Disadvantages of native Shopify integration in Business Central

You are perfectly aware of what an integration is and what it does. Two programs that are connected to each other and send relevant information between them, so that your work becomes easier and more automatic. Nice. But what if we told you that you are potentially making a really unfortunate mistake by choosing the most common integrations? We meet many companies that use the Shopify integration that is native in 365 Business Central, and we always say the same thing: you are making a mistake. Read along in this blog post about why native integrations can harm your business.

What is a native Shopify integration?

Let’s just get this straight first. “Native” means something that is inherent or built in. When an integration is native, it means that the integration comes with the program you use from the start. Just like when you open 365 Business Central – here you will have access to several different native integrations, such as Shopify, which is the one we take as our starting point in this article. Native integrations are standardised tools that suit a fair number of companies, but far from all of them, as you have probably sensed from the headline of this article. Let’s dive into it.

What disadvantages does a native Shopify integration have?

At the most general level, all the disadvantages can be boiled down to the fact that a native integration is simply too standardised. It is built to fit into a particular standardised box, based on a lot of averages and best practices. Unfortunately, that is not good enough for us, and if it were up to us, it would not be good enough for anyone else either. Here are some of the specific problems and the consequences they have for your business.

A poor fit for your business

A native integration will always be standardised to fit a great many companies. That is something we see very often, and sometimes the integration misses the company’s framework by so much that it is practically useless or more confusing than helpful. Look very carefully into whether the integration actually suits you and what you want to get out of it. If it does not fit, then simply do not use it. It will only take up space and draw focus away from what really matters.

Would you like to know more about the Shopify platform?

Missing features

So let’s say that the integration actually did suit you and your business – great, that is always nice. But listen to this. Even if the integration fits, there will almost always be features you end up missing, which lie just outside the standardised box that the integration works within.

If you are not already aware of it, there will always be far more to gain than what a native integration can give you, and that puts you behind compared to what your competitors get hold of. Ask yourself what you need that your native integration does not give you. The chances that there is a lot to optimise are pretty high — that is what our long experience tells us.

Errors in the data

An integration exists to make your life easier, and one of its tasks is to handle data. Most native integrations can of course do that too, but here there is often a problem. Remember that the integration is standardised. That is why it only looks for data that is standardised. If your data does not fit into the boxes the integration was built to look for, then things go haywire in the machinery, or your data is simply not transferred. The volume of errors that can arise from that kind of miscommunication is enough to sink your eCommerce ship if you are not constantly paying attention. And honestly. Who can pay attention to all data all the time? Errors in data can cost you an incredible amount of time, which instead has to be spent on troubleshooting and detective work, as well as proposed solutions and explanations to your teams. We get a headache just thinking about it.

A lack of expertise

Integrations are complex. Yes, absolutely, on the surface it seems as if it is simple and just makes life easier for the user. Be careful, because that is not always the case. An integration is complex code, and if you do not understand the machinery behind the smart features, then the chance of running into problems you cannot solve yourself is high.

There are not many people who can say precisely where in a piece of software the technology goes wrong, and that is why it can cost you dearly when you use native integrations and the problems suddenly arise. Do you have people on your team who can dig deep into the technology? Do you know how to set the integration up? Do you know how to get the most out of it? Make sure you have these things under control before you let an integration into your precious home.

Slow and unreliable

Standardised integrations have a tendency to be slow. The slow speed can be dangerous for your data. A lack of performance increases the risk of errors in your data and of synchronisations failing. That is not what you want when you have to report to management. A good system is a reliable system.

Summary of the disadvantages

If you have to boil these disadvantages down to one very particular lesson, then it is this one:

Make sure to make the right choices from the start.

The disadvantages seem harmless to begin with, but the chances that they will do damage or step out of the closet as a bigger problem than you thought are high. The big problem you will end up having to handle could have been avoided by making different choices from the start. Safe and sensible choices. Choosing a native integration is very much like choosing an apprentice when you actually know you need the master’s experience.

The advantage of a third-party integration

If you have learned the lesson, then you know what it takes.

A third-party integration.

A third-party integration makes sure that the right data is measured and weighed, with your particular company’s habits and tasks in mind. Experienced specialists make sure to set up a strong technical foundation for your integration, so that it does not fail during synchronisation, so that it always shows the right data, and so that you do not have to think about operations and maintenance. When you pay for a specialist, you get a very special product that exceeds the value of a native integration by a long way, but at a highly competitive price compared to all the work you would have to put into taming an integration that refuses to fall into line. Time and money saved, while at the same time scaling your business and its performance with smart software solutions.

Read more about our Shopify integration for Dynamics NAV or 365 Business Central

Let us build your integration

At Connectify we are experts in integrations — particularly between ERP systems such as Business Central and eCommerce and PIM systems such as Shopify and Plytix. We have long experience, and there is no integration we have not had our hands on. eCommerce is constantly evolving, and we dare say that we are helping to push the boundaries of what you can get out of your eCommerce business. Our customers’ lives are made easier every day thanks to integrations we have built for them, which streamline their processes right down to the individual seconds spent on manual handling. See here what Kaffekapslen and Shark Gaming say about their work with us. Get in touch with us if your integrations are playing up or if you are interested in hearing more. The phone is open