Synchronizations

Once a connector is saved, synchronizations follow certain rules to keep in mind:

 

RULE 01

 

In addition to following the item status, the connector will synchronize any item that has changes in Sales Layer even if those changes come from related categories or variants.

 

RULE 02

 

The connector will not synchronize items that were already synchronized before and have not changed or are not relevant to the modification of the connector.
For more information, refer to this article.

 

RULE 03

 

Editing a connector does not trigger its update.

 

RULE 04

 

The connector can add new modifications to a synchronization that is already in progress.

 

RULE 05. About the “Force refresh” button

 
  • Use this option when you need to launch a full synchronization, that is, to synchronize all products (old and new), all fields, whether modified or not.
  • When the connector is refreshed using this option, deletions or deactivations of items are not exported.
    This feature is designed to send all visible content, with the goal of completely restoring the catalog.
  • It should not be used to make synchronization faster. On the contrary, because it exports the entire catalog, the process takes significantly longer than a normal incremental synchronization.
  • Forcing the connector does not guarantee immediate synchronization, since it depends on the existing process queue.
  • Keep in mind that using this option will trigger the export of your entire catalog, including multi-language fields, images, formulas, etc. This substantially increases synchronization time compared to a scheduled incremental synchronization.

 

RULE 06. Exclusion of unchanged items using data hash

 

To avoid unnecessary synchronizations, the connector uses a hash-based mechanism to detect actual changes.
For each item, the connector generates a hash representing all its relevant data in Shopify. During synchronization, it creates a new hash based on the item’s current state and compares both:

  • If the hashes are identical, the item is excluded from synchronization because no real changes occurred.
  • If the hashes differ, the item is exported as usual.

This mechanism helps reduce processing time and system load by avoiding redundant updates.

 

RULE 07

 

It is recommended not to change the connector filtering (tags, families) until the synchronization is complete and visible in the Activity Log.
Wait until synchronization finishes, then deactivate the connector before changing the filtering.

 

RULE 08

 

If a synchronization is in progress and the user deactivates the connector, the process will not stop immediately.

The connector checks its active status periodically, specifically after processing small batches of items. Between two consecutive checks, some items may still be synchronized before the connector stops completely.

 

RULE 09. Reactivating a Connector with a Previously Interrupted Synchronization

 

When a connector that was deactivated during an ongoing synchronization is reactivated, the process will resume from where it left off, using the same configuration that was active at the start of that synchronization.

If you want to apply a new configuration, it is highly recommended to manually refresh the connector.

Note: When performing a manual refresh, only visible items marked for creation or update will be sent.

Items previously marked for deletion will not be exported again, since the refresh overwrites the pending queue with visible items only.

 

RULE 10. 

 

Synchronization of all connector items

  • When selecting to export items in the Parameters tab with status All, all items will be synchronized as active.
     
  • This behavior can be changed by mapping the Sales Layer status field in the connector by adding a new field for Products and/or Variants (Shopify status field).
    • Items with visible status in Sales Layer will sync as active in Shopify.
    • Items with draft status in Sales Layer will sync as draft, and those marked as invisible will sync as archived in Shopify.

For more details about status and visibility management, refer to the Status and Visibility article.

 

RULE 11

 

For the first synchronization and to verify the connector configuration, it is recommended to use a test environment.

 

RULE 12

 

Additionally, at the beginning, it is recommended to set in the Parameters tab the option Only visible to export items with status, and to select only one visible item in your catalog. Also, set Disable deletions to Yes.

You can also add a tag to the connector and to the product, category, or variant you want to test. This allows you to validate all errors before synchronizing all required items.

Once a successful synchronization has been completed, you can verify the results, make adjustments, and then expand the group of products to continue.

Shopify Markets
Staging Environment