We use the Shopify Connector for Acumatica and have run into a workflow question:
If an item has already been synced with Shopify and we later decide to de-list it from Shopify (but keep it active in Acumatica), the usual step is to uncheck the "Export to external system" box.
However, when we do this, the item in Shopify remains Active and continues to appear in the online sales channel. The only effect seems to be that no further changes are synced after that point—it does not change the Shopify product status (Active → Draft) or remove it from the online store.
At the moment, it seems the only options are:
Change the Acumatica item status to Inactive, or
Manually change the item’s Ecommerce Visibility in Acumatica.
Question: Is there a way to configure the Acumatica → Shopify integration so that when the "Export to external system" box is unchecked, Acumatica automatically sets the item to Draft or removes it from all sales channels in Shopify?
Any insights, workarounds, or best practices would be greatly appreciated.
Best answer by KarthikGajendran
@cberwaldt
I understand that you don’t want to change the Item Status in Acumatica (since it’s active there), but would like it to appear as Draft in Shopify.
In this case, could you please make use of the Visibility field? If you set it as Invisible, the item will be hidden from all sales channels in Acumatica, which achieves the same outcome.
The reason the Export to External System checkbox doesn’t work for this scenario is that its purpose is different. Currently, it simply skips the item from being exported to Shopify when checked. It doesn’t distinguish whether the user wants to:
Prevent the connector from exporting the item altogether, or
Set the item status to Draft in Shopify.
As the name suggests, it only handles case (1) right now.
On a separate note, we’re working on a new feature called Channel Mapping. We’ve seen that many customers sell across multiple channels via Shopify. With Channel Mapping, you’ll be able to configure directly in Acumatica which specific sales channels each item should be mapped to.
@cberwaldt , instead of unchecking the “Export to External System” box, you can change the status of that item in Acumatica from Active to Inactive - it will do what you’re asking for. If, for some reason, that doesn’t work, you can create a custom attribute to drive the status on Shopify (Active vs. Draft).
The “Export to External System” box is designed for a different purpose - it simply removes this item from the sync queue (including status update).
@Yuri Karpenko thanks for your reply. As originally mentioned, we cannot use the Status field to control this since it’s an active item in our system. I understand the Export to External System box is intended to remove this from the sync queue, which is exactly what we want. But we also want it to no longer be visible to customers on the Shopify site without taking manual steps. Having a separate attribute to try to incorporate into the export mapping would be confusing as it would leave the item appearing that it was still exporting to and syncing with the external system.
@cberwaldt , I understand what you’re trying to do. The way the connector work is what you and I know already (based on your question and my response). What you need, is a separate field that controls the status of the listing on Shopify - I agree that it’s not always the Status field in Acumatica. That’s why I suggested an attribute approach. You can potentially modify Acumatica code to do what you want: when the “Export to ext system” is unchecked, make an item Draft in Shopify, and then stop syncing, but it goes against the business process of many other sellers (and maybe, even yours in some cases). For example, we work with merchants who keep some items (or all) unsynced, even though they have them in both systems in Active status.
With a customization, anything is possible, but you won’t be able to do what you’re describing with the standard connector capabilities.
I understand that you don’t want to change the Item Status in Acumatica (since it’s active there), but would like it to appear as Draft in Shopify.
In this case, could you please make use of the Visibility field? If you set it as Invisible, the item will be hidden from all sales channels in Acumatica, which achieves the same outcome.
The reason the Export to External System checkbox doesn’t work for this scenario is that its purpose is different. Currently, it simply skips the item from being exported to Shopify when checked. It doesn’t distinguish whether the user wants to:
Prevent the connector from exporting the item altogether, or
Set the item status to Draft in Shopify.
As the name suggests, it only handles case (1) right now.
On a separate note, we’re working on a new feature called Channel Mapping. We’ve seen that many customers sell across multiple channels via Shopify. With Channel Mapping, you’ll be able to configure directly in Acumatica which specific sales channels each item should be mapped to.
