Changing from Webstore to Tower Web Connect

Changing from Webstore to Tower Web Connect

You need to be using Retailer 3.0.8.2 or later before completing these instructions. See Installing Retailer Updates for instructions updating to the latest version
In Version 3.0.8.2, we have re-written the links we have with our preferred Ecommerce platforms: Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce.  These provide not only more functionality in terms of what data is sent to the platforms, but also provides new, faster and more robust connections.
This new platform is called Tower Web Connect (TWC).
If you are creating a new webstore rather than migrating an existing one, click HERE .

If you are using Magento 1.9 you will need to continue to use the  old webstore link . We strongly recommend switching to Magento 2.x in the near future. If you are not sure which Magento version your website is on please check with your developer before continuing with the setup.

Before proceeding, Backup your site. As this is a new version, it is important that you backup your site's product data before you attempt the migration. This will ensure that you have a copy of your product data should it need to be restored. For Shopify, follow the instructions HERE . For Magento or Woo, contact your web developer.

Disable Webstore in Retailer

  1. From the main screen of Retailer, click on  Tasks >  Webstore Import/Export.
  2. In  Frequency to run Export,  select  Never.
  3. Click  Save.
  4. Restart the Main computer.
If webstore and TWC are both running it will cause issues so it is important you restart before completing the rest of the setup.

Configure TWC   

  1. Go to  www.towersystems.com.au  
  2. Log in using your Tower Advantage username and password.
  3. On your Tower Systems Dashboard, click on Tower Web Connect .  
  4. The Tower Web Connect screen will then open.
  5. Click on Create New.
  6. Type in the name of your site.  This is just so you can identify it easily, in case you have more then one web store.     
  7. In Weblink Group Number  if you are setting up your first site, please pick number 15.  
  8. In Connection Type, please pick what ecommerce platform you are using - either Shopify, Magento or WooCommerce.  
  9. Fill in the API Details including Shop URL. Click on Save.
    NOTE: If you do not know your API Details, click the following links to setup new details depending on your platform
    1. Shopify
    2. Magento 2.x
      NOTE:  If you are using Magento 1.9 you will need to use the  old webstore link .
      WARNING : Support for old webstore link will be discontinued in the near future. We strongly recommend updating to Magento 2.x
    3. WooCommerce
  10. Scroll down the page and click on the Test Connection button under your API details. This will check to see if we can communicate with your website.   
  11. If this test is successful, click on Enabled  and then click Save . This will turn green indicating the link is active.  
  12. ( Shopify only ) Go to the Locations tab, and under Inventory Groups, click the  Import Location  button.
  13. ( Shopify and Magento only ) In the Locations tab, under Current Location Groups click the  Edit  button. Click the drop-down box under External ID and select the appropriate location. Click  Save .
  1. From the desktop of the Main computer, click on Retailer Backup, the Blue R on the desktop.
  2. On the left, click on  Settings and  Database settings .
  3. Tick  Run Random on Startup.
  4. Click on  Install WebLink Service.
    You should get a popup that says Weblink Service Started.
  5. Click  Ok .
  6. Untick  Run Random on Startup .

Migrate existing ecommerce Tags and Weights to Retailer   

If you are using Tags or Weights in your ecommerce platform, you will need to import these from the website into Retailer to ensure that your site data is not inadvertently deleted when enabling the new link.  Alternatively, you can disable the link from updating these fields if you still want to control these from your ecommerce platform, however this is not our recommendation.  

Once you have completed this step it is important that you only update and manage this data in Retailer.     

From Tower Web Connect:

      1. Click on  Setup
      2. Click on go to Export Tag, Weights and Image Links and Click  Export
      3. A CSV file will then be downloaded. 
        NOTE:  The above step is only available for Shopify connections.  If you are using a platform other than Shopify you will need to contact your site's developers/administrators to create a CSV file must have the following column names:-
        SKU, Product Name, Tag List, Weight, Weight Unit, Images (not required)
      4. Import Tags
        NOTE: Importing tags here will REPLACE all your existing tags with the Tags from Shopify on matched products.    
          • In Retailer, go to  Utilities   > Import/Export Files  > Import Shopify Tags
          • Find the file you downloaded from Step 3.  
          • Click on  OK.  
          • The File will then import and update the Tags on items with matching barcodes from the file.
      5. Import Weights
          • In Retailer, go to  Utilities >   Import/Export Files  > Import Shopify Weights  
          • Find the file you downloaded from Step 3.  
          • Click on  OK.  
          • The File will then import and update the Weights on items with matching barcodes from the file.      

Check your Sync Settings   

Now that you have completed the first half of the migration, you need to check your sync settings to ensure they are correct before sending data from Retailer.  We have copied over your existing settings, however, there are new settings that you to ensure are correct.  The new settings are highlighted in green.

Please check these settings carefully and thoroughly before completing the rest of these instructions. If you enable a field to sync, existing data in the field will be overwritten. 
For example. you now have the option to sync Department Name to the Product Type filed in Shopify. If you are currently using Product Types in Shopify then these will be removed and replaced with the Department data.
  1. Go to  www.towersystems.com.au   
  2. Log in using your Tower Advantage username and password.
  3. On your Tower Systems Dashboard, click on  Tower Web Connect .   
  4. Click on your website link, and then the  Preferences  tab.

Setting   

What’s Updated 

Product   

Update Product Title   

When ticked, the Description from Retailer will update Product Name/Title in your ecommerce platform.   

Update Product Description   

When ticked, the Web Description from Retailer will be used to update Description in your ecommerce platform.   

Update Product Tags   

(Shopify and WooCommerce)  When ticked, the list of Product Tags from Retailer will be added to the Tags field in your ecommerce platform.

Tags created from the Category names will also be added to the Tags field in your ecommerce platform.  (Shopify only)

Update Product Attributes

When ticked, Retailer will send across variant information as well as classifications to ecommerce platform. (WooCommerce and Magento - must be ticked for variant products)   

Update Product Vendor

Tags prefixed with Brand_ will be added to the Vendor field in Shopify. (not case sensitive)                                  

E.G. a tag of BRAND_Apple will be removed from your tag list and Apple will be added to Vendor.   

Update Product Weight

When ticked, the product weight and unit field from Retailer will update the product weight field in your ecommerce platform.     

   Update Product Dimensions
(Magento and Woo Commerce only) When ticked the product dimensions from Retailer attribute will update the product shipping dimensions in your ecommerce platform
Woo Commerce: The Dimensions in your Retailer classifications must be named as LENGTH, WIDTH and HEIGHT
Magento: The Dimensions in your Retailer need to be called ts_dimenstions_length, ts_dimensions_width and ts_dimensions_height

Update Product Price   

When ticked, the chosen price from Retailer (see inventory and pricing below) will be used to update the product price in your ecommerce platform.   

   Update Product Metafield

When ticked the attribute from Retailer will be used to update the product metafield in your ecommence platform. Information on metafields for Shopify  https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/metafields

Update Product Barcode    

**NEW**   

When ticked, the barcode number from Retailer will be used to update the Barcode field of the product in your ecommerce platform (mainly Shopify).                                  

Departments   

Update Department Title   

 

When ticked, the Department Name from Retailer will be used to update the corresponding Collection/Category in your ecommerce platform.   

Use Smart Collections  

When ticked, this will create any NEW Departments as Smart Collections in Shopify.  When enabled, the Departments will also be added to the product type to allow the filters to be created.

Please note that if you add additional criteria to your smart collection, you may inadvertently inhibit stock items allocated to this department/collection from appearing on your site.   

 

If you have migrated from TALink to TWC, then this setting will not affect any pre-existing Collections.  It only applies to new Departments/Collections that you are adding to your store.   

Use Department as Product Type      

When ticked, if you are not using Smart Collections, you add the Department name to the product type field.    


Replace Custom Product  Type With Tag
Tags prefixed with Type_ will be added to the Custom Product Type field in Shopify. This will replace the department value where the tag exists. If the Tag does not exist the Department Type (if enabled) will continue to be used.
Prefix Category Tags
If this option is selected then the Category Tags will be prefixed with CAT_. This allows easier designation between product tags and category tags Which is useful when creating navigation.|

NOTE:    IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING SHOPIFY SITE ENABLING THIS OPTION MAY BREAK YOUR SITES NAVIGATION. PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR SITES DEVELOPERS BEFORE USING THIS OPTION.

Inventory and Pricing   

Update Product Inventory Levels   

When ticked, the Stock on Hand value from Retailer will be used as the inventory level in your ecommerce platform.   

TWC Track Product Inventory Levels                                 

**NEW**   

When ticked, it will check ecommerce sales when updating inventory quantity from Retailer (in case sales have happened that have yet to import to Retailer).                                  

Round Down QOH To Whole Number

When ticked,   the Stock on Hand value will be rounded down to next whole number (no decimals).

Required for Shopify and WooCommerce if Retailer has decimal quantities

Use Web Price

When ticked, the Retailer Web Price will be used as the sell price of the item.  If unticked, the system will use the Retailer Retail Price.

If you are using the web price, and it is inadvertently set to zero, the Retail price will be used.   

Use Catalogue Price

When ticked, the Retailer Stock Item Catalogue price will be used in eCommerce website as the Retail Price.  The regular price, either the web or retail price, will be set as the Compare At price (Shopify). Specials in 'Officesmart' catalogues will be ignored.                              

Out Of Stock Quantity

The Quantity entered here will be used as Out of Stock quantity. Any quantity below this value will be marked as Out of Stock on your ecommerce platform.   

Unpublish Out of Stock

When ticked, products with chosen inventory will be unpublished or unavailable for purchase on your ecommerce platform. 


Additional settings

Click on Account setting on the left.
Then, click on Data at the top.
Department & Category
Use Categories As Departments
When ticked, Your categories from Retailer will be imported as departments, your Retailer departments will be ignored.
Use Title Case
Often Retailer sends Department and Category Titles in UPPER CASE. Enabling this option will change the case of the Department and Category Titles to Title Case. For example, HOME AND BUSINESS SUPPLIES would be changed to Home And Business Supplies

Product
Use Title Case
Often Retailer sends the product name in UPPER CASE. Enabling this option will change the case of the product names to Title Case. For example, CAT AND FIDDLE ORNAMENT would be changed to Cat And Fiddle Ornament.

Now that we have an active connection from TWC to your ecommerce platform, we need to setup Retailer to send your web store items to TWC.    

Which items are sent to TWC are based on a set of definable conditions.  The primary conditions on each of these are that you must have WebStore enabled.  From here, you can add other conditions to refine what stock is sent to a website.  Typically, you would only need to add other conditions if you’re sending product to two or more websites.     

  1. From the main screen of Retailer, click on  Stock Maintenance  >  Group Management.
  2. On the grid on the left-hand side, select the TWC Group 15 (or whatever group number you selected in the configure TWC section).  
    NOTE:  If you don't see TWC Group 15 here wait 10mins and reopen Group Management
  3. Click on  Add .   
  4. This will prefill your first condition.  If you are only sending stock to one site, then this is all you need to do and you can click on  Save .  
  5. This will then perform your first sync to the new platform. This may take up to 10 mins to complete. 
     

Sales

  1. Go back to  Tower Web Connect
  2. Click on the  Sales  tab.  The Sales Screen should then appear.
  3. Under  Register,  please pick the terminal name you want to import sales under.
  4. In  Payments , please select the payment type you want sales for this website imported under.
  5. Under  Fulfilment , this should be already pre- filled , however if it isn’t, please select the store you want to  fulfil  the orders from.
  6. In  Staff Initials , please enter the Staff members initials that you want sales to be processed under.
  7. ( Magento only ) Ensure that Automatic Sales Export is ticked . ( Shopify and Woo Commerce ) Ensure that Automatic Sales Export is unticked
  8. Click on  Save .  

Setup Sales Export (Shopify Only)

  1. Login to Shopify admin panel, then click  Settings from the bottom right
  2. Click  Notifications  from the Settings page, and scroll down to the bottom of the page, find  Webhooks  section
  3. Click  Create Webhook  button, from the popup, make sure you choose  Order Creation  as Event, select  JSON from the Format field, use the following URL as Webhook URL

    URL

    https://eccserver.towersystems.com.au/shopify-connector/webhooks/receive-sale

    Select (Latest) from the Webhook API version dropdown then click Save.

  4. Do NOT click on the Webhook TEST button

    

Sales Webhook, Application Password and Site Structure (Woo Commerce Only)

  1. Make sure you are running the latest version of WordPress, or WordPress is in version 5.6+
  2. Log in to your WordPress administrative page with user that has Administrator permission.
  3. Click on  Username -> Edit Profile  from the top right corner.
  4. From the profile page, scroll down to the Application Passwords section, and enter a name for the Application Password App (for example, TWC), then click  Add New Application Password  button.
    NOTE : If you have two boxes with Application Passwords here, you will need to remove the Application Passwords plugin previously installed. Do this by clicking  Plugins  in the left menu and deleting the one named Application Passwords on that page.
  5. Copy and paste both the Application Password into Notepad or something similar,   please note that Application Password is not your WordPress login password, it should be in format like:
    XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
  6. Back in the TWC setup page, the Admin Username must be the same user that created this Application Password.

  7. In WooCommerce, under  Settings >  Permalinks
  8. This must be one of the settings shown below in the red box
     
  9. In the left panel, click on  WooCommerce ->  Settings , click on  Advanced tab from the Settings page, then click  Webhooks link from the horizontal menu.
  10. Click  Add webhook button.

  11. From the Webhook data form
    • Select  Action  from the  Topic  dropdown
    • Enter event  woocommerce_order_status_processing  in the  Action event  field
    • Enter a Webhook name to identify the Webhook, for example, “TWC Order Webhook”
    • Select  Activ e from the  Status  dropdown
    • Enter this TWC WooCommerce Webhook URL in the  Delivery URL  field

    TWC WooCommerce Webhook URL:
    • Enter this TWC WooCommerce Webhook Secret Key to the  Secret field,

    TWC WooCommerce Webhook Secret Key:
    8eb3a05b-9d86-8332-8e6a-1350668c693d
    (Please note that the Secret Key cannot be changed to others, or this will cause Webhook call to be rejected by TWC)
     
    • Select  WP REST API Integration v3  from the API Version dropdown
  12. Click  Save button to save the changes.

  13. Do NOT click on the Webhook TEST button.
  14. To check Webhook logs and confirm it works, you can click  Status  under  WooCommerce from the menu on the left, then click the tab  Logs  from the status page, then choose a Webhook log to view.
  15. To check the webhook status, you can click  Status  under  WooCommerce from the menu on the left, then click the tab  Scheduled Actions  from the status page, it will normally take 2-5 secs for WooCommerce to process the Webhook query.
  16. Make sure to untick  Automatic Sales Export in twc.towersystems.com.au (under Sales tab).

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