A product source is the system that holds your product catalogue: your Shopify store, your WooCommerce site, a product CSV file, or any other data origin. Connecting a source is the first step in Vendably because every other capability, from feed distribution to AI content generation, depends on having your catalogue imported.
What Vendably can connect to
Vendably supports several source types:
- Shopify: OAuth connection. Vendably syncs your catalogue via the Shopify GraphQL API, with real-time updates via webhooks and auto-mapping for 18 standard fields.
- WooCommerce: REST API connection using app password authentication, with webhook subscriptions for real-time updates.
- BigCommerce: REST API sync.
- File import: CSV, XML, or JSON file, either uploaded manually or pulled on a schedule from an FTP or SFTP location.
- Custom API: configurable endpoint, authentication modes, polling schedule, and field mapping.
- Database: direct database connection with query mapping and scheduled pulls.
What you need before connecting
The credentials you need depend on the source type:
- Shopify: your Shopify store URL. Vendably handles the OAuth authorisation flow.
- WooCommerce: your store URL, WooCommerce app password (REST key and secret), and webhook secret.
- BigCommerce: your store URL and BigCommerce API credentials.
- File import: the file itself, or FTP/SFTP credentials if pulling from a remote server.
- Custom API: the API endpoint URL, authentication credentials (API key, OAuth token, or Basic Auth), and field mapping for your response format.
Your OAuth connections in Vendably are stored against your user account, not your merchant, so one set of Google or Shopify credentials can serve multiple merchant accounts if needed.
How the connection works
Open the connection wizard from your DataHub sources page, under DataHub in the main navigation (Sources). The wizard walks you through authorising Vendably with your store and configuring the import settings. For OAuth sources like Shopify, you will be redirected to your store to approve the connection, then returned to Vendably automatically.
Once connected, Vendably runs an initial full import of your catalogue. Subsequent imports are either scheduled (hourly or daily depending on your source type) or triggered by real-time webhooks where the source supports them.
After your first import
Once your first import completes, check your feed health score in DataHub. The score tells you how complete and accurate your product data is, and points you to the areas that need attention before you set up distribution channels.
Troubleshooting
Import failed: check the import log in your source settings. Common causes are credential changes (a rotated API key or expired OAuth token) and connection timeouts. Re-authorising the connection usually resolves OAuth issues.
Products missing after import: check that the products are active and published in your source system. Vendably imports only active, available products by default.
Field values missing: if specific fields like category or description are empty after import, your source data may not populate those fields. The Vendably Rules Engine can fill gaps using transformations, and enrichment can infer missing values like GTIN and brand.