Shopify Epicor Integration: A Practical Guide for Distributors and Manufacturers

Every Epicor-powered operation reaches the same inflection point. Orders are climbing. The team keeps pace through repetition: re-keying Shopify orders into Epicor, updating inventory manually, catching pricing mismatches after checkout. It works until volume makes it untenable. This pattern shows up hardest in industrial machinery and manufacturing, where Epicor is the system of record for production and stock and the storefront has to reflect real availability.

A Shopify Epicor integration removes that manual layer. Orders flow from your storefront into your ERP automatically. Inventory stays accurate. Pricing resolves correctly at checkout without post-order adjustments. This guide covers how the integration works, what data to sync, which approach fits your operation, how Epicor's different versions affect the path, and what B2B-specific requirements distributors and manufacturers need to plan for before they start.

What Is Shopify Epicor Integration?

A Shopify Epicor integration connects your Shopify storefront to your Epicor ERP, creating an automated data bridge between your commerce front end and your back-office systems. Orders placed in Shopify flow into Epicor for processing. Inventory, pricing, and product data maintained in Epicor push to Shopify automatically. Both systems stay synchronized without manual intervention on either side.

The Real Cost of Running Shopify and Epicor Separately

The cost of disconnected systems is easy to undercount until you start adding it up. A sales order placed on Shopify requires someone to re-key it in Epicor before fulfillment begins. That step takes time and creates errors. At 50 orders per day, it consumes a meaningful share of your team's capacity.

Inventory is the second problem. Stock levels maintained in Epicor do not reflect in Shopify until someone updates them. Customers place orders for products that have been out of stock for days. Returns and fulfillment delays follow.

Pricing is the third. Epicor stores customer-specific pricing matrices, quantity breaks, and contract rates. If those rates are not syncing to Shopify, buyers see the wrong number at checkout. Someone has to catch it before the order ships, or reconcile it after.

All three problems compound at volume. The integration eliminates them by keeping both systems aligned from the moment an event occurs.

If NetSuite rather than Epicor runs your back office, we cover the options and costs of connecting Shopify to NetSuite in a separate guide.

What Data Should Sync Between Shopify and Epicor?

Scope decisions made early in a Shopify Epicor integration project determine how complex and costly the build becomes. Not everything needs to sync. For most operations, these are the flows that matter:

• Orders: Shopify orders create Epicor sales orders automatically, with line items, customer record, shipping method, and payment status transferred without manual entry.
• Inventory: Epicor quantity on hand pushes to Shopify in real time. Products at zero can be set to hide automatically to prevent oversell.
• Pricing: Standard and customer-specific pricing from Epicor maps to Shopify's pricing layer. Quantity breaks and contract rates need specific handling depending on how Epicor stores them.
• Products: Product data, descriptions, and SKUs maintained in Epicor push to Shopify as a single source of truth. For operations with large catalogs, strong product information management practices make this sync significantly easier to maintain over time.
• Fulfillment and shipping status: Tracking numbers and shipment confirmations from Epicor update the Shopify order, triggering customer notifications without manual input.
• Customer records: New customers created in Shopify sync to Epicor. Existing Epicor account holders purchasing through your store match to their account records automatically.

For B2B operations running Shopify B2B, the scope extends further. Net terms orders need to carry payment terms into Epicor. Company account hierarchies need to map to Epicor account structures. Custom pricing needs to resolve at checkout rather than after order placement.

Three Integration Methods for Shopify and Epicor

Every Epicor environment is customized. Pricing rules, item structures, and business logic differ between installations. No single approach works for every operation.

Method 1: Pre-Built Connectors and iPaaS Platforms

Pre-built connectors and integration platforms are the most common starting point. Tools like DCKAP Integrator, MindCloud, eBridge, and Epicor's own Automation Studio (built on the Workato platform) provide configured workflow templates for Epicor-to-Shopify data sync.

These tools use Epicor's REST API to move data between systems. Configuration is the primary work: mapping Epicor fields to Shopify fields, setting sync frequency, and defining which records trigger which actions. Implementation timelines are typically four to twelve weeks depending on complexity.

The trade-off is flexibility. Pre-built connectors handle standard sync scenarios well. Operations with complex pricing logic, legacy Epicor customizations, or highly specific business rules may find the mapping layer insufficient.

Method 2: Custom API Integration

For operations with complex requirements, a custom integration built directly against Epicor's REST and SOAP APIs offers full control over sync logic. Developers map Epicor's data model to Shopify precisely, handle edge cases specific to the business, and test against actual order volumes before go-live.

Custom builds take longer, typically three to six months, and require ongoing developer support for maintenance. They are the right path when business logic is too complex for a pre-built connector to handle reliably.

Method 3: Purpose-Built by a Shopify Partner

Uncap's Epicor integration work is built natively within the Shopify environment by a team that builds exclusively on Shopify. As a Shopify Platinum Partner with 380+ B2B builds, Uncap brings ERP integration expertise and Shopify-side configuration together in a single engagement. B2B requirements are accounted for in the build from the start: company accounts, custom pricing, net terms handling, and multi-location inventory. The integration is designed alongside the Shopify configuration rather than added after the fact.

Epicor Version Matters: Kinetic, Prophet 21, and Eclipse

Most integration guides treat Epicor as a single product. It is not. Epicor ships several distinct ERPs with different APIs, data models, and available connectors. The integration path depends on which version your operation runs.

Epicor Kinetic (formerly Epicor ERP) is the flagship manufacturing ERP. Kinetic includes Automation Studio, a native integration platform built on Workato with a pre-built Shopify connector. For Kinetic users, this is typically the first option to evaluate before looking at third-party platforms.

Epicor Prophet 21 (P21) is built for distribution. P21 has its own API structure and does not include the same native connector suite as Kinetic. Third-party platforms and custom API integrations are the primary paths for P21-to-Shopify connections. The data model for pricing and customer accounts in P21 has specific quirks that affect how sync logic is built.

Epicor Eclipse serves electrical and HVAC distribution verticals with a specialized data model. Eclipse integrations require specific knowledge of the Eclipse API. Generic iPaaS platforms often require significant custom configuration to handle Eclipse's item and pricing structures correctly.

If you are uncertain which Epicor product your operation runs, your internal IT team or your Epicor account contact can confirm it. The version determines which integration options are viable and affects both timeline and cost directly.

B2B-Specific Requirements That Most Integration Guides Miss

Standard ecommerce ERP integrations are built around DTC order flows. Distributors and manufacturers running B2B operations through Shopify have additional requirements that many platforms do not address by default. These need to be designed in from the start.

Customer-specific pricing. Epicor stores contract rates, quantity break pricing, and customer-specific price lists. These need to resolve at checkout in Shopify so B2B buyers see their correct price, not the standard catalog price. Syncing pricing correctly requires mapping Epicor's price list structure to Shopify's B2B catalog pricing layer. Manufacturers retiring an aging Magento store often reach this point because every pricing rule there had become a fragile custom extension.

Net terms. Buyers purchasing on Net 30 or Net 60 expect those terms to apply automatically. The integration needs to pass payment terms from the Shopify order to the Epicor sales order without manual adjustment by your AR team.

Company account hierarchy. Shopify B2B organizes buyers into company accounts with location-based purchasing rules. Epicor stores customer accounts with their own structure. Mapping these correctly ensures orders from a buyer at one location land on the right account record, not the parent account.

Catalog scale. Distributors often carry tens of thousands of SKUs in Epicor. Syncing a large catalog to Shopify requires planning for which products are active for ecommerce, how inventory is attributed across locations, and how product updates flow without overwriting manual merchandising work.

Uncap's wholesale and distribution builds and ERP integration work account for these requirements directly. They are not post-launch configuration problems when the integration is designed correctly from the beginning.

What Does a Shopify Epicor Integration Cost?

Cost and timeline depend on which Epicor version you run, how customized your environment is, and how complex your sync requirements are.

A pre-built connector or iPaaS platform implementation typically runs from $15,000 to $40,000 for setup and configuration, plus ongoing platform subscription fees. Timeline is four to twelve weeks.

A custom API integration runs from $40,000 to $100,000 for the initial build, with ongoing developer costs for maintenance. Timeline is three to six months.

Engagements that include ERP integration as part of a broader Shopify B2B commerce build change the cost structure. The integration is configured alongside Shopify rather than layered on top of an existing build, which reduces the total cost of rework.

The lowest-cost path is not always the right one. An integration built for DTC order flows often breaks when B2B order complexity is added in. Getting the scope right before the build begins is cheaper than rebuilding it after go-live. If you want to see how the steps in this Shopify Epicor integration guide map to a scoped engagement, our Epicor integration service page outlines exactly what we wire up.

Connect Epicor to Shopify, Built for How Your Operation Works

A Shopify Epicor integration does not have to mean months of custom development. The right approach depends on which Epicor product you run, how complex your business rules are, and whether your B2B requirements need to be accounted for in the design from the start.

Uncap has built ERP integrations across Epicor Kinetic, Prophet 21, and Eclipse as part of Shopify Plus builds for distributors and manufacturers. If you want to understand what the right path looks like for your operation, Request a Quote with our team.