Retail × Integrations

Shopify and the shop floor, agreeing on stock.

Orders from Shopify reduce your back-office stock, sales in the shop reduce what Shopify offers, and a stock take or a delivery updates both. Where they disagree, you get an alert rather than an oversold customer. A custom integration for retailers who sell in a shop and online.

Get a quote for this See it runningA first version: 5–11 weeks
Sound familiar?

You sold the last one twice.

A customer buys the final medium on Shopify at 12:10. At 12:20 someone buys the same item at the till. One of them will be told it isn’t available. Retailers who sell in a shop and online usually fix this by hand: adjusting numbers at the end of the day, or taking items off the website to be safe. That works until a busy week, when it doesn’t. The sync is a small piece of software, and when it fails quietly it’s an expensive one.

  • The same item is sold in store and online before either side knows.
  • Stock is adjusted in Shopify by hand after a delivery or a stock take.
  • Variants with the same name but different SKUs get mismatched.
  • Click and collect orders are picked from shelves the system thinks are full.
  • Nobody notices when an automation stops running until a customer complains.
What gets built

The parts, shaped to you.

Pick the ones you need. Each is built around how your team already works, then joined up on one set of data.

Decide which system owns stock

Either your back office is the master and pushes levels to Shopify, or Shopify is the master and your system reads from it. I agree this with you first, because every other rule follows from it.

SKU and variant mapping

Each product variant in Shopify is matched to the right item in your system by SKU or barcode. Mismatches are listed for you to fix before anything syncs, not discovered after.

Orders in, stock out

A new Shopify order reduces stock in your back office and creates the picking and invoice records you need. Cancellations and returns put stock back.

Stock out, levels pushed

Sales in store, deliveries and stock takes update the level in Shopify for the right location, so the website reflects the shelf within moments.

Locations

Shopify tracks inventory per location, and I map it to your shop, stockroom or warehouse, so click and collect uses the shop’s stock and delivery uses the warehouse’s.

Reconciliation on a schedule

A nightly comparison of both sides, with differences listed and corrected by rule or flagged for a person. Not every Shopify stock change sends a notification, so a scheduled check is the safety net.

Monitoring and alerts

Failures, mismatches and a sync that has stopped raise an email, instead of failing silently. The log shows exactly what changed and when.

Conflict rules

If two changes arrive at once, a documented rule decides which wins and the other is logged. Edge cases such as pre-orders, bundles and reserved items are handled explicitly.

Connects to
  • Shopify
  • Shopify POS
  • WooCommerce
  • Your inventory system
  • Barcode scanners
  • Gmail alerts
How integrations work
A good fit if
  • You sell the same stock in a shop and on Shopify and it keeps drifting apart.
  • You hold stock in more than one place and Shopify has to know which.
  • Your back office drives purchasing, invoices or a portal and needs accurate stock.
  • A no-code connector has broken or can’t express your rules. See custom integrations versus Zapier.
Not the right call if
  • You only sell online through Shopify. Its own inventory handles that, and no sync is needed.
  • You sell in a shop and online and Shopify’s own point-of-sale suits you. Then Shopify is already the single count.
  • A ready-made stock app does what you need. Try one first; I’ll tell you if it will do.
How it runs

From first call to daily use.

The same five steps on every project, sized to yours.

  1. 01A short call or the quote builder

    Tell me how the business runs today: the tools, the workarounds, the bit that drives you mad. The quote builder takes about five minutes and gives me a scoped brief.

  2. 02A fixed quote, in phases

    I reply with a fixed price and a phase plan. The must-haves go first, so you are using the system while the rest is still being built.

  3. 03Previews as it’s built

    You see the real system on a private link while it is being built, with your own data in it as early as possible. Changes are cheap at this stage, so this is where we make them.

  4. 04Your data moved across

    Spreadsheets, an old system, email threads: the data comes with you, checked against the source so nothing is lost on the way.

  5. 05Launch, then care

    Your team gets a walkthrough, and I stay on for fixes and new features, either on a monthly support plan or pay as you go.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Does Shopify have an API that supports this?

Yes. Shopify tracks inventory per location and exposes it through its Admin API, with webhooks for most inventory changes. Some stock states don’t trigger a notification, which is why I add a scheduled reconciliation as well. See Shopify.

Which system should be the master?

It depends on where stock changes first. If most changes happen in the shop and the stockroom, the back office should own the count. If most come through Shopify, let Shopify own it. We pick one, document it and test the edge cases.

What happens if the sync fails?

You are told. The sync is monitored, a failure or a mismatch sends an email, and the reconciliation corrects the difference. A sync that stops quietly is the real danger.

Can it work with WooCommerce too?

Yes. WooCommerce has its own API and the same design applies. See WooCommerce.

How long does it take?

The sync is roughly 20 to 40 build hours on top of the inventory system it connects to, and the groundwork. If the stock side already exists, it can be a short job. If it doesn’t, see inventory management.

Go deeper

Read next, then decide.

ServiceIntegrations

Wix, Shopify, Gmail, WhatsApp, Stripe, calendars and accounts, synced both ways.

IndustryRetail & e-commerce

Stock across shop and online, orders, suppliers and fast AI-assisted listing.

SystemInventory management

Stock across shop, stockroom and online, with variants, barcodes, supplier reorders and stock takes.

SystemAI product listing

Photo in, draft listing out: item identified, copy drafted, price researched, staff approve.

IntegrationShopify

Shopify orders, stock and customers synced with a custom back office or ERP.

IntegrationWordPress & WooCommerce

WordPress forms and WooCommerce orders and stock connected to your CRM or back office.

ComparisonCustom integrations vs Zapier

Zapier and Make for simple automations, custom integrations for critical, two-way, high-volume jobs.

Case studyChefWorks

A chef apparel retailer moved onto Shopify, chosen as the best fit for how the shop actually sells.

Often built together

Related systems.

Integrations

Wix, Shopify, Gmail, WhatsApp, Stripe, calendars and accounts, synced both ways.

Retail & e-commerce

Stock across shop and online, orders, suppliers and fast AI-assisted listing.

Custom ERP

Quotes, stock, staff, jobs and invoicing on one shared set of data.

Websites for systems

Fast, search-ready sites with forms, calculators and bookings wired into your system.

How pricing works · Digitalise Your SME grants · All case studies

Start here

Get a fixed quote.

The quote builder opens with the parts on this page already switched on. Add or remove what you like, and I reply with a fixed quote.

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