dropshipping-integration

What this skill does

# Dropshipping Integration

## Overview

A dropshipping integration routes customer orders automatically to supplier warehouses, syncs supplier inventory to your storefront, and tracks your margin on every sale. Done right, customers receive their products on time without you ever touching physical inventory. Done poorly, oversells and fulfillment failures destroy your reputation.

This skill walks through setting up dropshipping on your platform using the right tools, then covers custom/headless implementations for those building from scratch.

## When to Use This Skill

- When launching a store without physical inventory by routing orders directly to supplier warehouses
- When adding a dropship-fulfilled product category alongside your own inventory
- When building a multi-supplier routing engine that picks the best supplier per order based on price, stock, or location
- When you need to keep your storefront inventory in sync with supplier availability feeds (CSV, EDI, API)
- When tracking dropship margins for accounting and vendor performance reporting

## Core Instructions

### Step 1: Determine your platform and choose the right integration approach

| Platform | Recommended Tool | Why |
|----------|-----------------|-----|
| **Shopify** | DSers (free), AutoDS, or Spocket | DSers is the official AliExpress partner; AutoDS and Spocket handle premium/US-based suppliers with automated order routing |
| **WooCommerce** | AliDropship plugin, DropshipMe, or WooCommerce + custom webhook | AliDropship handles AliExpress automation; for other suppliers use WooCommerce webhooks to push orders to a supplier API |
| **BigCommerce** | Modalyst, Spocket, or BigCommerce + custom integration | Modalyst and Spocket have native BigCommerce apps with inventory sync |
| **Custom / Headless** | Build a supplier integration layer using the supplier's API or CSV/EDI feed | Full control over routing logic, margin tracking, and supplier selection |

### Step 2: Set up inventory sync

Keeping your storefront stock levels in sync with supplier availability is the most critical piece — oversells damage customer trust immediately.

#### Shopify

**Using DSers (AliExpress dropshipping):**
1. Install DSers from the Shopify App Store
2. Connect your AliExpress account in DSers settings
3. Import products from AliExpress via DSers → Products → Import
4. DSers syncs stock levels automatically every few hours
5. Enable "Auto-update inventory" in DSers → Settings → Supplier to push supplier stock to Shopify inventory

**Using Spocket (US/EU suppliers):**
1. Install Spocket from the Shopify App Store
2. Browse the Spocket marketplace and import products to Shopify
3. Spocket syncs inventory changes automatically — no manual configuration needed
4. Enable "Auto-fulfill orders" in Spocket settings to route new Shopify orders to suppliers automatically

**Using AutoDS (multi-supplier):**
1. Install AutoDS from the Shopify App Store
2. Add suppliers (AliExpress, Amazon, Walmart, etc.) and import their products
3. AutoDS monitors supplier prices and stock, updating your Shopify listings automatically
4. Configure price rules in AutoDS → Settings → Price Rules to set your markup automatically

#### WooCommerce

**Using AliDropship plugin:**
1. Purchase and install the AliDropship plugin
2. Use the Chrome extension to import products from AliExpress directly into WooCommerce
3. Enable automatic price and inventory updates in AliDropship → Settings → Auto-update
4. For order routing: AliDropship auto-places orders on AliExpress when you approve them in the plugin dashboard

**For non-AliExpress suppliers:**
1. Install the **WooCommerce Zapier** extension or use **n8n** (free, self-hosted) to connect WooCommerce order webhooks to supplier systems
2. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Webhooks, create a webhook for "Order created" events
3. Point the webhook URL at your automation workflow (Zapier/n8n) that formats and forwards the order to your supplier
4. For inventory sync, schedule a daily WP-Cron job to pull the supplier's CSV feed and update WooCommerce stock via the REST API

#### BigCommerce

**Using Modalyst:**
1. Install Modalyst from the BigCommerce App Marketplace
2. Browse Modalyst's supplier catalog and import products to BigCommerce
3. Modalyst handles inventory sync and order routing automatically once connected

**Using Spocket:**
1. Install Spocket from the BigCommerce App Marketplace
2. Import products and enable auto-fulfillment in Spocket settings
3. New orders with Spocket products are routed to suppliers automatically

#### Custom / Headless

For headless storefronts, build a supplier integration layer:

```typescript
// Supplier product and inventory schema
interface SupplierProduct {
  supplierId: string;
  supplierSku: string;       // supplier's own SKU
  internalProductId: string; // your product ID
  costPriceCents: number;    // what you pay the supplier
  stockQty: number;
  lastSyncedAt: Date;
}

// Route an order line to the best available supplier
async function selectBestSupplier(
  productId: string,
  requiredQty: number
): Promise<SupplierProduct | null> {
  // Pick the cheapest in-stock supplier with enough quantity
  return db.supplierProducts.findOne({
    internal_product_id: productId,
    stock_qty: { gte: requiredQty },
    is_active: true,
  }, { orderBy: ['cost_price_cents', 'asc'] });
}

// Sync supplier inventory from CSV feed
async function syncSupplierInventoryFromCsv(
  supplierId: string,
  csvContent: string
): Promise<void> {
  const rows = parseCsv(csvContent); // [{sku, qty, cost}]
  for (const row of rows) {
    await db.supplierProducts.upsert({
      supplier_id: supplierId,
      supplier_sku: row.sku,
      stock_qty: parseInt(row.qty),
      cost_price_cents: Math.round(parseFloat(row.cost) * 100),
      last_synced_at: new Date(),
    });
  }
  // Zero out SKUs not in the feed (discontinued)
  const activeSKUs = new Set(rows.map(r => r.sku));
  const allProducts = await db.supplierProducts.findBySupplierId(supplierId);
  for (const sp of allProducts) {
    if (!activeSKUs.has(sp.supplier_sku)) {
      await db.supplierProducts.update(sp.id, { stock_qty: 0 });
    }
  }
}

// Submit a dropship order to a supplier API
async function submitDropshipOrder(params: {
  supplierApiEndpoint: string;
  supplierApiKey: string;
  orderReference: string;
  shippingAddress: Address;
  items: { supplierSku: string; quantity: number }[];
}): Promise<string> {
  const response = await fetch(params.supplierApiEndpoint + '/orders', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${params.supplierApiKey}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      reference: params.orderReference,
      ship_to: params.shippingAddress,
      items: params.items,
    }),
  });
  if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Supplier API error: ${response.status}`);
  const result = await response.json();
  return result.order_id; // supplier's order reference
}
```

### Step 3: Configure automated order routing

#### Shopify

- **DSers**: Go to DSers → Settings → Automatic Actions and enable "Auto-sync tracking number to Shopify" and "Auto-fulfill Shopify orders"
- **AutoDS**: Enable Auto-Orders in AutoDS → Settings. Orders paid in Shopify are automatically placed with the supplier, and tracking numbers sync back to Shopify fulfillments
- If a supplier order fails (out of stock), DSers and AutoDS alert you via email so you can manually reroute

#### WooCommerce

- For AliDropship: approved orders in the AliDropship dashboard are auto-placed. Go to AliDropship → Orders and confirm pending orders, or enable full automation in settings
- For custom supplier integrations: use the WooCommerce webhook to trigger your supplier order submission, then use a second webhook or polling to receive tracking numbers and mark orders fulfilled via the WooCommerce REST API (`POST /wp-json/wc/v3/orders/{id}`)

#### BigCommerce