  5. Select OK and wait until initial synchronization of customers is completed.

In Shopify Admin, notice that both the company and the customer were imported. Open the customers and notice the Company FactBox has links to the company, location, and assigned permissions. To invite the customer, select [...] in the Company FactBox, and then select Send B2B access email.

Walkthrough: Fine-tuning of item management

Scenario

You'd like to add more flexibility and control to your processes around items management. You want to improve product descriptions and would like to add more review steps before products become available to all customers.

Steps

In Business Central, do the following:

Prepare data.

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Customer Price Group, and select the related link.

  2. Add a new price group. In the Code field, enter SHOPIFY.

  3. Close the Customer Price Group window.

  4. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Items, and select the related link.

  5. Select item 1896-S, Athens Desk, and then follow these steps:

  6. Select the Variants action and then add two variants: PREMIUM, Athens Desk, Premium edition and ESSENTIAL, Athens Desk, Essential edition.

  7. Select the Marketing Text action and use the Draft with Copilot to get creative and engaging text. If marketing text suggestion isn't enabled, just enter: 'Simple stylish design blends with any ensemble. Available in two editions..

  8. Select the Sales Prices action and add new prices as shown in the following table:

    Line Sales Type Sales Code Type Code Variant Code
    (add the field via personalization)
    Unit Price
    1 Customer Price Group SHOPIFY Item 1896-S ESSENTIAL 700
    2 Customer Price Group SHOPIFY Item 1896-S PREMIUM 1000
  9. Select the Sales Discounts action and add a new discount:

    • Sales Type Customer Disc. Group
    • Sales Code RETAIL
    • Type Item
    • Code 1896-S
    • Unit of Measure Code PCS
    • Line Discount % 10
  10. Select the Item References action and add the following lines:

Line Reference Type Reference No. Variant Code
1 Barcode 77777777 ESSENTIAL
2 Barcode 11111111 PREMIUM
  1. Select the item 1920-S, ANTWERP Conference Table and then follow these steps:
  2. Select Adjust Inventory and in the New Inventory field, enter 100 for the locations EAST and WEST.
  3. Select OK.

Adjust the synchronization settings.

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Shops, and select the related link.
  2. Select the DEMO1 shop for which you want to synchronize items to open the Shopify Shop Card page.
  3. Enable the Sync Marketing Text field.
  4. In the SKU Mapping field, select Item No.+ Variant Code.
  5. In the Default Inventory Policy field, select Continue.
  6. In the Status for Created Products field, select Draft.
  7. In the Action for Removed Product field, select Status to Archived.
  8. In the Customer Price Group field, select SHOPIFY.
  9. In the Customer Discount Group field, select RETAIL.

Run the synchronization.

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Shops, and select the related link.
  2. Select the DEMO1 shop for which you want to synchronize items to open the Shopify Shop Card page.
  3. Select Products to open the Shopify Products page.
  4. Select the Add Items action.
  5. Set the filter TABLE|DESK on the Item Category Code field.
  6. Turn on the Sync Product Images toggle.
  7. Turn on the Sync Inventory toggle.
  8. Select OK and wait until initial synchronization of items, prices, images, and inventory is completed.

Products are added. Notice that the status is set to Draft, and therefore items aren't visible in the Shopify online store.

  1. Select the line with item 1920-S, ANTWERP Conference Table. In the SEO Title, enter Rectangular meeting table Antwerp, 10 seats, black.
  2. In the Status field, select Active.
  3. Select the line with item 1906-S, ATHENS, Mobile Pedestal and then select Delete.

In Shopify Admin, notice that all products have different statuses.

  • ANTWERP Conference Table is Active because we changed its status on the Shopify Product page.
  • ATHENS Desk is Draft because we configured the default status for all added products to be Draft.
  • ATHENS Mobile Pedestal is Archived because we configured the shop to automatically assign status Archived for deleted products.

Notice that inventory for ANTWERP Conference Table is 100, because we configured the system to use inventory only from two locations, MAIN and EAST. Inventory on another location (WEST) is ignored.

  • Open ANTWERP Conference Table, notice the Custom Type, Vendor, Weight, and Cost per item fields, and the Search engine listing preview section.
  • Open Athens Desk, scroll down to the Variants section, and notice how SKU is populated.
  • To review barcode and prices, select Edit.
  • Change the status of Athens Desk to Active, and select Preview.

In the Shopify online store, open the product catalog and find the ATHENS Desk product. Notice that different options are available. For different options, prices are different. Pay attention to discount information.

Additional steps for B2B

Note

This feature is available from 2024 release wave 1, and requires a Shopify Plus subscription. To get access to B2B features, remember to request an access token. For more information, see Request the access token.

You can configure connector to create and assign catalog for exported Companies automatically. The steps below are useful if you want more precise control of what is available for B2B customers.

In Shopify Admin, create and assign a catalog.

  1. Select Products and then Catalogs in the sidebar of Shopify admin.
  2. Create a catalog for specific products. Give it the title 'B2B'.
  3. Choose Manage, and then Manage products and pricing.
  4. Select the Excluded filter, find ATHENS Desk, and choose Include in catalog.
  5. Select Customers, and then Companies in the sidebar of Shopify admin.
  6. Select School of Fine Art, choose [...], and then Add catalogs and add the B2B catalog created earlier.

In Business Central, do the following:

Prepare data.

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Items, and select the related link.

  2. Select item 1896-S, Athens Desk, and then follow these steps:

  3. Select the Sales Discounts action and add a new discount:

    • Sales Type Customer Disc. Group
    • Sales Code LARGE ACC
    • Type Item
    • Code 1896-S
    • Unit of Measure Code PCS
    • Line Discount % 25
  4. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Catalogs, and select the related link.

  5. Select Get Catalogs.

  6. In the Shop Code field, enter DEMO1.

  7. Select the entry with the B2B catalog for which you want to synchronize prices.

  8. Enable the Sync Prices toggle.

  9. In the Customer Price Group field, select SHOPIFY.

  10. In the Customer Discount Group field, select LARGE ACC.

  11. Choose Sync Prices and wait until synchronization of prices is completed.

In Shopify Admin, explore prices for the B2B catalog.

In the Shopify online store, open the product catalog and find the ATHENS Desk product. Note the price and discount information.

Walkthrough: Check out and order synchronization for Individual buyer and Company representative

This is a continuation of Walkthrough: Start selling products online. You can also try with your own data, for example, using your Shopify store or sandbox.

Individual buyer

  1. In the Shopify online store. Choose Account icon. Enter email you have access to.
  2. Sign in using a one-time 6-digit verification code sent by email you entered.
  3. Explore product catalog, you should be able to see all products with retail prices.
  4. Select Essential variant and select Buy it now and proceed to checkout.
  5. Fill in the First name and Last name fields.
  6. Enter the local address.
  7. Keep Standard as the shipping method.
  8. In the Credit Card Number field, enter 1 if you use (for testing) Bogus Gateway, or enter 5555 5555 5555 4444 if you use Shopify payments in test mode.
  9. In the Expiration date field, enter the current month/year.
  10. In the Security code, enter 111.
  11. Fill in the Name on card field.
  12. Select Pay now.

Company representative

Note

This feature is available from 2024 release wave 1, and requires a Shopify Plus subscription. To get access to B2B features, remember to request an access token. For more information, see Request the access token.

  1. In Shopify Admin.
  2. Select Customers and then Companies in the sidebar of Shopify admin.
  3. Open School of Fine Art entry.
  4. Choose [...] in the School of Fine Art FactBox, then Edit payment terms, and then select Due on fulfillment.
  5. Choose [...] in the Customers FactBox, then Add customer, and then add the one with the email you used to sign in to the store earlier.
  6. In the Shopify online store. Choose Account icon. Enter email you have access to.
  7. Sign in using a one-time 6-digit verification code sent by email you entered.
  8. Explore product catalog, you should be able to see only product added to the B2B catalog with retail special prices.
  9. Select the essential variant, select Buy it now, and proceed to checkout.
  10. Notice that account, Ship to, and payment method are populated.
  11. Fill in the PO Number field with PO-12345.
  12. Select Submit order.

In Business Central, do the next steps:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Orders, and then select the related link.
  2. Select the Sync Orders From Shopify action.
  3. Select OK.

The imported order is ready for processing.

  1. Select the imported order to open the Shopify Order page.
  2. Notice that both the orders were submitted by same person, they're linked to two different customers.
  3. In the order submitted on behalf of company, you can see a value in PO Number field, which is also transferred to the External Document No. field of the created sales document.
  4. Because we configured the B2B company to handle payments outside of Shopify, the Financial Status is set to Pending. After you receive the payment, select the Mark as Paid action. The financial status updates in Shopify.

Walkthrough: Import items, customers, companies from Shopify

Scenario

You already have a successful online store and would like to start using Business Central as business management software. You would like to import as much data from Shopify as possible.

Steps

This is a continuation of Walkthrough: Start selling products online and Walkthrough: Add your customers to your new online store. You can also try with your own data, for example, using your Shopify store or sandbox.

In Business Central, follow the steps listed next.

Prepare data

  1. Switch to a free 30-day trial without sample data. For more information, see Add your own data to an empty trial.
  2. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Shops, and then select the related link.
  3. Select New.
  4. In the Code field, enter DEMO2.
  5. In the Shopify URL field, enter the URL to the online shop that you want to connect to.
  6. Turn on the Enabled toggle, and then review and accept the terms and conditions.

Configure the Shopify shop as described here:

  1. Turn off the Allow Background Syncs toggle.
  2. In the Sync Item field, select From Shopify.
  3. Turn on the Auto Create Unknown Items toggle.
  4. Fill in the Item Template Code field with the appropriate template.
  5. In the Sync Item Images field, select From Shopify.
  6. In the SKU Mapping field, select Item No.+ Variant Code.
  7. In Customer Import from Shopify field, select All Customers.
  8. Turn on the Auto Create Unknown Customers toggle.
  9. Fill in the Customer/Company Template Code field with the appropriate template.
  10. In the Company Import from Shopify field, select All Customers.
  11. Turn on the Auto Create Unknown Company toggle.

Run the synchronization

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Shops, and select the related link.
  2. Select the DEMO2 shop for which you want to synchronize data to open the Shopify Shop Card page.
  3. Select Sync Products.
  4. Select Sync Product Images.
  5. Select Sync Customers.
  6. Select Sync Companies

Results

  • Shopify Products are imported. To verify, select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Products, and select the related link.
  • Items with images are created. To verify, select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Item, and select the related link.
  • Shopify customers are imported. To verify, select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Customers, and select the related link.
  • Shopify companies are imported. To verify, select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Shopify Companies, and select the related link.
  • Customers are created. To verify, select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Customers, and select the related link.

See also

Get Started with the Shopify Connector