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Configuring Products for DecoNetwork Fulfillment in Your Shopify Store

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Lee Prazner
Updated

Expanding your Shopify store with print-on-demand products is a powerful way to grow without large inventory commitments. When you connect to a DecoNetwork (DN) Fulfillment Center (FC), you can offer customized products while DN handles production and shipping. This guide shows you how to configure your Shopify products so they’re mapped, priced, and routed correctly to DN—minimizing errors and keeping margins healthy.

In this article

Prerequisites
  • An active DecoNetwork Fulfillment Center (FC)
  • A Shopify store with permissions to manage products, locations, and metafields
  • Completion of the base Shopify ↔ DN integration setup (see Additional Resources)

Why configure products for DN fulfillment?

  • Accurate production mapping: Files in Shopify product metafields map to DN decoration areas.
  • Fewer delays: Correct locations and inventory let Shopify route orders to DN immediately.
  • Clear margins: Up-front pricing avoids hidden costs and surprises.
  • Consistent shipping: Matching DN shipping methods prevents checkout confusion.

Step 1: Match your catalog with your DN Fulfillment Center

  1. Confirm availability in DN: Ensure the products/variants you want to sell exist and are configured in your DN FC.
  2. Create products in Shopify: Add clear images and configure variants (sizes, colors) to match DN.
Note: Keep variant options identical between Shopify and DN to reduce mapping exceptions.

Step 2: Add design metafields for production artwork

Use Shopify product metafields to store the production files (e.g., front/back artwork) that DN will apply during fulfillment.

  1. In Shopify Admin, go to Settings → Custom data → Products.
  2. Add definition for each view (e.g., “Front Decoration File”, “Back Decoration File”).
  3. Set Type to File, and add validation (image-only or all file types) per your DN FC’s needs.
  4. Save, then upload the correct production file in each product’s Metafields section.
Warning: The Shopify integration supports one design per product view (e.g., one front, one back). Plan artwork accordingly.

Step 3: Set profitable product pricing

  1. Calculate Costs:

    • Determine the cost for each blank product in your DN FC, including any additional fees for printing, shipping, and handling.
    • Factor in Shopify’s transaction fees and any other expenses you may incur.

  2. Set Your Retail Price:

    • Price your products in a way that covers all costs and leaves room for profit.
    • Use a markup percentage that ensures you are profitable after paying all your expenses.
  3. Publish prices and validate against sample orders.
Tip: Build a simple spreadsheet to sanity-check margins for popular variants and destinations.

Step 4: Set inventory & the DN fulfillment location

Shopify uses inventory locations to determine who fulfills the order. Make sure products are stocked at your DN location.

  1. Go to Products in your Shopify admin.
  2. Select the product you want to configure.
  3. Scroll down to the Variants section.
  4. Use Bulk edit to set the product's inventory location to DN. Refer to the article, Shopify & DecoNetwork Integration Part 1: Shopify Setup Guide, for instructions.
Note: If a product isn’t stocked at the DN location, Shopify won’t assign the fulfillment to DN and orders will not push through.

Step 5: Mirror DN shipping options in Shopify

DN doesn't provide direct shipping integration with Shopify, so you'll need to set up Shopify shipping profiles and flat rates that match the shipping options available from your DN fulfillment center.

  1. In Shopify Admin, go to Settings → Shipping and delivery.
  2. Create or edit Shipping profiles and zones to reflect DN methods (e.g., Standard, Expedited, International).
  3. Add flat rates that approximate DN charges; test different baskets to validate expected totals.

    A practical strategy is to set flat shipping rates that closely reflect the average cost of shipping with the carriers used by your DN fulfillment center. This helps cover your expected shipping expenses while keeping the process simple. Flat rates also minimize surprises at checkout and maintain consistency in shipping charges. For instance, you might offer 'Standard Shipping' at $5.00 and 'Express Shipping' at $15.00.

  4. Adjust Rates Based on Order Size or Value.

    To better reflect your actual shipping costs, you can create tiered flat rates based on order size, weight, or value. For example, orders under $50 might have a standard shipping rate of $5, while orders over $50 might qualify for free shipping or a lower rate.

  5. Test Your Shipping Setup.

    Place test orders to ensure that the shipping options and rates appear correctly at checkout and align with the shipping costs you expect to incur.

Note: DN doesn’t directly sync Shopify rates. Configure profiles/rates manually to match DN options.

Step 6: Sync, test, and iterate

  1. Sync Products with DecoNetwork:

    Make sure your Shopify products are synced with the DN store. Confirm front/back production files exist on representative products..

  2. Place a Test Order:

    Before going live, place a test order to ensure order flows to DN and artwork/variants map correctly.

  3. Review and Adjust:

    Tweak pricing, shipping, or metafields based on test results.

Best-Practice Tips

  • Keep a naming convention for metafields (e.g., front.decoration_file, back.decoration_file).
  • Limit initial launch to a small product set, then expand after you confirm mapping and margins.
  • Standardize mockups and descriptions to reduce returns and support tickets.
  • Re-test after major Shopify theme or DN configuration changes.

Troubleshooting

  • Order didn’t route to DN: Check stock at the DN location and confirm the product’s fulfillment service.
  • Wrong artwork used: Verify correct file is attached to the intended metafield (front vs back).
  • Unexpected shipping at checkout: Review profiles/zones/rates; align with DN methods.

FAQs

  • Do Shopify rates sync from DN? No. Create Shopify rates that mirror DN methods and charges.
  • How many designs per view are supported? One design per view (e.g., one front, one back) for the integration.
  • Does fulfillment mode in Shopify affect DN production? Shopify’s automatic/manual fulfillment only affects Shopify routing. DN production submission is controlled by DN workflow settings.

Additional Resources

Still have questions? Use the Search Tool at the top of the page to find more related guides. Need help? Click the Support icon to submit a support ticket—our team is here to help.

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