Shopify: Integration Guide

Shopify is a hosted-shopping-cart for your ecommerce store that offers enhanced store features through its integrated app marketplace. The ShipStation Shopify integration supports order and product imports, custom field data imports, customer-requested shipping services, and much more!

Need an account? Sign up for a free 14-day Shopify trial!

New Support-Enabled Feature: Split-Ship in Checkout!

Learn more about using Shopify's Split-Ship in Checkout with ShipStation in the Support-Enabled Additional Features for Shopify of this article.

Shopify Integration Requirements

Connection Requirements:

  • An active Shopify account.

  • Your Shopify store domain.

  • Admin credentials for your Shopify account, or Admin permissions given in Shopify.

Order Import Requirements:

  • The order has been created within 90 days of the current date.

  • Orders must contain at least one physical product.

  • Orders will not import if certain fields are missing in the feed (e.g., address line 1, postal code, etc.)

  • Include a Ship To address.

Connect a Shopify Store to ShipStation

To connect your Shopify store to your ShipStation account:

  1. Select Shopify.

    Shopify logo on square tile button that reads, "Connect".
  2. Enter your Shopify Domain, then click Connect.

    The Shopify set modal is open with the domain field highlighted and an arrow pointing to the connect button.

    Locate Your Store URL

    Log in to your Shopify account and click on Settings at the bottom left side of the page.

    In the new window that appears click on Domains in the left menu. Your store URL is the bold text at the top of the Store listing as shown below.

    The Shopify admin panel displays the view your online store link, which is represented by an eye icon.
  3. After you click Connect, you'll be redirected to Shopify, and the ShipStation Application will be added to your Shopify account. No additional action is needed if you're already logged in to Shopify. If you're not logged in to ShipStation, you'll be prompted to log in now.

Once the application installs, you'll be redirected back to your ShipStation account, where you can update the store-specific settings in ShipStation.

Available Features for Shopify

The ShipStation integration with Shopify supports these standard features:

Order Status Mapping

ShipStation Status

Shopify Status

Awaiting Payment

Pending

Awaiting Shipment

Authorized

Unfulfilled

Partially Fulfilled

Shipped

Shipped

Fulfilled

Cancelled

Cancelled

On Hold

On Hold

About Shopify Statuses

Shopify orders have three different types of statuses: Order, Fulfillment, and Payment. Please see the Additional Details section of this Shopify article for a full description.

Data Sent with Shipment Notification

This table indicates which data ShipStation sends to Shopify with the marketplace shipment notification:

Field

Sent to Marketplace?

Status Update

Green checkmark. Supported feature. Yes.

Tracking Number

Green checkmark. Supported feature. Yes.

Carrier

Green checkmark. Supported feature. Yes.

Service

Green checkmark. Supported feature. Yes.

Carrier Fee

Red X mark. Unsupported feature. No.

Note to Buyer

Red X mark. Unsupported feature. No.

Item Information

Green checkmark. Supported feature. Yes.

Status UpdateTracking NumberCarrierServiceCarrier Fee

The shipment update ShipStation sends to the selling channel will include any Notes to Buyer set on the order in ShipStation.

Item Information

Additional Features for Shopify

The ShipStation integration with Shopify allows for these additional features:

Feature

Description

Deliver By Date

Set a delivery date for the recipient to see during checkout. This date will automatically import into ShipStation’s Deliver By Date field.

Import Shopify Fraud Assessment

Identify possible illegitimate orders in ShipStation when Shopify's Fraud Risk Assessment feature is enabled. Shopify's fraud assessment can be imported into one of an order's Custom Fields.

Update Modified Shopify Orders

Update Shopify order changes after the order has been imported to ShipStation. Review Shopify's: Update Modified Shopify Orders help article for more information.

Send Updates to Shopify Warehouse Location

This feature is only available on the newest version of the Shopify integration.

Notify Shopify when an order's warehouse location has changed within ShipStation to appropriately deduct inventory from the correct warehouse location.

To properly enable this, you must do the following:

  • Enable stock in Shopify for the relevant warehouses.

  • Set up a separate Ship From Location for every Shopify Warehouse and link it to the appropriate inventory source.

    Warehouse Name

    Name the Ship From Location exactly the same as your Shopify Warehouse location for easier tracking.

  • Enable “Use a Ship From Location Inventory Source as the Location for Marketplace Notifications” in ShipStation's Shopify store settings,

The Ship From Location that is selected needs to have a Shopify Inventory Source connected to it for this setting to work as expected.

🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 🇳🇿Send ShipStation rates to Shopify Checkout

Checkout Rates allow you to send the rates you get in ShipStation to your store checkout. Currently available to ShipStation accounts based in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Shopify Plan: To use Checkout Rates, you must be on a Shopify Advanced plan or higher.

Shopify Plan Requirement Updates

Users on lower plans that switched to annual billing or paid for Third-Party Carrier Calculated Shipping prior to January 1, 2023 will still be able to use Checkout Rates.

Please see our Send Rates to Store Checkout for setup instructions.

Connects to Shopify's Inventory features

ShipStation can display Shopify's inventory stock count, and will reduce stock from the appropriate inventory location when ShipStation sends the shipment update to Shopify. See Shopify Inventory for more information.

Processing Time

Shopify has a feature available on Shopify Plus plans called “Processing Time” which displays the time between when an order is placed by a customer and when the order should be fulfilled by the business.

The processing time is imported into ShipStation with orders as the "Ship By" date. You can view it in Order Details and the Order Grid. You can use the Ship By date in your Automation Rules.

Supports Partial Shipping

If you split a Shopify order in ShipStation, the shipment update we'll send to Shopify will only include the products within the shipped order.

Supports Shopify POS

ShipStation will import Shopify POS orders as long as they are for a physical product and as long as they require shipping.

Map Voided and Pending Payment as Awaiting Payment

Enable this setting if you are using the Shop Pay feature to avoid any issues with order imports. If this setting is not enabled, due to how the tax is added to the payment method during order processing in Shopify, Shop Pay orders may import as Cancelled.

Support-Enabled Additional Features for Shopify

In addition to those features already listed, you can request the ShipStation support team to enable the following settings for your Shopify store.

Feature

Description

Split-Ship in Checkout

If you have more than one shipping profile or shipping location in Shopify, then you can contact support to activate or deactivate split shipping in checkout.

Once enabled, this feature will import into ShipStation your orders that have already been split in Shopify. You will not need to take any action inside of ShipStation to split those orders.

Each Shipment will have unique information attached to it such as Deliver By Date.

Risk of Shipping from Wrong Ship From Location

Before we enable your Shopify ‘split-ship in checkout’ and ‘Buy with Prime’ feature, please be aware of the potential risk of shipping items from the wrong Ship From Location.

For each item or fulfillment, ShipStation will show Shopify’s Ship From Location. However, ShipStation’s Ship From Location drop-down menu will be pre-selected with either ShipStation’s Default Ship From Location or one that uses Automation Rules.

Please make sure to adjust this before creating a label.

Exclude Third-Party Fulfillment

When enabled, ShipStation will only import products in an order if the fulfillment type is set to Manual or Shopify.

This feature is primarily used if you have a fulfillment provider (like Fulfillment by Amazon) connected to your Shopify account.

Use Fulfillable Quantity

The Use Fulfillable Quantity setting allows ShipStation to update the quantity of an item on an order in ShipStation if that value changes in Shopify.

Enable this setting to allow the line items in ShipStation to update based on the actions taken in Shopify.

The fulfillable quantity value in Shopify updates when orders are fulfilled within Shopify, are partially cancelled, or the line items are edited within Shopify. If any of these actions occur, ShipStation will update the quantity the next time you refresh your Shopify store in ShipStation.

If a store allows custom statuses, this means you define that statuses your orders use in your selling channel. In most cases, if you have custom statuses you'll need to define which ShipStation statuses each custom order status corresponds to.

ShipStation will import the customer's email address with the order data and can send shipment confirmation and delivery emails to that email address (configured in your Store settings).

ShipStation will import the customer phone number with the order data.

ShipStation will import the shipping method chosen by the customer during their store checkout.

ShipStation will import the payment method used to pay for the order.

ShipStation will import discount and coupon information for the order.

ShipStation can determine if an order is a gift from the order data sent by the store.

ShipStation will import internal notes or order activity from the store into the ShipStation Internal Notes field.

ShipStation will import notes provided by the customer when they made their purchase.

ShipStation will import the total order weight from the store.

ShipStation will import the weight for each line item in the order.

ShipStation will import an image URL for each line item in the order. These images will appear as thumbnails in your Order Details and can be included in email notifications and packing slips.

ShipStation will import item options (such as color or size) for each line item in the order. This data will appear in your Order Details and can be included in customer emails and packing slips.

ShipStation will import a product stock location for each line item in the order.

Status UpdateTracking NumberCarrierServiceCarrier Fee

The shipment update ShipStation sends to the selling channel will include any Notes to Buyer set on the order in ShipStation.

Item Information

Shopify Store Settings in ShipStation

Modify Marketplace Settings popup for a Shopify store

You can enable the following options in the Shopify Store Settings in ShipStation:

  • Import Closed Orders

    When enabled, ShipStation will import orders in the Closed or Archived status from Shopify into the Shipped status in ShipStation. If this setting is not enabled, ShipStation will not import these orders from Shopify.

  • Shopify Discount Codes In Notes

    Enable this if your customers use discount codes with their orders and you want that discount code to appear in the order's Internal Notes in ShipStation.

  • Map "partially_paid" To Awaiting Payment

    When enabled, ShipStation will import Shopify orders in the Partially Paid status into the ShipStation Awaiting Payment status. If this setting is not enabled, Partially Paid orders will import into Awaiting Shipment instead.

  • Use a Ship From Location Inventory Source as the Location for Marketplace Notifications

    You can change the original Ship From Location to a different Ship From location inside of ShipStation (as long as that Ship From Location is connected to the appropriate Shopify order Source). When the label is created, ShipStation will notify Shopify to deduct inventory from the newly designated warehouse.

  • Map "authorized" to Awaiting Payment

    When enabled, ShipStation will import Shopify orders in the Authorized status into the ShipStation Awaiting Payment status. If this setting is not enabled, Authorized orders will import into Awaiting Shipment instead.

  • Import Harmonization Codes

    Enable this feature (on a per-store basis) to locate your Harmonized System (HS) Codes and import them into the order's customs declarations in ShipStation. Experience better compliance for cross-border shipping and trust that your packages won't get stuck in customs.

    If you set a 6-digit HS code for a product on Shopify’s side, we will auto-fill the customs section with HS codes when we import orders placed with that product. The item options will now include the Harmonization code in addition to options such as size and color attached to the SKU. There's no need to set this up separately in ShipStation.

  • Allow Shopify source_name to populate in the Source column

    This setting enables the population of order information in the Source Column of the Orders Grid, indicating where the order was placed. This information can include the platform, device, or Order ID from another sales channel.

    Populate Source Column Enabled by Default

    This setting is enabled by default when a Shopify store has been connected in ShipStation. You may disable it at any time.

  • Import in 'Buy With Prime' orders as Shipped

    For Shopify accounts that use the Buy with Prime feature - these orders by default do not import into ShipStation since they are automatically fulfilled by FBA. Enable this setting to import these orders directly into the Shipped status in ShipStation (this allows visibility of the order while preventing the possibility of double shipping).

  • Custom Fields

    Shopify sends additional order details to ShipStation that are not mapped to a ShipStation field by default. If you need these details in ShipStation, you can map them to the ShipStation Custom Fields #1, #2, and #3.

    Shows Custom Field Mapping dropdown with arrow pointing to Customer Tag option

    Select the item you wish to map to a custom field from the drop-down menu and save your changes. Going forward, ShipStation will pull that data into the assigned Custom Field in ShipStation when the order imports (previously imported orders will not be affected).

    The following fields are available from Shopify to map in ShipStation:

    • Bill Address

    • Bill Name

    • Customer Tags

    • Fraud Risk

    • Order Count

    • Order Tags

    • Shopify Order ID

    • Shopify Order Note Attributes

    • Total Spent

    • Total Spent - Total Price

    • Order Metafields

Shopify Integration Notes

  • Shopify will only import orders with physical products into ShipStation.

  • Shopify Source Name: By default, the Source column in the Orders Grid populates with information indicating where the order was placed. This information may include the platform, device name, or Order ID from another sales channel. If you wish to disable this feature, you can do so in the Shopify Store Settings.

  • Automatic Discounts: A discount applied at checkout that does not require the customer to manually enter a code at checkout. ‘Automatic Discounts’ from Shopify do not import into ShipStation. These discounts are a different type of discount than the ‘Discount Codes’ that would import as a line item. This difference may be why you see a discrepancy between the Order Total and the Amount Paid.

  • Shopify Multi-currency: ShipStation supports the Shopify Account Currency. Currently, if a Shopify order is placed in any currency, Shopify has the ability to convert that order into the currency you have selected in your Shopify account settings. The converted currency amount is what Shopify sends to ShipStation. ShipStation does not currently have a way to retrieve the currency that an order was originally placed in. For more details on how Multi-currency works in Shopify, please see their guide: Multi-currency.

  • Shopify Inventory: If you are using Shopify's Inventory features, link the Ship From Location to a Shopify Inventory source so you can view your stock counts in ShipStation. See Shopify Inventory for more information.

  • Upsell Order Imports If your store has the Upsell application that allows a customer to add items to their order post purchase, this will affect your order imports. Contact support to enable the ‘Use Fulfillable Quantity’ setting to allow the line items in ShipStation to update based on the actions taken in Shopify. Upsell orders will import into ShipStation at the time they are placed however they will be in the On Hold status and show 0 as the item quantity. Once the order change period closes, these orders will move to the Awaiting Shipment status after your next store refresh and item quantities will update to reflect the current order details.

  • Shopify Orders On Hold in ShipStation If an order imports into On Hold from Shopify, the item quantity will be set to 0 until the status changes to Awaiting Shipment. This can impact automation rules using Order Subtotal, Order Total, Order Weight, or Total Quantity as criteria. You can:

    • Manually rerun the rules when the order status changes

    • Update the rule to use different criteria for On Hold orders

  • Updating On Hold orders ShipStation will update orders in the On Hold status if changes are made to the order on Shopify. If expected changes do not appear in ShipStation after you have refreshed the store, contact ShipStation support to request they set your refresh date back to the date the change occurred and refresh the store again.

  • Import Harmonization Codes from Shopify

    • The Harmonization System (HS) code will NOT be added to product defaults in ShipStation.

    • Shopify’s Import Harmonization Code feature overrides ShipStation's product information on the order. Customs Item Value and Country of Origin are exceptions to this override.

    • If you set  International Settings - Customs Declarations to Use Pre-Defined Values, ShipStation's International Customs Settings will override Shopify settings.

    • ShipStation only imports the 6-digit harmonization code. The 8-digit harmonization code is destination-specific, and will not import.

  • Shopify's Order Statuses

    • Orders in Shopify have 3 different types of statuses: Order, Fulfillment, and Payment.

    • Order status can be Open, Archived, or Cancelled

    • Fulfillment status can be Fulfilled, Unfulfilled, Partially Fulfilled, Scheduled, and On Hold

    • Payment status can be Authorized *, Paid, Partially Paid**, Pending, Refunded, Unpaid, and Voided

      • Orders in the Authorized status will import as Awaiting Shipment by default. If you want ShipStation to treat Authorized orders as Awaiting Payment instead, you may enable this in Shopify Store Setting.

      • Partially Paid orders in an Open status will import into Awaiting Shipment by default. If you enabled the store setting Map "partially_paid" To Awaiting Payment those orders will instead import into Awaiting Payment.

      • Orders will move to Awaiting Shipment when the order is updated to Paid in Shopify (upon the next store refresh).

    • A customer record will not be created if an order imports into Awaiting Payment (even if email is present). The customer record will be created after the order moves to Awaiting Shipment.

    • By default, ShipStation will ignore Shopify orders in the Closed or Archived status.

    • ShipStation cannot import orders while they are in the Draft status.

Shopify Troubleshooting Tips

Here are some common issues experienced by users, potential causes, and available troubleshooting tips.

Issue

How to troubleshoot or resolve

Shopify Store Status Error

If your Shopify store shows an Address Verification Error icon: white exclamation point inside a red circle., you can view the error by hovering over the Update all Stores button at the top of your screen and clicking on Error updating - see more.

In most cases, you will need to Reconfigure Your Shopify Store.

An order refunded in Shopify may still import into ShipStation if its order status hasn’t changed.

What to do: When you refund a Shopify order, you must also update its order status to Cancelled so the order will not import into ShipStation.

Shopify's subscription-based order placement not supported

ShipStation does not currently support orders placed using Shopify's new subscription-based order placement feature because this new feature causes confusion with mapping for the Requested Service.

While the Shopify orders will import, the orders placed through this new method cause Shopify to send us multiple Requested Service values with the order data. ShipStation can only display a single value for the Requested Service on any order.

SOLUTION 1: The best workaround is to map the newly displayed Requested Service value shown in the orders to use a particular service.

SOLUTION 2: If service mapping won't work for you, consider adding an Order Tag to these "subscription orders" in Shopify and mapping the Order Tags to a Custom Field through the Store Settings. This way, you can use an Automation Rule to assign services as needed.

A Shopify order is not importing into ShipStation

What it means: There are multiple reasons why a Shopify order would not import into ShipStation, but here are the most common:

  • No physical products in the order.

  • No Ship To address information for the customer.

  • Order is older than 90 days.

  • Order is still in Draft status.

  • The order does not require fulfillment, or is fulfilled by a third party.

What to do: In these cases, your best option is to update the order in Shopify, if possible. If you cannot update the order, ShipStation will be unable to import the order.

In addition, ShipStation by default does not import orders that are Closed or Archived. If you need to import Closed and Archived orders, enable the Import Closed Orders option in your Store Settings page.

After creating a label, ShipStation updated the Shopify order but only left a note with the tracking information and did not update it as fulfilled

What it means: This happens when ShipStation tries to create a fulfillment update for the Shopify order, but we receive an error from Shopify that the fulfillment could not be created for one of the following reasons:

  • The order is already fulfilled. ShipStation cannot create a new fulfillment for a Shopify order that is already fulfilled.

  • One or more Shopify products in the order are set to use a fulfillment service.

  • Your store is using Shopify's inventory management features, but the Ship From Location used to create the shipping label was not linked to the correct Shopify inventory source, or the product is out of stock. See Shopify Inventory for more information.

What to do: If this occurs, ShipStation will not be able to update the order as fulfilled. You may be able to update the order directly on Shopify.

Prompted to upgrade Shopify plan to use Checkout Rates even when on the appropriate Shopify plan

What it means: Shopify does not always automatically update permissions on all stores when billing plans change, so they may need to manually make the update to your store.

What to do: Contact Shopify support and request access to the CarrierServices endpoints for your store. If your Shopify billing plan meets the requirements for ShipStation Checkout Rates, then you are entitled to this access.

If a store allows custom statuses, this means you define that statuses your orders use in your selling channel. In most cases, if you have custom statuses you'll need to define which ShipStation statuses each custom order status corresponds to.

ShipStation will import the customer's email address with the order data and can send shipment confirmation and delivery emails to that email address (configured in your Store settings).

ShipStation will import the customer phone number with the order data.

ShipStation will import the shipping method chosen by the customer during their store checkout.

ShipStation will import the payment method used to pay for the order.

ShipStation will import discount and coupon information for the order.

ShipStation can determine if an order is a gift from the order data sent by the store.

ShipStation will import internal notes or order activity from the store into the ShipStation Internal Notes field.

ShipStation will import notes provided by the customer when they made their purchase.

ShipStation will import the total order weight from the store.

ShipStation will import the weight for each line item in the order.

ShipStation will import an image URL for each line item in the order. These images will appear as thumbnails in your Order Details and can be included in email notifications and packing slips.

ShipStation will import item options (such as color or size) for each line item in the order. This data will appear in your Order Details and can be included in customer emails and packing slips.

ShipStation will import a product stock location for each line item in the order.

Status UpdateTracking NumberCarrierServiceCarrier Fee

The shipment update ShipStation sends to the selling channel will include any Notes to Buyer set on the order in ShipStation.

Item Information