Easily bring customers from Shopify into Katana during integration setup or when new sales orders are synced.
When customers are imported
Customers from Shopify are imported to Katana in three cases:
During initial connection – You can choose to import all customers from Shopify.
If you skip full import – Only customers linked to imported sales orders (SOs) will be added to Katana.
On new SOs – When new Shopify SOs sync to Katana, their customers are automatically imported.
Note: Customers do not sync from Katana to Shopify.
How Katana matches customers
When importing, Katana checks if a customer already exists to avoid duplicates. The match process works in this order:
Shopify ID (primary match)
On first import, a hidden Shopify ID is saved in Katana.
Future imports use this ID to match customers, even if names or emails change.
Updated info in Shopify (e.g., name, email) will overwrite Katana’s data.
Email address (if no Shopify ID match)
If email matches but names differ, Katana overwrites the customer name with the Shopify value.
If multiple matches are found, a new customer is created.
Customer name (if no ID and no email match)
If one name matches, Katana links to that customer.
If multiple matches or none exist, a new customer is created.
If the customer exists in Katana without an email, and Shopify provides one, the email is added.
What customer data is imported
Shopify field | Katana field | Notes |
Customer name | Customer name | — |
Email address | Email address | — |
Phone number | Phone number | — |
Comments | — | Not imported (blank in Katana) |
Default address | Billing address | — |
Default shipping address | Shipping address | Defaults to = billing address |
Other shipping addresses | Other shipping addresses | Up to 10 addresses imported |
What doesn’t sync
Editing customer data in either system does not update the other.
Deleting a customer in either system does not remove them from the other.
Importing new customers after setup
Once the integration is active:
Customers are imported when they appear on new Shopify SOs synced to Katana.
You can also re-run the integration configuration in Katana and choose to import all customers.
By understanding how Shopify customers import and match in Katana, you can keep your customer database clean, avoid duplicates, and ensure accurate records across platforms.
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