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Epos Now as master for products

This page explains how the product sync works if you choose Epos Now as your product master.

Epos Now is the source of truth for product data. Product changes should be made on Epos Now and the integration will update WooCommerce automatically.

  • Product changes sync from Epos Now to WooCommerce only.
  • New products created on Epos Now are created on WooCommerce automatically.
  • New products created from Epos Now are created on WooCommerce as simple products.
  • Product updates sync to WooCommerce for the fields enabled on your account.
  • Product deletes on Epos Now can move the linked WooCommerce product to trash, set it to draft, or do nothing.
Epos Now as product master direction
Always manage synced product data on Epos Now

If a field is configured to sync from Epos Now to WooCommerce, then changes made to that field on WooCommerce may be overwritten by the next Epos Now update.

How It Works​

Here is a visual guide to how it works at a high level.

Product create and update​

Product delete​

Creating Products​

What happens when you create a product on Epos Now

Every time you create a product on Epos Now, the integration checks WooCommerce first to decide whether it should link to an existing product or create a new one.

If the product already exists on WooCommerce

  • We find the matching product using the rules set on your account
  • We link the Epos Now product to that WooCommerce product
  • We update the linked product instead of creating a duplicate
  • We leave the existing WooCommerce stock level unchanged as part of the create step

If the product does not exist on WooCommerce

  • We create a brand new product on WooCommerce
  • We create it as a simple product
  • We enable stock management and set the WooCommerce tax status to taxable
  • We link the products automatically
  • We create it in your configured WooCommerce status, which is often draft
  • We place the product into linked WooCommerce categories where possible, otherwise we use the default WooCommerce category if one is set

Before the sync runs​

To keep the sync clean:

  • if the product already exists on WooCommerce, make sure the matching field is filled in on Epos Now so that a duplicate is not created
  • if you use the sell on web check, make sure sell on web is ticked for products that should sync
  • if you use variable products on WooCommerce, do not rely on Epos Now product creation to build those variable products for you

Matching rules​

The matching rules are chosen during setup. This might be the SKU, barcode, or another identifier shared between both platforms.

If a matching WooCommerce product is found in draft, pending, future, private, or even trash, we can still use that match.

If there is one matching WooCommerce product in trash and no active match, we can reuse that trashed product.

If there are multiple matching WooCommerce products in trash and no active match, the sync will stop and need manual review.

Category behaviour​

If the Epos Now category is linked to one or more WooCommerce categories, those linked WooCommerce categories will be used.

If the Epos Now category is not linked, then we use your default WooCommerce category if one is set.

If there is no linked category and no default WooCommerce category configured, the product can remain uncategorised on WooCommerce.

If you want the products to sync into linked WooCommerce categories automatically, use Category Linking.

Updating Products​

When we receive a product update from Epos Now, we first check if the product is already linked to WooCommerce.

If a linked product is found, then we update the fields that are enabled to sync on your account.

This includes linked WooCommerce variations. If a WooCommerce variation is already linked to a product on Epos Now, then the integration can update that variation when the linked product is updated on Epos Now.

For fields that are not included in your mapping, you can update those directly on WooCommerce and we will not overwrite them.

More details on the available settings can be found in: Product Sync

Deleting Products​

We do not hard delete any products on WooCommerce.

When a product is deleted on Epos Now, we can set the integration to either:

  • move the linked product to trash on WooCommerce
  • set the linked product to draft on WooCommerce
  • leave the product on WooCommerce as is
Sell on web

If you use the sell on web check and a product was previously synced to WooCommerce, then unticking sell on web will be treated the same as a product delete.

Our integration relies on knowing which Epos Now product links to which WooCommerce product.

When you first setup the integration, if you already have products on both platforms, then these should be linked before the sync is switched on so that duplicates are not created.

You can use our product linker to:

  • find product matches automatically
  • link products manually
  • review existing links
  • control per-product settings

Once the initial linking is done, the product sync will take care of new links automatically when new products are created.

For more details, have a look at: How to use the product linker

Categories​

Epos Now only allows a single category on a product, so the integration uses this as the source category automatically.

If that category is linked to a WooCommerce category, then the linked WooCommerce category will be used.

If no linked category is found, then the default WooCommerce category from your settings will be used when a new product is created.

For the full logic and examples, have a look at: Category Linking

Prices​

If price sync is enabled on your account, then product price updates from Epos Now will sync to WooCommerce.

If you do not want Epos Now prices to update WooCommerce, then we can switch price sync off.

There is also an option to sync cost prices if needed.

Taxes​

When we create a new WooCommerce product from Epos Now, the WooCommerce tax status is set to taxable.

If you sync tax class from Epos Now to WooCommerce, the Epos Now tax group must be mapped correctly to a WooCommerce tax class.

If the tax group is not mapped, the product update can be blocked until that mapping is corrected.

Promotions​

Promotions do not sync between Epos Now and WooCommerce. You can use promotions on WooCommerce and on Epos Now independently.

Product Types​

WooCommerce​

Simple products​

New products created from Epos Now are created on WooCommerce as simple products.

Variable products​

The integration is not able to create new variable products or new variations on WooCommerce from Epos Now.

If a WooCommerce variation is already linked, then the integration is able to update that linked variation when the product is updated on Epos Now.

If you use variable products on WooCommerce but still want Epos Now as the product master, then the recommended setup is:

  • turn OFF sync on product create
  • keep sync ON for product update
  • keep sync ON for product delete

This allows you to create variable products manually on WooCommerce, link them in our product linker, and then let future updates on Epos Now sync through to those linked products.

If you are moving existing WooCommerce simple products into a variable product structure, this guide may also help: Converting simple products to variable products

Epos Now​

Standard products​

Full support for standard products in this direction.

Products not sold online​

If you use the sell on web check, then products with sell on web unticked will not sync to WooCommerce.

This is useful if you want to keep some products on Epos Now for in-store use only.

If a product was already synced to WooCommerce and you later untick sell on web, then the integration will treat this the same as a delete and apply your configured delete action.

Product Images​

Product images do not sync between Epos Now and WooCommerce.

If you need images on both platforms, these should be managed separately.

Common Issues​

If product sync is not behaving as expected, the most common issues are:

  • duplicate matches found when checking existing products
  • invalid characters in the SKU
  • new variable products not being created on WooCommerce

For the full list, have a look at: Product sync error messages

Before Choosing This Direction​

If you use variable products on WooCommerce, then we usually recommend choosing WooCommerce as the master platform for products instead.

You can compare both options here: Choose master product platform