If you have your eCommerce store deployed on both Shopify and WordPress WooCommerce, managing them separately is cumbersome and tiring for everyone. Every time you receive an order on one platform or a new account gets created, you will have to manually update the details on the other platform so that there is no discrepancy between them. Although it might seem to be easy, when you have to handle bulk orders or too many user accounts, the chances of making mistakes or missing crucial information pieces are quite high. This can further cause problems during comprehensive reporting, inventory management, financial audits, and many other key business processes.
Owing to this, you should plan on connecting Shopify and WooCommerce so that the product details and user information pieces can be synced automatically between them without manual inputs from your end. There are different ways in which you can build the connection, from using pre-built plugins to manual data import and export cycles. With this being said, we have prepared a comprehensive explanation about the ways of connecting your Shopify storefront with that of WooCommerce, an eCommerce plugin specially designed for WordPress.
Why you should sync users and products between Shopify and WooCommerce?
Whether you are using both eCommerce platforms simultaneously or planning on deploying multi-sale channel configuration for your online business, syncing users and products between Shopify and WooCommerce comes with a myriad of benefits. Before you begin with the project itself, it’s better to set the goals and objectives so that you can plan the connection properly. And for that, you need to know about the benefits of synchronization the user and product details between these two eCommerce platforms.
Centralized product catalog management
Once you sync the products between WooCommerce and Shopify, the product catalogs, including the descriptions, names, prices, and SKUs remain consistent across both platforms. In other words, all the product details will be the same across both platforms and your customers will get an omnichannel shopping experience, regardless of which storefront they opt to shop from. Besides, the automatic updates of product catalogs after syncing WooCommerce and Shopify will reduce the chances of human errors, ensuring there is no discrepancy between the details.
Unified inventory control
When a product is sold from Shopify, the inventory gets automatically updated on WooCommerce once you connect both the eCommerce platforms using the WooCommerce Shopify Connector plugin or a custom-built API. Similarly, when you add a few stocks to WooCommerce, the same will be updated in the Shopify inventory, thereby minimizing the dependencies on manual updates. With the integration of both these platforms, you will establish a unified inventory control system, thereby minimizing overselling and underselling of the stocks. Besides, you will gain real-time inventory visibility, regardless of whether the stocks are handled from WooCommerce or Shopify, which will further help you put in replenishment orders on time accurately.
Improved customer experience
Also, once you sync customer information between the two platforms, you will get a better chance of streamlining the order processing cycles and gaining access to accurate customer details from either WooCommerce or Shopify. For instance, when a new user creates an account on WooCommerce, the same details will be added to Shopify. Hence, you can manage orders from both platforms without manually importing or exporting customer records. Besides, it will also help you to offer a personalized shopping experience and cater to different customer preferences without any hassle.
Streamlined order processing
Another benefit of syncing users and products between WooCommerce and Shopify is the streamlined order-processing workflow. Since the inventory will be centralized along with the product catalogs, you can fulfill orders faster and more efficiently, regardless of the platform from where they were logged in the first place. Also, once user records are synchronized between both platforms, you can track your customers’ activity from a centralized dashboard and leverage comprehensive reporting to gain analytical insights into their order details, preferences, and other aspects. This will help you improve order fulfillment and processing workflows and deliver an omnichannel customer experience from both WooCommerce and Shopify.
Efficient business workflows
You can easily automate the tasks between WooCommerce and Shopify once you connect both eCommerce platforms using custom APIs or plugins like WooCommerce Shopify Connector. For instance, product updates and customer detail synchronization will be done automatically by the API or plugin without requiring any manual interference. This can not only save time but also significantly reduce the efforts needed for manual exports and imports. Furthermore, automated workflows can reduce human errors, ensuring all the details are updated accurately across both platforms with higher consistency.
WooCommerce Shopify Connector: Directly sync users and product details with this plugin
While there are several ways in which you can connect Shopify with the WooCommerce store, using the pre-built plugin on WordPress known as the WooCommerce Shopify Connector seems to be the most reliable option. It is not only reliable and credible when compared to other third-party connectors but also can be managed easily from the Admin Panel on WordPress. Below is a brief overview of using this plugin for connecting both the eCommerce storefronts on WooCommerce and Shopify.
Installing WooCommerce Shopify Connector
First, you need to download the zip file of the WooCommerce Shopify Connector plugin. Once you have the zip file with yourself, login to your WordPress account and navigate to the Admin Panel. Click on Plugins and then Add New from the sub-menu. You will be able to see an option of Upload Plugin on the top of the page from where you can directly upload the zip file of the WooCommerce Shopify Connector plugin. Once you have selected the zip file, click on the Install Now button on the side and the installation process will commence.
You will receive a success message once the installation of the plugin is completed followed by an option for activating the same. Click on Activate Plugin to integrate the plugin with your WordPress admin account.
Connecting Shopify store
After you activate the WooCommerce Shopify Connector plugin, you need to connect the Shopify account. You will be asked to provide the API credentials of your Shopify Store like the API key, store domain, and password along with the credentials of your WooCommerce store. There will be different synchronization options from where you can choose the details that need to be synchronized between WooCommerce and Shopify stores automatically. For instance, you will get options like product descriptions, customer accounts, product SKUs, and store inventory.
Selecting synchronization frequency
After you have chosen the datasets that need to be synced between the WooCommerce and Shopify platforms, you need to define the frequency of synchronization. Here, you will have two options, including scheduled synchronization that will happen daily or weekly as per the defined configuration or real-time synchronization. In the latter, the product details or user accounts on WooCommerce will be updated automatically once a change is made at the Shopify storefront and vice versa. At least, then you won’t have to wait for the scheduled synchronization routine to access the updated details.
Conclusion
Now that we have described the benefits of synchronizing products and users between Shopify and WordPress WooCommerce, you can get started with the installation of the WooCommerce Shopify Connector. If you want to use any third-party plugin or develop a custom API for the integration, ensure you define the store configurations properly along with the software versions to prevent any further compatibility issues.
