Shopify App

Details on how to install and manage Boulevard's Shopify integration app.

Will Patterson avatar
Written by Will Patterson
Updated over a week ago

Boulevard’s Shopify app allows you to sync products and gift cards between Boulevard and your Shopify store for a consistent client experience. Depending on your business needs, you can choose to sync both products and gift cards or just one or the other.

IMPORTANT: Please ensure you are following the steps to complete the setup/ sync exactly as they are listed here. Missing steps or incorrect order of steps can result in unsuccessful sync. If you are having issues, please pause and reach out to Support via Help Chat or by emailing support@blvd.co. You must have Shopify Plus in order to sync gift cards with Boulevard.

Installing the Shopify App

Before setting up the inventory sync or the gift card sync, you must install the Boulevard Shopify app and connect it to your Shopify account.

1. In your Manage Business settings, select the Apps tab to Install the Shopify app and configure your settings.

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2. Enter your Shopify Store Domain. This Store Domain name can be found in your browser’s address bar when you are on your Shopify management website. Then, follow the steps outlined in the setup screen to find your Shopify admin API password within your Shopify account.

3. To retrieve your Shopify admin API access token, go into your Shopify store’s settings and create a private app. Click on “Apps” in your Shopify dashboard and then click the "Develop apps" button on the top right of the page.

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4. On the app development page, click the “Create an app” button on the top right and name the app “Boulevard”.


5. On your app’s settings page, click “Configuration”.

6. In the “Admin API access scopes” area, check the boxes for write_gift_cards, write_inventory, read_locations, and write_products, then click the Save button.

7. Go to the API credentials tab, then click Install app. Once installed, your Admin API access token is accessible. Reveal it, then copy it.

NOTE: This token is revealed only once, so be sure to keep this page open until you have completed the last step below.

8. Paste your Admin API access token in Boulevard, then finalize by selecting Sync with Shopify.

Once completed, you have successfully connected your Boulevard and Shopify accounts!

Product Sync Overview and Setup

The Shopify product sync allows you to keep your product catalog and inventory quantities in sync between the Shopify store and the Boulevard locations where you sell that product. This sync imports all products and their corresponding quantities from Shopify into Boulevard.

From this point, all new products and updates to existing products in Shopify automatically pull into Boulevard. In addition, all adjustments to quantities update on both platforms (Boulevard and Shopify) automatically.

For example, if you make a sale or adjust the quantity in Boulevard, the quantity updates in Shopify, and vice versa.

When setting up the sync, you are asked to map your Shopify locations to your Boulevard locations. This allows for increased flexibility around which locations track inventory quantities.

For example, if I have locations A, B, and C in Boulevard but only locations A and B in Shopify, then quantity adjustments at location C in Boulevard do not sync with Shopify.

Important Things to Remember Before Syncing:

  1. Product metadata (title, SKU, description, vendor, type, etc.) is one-directional and always pulled from Shopify to Boulevard. This means if an active product is added directly to Boulevard first, it will not sync to Shopify. But if a product is added or updated in Shopify first, it will sync to Boulevard. As a result, any products that you want to sell both online and in-store should be created (and managed) out of Shopify as the source of truth. Additionally, your products must not be in Draft mode. They must be Published and Active in Shopify to sync to Boulevard.

  2. Quantity adjustments are bi-directional. Changes in the quantity that occur in Shopify (via manual adjustment or sale) are reflected in Boulevard automatically. Additionally, changes to quantity in Boulevard (via sale, purchase order, manual adjustment, etc.) are also automatically reflected in Shopify.

  3. Product variants in Shopify each get their own product in Boulevard. Boulevard does not have the concept of a variant.

  4. The mapping of metadata fields between the two systems can be found below:

NOTE: If the value of Product Type does not have a direct match on a category name in Boulevard, Boulevard creates the category as new. Before beginning your setup, please ensure all your data in Shopify is up to date.

Sync Setup

1. After successfully connecting your two accounts in the Boulevard Shopify app, select Setup next to Product Sync.

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2. Select a Configuration Type:

a. Import & Sync Products to import products from Shopify and keep them synchronized with Boulevard. This deactivates all products (both retail and non-retail) that currently exist in your Boulevard account and replace them with products from your Shopify account. This configuration type is only recommended if you are a new Boulevard account.

i. A Location Mapping section appears where you can select which locations in Boulevard correspond to locations in your Shopify store. Please note that you are not able to change the location mapping once saved!

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b. 2b. Exclude Products from Sync allows you to retain any items you choose in your Boulevard inventory and never sync with Shopify. When you initially set up your Shopify sync, you receive the following warning:

Select “Click to select products to exclude” and you see these options:

You may use the searchable, multi-select dropdowns to select any products you wish to include from your Shopify sync. These usually include back bar products, products you wish to sell exclusively in-store, or any other products that don’t exist in your Shopify account.

Once you’re done, click “Save”. You may decide to navigate away as Syncing with Shopify takes a little while:

Finally, ensure that your products are present and your inventory counts are correct.

i. A Location Mapping section appears where you can select which locations in Boulevard correspond to locations in your Shopify store. Please note that you are not able to change the location mapping once saved!

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ii. A Product Mapping section allows you to select which products in Boulevard correspond to products in Shopify.

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3. Finalize the Product Sync by selecting Save at the bottom of the screen.

Gift Card Sync Overview and Setup

The Shopify gift card sync keeps gift cards and their balances in sync between Boulevard’s Point of Sale and Shopify. This means you can sell gift cards in-store that can also be used online to purchase products through Shopify and report on all activity in Boulevard. Gift cards must be created and sold within Boulevard (in-store or through the self-booking widget) for the sync to work.

For a custom experience when a client purchases a gift card from your website (not through the self-booking overlay), reach out to support@blvd.co to learn more about Boulevard’s APIs.

NOTE: You must have a Shopify Plus account in order to sync gift cards with Boulevard.

1. Before beginning the setup, you must ensure your gift card code length is at least 8 characters. Gift Cards, whether physical or digital, fail to sync if they do not meet this requirement. To set your online gift card code length, navigate to the Gift Cards tab of your Manage Business settings:

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2. After installing your Boulevard Shopify app, you must enable Read and Write “Gift card adjustments” permissions for your app. However, this setting is not visible in your Shopify management screens. To enable this, you must email Shopify support.

a. Go into your Shopify account’s App Development page, where you previously set up the connection between Boulevard and Shopify. Find the app and click it to view the app’s details.

b. In the URL of that page, there is a number at the very end. This is your app ID.

c. Copy that app ID, and send it via email to Shopify support using the following message template:


Hi Shopify,

I am a Shopify Plus customer building a custom app and need “read and write” access enabled for gift card adjustments on the app. The App ID is: ############. Please let me know when this is enabled.

Thank you!

3. Once Shopify support has granted these permissions, return to the Boulevard Shopify app and select Setup next to Gift Card Sync.

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4. Check each selection to acknowledge you understand these important caveats before syncing. Confirm by selecting Sync gift cards.

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Gift Card Sync: Things to Note

  • You must have Shopify Plus in order to sync gift cards with Boulevard.

  • Gift cards sold through your Shopify store are not synced. You must discontinue selling gift cards through Shopify and instead, sell gift cards through Boulevard (in-store or through the self-booking overlay).

  • Clients can use synced gift cards in-store during checkout or on your Shopify site. Both systems reflect the synced gift card and the remaining balance.

  • A new product is automatically created in Boulevard to help track online gift card redemptions called “Shopify Gift Card Redemption”. This product should not be removed and if removed, the sync no longer works. When a product is purchased in Shopify using a synced Gift Card, an order is created in Boulevard that shows “Shopify Gift Card Redemption” as a product and applies a gift card as a payment for the amount redeemed in Shopify.

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  • Reporting shows “Shopify Gift Card Redemption” as a product sold. Additionally, online gift cards in Shopify say “Boulevard issued a gift card” within their audit log history.

  • If a gift card is deactivated in either Boulevard or Shopify, please make sure to deactivate it in the other platform as well to avoid double-spending incidents.

  • If the client record in Boulevard has a corresponding Shopify Customer ID tied to it, then the gift card finds the corresponding customer in Shopify and associates them with the new card.

  • In Boulevard, you may sell packages and place the vouchers from that package onto a Gift Card. This works with existing Gift Cards synced with Shopify. However, this can only be done when selling a Gift Card through Dashboard.

Handling Shopify Gift Cards Sold Prior to the Integration

Outstanding Shopify Gift Cards sold prior to setting up the integration are not synced with Boulevard, according to Shopify’s data-sharing policies. Here are our recommendations on how to best handle these outstanding gift cards:

  • If the client uses an old Shopify Gift Card to buy something on your online store, it will continue to work as expected.

  • If the client brings their old Shopify Gift Card to your physical location and attempts to redeem it, it is not registered in Boulevard. To handle this, you should follow these steps:

    • Look up the Shopify Gift Card balance on Shopify.

    • Ensure you have a Custom Payment Type named “Shopify GC Redemptions” created in your account. If you have not yet created this Custom Payment Type, you can do so through the Details tab of your Manage Locations settings.

  • In a new order, issue the client a new Boulevard Gift Card with that balance, and then proceed to check out the client with that new Gift Card. Pay for this order with the “Shopify GC Redemptions” Custom Payment Type so the client is not charged for the replacement Boulevard Gift Card.

    • Alternatively, if the client intends on using their full Shopify Gift Card balance in this transaction, you may skip this step and instead simply use the “Shopify GC Redemptions” Custom Payment Type to pay for their order, representing the remaining balance on the old Shopify Gift Card.

  • Finally, deactivate the client’s Shopify Gift Card in Shopify, to prevent them from double-spending.

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