Link Shopify to Amazon: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide for Developers and Founders

Source: Dev.to

Hook — why this matters now

If you’re running a Shopify store and want to scale sales without doubling your operational overhead, linking Shopify to Amazon is low‑hanging fruit. The integration lets you list products, sync inventory, and handle Amazon orders from one admin — a real productivity multiplier for small teams and indie founders.

Context: who should read this

This guide is written for technical founders, developers, and indie hackers who care about reliable workflows and performance. It assumes you want a maintainable, auditable integration (not a one‑off manual sync) and that you value testing, idempotency, and predictable inventory behavior.

High‑level solution

Shopify supports an Amazon sales channel (as of 2024 the official app is Amazon by Codisto) that connects your Shopify catalog to an Amazon Professional Seller account. Once connected, you can:

• Map products
• Sync quantities
• Surface Amazon orders inside Shopify

You can also opt for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for fulfillment. See a full case walkthrough at for examples and deeper notes.

Prerequisites checklist

• Shopify store on a paid plan (no free trial)
• Amazon Professional Seller account (Individual accounts are not supported)
• Clean, canonical SKUs in Shopify that map to Amazon listings
• Accurate inventory counts and a recent export of product data
• Decision: self‑fulfill orders or use FBA

For a single place to keep resources and notes for your ecommerce ops, see or the blog hub at .

Step‑by‑step implementation

1. Set up an Amazon Professional Seller account
   Register at Amazon Seller Central and complete tax/business setup. Amazon often requires identity documents and can take time to verify.

2. Install the Amazon sales channel in Shopify
   In Shopify admin, go to Settings → Apps and sales channels → Shopify App Store, search for “Amazon by Codisto”, and add the app. Follow the install prompts.

3. Connect accounts and grant permissions
   From the Amazon sales channel in Shopify, click Connect Amazon account and authorize the app. This allows Shopify/Codisto to manage listings, read orders, and update inventory.

4. Map and list products

   • Select Shopify products to publish on Amazon.
   • Map required Amazon fields (title, description, images, category, and UPC/EAN if needed).
   • Configure pricing rules, shipping options, and inventory sync behavior.
   • Submit listings and wait for Amazon review where applicable.

5. Test with a small subset
   List 5–10 SKUs first, place test orders, and verify inventory sync, order creation in Shopify, and fulfillment flows (FBA vs. merchant‑fulfilled).

6. Monitor and iterate
   Watch for listing rejections, buy‑box issues, or inventory mismatches. Iterate mapping and pricing rules based on feedback.

Developer‑focused implementation tips

• Use consistent SKUs: Map Shopify SKUs to Amazon SKUs to avoid duplicate listings and simplify reconciliation.
• Export a backup CSV of product data before bulk changes so you can revert or audit quickly.
• Automate reconciliation: Pull order and inventory data daily and compare counts; alert on discrepancies > X units.
• Handle idempotency: When processing orders via APIs or webhooks, make operations idempotent to avoid double updates.
• Log and monitor API rate limits: Codisto and Shopify APIs have rate limits. Instrument retry/backoff logic for robustness.
• Test webhooks and callbacks in a staging store (Shopify dev stores are great for this).

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Overselling: Disable public sync until you’ve validated inventory mapping. Reserve a buffer for fast‑moving SKUs.
• Category restrictions: Some Amazon categories require approval; check Seller Central first.
• Incorrect product identifiers: UPC, EAN, or GTIN issues can block listings — verify barcodes before mapping.
• Fulfillment mismatch: If you mix FBA and merchant fulfillment, clearly tag which SKUs use FBA to prevent wrong shipments.

Alternatives and when to use them

• Manual listing via Amazon Seller Central: Good for very small catalogs or one‑time listings but doesn’t sync inventory.
• Third‑party integrators (Sellbrite, ChannelAdvisor): Consider if you need multi‑marketplace routing, advanced repricing, or complex rules beyond Codisto’s capabilities.

Conclusion — ship confidently

Linking Shopify to Amazon reduces manual work and can dramatically expand reach, but it’s not a flip‑the‑switch operation. Treat it like a small engineering project: test in small batches, instrument your flows, and have rollback plans. For a deeper walkthrough and reusable checklists, see and the resources on .

If you follow the steps above and keep monitoring and automating reconciliation, you’ll scale sales without scaling chaos.