Integrate Dynamics 365 Business Central with Shopify

Business Central and Shopify integration is the need of modern businesses that want to grow their online and offline stores smoothly and successfully. The blend of these two solutions enables visibility into various business areas, including inventory, pricing, customers, and orders. This allows for business operations and more efficient work.

Connecting Shopify with Business Central, you can respond faster to customer inquiries, make timely returns and refunds, manage customer data, directly import orders from Shopify to Business Central, and manage e-commerce operations.

The integration can be instrumental for small, medium, and large e-commerce stores and retailers with online presence to increase their business productivity and provide customers with a better shopping experience.

Businesses can also manage multiple Shopify stores, track inventory levels and order status, respond to customer queries, and fulfill orders efficiently. In addition to this, you can view and analyze data from your overall business operations and your specific activities on Shopify in a unified way.

To avail these advantages, you must connect Shopify and Business Central using Business Central Shopify Connector. However, the integration process can be overwhelming for you due to multi-step processes, like downloading the app, signing up, configuration, and synchronization.

The connection process can be made easy with the step-by-step guide. We will discuss the steps in detail and their benefits and features. Before this, let’s shed light on Shopify Connector.

What is Shopify Connector in Business Central?

The Shopify Connector in Business Central is designed to simplify the connection between the Shopify store and Dynamics 365 Business Central. You can leverage Shopify connectors with two methods: pre-built connectors and custom-developed connectors.

A pre-built connector allows you to add Business Central and Shopify with a single click. You just need to search for the Business Central application in the Shopify app store and add them.

However, custom connectors are required when business operation capabilities are not supported by pre-built connectors. The capability consists of webhooks for real-time updates, integration with third-party apps and services, and the requirement of custom workflows and automation.

Steps to Setup Shopify and Business Central Connection

Before starting the Business Central Shopify integration process, you must fulfill these prerequisites.

• You must have a Shopify account.
• You must have at least one Shopify store.
• You have installed Business Central in your system with the Shopify – Admin (SHPFY – ADMIN) permission set.

Once you have given the required permissions and downloaded the Shopify connector, you are ready to go on the journey of connecting Shopify and Business Central.

1. Download the Business Central app from Shopify AppSource.

Use the Shopify app store link to find Business Central and click on the Add App button. Review the privacy and permissions and click on the Install App button to connect them. Once the app is installed, sign in to your Business Central tenant.

2. Connect Shopify Shops in Business Central

Businesses are required to connect the Shopify shops with Business Central to ensure the sync of data between these two applications. With a Shopify URL, you can simply connect to the system.

You can search for Shopify Shop and select the related link to begin the connection process. However, you can click on New to create a new shop.

Name your store from the code field. Enter your unique link store to the Shopify URL field to establish a connection. Turn on the Enabled toggle and accept the terms and conditions.

Your Shopify shop connection is established. You can take the above steps to add new shops in the Business Central.

3. Configure Your Shopify Shops in Business Central

After connecting your Shopify shops in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the configuration of shops is vital. It helps you ensure data consistency across the platform, seamless synchronization, and enable access to real-time data.

Moreover, you should configure your data wherever you are launching a new online store, expanding your sales channels, or migrating to another e-commerce channel.

Follow these steps for configuration:

• Name your shop and provide a code.
• Enter your Shopify URL by copying it from the browser.
• Do not enable the Shopify card immediately.
• Complete the configuration in all tabs before enabling it to avoid partial synchronization issues.

4. Start Synchronization

Once you have completed the configuration, you can start synchronizing items/products, inventory levels, customer data, and order flow by configuring synchronization settings. This enables data consistency and accuracy, smooth operation, comprehensive data analysis, and early identification of issues.

Features of Shopify Connectors

The Business Central Shopify connector offers synchronization features to ensure the efficient operation of your retail and e-commerce businesses. Here are some of the features that can be helpful for business:

Bi-Directional Synchronization of Items or Products

This allows product synchronization in a dual way from Shopify to Business Central and vice versa. You can sync item variants, product images, barcodes, and vendor item numbers.

Select the items to synchronize between Business Central and Shopify, including physical goods, digital downloads, services, and gift cards.

If you are syncing items from Business Central, go to the Shopify menu and then click on Products. In case of using the Shopify application, click on Home and then Add Items.

Synchronization of Inventory Levels and Item Prices

The pricing syncing feature was recently launched by Microsoft on April 1, 2023, in the Shopify connector to synchronize product prices from Business Central to Shopify.

Update shipment information in Business Central with tracking numbers and shipment agents. Sync Shipments to Shopify to update Shopify with shipment status and tracking information.

Bi-Directional Synchronization of Customers

Customer data is essential for a business, and connectors enable dual-direction synchronization of customers in multiple ways.

However, ensure to match customers by email and phone number to ensure accurate data synchronization.

• You can create customers in Business Central and transfer them to Shopify.
• Import customers’ information from Shopify and create a new customer in Business Central when orders are created.
• You can also enable the auto-creation of unknown customers in Business Central when new orders are imported.

Import of Orders from Shopify to Business Central

You can sync orders to Shopify by clicking on the Sync Orders from Shopify button in Dynamics 365 Business Central to import orders. Before this, configure currency codes, exchange rates, shipping charges, and taxes for your Shopify store in Business Central.

The feature allows you to set up tax area codes and location mappings for accurate order processing. It enables you to specify locations and accounts for returns and refunds and manage sales credit memos.

Benefits of Shopify and Business Central Connection

Businesses can take various advantages of successful Shopify integration with Business Central. It increases the visibility of product pricing and customer data, such as order status, history, and billing. With improved visibility, businesses can serve their customers better.

For instance, you can respond to customer queries quickly, refund and return timely, and process orders more accurately. Here are more benefits of Dynamics 365 BC and Shopify integration:

Financial Accuracy and Insights

Data, such as inventory prices, payment options, and sales data from Shopify is automatically integrated into Business Central’s accounting system, ensuring accurate and up-to-date financial records.

Businesses can use these detailed financial reports and insights to manage multiple buyers and offer discounts and different pricing to users. This aids in better financial planning, saves time, and reduces error.

Improved Data Management

Integration ensures that all sales, inventory, and customer data are centralized, providing a single source of truth and improving data accuracy. This will improve operational efficiency as change data, such as product updates, changes in customer demand, and product price changes, is automatically updated.

The integration will allow you for better data analysis, helping businesses identify trends, forecast demand, and make informed decisions.

Accurate Inventory Management

Businesses can maintain accurate inventory levels with real-time updates from Shopify to Business Central, preventing stockouts and overstock situations.

Automated reorder points and inventory tracking ensure that products are replenished efficiently, reducing carrying costs and avoiding stock shortages.

Operational Efficiency

Expect a reduction in manual data entry and administrative tasks through automated synchronization of sales orders, inventory updates, and customer information between Shopify and Business Central.

Seamless integration leads to smoother order processing, faster fulfillment, and efficient inventory management, enabling businesses to operate more effectively.

How Can Dynamics Square Help?

Companies can leverage various advantages with Business Central and Shopify integration, such as accessing real-time data, preventing stockouts or overstocking, identifying changes in customer trends, and more, to improve the customer shopping experience.

However, integration can be done with a step-by-step guide, but it might be astounding due to its lengthy process. In the event of any specific requirements, you might require technical expertise.

We recommend you contact Dynamics Square to get support for the integration processes. We have 14+ years of experience in helping businesses integrate Business Central and other applications, such as Shopify, Power BI, and Power Automate.

Schedule a consultation call at  +1 778 381 5388 or write us an email at info@dynamicssquare.ca to get your query resolved.

People Also Ask:

How to integrate Shopify with Business Central?

The integration process is very straightforward. You can either use an in-built Shopify connector or a custom connector to process the integration.

If you are using the built-in connector, you need to add Business Central to Shopify by visiting the Shopify app store. Click on the Add App button to enable integration.

How do I remove Shopify from Business Central?

You can uninstall the Shopify Connector from your Shopify admin. Go to the Shopify Apps store and select Delete in the row with the Dynamics 365 Business Central app. Confirm the deletion message.

In Business Central, navigate to the Shopify Connector settings. Turn off the Export Customer to Shopify toggle to prevent sending customers to the Shopify app.