The short answer
Your store takes orders; your ERP or accounting system runs stock, invoicing and the books. For each type of record, decide which system owns it, which way it moves and how quickly: usually orders, customers and payments flow in to the ERP, and items, prices and stock flow out to the store. Skip that map and you get duplicate customers, oversold stock and a painful month-end.
What actually needs to flow
We fill this in before choosing any tool.
| Record | Usual owner | Direction | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Items, SKUs, descriptions | ERP | ERP to store | On change |
| Prices and price lists | ERP | ERP to store | On change |
| Available stock | ERP | ERP to store | Near real time for fast sellers, scheduled for the rest |
| Orders | Store | Store to ERP | Near real time |
| Customers and addresses | Store (new), ERP (billing terms) | Store to ERP | With each order |
| Taxes charged | Store (at checkout) | Store to ERP, as charged | With each order |
| Payments and payouts | Payment processor | Processor to ERP | Daily |
| Refunds and returns | Store or ERP (agree which) | Both ways | On event |
| Fulfilment and tracking | ERP or shipping tool | Back to store | On shipment |
Three ways to connect
Ready-made connector
Many ERPs offer one. Fastest start; check what it syncs, how often, and who maintains it.
Integration platform
Configurable, low-code flows: more flexible, but another subscription (often priced in US dollars) and failure point.
Custom integration
Code against each API, hosted and monitored; fits bundles, multi-warehouse, B2B price lists; costs more.
Example: ERPNext's store connectors
ERPNext has a Shopify connector (now delivered through a separate ecommerce integrations app) that creates sales orders from Shopify orders and pushes stock levels from mapped warehouses back to Shopify on an hourly schedule (ERPNext documentation). Its WooCommerce integration is simpler, one-way from store to ERP, and is marked as deprecated in version 15 (ERPNext documentation).
Whichever you choose, plan for missed messages: Shopify says apps should not rely only on webhooks, since events can be missed through handler failures or downtime, and recommends periodic reconciliation jobs (Shopify). That applies to every platform, and matters more where connectivity or power can drop without warning.
The Nigerian details that trip people up
| Detail | What to do |
|---|---|
| VAT and withholding tax | The store calculates VAT at checkout (standard rate 7.5 %; some items zero-rated or exempt). Map each tax line to the right ERP account; test an order per tax treatment your accountant classifies. Customers deduct withholding tax from invoices? Record it in the ERP, usually in the B2B flow. |
| Payouts net of fees | Payment gateways deposit lump sums after fees, refunds and chargebacks. Use a processor clearing account and post fees separately, or the bank never reconciles (bank feeds and ERP reconciliation). |
| Other ways to pay | Bank transfers (NIP) and pay on delivery arrive later than card or wallet payments, or never. Decide when an order counts as paid and how unmatched transfers are cleared. |
| Currencies | Selling in US dollars as well as naira? Decide where exchange differences go and whether dollar payouts land in a dollar account. |
| Addresses and delivery | Addresses are often free text and phone numbers matter to couriers. Agree how states, delivery zones and courier rates are stored and synced, not as an afterthought. |
| Personal data | Customer data now lives in several systems; send each only what it needs, consistent with the data minimisation and security duties of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA), enforced by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. |
This is general information, not legal advice.
What usually goes wrong
SKU mismatches
"TSHIRT-BLK-M" in the store, "TS-BK-MED" in the ERP: orders fail or create stray items.
Duplicate customers
Guest checkouts create one per order. Agree a matching rule (usually email or phone) before go-live.
Overselling
Hourly sync, sold out in twenty minutes. Sync fast movers more often or keep a buffer.
Lost refunds
Store refunds without ERP credit notes overstate revenue and tax.
Silent failures
A Friday-night sync failure goes unnoticed. Every integration needs an error queue, alert and owner.
Rather talk it through? If your team is re-keying orders or chasing stock mismatches, we can map your flows and recommend the lightest connection that will hold up. Talk to a Promatics specialist
When to bring in help
| Set up a connector yourself if you have | Bring in a professional for |
|---|---|
| One store, one warehouse | Several warehouses or sales channels |
| A modest catalogue | B2B and B2C pricing, bundles or kits |
| Simple tax (standard-rated VAT only) | Cross-border sales; a custom or heavily modified ERP |
| Someone who checks error logs | Volumes where an hour of broken sync costs real money |
| Time to test with real orders first | No one in-house to own it after launch |
Our system integration service designs the ownership map, builds or configures the connection, tests awkward cases (partial refunds, split shipments, tax-exempt customers) and monitors it afterwards. Rebuilding the store? See eCommerce development.
Planning checklist
Ownership and identifiers
- Every record type has an agreed owner system and direction.
- Every item has one shared identifier used in both systems.
- A customer matching rule is agreed (email address or phone number).
Money and tax
- Each tax line maps to the correct VAT account; withholding tax has a place.
- Payouts post through a processor clearing account, with fees recorded separately.
- Refunds and chargebacks create the right credit notes or entries.
- Bank transfer and pay-on-delivery orders have a clear "paid" rule.
Operations
- Stock sync frequency suits your fastest-selling items.
- Split shipments, backorders and returns have been tested.
- Delivery zones, states and courier rates have a home and a sync rule.
Reliability
- Failed records land in a visible queue with an alert.
- A scheduled reconciliation check compares store orders with ERP orders.
- A named person owns the integration and knows the manual fallback.
Sources and further reading
Product capabilities and guidance change. These are the primary sources this article relies on, checked on the review date above.
- Webhooks overview, Shopify Developer Documentation
- Shopify Integration, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- WooCommerce Integration, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPA, GAID 2025 and guidance for data controllers and processors), Nigeria Data Protection Commission
This article is general information, not legal, accounting or security advice for your specific situation. Examples are hypothetical unless stated otherwise.