Plugins
Plugins are the connectors that link Commerce Kitty to the external platforms you sell on. Every marketplace, storefront, shipping tool, and tax service integrates through a plugin.
What a plugin is
A plugin holds the credentials and sync rules for one connection to an external service. For example, your Shopify plugin stores the API token for your Shopify store and controls what gets synced to and from it. You can have many plugins installed at once, and you can have multiple plugins of the same type if you run more than one store on the same platform.
Plugins and channels
Plugins attach to channels. A channel is a logical sales destination in Commerce Kitty, and plugins are the workers behind it. One channel can have several plugins bolted onto it. For example, a Shopify channel might use the Shopify plugin for products and orders, ShipStation for shipping labels, and TaxJar for tax calculation.
The same plugin can also be attached to more than one channel, with one important exception: order import. A plugin that imports orders must be assigned to exactly one channel. This prevents the same order from being ingested twice under different channels and making a mess of your reporting.
If a plugin with Import Orders enabled is assigned to more than one channel, order import will stop working for that plugin until you resolve the conflict.
General plugin options
Most plugins expose the same set of sync toggles. Not every plugin supports every option, because some external platforms do not offer the underlying API. The toggles below describe the general behavior. Each individual plugin page documents any specific behavior or limits.
Some toggles depend on others. Commerce Kitty will automatically enable required prerequisites when you flip a dependent option on.
Import Orders
Pulls new orders from the external platform into Commerce Kitty. Turn this on for the plugin that owns order creation for the channel. Turn it off on secondary plugins that only handle shipping or tax.
Export Orders
Pushes orders created in Commerce Kitty out to the external platform. Use this when you create orders inside Commerce Kitty (manual orders, wholesale orders, B2B) and want them reflected on a storefront or marketplace.
Import Tracking
Pulls tracking numbers and carrier information from the external platform. Use this when fulfillment happens outside Commerce Kitty, for example on a marketplace that ships from its own warehouse.
Export Tracking
Pushes tracking numbers from Commerce Kitty to the external platform so the buyer sees shipping updates on the storefront or marketplace they ordered from.
Import Shipments
Pulls full shipment records, including items shipped and shipment dates. Use this when the external platform handles fulfillment and you want Commerce Kitty to reflect that status.
Export Shipments
Pushes shipment records created in Commerce Kitty out to the external platform. Turn this on when shipments are created in Commerce Kitty and the marketplace needs to know about them.
Import Products
Pulls product catalog data from the external platform into Commerce Kitty. Useful when setting up a new channel that already has a product catalog you want to mirror.
Export Products
Pushes products from Commerce Kitty to the external platform. Turn this on when Commerce Kitty is the source of truth for your catalog.
Import Customers
Pulls customer records from the external platform independent of orders. Most sellers leave this off and let customers arrive as a side effect of order import.
Export Customers
Pushes customer records from Commerce Kitty to the external platform. Use this when you want to seed a marketplace with an existing customer base.
Import Listings
Pulls marketplace-specific listing data (titles, descriptions, images, prices on that specific channel) into Commerce Kitty. A listing is how a single product appears on one channel. Unlike products, listings are per-channel.
Export Listings
Pushes listings from Commerce Kitty to the external platform. Turn this on when you want Commerce Kitty to manage the live content of a marketplace listing.
If you do not see a plugin you need, reach out to the support team to request one.