Shop Card
What merchantCENTRAL contributes to a Shopify shop is set per shop. The same settings appear in two places:
- on the merchantCENTRAL shop card (Shopify Shop (merchantCENTRAL)), opened from the shop list of the Shopify Setup, and
- on Microsoft's Shopify Shop Card, in the merchantCENTRAL FastTab.
Both cards embed the same part, so there is no second copy that could drift. Credentials, API version, synchronisation settings, locations and sales channels stay on Microsoft's card.
Identification
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Code | The shop code in the Microsoft Shopify Connector |
| Enabled | Whether Microsoft's connector uses the shop. Off, merchantCENTRAL contributes nothing either. |
| Stock Location Set | Whether a location carries the merchantCENTRAL stock calculation |
| Publishes to a Sales Channel | Whether new products are published to a sales channel |
The switches
| Switch | Effect | Default |
|---|---|---|
| merchantCENTRAL Enabled | The main switch. Off, the shop behaves exactly as without this app. | off |
| Central Descriptions | Product description from the central content cascade instead of the item description — in the shop's language only | on |
| Central SEO Fields | SEO title and SEO description from the central content. Microsoft's connector leaves both empty. | on |
| Central Prices | Price and compare-at price from merchantCENTRAL instead of the shop's customer price group | on |
| Central Price List | The shop's sales price list, usually the Price Engine's | empty |
| Compare-at Price | Source of the compare-at price | lowest price of the last 30 days |
| Central Metafields | Brand, manufacturer and manufacturer part number as Shopify metafields | off |
| Metafield Namespace | The metafield namespace | merchantcentral |
| Central Tracking Links | Tracking link from the merchantCENTRAL shipment modules instead of the carrier's generic link | on |
The first time the main switch goes on, the feature switches go on with it. A switch you turn off on purpose stays off, even if the shop is later switched off and on again. How price and compare-at price come about is described under Prices and Compare-at Price.
The Shopify vendor shows the brand
Microsoft's connector fills the Shopify vendor with the item's purchase vendor. Shopify shows that field to customers, filters on it and builds collections from it — the shop would publish where you buy.
While merchantCENTRAL is on, the field carries the brand of the channel row, or the manufacturer. Where both are empty the field goes out empty. There is deliberately no switch: its off position would publish your purchasing.
Read-only users
With the permission set ALN MCSH User you see the switches but cannot change them. The actions below are disabled as well.
Customer documents
In Customer Documents you decide whether invoices, credit memos and shipments of this shop's orders appear in the shop's design: Branded Customer Documents, Brand Name, Sender Email Account and Order Confirmation by Shopify. With branding on, the list Document Layouts appears below. Everything about it is under Customer Documents.
Actions
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Use merchantCENTRAL Stock | Sets the stock calculation of one location to the merchantCENTRAL channel allocation. Without it the shop sends no stock at all. See Stock and Allocation. |
| Repair Sales Channels | Removes sales channel rows of removed or switched-off shops that block this shop's channels, and opens its channel list. |
| Shopify Shop Card | Opens the shop in Microsoft's connector. |
| merchantCENTRAL Enrichment Log | Shows what could not be contributed for this shop. |
When the sales channels stay empty
Microsoft publishes a new product only to the channels marked Use for publication or as
default in Shopify Sales Channels. With an empty list nothing happens on creation — and
nothing says so. The product is Active in Shopify, but no customer can see it. The dashboard
reports this as Shops publishing to no sales channel.
A common cause: the primary key of Shpfy Sales Channel is the publication id alone. A row
once written under a blank or long-deleted shop code blocks the right shop for good —
Microsoft's fetch finds it and changes nothing.
Repair Sales Channels removes exactly those rows: without a shop, of a shop that no longer exists, or of a switched-off shop. The question names the code they are filed under. Afterwards the shop's channel list opens; choose Get Sales Channels there once and tick the channel you want.
Rows of other active shops are left alone. They are the channels of their own store, together with that store's choice of where to publish.
List empty although nothing blocks it
Then the Shopify app registration most likely lacks the scope read_publications.
Re-authorise the shop in Shopify.
Microsoft does not publish existing products afterwards. Assign them to a channel once by hand in the Shopify admin.