Linking a stock management system with shopify orders

[denness12]

Hello,

I run a rental business. We have built our own software system which is our stock management system. We import the orders from Shopify into the stock management system, so we don't need to manually enter in all the order details.

All had been working fine, but it is no longer working properly as it is not pulling through the customer details (name, address, number, email address). The rest of the order is importing through as normal.

Is anyone able to help us solve this issue?

Thank you.

Sarah

[mageplaza-cs]

Hi @denness12 

I am from Mageplaza - Shopify solution expert.

Since the customer details (name, address, phone, email) are no longer being pulled through while the rest of the order data is coming in fine, there are a few likely causes. Here’s how we can approach the problem:

1. Check Shopify API Permissions

• If you're using a private app or custom app in Shopify, recent changes to Shopify's API (especially after mid-2023) may have changed scopes and access rights.
• Make sure your app still has the correct access scopes, specifically:
  - read_customers
  - read_orders (includes basic customer data)
  Check in your Shopify admin:
  Go to Apps > Your App > Configuration and verify that these scopes are enabled.

2. Check the Shopify API Version
Shopify deprecates API versions every 12 months. If your system is still calling an old version (like 2022-01 or earlier), the response might be stripped of certain data.

=> Update your API calls to use the latest stable version, e.g. 2024-01.

3. Inspect the Actual API Response

• Log or inspect the raw JSON being returned from Shopify.
• Check if customer data is present but your import parser is failing to extract it (maybe due to changes in structure or missing fields).

4. Check If Customers Are "Guests"

• If the customer checked out as a guest, Shopify still provides basic contact info, but it's under a different structure.
• Confirm if you're properly handling both registered and guest checkouts.

5. Changes to Checkout Settings

• Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Checkout and see if anything was recently changed:
• Customer information requirements (email/phone)
• Checkout profile settings
• Shopify Plus stores might have custom checkout scripts or profiles that affect data collection.

What You Can Do Now

• Confirm the current API version your system is calling.
• Log a full order payload from Shopify and see if the customer data is present.
• Check your app’s permissions (especially read_customers) in Shopify.
• Review your import script – is it expecting fields that no longer exist, or are nested differently?

Please let me know if it works as expected!

Best regards!

[Ryan_Atkins]

Hi Sarah,

This sounds frustrating, especially when things were working fine before. A couple of quick thoughts that might help troubleshoot:

1. Using GraphQL?: There has been a big switch from REST to GraphQL for Shopify's APIs, are you still using REST?

2. Middleware: If you’re using any Shopify apps or middleware to bridge Shopify and your system, it’s worth checking if any were recently updated or lost access.

3. Test with a new order: Try placing a test order and inspect the API payload or webhook response to see if customer info is being included at all, it’ll help isolate whether it’s a Shopify issue or something in your system’s parser.

4. Double-check GDPR settings: Shopify has customer privacy settings that can hide certain data depending on how your store is configured.

Separately, since you’re running a rental business on Shopify, I'd love for you to check out Supercycle. We help merchants run rental and resale models natively on Shopify, including full stock lifecycle management, booking logic, and circular reporting. 

Ryan

[leocor22]

<p>Hi Sarah,</p>
<p>This might be worth a look: sometimes if a customer checks out as a guest or opts out of marketing/emails, Shopify might redact or limit their personal info in the API response.</p>
<p>Has this been happening with all orders or just some? That might help isolate the cause.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>