Upgrading from NAV can feel like a giant leap. But sticking with it is often what’s holding your Shopify operations back. Manual reconciliations, slow performance, outdated customizations: these issues creep in as your systems age. They also create real risk
when orders, inventory, and customer data don’t move as fast as your storefront demands.

Moving to Business Central isn’t just an upgrade. It’s a chance to reset, simplify, and align your ERP with how Shopify actually works today.

Your Early Decisions Shape the Entire Project

Choose Your Platform: Online or On-Prem

Online supports multi-warehouse, global, and high-scale commerce with less overhead.
On-prem remains useful only when strict latency or data residency rules apply.

Define the Scope: Upgrade or Rebuild

Don’t drag every NAV customization forward. Keep what protects margin or compliance.
Retire the rest. This is your moment to clean house.

 

Step-by-Step: How to Upgrade Without the Chaos

Step 1: Bridge to Business Central 14

This stage is temporary. It brings your NAV database into a version that can speak the same language as BC. Use it to catalog which customizations still touch base tables.

Step 2: Convert Customizations to Extensions

Refactor old C/AL code into clean AL extensions. This is essential for future upgrades
and Business Central Online. Replace what you can with standard features.

 

Step 3: Move to the Latest Release

Upgrade to the current BC version and adopt newer capabilities where they fit. Some
workflows may change. Prepare to test and tune.

Step 4: Migrate to Business Central Online

Use Microsoft’s tooling to move production data, validate balances, and lock down
number series. Create a rollback snapshot just in case.

 

How to Connect Business Central and Shopify the Right Way

Native Connector

Use it when your store setup is standard, straightforward pricing, simple SKUs, and
limited complexity.

iPaaS (Middleware)

Choose this when you need visibility across Shopify, WMS, 3PL, payments, and CRM.
Middleware offers visual flow control, retries, and dashboards.

Custom APIs

Go this route if you run bundles, multi-brand stores, or require specific B2B flows.
Custom lets you shape the logic exactly as needed and scale it on your terms.

 

Lock These Data Mappings to Prevent Errors

• Products and Variants: Keep SKUs unique. Pick a single product master.
• Inventory and Locations: Map Shopify locations to BC location codes. Include
  reservations in availability logic.
• Customers and Pricing: Match customers to BC records and pricing groups.
• Orders and Payments: Align orders and payment events to correct ledger
  entries.
• Fulfillments and Returns: Push tracking back to Shopify. Post refunds to the
  original tender.

Avoid These Common Pitfalls

• Two pricing authorities that fight each other
• Mismatched tax rounding
• No dead-letter queue for failed messages
• Synchronous API calls that slow everything down

Build for Performance and Resilience

Integration should be reliable from day one. Make sure your order posting is idempotent. Set up retry logic with exponential backoff. Use correlation IDs for tracing. Most importantly, track what matters: order lag, API limits, queue depth, and payout variances.

How All Your Ducks Supports the Full Journey

We bring structure to what can feel like a risky move. Our approach includes:

• Deciding the system of record for product, price, tax, and inventory
• Building the upgrade path from NAV to BC 14, then to current
• Refactoring customizations and retiring legacy code
• Creating a test plan, cutover playbook, and rollback snapshot
• Designing your Shopify integration with reliability in mind from day one

Once you go live, dashboards, alerts, and reconciliation jobs keep your ducks lined up—day in, day out.

This isn’t just a technical upgrade. It’s a shift in how you run your business. Done well, Business Central and Shopify become one system. Your team stops babysitting the ERP and starts scaling with confidence.

If you're ready to stop duct-taping NAV and start scaling with Business Central, book your integration diagnostic with All Your Ducks today.

Manual entries. Inventory mismatches. Orders slipping through the cracks. If your
storefront and ERP feel like two different worlds, you’re likely wasting hours and losing
revenue. Most growing ecommerce businesses hit a wall when their backend systems
can’t keep up with the front-end pace. That’s where integration makes all the difference.
Let’s show you how to get all your ducks in a row by syncing your Shopify (or other)
storefront with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for faster, cleaner operations—without the
chaos.

What eCommerce Integration with Dynamics 365 Actually Means

When your storefront and ERP talk in real-time, you eliminate silos. Products, orders,
inventory, tax, and customer data flow as one, not as a patchwork of spreadsheets and
error-prone processes.

1. Core Data Domains That Must Be Synced

Product and Pricing:

• Pick a single system of truth—don’t let both sides manage the catalog.
• Keep SKUs stable to avoid link breaks during cutover.
• Ensure all images, tags, attributes, and pricing stay aligned.

Inventory & Availability:

• Avoid overselling by syncing real-time availability including reservations.
  Match Shopify locations with Dynamics location codes.

Customers & Accounts:

• Merge customer profiles so support and sales see the full picture.
• Stick to just the necessary fields to minimize risk.

Orders, Payments & Tax:

• Post orders as Sales Orders or Invoices per your process.
• Align payment capture with revenue recognition policy.
• Use a single tax engine to avoid rounding issues.

Fulfillments, Returns, & Refunds:

• Push tracking info back to the store automatically.
• Post refunds to the original payment method with a clean audit trail.

 

2. Choose the Right Architecture: Native, iPaaS, or Custom

Native Connector:

Ideal for businesses running one or a few stores with straightforward needs. Fastest to implement, lowest overhead.

iPaaS:

Great for orchestrating multiple systems (WMS, 3PL, CRM). Visual dashboards, built-in monitoring, and faster iteration.

Custom API:

Perfect when you need total control—complex catalogs, multi-brand support, or strict B2B requirements.

 

3. Finance & Ops: Where Integration Hits the P&L

• Order-to-cash flows must be tight to speed up the close.
• Inventory sync protects margins and service levels.
• Tax accuracy avoids audit pain later.

 

4. CRM Integration: Why It’s Not Just a Nice-to-Have

When sales, marketing, and service teams see ecommerce data in Dynamics 365 CRM, every interaction improves. Orders, preferences, warranties—all in one place.

 

5. 4-Phase Implementation Path That Reduces Risk

1. Discovery: Lock system-of-records and field mappings before any code.
2. Build: Start in a sandbox. Add idempotency and retries from the start.
3. UAT: Golden test cases prove the flow. Finance signs off.
4. Cutover: Go live with rollback in hand. Hypercare keeps it calm.

 

Why Partner with All Your Ducks

We’ve seen too many brands try to “just connect the systems” and end up swimming upstream. We map the integration, build it to scale, and deliver it with rigor. From UAT to go-live, we help your ducks stay in a row—and stay there.

Final Word: Durable, Not Delicate

Done right, Dynamics 365 ecommerce integration becomes a business capability—not a brittle project you dread revisiting.

Need to stop the post-it note chaos and start scaling? Book a 45-minute diagnostic with All Your Ducks today.

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with Shopify offers businesses a powerful solution to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive growth. This seamless integration bridges the gap between your e-commerce platform and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, ensuring real-time data synchronization and operational efficiency.

 

Key Benefits of Integration:

1. Automated Data Synchronization: The integration enables automatic two-way data flow between Shopify and Business Central. This includes synchronization of products, inventory levels, customer information, and orders, reducing manual data entry and minimizing errors.
2. Real-Time Inventory Management: Maintain accurate stock levels across all sales channels. When a product is sold on Shopify, Business Central updates inventory counts instantly, preventing overselling and stockouts.
3. Enhanced Order Processing: Orders placed on Shopify are automatically imported into Business Central, facilitating quicker fulfillment and improved customer satisfaction. This streamlined process reduces order aging and enhances operational efficiency.
4. Consistent Product Information: Ensure uniform product details, including descriptions, prices, and images, across both platforms. Updates made in Business Central reflect immediately on your Shopify store, providing customers with accurate and up-to-date information.
5. Improved Financial Accuracy: Sales transactions, refunds, and taxes from Shopify are automatically recorded in Business Central, ensuring precise financial reporting and aiding in faster reconciliation.
6. Scalability: As your business grows, the integration supports multiple Shopify stores, each with its own setup, including distinct product collections, pricing, and inventory locations, all managed within Business Central.

 

Implementation Considerations:

Integrating Shopify with Business Central can be approached through:

• Pre-built Connectors: These offer a straightforward setup with standard integration features, suitable for businesses with typical requirements. They provide ease of installation, cost-effectiveness, and automatic updates. citeturn0search0
• Custom Development: For unique business needs beyond standard functionalities, custom integration ensures tailored solutions. This approach offers greater control and customization but requires more time and resources.

Choosing the right method depends on your business's specific requirements, resources, and long-term goals.

By integrating Business Central with Shopify, businesses can automate workflows, reduce operational overhead, and enhance customer satisfaction, positioning themselves for sustained growth in the competitive e-commerce landscape.

 

Contact us today to explore how we can put the power of Microsoft Business Central to work with your Shopify Store!