ERP integration with Shopify: what you need to know before you start
ERP integration with Shopify is less about technology and more about making the right decisions before the first line of code is written. An ERP integration connects your business system with your webshop, so orders, inventory, prices and customers flow automatically between the systems instead of being keyed in by hand.
At Mercive we see many brands underestimate exactly this groundwork. Most technical problems in an integration do not come from the connection itself, but from unclear agreements about which system holds the correct version of your data. That is why a good project starts with a plan, a responsible project manager and a shared understanding of what each system is meant to control.
What is ERP integration, and is Shopify an ERP system?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning and covers the system where you manage finance, inventory, purchasing and often logistics. An ERP integration means that this system and your Shopify store exchange data automatically, so an order in the webshop becomes an invoice, a pick and an inventory update without any manual work.
Shopify is not an ERP system. Shopify is an e-commerce platform that handles the sales channel, checkout and the customer experience. It can keep track of inventory and orders, but it does not replace bookkeeping, purchasing management and the other processes a real ERP covers. In practice you therefore let Shopify be responsible for sales and ERP be responsible for operations, and the integration ties the two together.
Master data: the most important decision in the project
A solid integration is a two-way data flow with clear logic for what is master, when data is synchronised, and what happens when something fails. Master data simply means: which system holds the correct version of a given piece of information. Typically ERP is master for prices, inventory and product master data, while Shopify is master for the order itself and customer behaviour in checkout.
Clarify this field by field before you build anything. If both ERP and Shopify can change a price without rules for who wins, the systems overwrite each other and you end up with wrong figures in the store. We also recommend deciding on error handling from day one: what happens if an order cannot be synchronised, who is notified, and how is it retried. It is tedious to plan, but this is exactly where stable operation is decided.
Can you connect e-conomic to Shopify, and what about Business Central?
Yes, e-conomic can be connected to Shopify. It is one of the most common setups for Danish webshops, and there are both ready-made apps and custom integrations that send orders and invoices from Shopify into e-conomic. For larger businesses, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a frequent choice, where the order is placed in Shopify, synchronised to Business Central and from there sent on to pick and pack.
The choice between a standard app and a custom-built solution depends on how complex your processes are. A simple B2C flow is often handled fine with an app from the Shopify App Store, while B2B with customer-specific prices, credit limits and multiple warehouses almost always requires a tailored integration. Shopify's approval process plays a role here too: apps in the App Store go through Shopify's review, and for public apps access is handled via OAuth, where the customer approves the permissions the app requests.
How Mercive approaches an ERP integration
We start by mapping your processes and data flow, not by choosing tools. Once we know which fields need to be synchronised, which system is master, and how errors should be handled, the technical solution almost always turns out simpler than the customer feared. After that we assess whether an existing integration covers the need, or whether something custom has to be built.
For complex setups we often work with an order management layer between store and ERP, so logistics and multiple channels can scale without burdening the finance system. If you have many products and variants, a dedicated product data layer can also help keep everything consistent.
How Mercive can help
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