When product variants become complex: how to handle differing product logic between Business Central and Shopify

When you connect your ERP system with a webshop, many companies run into the same challenge: how do you handle variants across systems when the product logic is not the same?

That was exactly the problem one of our customers faced when they were implementing a new design tool – Delogue.

Here the design department was to start working with product variants in a new way, and that prompted some important considerations about how product data should flow from Business Central (BC) to Shopify.

The challenge: one structure does not fit all products

In many companies, all products have historically been created as separate items – for example one hair clip per colour with its own item number. But with Delogue it became possible to gather colours as variants under the same product, and that gives a better overview and a simpler design process.

The problem arises, though, when this change has to carry all the way through to Shopify.

Because here you might want:

• hair clips to be shown as variants (one product view with colours as options)

• but rings to still be shown separately (even though they technically also have variants – for example sizes)

In short: you need to differentiate in how variants are presented, depending on the product type.

Where standard integrations fall short

In a standard setup between Business Central and Shopify, all products will typically be treated the same. Either the variants are unfolded – so each variant is shown as a separate product in the webshop – or they are shown gathered under one.

But what do you do when you want both at the same time?

This is where the challenge comes in:

Shopify does not have a built-in function that can differentiate how variants are presented depending on the product category. And Business Central does not necessarily know about the webshop logic.

The solution: rules and flexibility in Connectify

At Connectify we can build logic into the integration layer, so variants are handled differently depending on your needs.

That means we can set up rules such as:

• “Unfold variants for hair clips”

• “Keep rings gathered – even though they have variants”

• “Only show variants as separate products if they are on a particular list of SKUs”

In short: we can mix the strategies, so your product data flows correctly from Business Central to Shopify – without you having to compromise on the presentation in the webshop.

Everything is controlled through flexible logic in Connectify, where we define rules based on SKUs, product categories or attributes – depending on what makes the most sense for your business.

Read more: Shopify integration

The result: a smooth process and correct product display

With this approach, the design, product and e-commerce teams all get a solution that adapts to reality – not the other way round. The design department can work efficiently in Delogue, Business Central retains its data integrity, and the webshop in Shopify presents the products exactly as intended.

Shall we help you with the variant logic?

At Connectify we help companies get their data to work across systems – whether that concerns products, customers, stock or orders.

If you are facing similar challenges in your setup between Business Central and Shopify, get in touch with us. We can help map your variant logic and build a solution that works – both technically and commercially.