Prerequisite 

Before troubleshooting why your commodity data isn't syncing from Shopify, please ensure you've first added the necessary details (like HS Codes and Country of Origin within Shopify itself. If you haven't, see our set up guide here: Retrieving Commodity Information from Shopify 

Why Is My Commodity Information Not Importing Into Shiptheory?


If you're using Shopify and find that essential commodity information (like HS Codes or Country of Origin) isn't appearing on your Shiptheory shipments, a common reason is where this data has been added in Shopify.


Key Point: For Shiptheory to correctly import commodity data for international shipments, it needs to be associated with the specific Product Variant being ordered, not just the parent Product level.

Incorrect Location: Parent Product Level Data

Adding customs information only at the main product level (as shown below) might not be sufficient, especially if the product has multiple variants (sizes, colours, etc.). Shiptheory will only look for data linked to the specific variant chosen by the customer.


GIF showing customs data incorrectly added only at the parent product level in Shopify

Correct Location: Product Variant Level Data

You need to ensure the HS Code (Harmonized System code) and Country of Origin are entered for each relevant product variant within Shopify.

  1. Navigate to the Product in your Shopify Admin.
  2. If your product has variants, find the Variants section.
  3. Click on the product variant you need to update.
  4. Scroll down within the variant's settings page to find the Metafields section .
  5. Enter the correct commodity information for that specific variant.
  6. Click Save.
  7. Repeat for all other variants that require commodity data.


Example showing where to find the product variants:


Screenshot showing customs data fields correctly located within the Shopify product variant settings


Video illustrating editing a variant to add commodity information:


GIF demonstrating how to edit a Shopify variant and add HS Code and Country of Origin

Verifying in Shiptheory

Once the data is correctly added to your Shopify variants, new orders containing those variants should import into Shiptheory with the commodity information included. For existing orders already in Shiptheory, you may need to use the 'Retry Shipment' option to pull the updated product data.

If the commodity information still isn't pulling through correctly after ensuring it's on the variants, or if you have further questions, please feel free to contact our support team. You can call us on 0117 403 4313 (UK) / +1 (629) 666-6726 (US) or reach us online here.