Import Optional Data from Shopify

Overview

DHL Express Commerce can import additional information from Shopify alongside your orders to support fulfilment, customs preparation, reporting and shipping workflows.
Most optional import settings can be found under Settings > Integrations > Shopify > Advanced > Field Mapping.
Important: Changes only apply to newly imported orders. Existing orders will not be updated automatically.

Creating a Shopify metafield

To import additional product information into DHL Express Commerce, you may first need to create a custom metafield in Shopify.

In Shopify, go to Settings > Metafields and metaobjects.
Select Products or Variants, depending on where the information will be stored.
Create a new metafield definition and select Single line text as the type.
Add the required value to the metafield against the relevant product or variant.

For detailed instructions, see Shopify’s guide to creating custom metafield definitions.

View the Shopify guide

Additional Data that can be imported from Shopify

Tags

Import Shopify order tags with your orders. To enable these:

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import Tags from Shopify.
Tags will now appear in the orders grid. For more information on tags, see here: Tags.

Order Notes

There are four different ways to choose from when deciding how order notes left at checkout should be imported and mapped in DHL Express Commerce.

The four options are:

Do not import notes.
Map to delivery instructions.
Map to notes section.
Map to both the delivery instructions field and the note section.

We recommend using Delivery Instructions when customers provide courier or delivery-related information, and Notes for gift messages, personalisation requests or internal processing information.

To enable these:

Go to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Field Mapping, select your preferred Map order notes option and click Save
These will apply to newly imported orders.

Shipping Charges

Enable Import Shipping as a Line Item to import the shipping charge from Shopify as a separate line item named Shipping.

This can be useful when shipping costs need to be included on commercial invoices, customs documentation or reported separately.

If a Shopify Enhanced order is split into multiple fulfilments, the shipping charge is automatically divided between the resulting shipments based on item value.

Example

If the customer pays £10 shipping:

£50 shipment value → £2.50 shipping
£150 shipment value → £7.50 shipping

If Shopify applies free shipping, a discount or a minimum shipping charge, DHL Express Commerce will use the final shipping value provided by Shopify.

To enable this:

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import shipping as a line item.

Quantity

By default, DHL Express Commerce imports the Fulfillable Quantity for each Shopify line item.

This is the recommended setting, particularly for orders that may be split across multiple fulfilments.

Enable Import Item Quantity Instead of Fulfillable Quantity only if you need to import the original ordered quantity, regardless of fulfilment status.

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import item quantity instead of fulfillable quantity.

Variants

You can import Shopify item variants as the description to make pick and packing easier. To enable these:

Go to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Map the name of product variants for order item descriptions.
These will apply on import. To update the orders in your new tab remove and & re-import your orders.

Bin Locations

Import your bin locations into DHL Express Commerce. This will allow you to pick and pack more effectively using our packing slips.

This feature is available for bin locations on both the product itself and the variant. To have these import you will need to:

Create a new custom text metafield in Shopify.
Ensure your products have values set.
In DHL Express Commerce, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify > Advanced
Enable Import Bin Location metafield
Select whether the metafield is configured at Product or Variant level.
Click Save.

The bin location will then be imported and displayed against the relevant order item.

Dimensions

DHL Express Commerce can import product dimensions from Shopify product or variant metafields.
Imported dimensions can help improve:

Package selection
Shipping calculations
Customs information accuracy
Warehouse workflows

You do not need to create custom metafields for product dimensions. DEC will use Shopify’s standard product dimension fields.

To add dimensions in Shopify:

Go to Products and select the product.
Under Shipping, ensure Physical product is selected.
Enter the length, width and height under Packed product size, including the unit of measurement.
Click Save.

For products with variants, dimensions can be set separately for each variant under its Shipping section.

To import these:

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import Product Dimensions Metafields.
Select Product or Variant metafields.
Select the dimension unit:
- cm
- mm
- in
- m
Save the configuration.

Notes

Decimal and whole-number values are supported.
Invalid or empty values are ignored.
Changes apply to newly imported orders only.

Customs descriptions

For international shipments, product titles may not always be suitable for customs documentation.
DHL Express Commerce can import a dedicated customs description from a Shopify product metafield.
To use this:

Create a new custom text metafield in Shopify. The name space and key will need to be
Add a value to the field for each relevant product.

Example
Instead of: Premium Lifestyle Collection
Use: Cotton men's t-shirt

When available, the customs description will be imported into DHL Express Commerce and used for customs information. If no customs description is available, DHL Express Commerce will use the standard Shopify product description.

EU Product Identifiers

To support EU Customs Reform (EUCR) requirements, DHL Express Commerce can import Product Identifier information from Shopify product or variant metafields.

Supported Product Identifiers include:

Merchant Product ID
Manufacturer Product ID
Standardised Product ID

Create new custom text metafields in Shopify. The name spaces and keys for each will need to be as follows
Merchant Product ID

Manufacturer Product ID

Standardised Product ID
Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import EU Product Identifier Metafields and click Save

Behaviour

Variant values take priority over Product values.
Product values are used when Variant values are not available.
Existing Product Identifier fallback behaviour continues to apply.
Changes only apply to newly imported orders.

For more information, refer to the Navigating EU Customs Reform (EUCR) Product Identifier Requirements article.

Country-Specific HS Codes

When enabled, DHL Express Commerce will use country-specific HS Codes from Shopify where available.

If no country-specific HS Code is available, the standard product HS Code will be used instead.

To enable:

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import country specific tax IDs.

Country-Specific Tax Nbrs

Enable this setting to import destination-country tax identifiers from Shopify, such as:

CPF / CNPJ (Brazil)
RFC (Mexico)

These identifiers can then be included in customs documentation where required

To import these:

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Import country specific HS codes.

Bundle Products

DHL Express Commerce can import bundled products from Shopify.

By default, Shopify bundles may be imported as a single order item.

DEC supports integrations with common Shopify bundling apps.

Enable Expand Bundle Products on Import to import the individual products within a bundle as separate order items.

To enable:

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Enable Expand Bundle Products on Import.

Shopify Checkout Currency

DHL Express Commerce can import order values using the currency selected by the customer at Shopify checkout.

To enable:

Go to Settings > Integrations > Shopify Settings > Advanced > Field Mapping and set Import order values using to Customer Checkout.

Using Product Catalogue

Shopify provides product information when orders are imported into DHL Express Commerce, including:

SKU
Product title and variant information
Barcode
Weight
Customs information, including country of origin and HS code

When a matching SKU is found, the Product Catalogue can enrich the imported product data with additional information, depending on your configuration, including:

Customs data
Product dimensions and weight
Product identifiers
Bin locations
Packaging information

We recommend keeping your Product Catalogue up to date to help ensure accurate and complete shipment and customs data.

Shopify FAQs

Shopify product bundles

DHL Express Commerce supports many Shopify bundle setups out of the box, including the native Shopify bundle app and third-party apps like Bundles.app. Depending on how your bundles are configured in Shopify, you may need to adjust additional settings in DHL Express Commerce to ensure they’re imported correctly.

Import Item Properties as Line Items (Multi Buy Bundles)

If your bundles or multi-select items are configured as a single line item in Shopify, with details of the individual items stored as properties, this setting will break the single line item into multiple line items.

When to use it
If your bundles are set up as one line item in Shopify with custom properties that list the individual items.
How to enable it
Go to Settings > Integrations > Shopify, and enable Import Item Properties as Line Items (Multi Buy Bundles).

Expand bundle products on import

If you’re using Bundles.app or a similar app that stores bundle components as a metafield (e.g., Bundle SKU), this setting expands bundles into individual items during import.

When to use it
If your bundles are defined in Shopify using metafields that identify the items in the bundle.
How to enable it
Go to Settings > Integrations > Shopify, and enable Expand bundle products on import.

Please note that this setting will not import the bundle weight as DHL Express Commerce assumes the metafields are line items, ignoring the main item/bundle weight.

Double shipping weights

If your bundles are importing with double the shipping weight, this happens because DHL Express Commerce imports both the main bundle product and its individual components.

Solution
Set the main bundle product’s Requires Shipping attribute to False in Shopify. This ensures only the individual items are imported into DHL Express Commerce, preventing duplicate weights.

For further assistance, check your bundle app’s documentation.

Need Help?

If you need assistance configuring Shopify import settings, please don't hesitate to reach out by using our Submit a ticket feature. Please ensure you are logged into the dashboard to access this page.

Our local DHL Express Commerce experts would be happy to hear from you.