POS and Ecommerce Integration: Stock and Orders
Online and counter sales need a shared rule for products, availability and order status. Define which system owns each record and what happens when an update arrives late.
Choose an owner for each record
Map the product code, variation, unit, price, tax category and location between systems. Decide where staff edit each field and how the change reaches the other channel. A clear owner prevents a stock import from overwriting an approved price change.
Keep an external order ID and the corresponding POS transaction ID together. Customer records need a matching rule that avoids merging different people with similar names. Imported orders should retain their channel and original creation time.
| Record | Decision to document |
|---|---|
| Product | Shared SKU and variation mapping |
| Price | Editing location, effective date and promotion rules |
| Stock | Location, available quantity and reservations |
| Order | Payment, picking, collection and cancellation states |
| Return | Original sale, refund method and stock condition |
Test the last item on the shelf
Put one unit in stock. Start an online order and attempt a counter sale for the same item. Confirm when the online order reserves stock, when that reservation expires and what the second channel sees.
Repeat with a failed payment and a cancelled order. The unit should return to availability only through the agreed release step. Show incoming goods separately so a supplier order does not make an unreceived product available for immediate collection.
Follow collection and delivery through completion
An online order can be paid, awaiting picking, ready for collection or already handed over. Staff need to see the state and the evidence needed before releasing goods. Sending the customer a ready message should follow a confirmed picking step.
For delivery, agree how shipping charges, split shipments and undelivered items affect the invoice. Use one sample order containing two products delivered at different times. Verify that completing the second shipment does not record the payment again.
Shopify documents online and store workflows including local pickup and cross-channel returns. Check the specific plan, location and payment requirements before selecting a product around these functions.
Give failed synchronization an owner
Ask for a queue showing updates that have failed or need review. Each entry should have its original reference, error and retry state. Submit a duplicate order notification and confirm that it produces one sale and one stock movement.
Test a connection outage, a changed product code, a partial refund and a discontinued item. Agree who resolves each exception and which reports identify differences between the website, POS and payment provider.
Bring the existing store into the brief
Provide the ecommerce platform, product and variation counts, locations, delivery methods and merchant provider. A sample order export and redacted refund example help define the connection.
Online ordering and ecommerce synchronization are separate integration work for DSDillon POS. The current live application covers counter sales, invoices, stock and currencies. An online store launch should include the availability, collection and recovery tests described here.
Questions before you decide
Does sharing product names keep website stock synchronized?
Use stable product and variation identifiers, a stock source and defined update rules. Similar names alone do not prevent duplicate or mismatched items.
What should happen when an online notification arrives twice?
The integration should recognize the original order reference and return the existing result, leaving sales, payments and stock unchanged.
Tell us how your business sells.
Share your business type, locations, currencies, invoice requirements and payment providers. We will scope the workflow, connections and acceptance tests.
