In the world of e-commerce, it’s important to reach as many potential customers as possible. One way to do this is by displaying your products on multiple websites. If you have a Shopify store, you can easily get your products to display on other non-Shopify stores through the use of the Shopify API. In this article, we will explore how you can use the Shopify API to access your product data and display it on other websites, reaching a wider audience and tapping into new customer bases. By the end of this article, you will have a clear understanding of the steps involved in this process and the benefits it can provide for your business.
Table of Contents
In this article, I’m going to explain the approach we can take to fetch products from the Shopify store and display the same on our non-shopify-based store.
Please read the first part of this post by clicking here
Considering, You’ve already read the first part of this article, I am going to discuss and give you a short snapshot of all the methods we can go through to get the products from Shopify stores and display on any non-Shopify-based stores.
Related: How to enable Shopify Buy Now payment buttons?
Steps to Get Products from Shopify Store to Display on Non-Shopify Stores
To display products from your Shopify store on another non-Shopify store, you can use the Shopify API (Application Programming Interface) to access your Shopify data and display it on the other website. Here’s how you can do it:
- Create a Shopify developer account and set up a private app to access your Shopify store data.
- Use the Shopify API to retrieve information about your products, such as their titles, descriptions, prices, and images.
- Use the retrieved data to build product pages or create a product catalog on the non-Shopify website, using your preferred website building tools or programming languages.
- Style the product pages or catalog to match the look and feel of your non-Shopify website.
- Implement functionality to handle customer transactions, such as adding items to a cart, calculating shipping and tax, and processing payments.
- Test the integration thoroughly to ensure that it works correctly and meets your requirements.
Note: You will need a basic understanding of web development, the Shopify API, and the website building tools or programming languages you plan to use. You may also need to hire a web developer to assist you with this process.
Let’s understand this with 3 important cases.
Also read: How to fetch and list collections and products from Shopify to your own store?
CASE-1 (Default): All the Shopify stores have some sort of product feed URLs and Collection based feed URLs.
Example:
- http://{www.yourshopifysiteurl.com}/collections/collection-handle.atom
- http://{www.yourshopifysiteurl.com}/collections/all.atom
So, when you review the above pages after replacing “www.yourshopifysiteurl.com” with your own domain. The above URLs will get you an XML formatted data of product feeds.
Now, by using the PHP function file_get_contents(), PHP CURL, or any other method you can hit or make the call to fetch this XML format data from the above URLs. Once you receive this data, parse the XML and format it as per your website design and need, You can also automate the process of fetching and storing this data in some database for local reference. In order to manage the inventory on your non-shopify-based store, you must store this data on your server, and set up a cron job with a specific interval of time like 3 or 4 hours.
PROS:
- No need to perform any update at any of the Shopify stores as we will use the default feed URLs.
CONS:
- Limited product information is available in feeds and customization is difficult.
CASE-2: Create a custom collection or product feed with required attributes and fields, we can get extra information as per our requirement.
Simply, create a page and a page template along with a snippet with basic store information and you’re done. The rest of the steps are the same as of CASE-1.
For more information, check out the following URLs:
- Create Google Shopping Feed for Shopify
PROS:
- We can customize the attributes or fields we want in the feeds or we can say the information to display on our store easily.
CONS:
- We have to perform updates on all Shopify stores which we’re integrating on our store.
CASE-3: Create Shopify Private API and use API details to fetch a bunch of data from orders to product information in JSON format.
Simple, create a private API using Shopify Backend “Apps” section and you’re done. This is the only update you need to do on the Shopify store from which you want to fetch the products.
When you’ve the Private API ready, you will get the URL structure like:
https://apikey:password@hostname/admin/resource.json
In the above URL, resources can be replaced with “collections” or “products” or “orders” to get the desired result in JSON format.
**API Key and Password – Get it from the Shopify “apps” section
Now, simply use file_get_contents, CURL or any other method to hit the API URL and fetch json format data from there, parse the information as per your need, once the parsing is done, store in your own database of non-shopify store and display it from there. Make a call to the API URL after certain interval of time (like you’re setting up a cron job for this) so as to sync the products information across two stores.
Pros:
- Easy to configure on multiple websites
- No need of any customizations at the Shopify end
- Data can be easily handled at the other ends (non-shopify store)
Cons:
- Need to generate Private API key for the store.
Note:
- We have to make requests within a certain interval of time in order to keep track of inventory.
- There is a limit on the number of API calls to the Shopify store
Reference: https://docs.shopify.com/api/introduction/api-call-limit
Importance of Gettting Products from Shopify Store to Display on Non-Shopify Stores
Getting products from your Shopify store to display on other non-Shopify stores can be important for several reasons:
1. Increased Reach
Displaying your products on other websites can help you reach a wider audience and attract new customers who may not have found your store otherwise.
2. Cross-Selling Opportunities
By displaying your products on other websites, you can tap into the traffic and customer base of those websites, potentially increasing sales and revenue.
3. Improved Visibility
Displaying your products on other websites can help improve your visibility and credibility as a business, making it easier for customers to find and purchase your products.
4. Brand Awareness
By displaying your products on other websites, you can raise awareness of your brand and promote your products to a larger audience.
5. Increased Control
By using the Shopify API to access your data and build custom product pages or catalogs on other websites, you can have more control over the presentation and functionality of your products, leading to a better customer experience.
Hence, getting your products from your Shopify store to display on other non-Shopify stores can provide significant benefits for your business and help you reach new customers and increase sales.
Related: Want to implement a contact us form in shopify?
Conclusion
In conclusion, displaying your Shopify products on other non-Shopify stores can provide a range of benefits for your business, including increased reach, cross-selling opportunities, improved visibility, brand awareness, and increased control over the presentation and functionality of your products.
By using the Shopify API, you can access your product data and display it on other websites, reaching a wider audience and tapping into new customer bases. However, implementing this integration requires a basic understanding of web development and the Shopify API, and may require hiring a web developer to assist you.
Overall, if done correctly, getting your products from your Shopify store to display on other non-Shopify stores can be a valuable investment for your business.
