Shopify Order API: Getting All Order Data from Shopify e-Stores

Nataliia Kovalchuk
3 min readAug 8, 2023

eCommerce software providers access data from clients’ online stores only if connected to the platform they are based on. One of the most popular platforms among e-sellers is Shopify. To access data from its online stores, software vendors must connect to its API (application programming interface). It helps them manage different store data types for their needs.

Shopify is a leading eCommerce platform that powers more than 4 million online stores. Of those stores, 2.8 million are based in the United States, with 185,000 in the United Kingdom and 131,000 in Australia. Canada has 105,000 Shopify-powered stores of its own.

We will explore the Shopify API in this article. We will also show you how to develop a Shopify Order API integration and access data related to Shopify orders.

Shopify API Meaning

An application programming interface (API) is a set of definitions and tools for building and integrating apps. APIs can let your product communicate with other services without having to know the specific details of how they work.

The Shopify API is a middleman between Shopify and other programs, helping establish connections.

The Shopify API allows eCommerce software vendors to access data from online stores built on this platform.

The Shopify API supports two data-exchange formats: XML and JSON. It accepts HTTP requests using the methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. It provides a way to retrieve and manage Orders, Customers, Categories, Products, and other entities. Each of the methods has a specific purpose in fulfilling conditions. Shopify frequently releases updates to its API, so software vendors who have integration with Shopify must keep their software up-to-date with each API release.

Shopify Order API

Order data from shopping platforms like Shopify can be used for several purposes.

Order data retrieved from eCommerce platforms can include:

  • Online store customer information consists of the names, last names, and IDs of customers
  • Billing and shipping addresses, including the postcodes, phone numbers, location (if applicable), and website
  • Shipping and payment methods
  • The product information in the order, including the order ID, name, price, and quantity

Software Features That Can Be Implemented with Order Data

Most popular software features that deal with order data include inventory synchronization, order status notification, product recommendations, and more.

Online merchants must ensure that their product inventories match those of their sales channels. Software must be integrated with shopping platforms, marketplaces, and other sales channels and be capable of importing order data and syncing product info across different channels.

Marketing automation software can send customized messages to online store customers based on order and product data. Such messages could include info about new products, discounts, product recommendations, or notifications related to abandoned shopping carts.

eCommerce marketing automation and cart abandonment software must provide customers with notifications regarding their orders. They can do this using order data retrieved from platforms like Shopify.

How to Build Shopify Order API Integration

The implementation of Shopify integration requires a variety of resources, including time and money. Moreover, costs are involved at every stage of the process: hiring developers, setting up infrastructure and development tools, developing integrations, and ensuring they are maintained smoothly and efficiently.

You can choose to build the integration with the help of your developers’ team or hire a third-party service. If you want to save money and time but don’t care about further support of the integration, you can use API2Cart.

API2Cart provides a unified API that allows software vendors to connect their systems with 40+ eCommerce platforms, including Shopify.

It provides a comprehensive set of API methods for working with orders, products, taxes, prices, customers, and other data.

For example, you can get orders from Shopify using the following methods:

- Webhook for order.add event

To be notified each time an order is placed, it is required to set up a webhook for the order.add event. Webhooks are more effective than APIs as they reduce server load and eliminate the need to send many requests to an API for updated info.

- Order.list method

It allows you to track new orders very easily. Also, it allows filtering orders by their ids, store ids, customer ids, order statuses, order ids, and time parameters.

It is possible to test API2Cart for a month for free.

--

--