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Connect Shopify to WhatsApp with WatEase

Connecting Shopify to WhatsApp with WatEase links your store's catalogue, inventory, orders and customers to your WhatsApp Business number, so you manage sales conversations and product data in one place.

The connection is built for Indian D2C brands running on Shopify. You create a custom app inside your own Shopify admin, paste its Admin API token into WatEase, and WatEase begins a two-way sync — including writing inventory levels back to Shopify.

Everything below maps to real screens and real fields. Where the connector does not do something, we say so plainly in the Limitations section rather than let you assume it.

Before you start

  • A WatEase account with a WhatsApp Business number already connected.
  • A Shopify store on any paid plan.
  • Permission to create a custom app in the Shopify admin — either the store owner, or a staff account that has the app-development permission enabled.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Open custom app development in your Shopify admin

    In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps. If this is the first custom app on the store, click "Allow custom app development" and confirm.

    Only the store owner, or a staff account granted the app-development permission, can enable this. If the option is greyed out, ask the owner to enable it for you.

  2. 2

    Create the custom app

    Click "Create an app", give it a recognisable name such as "WatEase", pick yourself as the app developer, and click "Create app".

  3. 3

    Assign the Admin API scopes

    Open the "Configuration" tab, click "Configure" under Admin API integration, and grant read and write access for products, orders, customers and inventory (read_products / write_products, read_orders, read_customers, read_inventory / write_inventory). Save the configuration.

    Write access to inventory is what lets WatEase push inventory levels back to Shopify. Read-only product scope will let products sync in but block the writeback.

  4. 4

    Install the app on your store

    Go to the "API credentials" tab and click "Install app", then confirm. Installing the app is what generates the Admin API access token you will paste into WatEase.

  5. 5

    Copy the Admin API access token and API key

    Under "API credentials", reveal and copy the "Admin API access token" (it is shown only once), and copy the "API key" too. Keep both somewhere safe for the next step.

    Shopify reveals the access token a single time. If you lose it you must uninstall and reinstall the app to get a new one.

  6. 6

    Open Channels in WatEase

    In WatEase, go to Dashboard → Catalog → Channels (URL /dashboard/catalog/channels). You will see the "Channel Configuration" page.

  7. 7

    Start the Shopify connection

    Click "Connect Shopify Store" to open the connection form.

  8. 8

    Enter your store credentials

    Fill in "Shop URL *" with your store domain in the form your-store.myshopify.com, paste the token into "Access Token *", your API key into "API Key", and your custom app's API secret into "API Secret". Submit the form to save.

    Enter the "API Secret" so WatEase can verify each incoming webhook against your own store's signature. Your credentials are stored encrypted and scoped to your workspace. Use the .myshopify.com domain, not a custom storefront domain.

  9. 9

    Verify the sync

    After connecting, WatEase runs an initial product sync and registers its Shopify webhooks. Check that your products appear in WatEase and that orders and customers begin flowing in. A periodic cron sync then keeps products up to date.

What it does

  • Two-way product sync between Shopify and WatEase, including inventory-level writeback — WatEase can push inventory levels back to Shopify.
  • Order, customer and fulfillment data sync from Shopify into WatEase.
  • Thirteen Shopify webhook topics handled with fail-closed HMAC verification and duplicate-delivery dedupe: orders create / updated / paid / fulfilled / cancelled / delete, customers create / update / delete, checkouts/create, refunds/create, and app/uninstalled.
  • Cron-driven periodic product sync so the catalogue stays current without manual refreshes.
  • Abandoned checkouts are imported into WatEase as carts and are visible, so you can review them and follow up manually.
  • A built-in rate limiter and circuit breaker protect the connection against Shopify API limits and outages.

What it does not do

  • It does NOT automatically send abandoned-cart recovery messages over WhatsApp. Abandoned checkouts are imported and visible for manual follow-up, but there is no automated recovery send.
  • It does NOT push fulfillment or tracking status back to Shopify. Order and fulfillment sync is inbound only, Shopify → WatEase.
  • The connection is a manual custom-app token paste, not a one-click OAuth "Install app" flow — you create the custom app and copy its token yourself.

Troubleshooting

Products are not syncing into WatEase
The custom app is missing the read_products scope. Open Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps → your app → Configuration, add read (and write, for inventory writeback) product access, save, and reconnect.
Shopify webhooks are being rejected
This is an HMAC signature mismatch — the API secret WatEase holds does not match your custom app. Copy the API secret from your Shopify custom app and re-enter it in the "API Secret" field at Dashboard → Catalog → Channels so WatEase and Shopify agree on the shared secret.
Inventory changes in WatEase are not reaching Shopify
Inventory writeback needs the write_inventory scope. The read scopes alone let stock levels come in but block the writeback. Add write_inventory in the app configuration and reinstall.
"Access Token" or "Shop URL" is rejected on connect
Confirm the Shop URL is the your-store.myshopify.com domain (not a custom domain), and that the token is the Admin API access token copied at install time. If it was lost, uninstall and reinstall the app to generate a new one.

Frequently asked questions

Does WatEase recover abandoned carts automatically?
No — not automatically. Abandoned Shopify checkouts are imported into WatEase and are visible as carts so you can see them and follow up manually. WatEase does not send automated WhatsApp recovery messages for them.
Is this an OAuth "Install app" integration?
No. You create a custom app in your own Shopify admin, assign the API scopes, install it, and paste the Admin API access token and API key into WatEase. It is a manual token connection, not a one-click OAuth install.
Does connecting Shopify cost extra on WatEase?
No. Connecting your Shopify store adds no extra WatEase charge. You pay your normal Shopify plan, and WhatsApp conversation charges are billed by Meta as usual.
Can WatEase update inventory in Shopify, or only read it?
Both, if you grant write access. Product sync is two-way and WatEase can push inventory levels back to Shopify, provided the custom app has the write_inventory scope. Order and fulfillment sync, however, is inbound only.
Are my Shopify credentials stored securely?
Yes. Your Admin API access token and API key are stored encrypted and scoped to your workspace. Because Shopify reveals the access token only once at install, keep your own copy in case you need to reconnect.

See also the Shopify integration overview.

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