Architecture

LS Central offers two ways to connect to Shopify. Shopify BC Connector for LS Central is the recommended integration and the best choice for new implementations.

eCommerce for LS Central - Shopify BC Connector (Recommended)

This integration connects Shopify to LS Central through the Microsoft Shopify Connector for Business Central. The Shopify BC Connector for LS Central add-on extends the Microsoft connector with LS Central retail functionality, so you get Microsoft's base Shopify integration together with LS Central retail capabilities.

Key characteristics:

  • Built on Microsoft's connector: The Microsoft Shopify Connector provides the base shop, product, customer, and order records. The LS Central add-on builds on it instead of replacing it.
  • Complete retail data mapping: LS Central remains the source of truth. The add-on maps retail data to Shopify, such as:
    • Items and variants
    • Images
    • Periodic discounts
    • Collections
    • Item HTML and marketing text
    • Translations
    • Member contacts
    • Gift cards
  • Flexible synchronization: LS Scheduler jobs automate synchronization of products, images, discounts, and orders. Actions on the Shopify pages in LS Central let you also run synchronization on demand.
  • End-to-end order handling: Shopify orders become customer orders in LS Central, followed by fulfilment and sales order posting. Payments, gift cards, and returns are sent back to Shopify.
  • Reliable communication: The connector uses the Shopify Admin GraphQL API with OAuth authentication. It retries automatically when Shopify rate-limits a request and logs every data exchange.

Note: Set up and run the Microsoft Shopify Connector synchronization before you use the LS Central add-on.

eCommerce for LS Central - Shopify

This is the original LS Central Shopify connector, which runs entirely withinLS Central. For new implementations, use eCommerce for LS Central - Shopify BC Connector.

Key characteristics:

  • Each LS Central store has its own Shopify Setup, which holds the connection details and mapping records.
  • LS Central Scheduler jobs synchronize items, prices, inventory, images, contacts, gift cards, locales, and orders.
  • Only changed data is sent to Shopify.
  • Orders created in Shopify become customer orders inLS Central. Status, payments, cancellations, and returns are sent back to Shopify.

See also