A Comparison of the Native and Unific HubSpot Shopify Integrations

I've been working on integrating shopping carts and marketing platforms for what feels like a very long time. Maybe it was all the late, late nights when we were building the first version of our legacy app Revenue Conduit ... but the reality is, it's only been 6 years! However, what was an application born out of scarcity and necessity has now become an integral part to how many merchants operate.

In that time others have entered the space with their own versions of shopping cart integrations. One of these providers is our friend and partner HubSpot. Their native integration with Shopify is a very positive development for Unific and the HubSpot ecosystem. In fact, our growth has actually accelerated since the announcement of their Ecommerce Bridge APIs and the native integration. The saying "a rising tide lifts all ships" seems to be applicable here.

One reason for this is because we were able rebuild our Unific integrations on top of the new HubSpot Ecommerce Bridge API to incorporate the native features while providing a more reliable, faster, and deeper offering. Because of this, Unific's Shopify, Magento 2 and WooCommerce to HubSpot integrations are more robust than ever.

I am frequently asked about the key differences between the native integration and Unific. The most obvious is the access to more data (137 fields with Unific versus 40 fields with the native integration, the tables below show feature and field-by-field data comparisons). That data helps us unearth hidden opportunity for merchants, which enables us to layer in added functionality and amplify the value of the integration. (The secret sauce if you will.)

Unific also allows you to sync custom fields for customers (contacts in HubSpot speak), orders and even products! Unific includes an audit/recovery process to ensure that all data within Shopify is synced and is accurate. Lastly, we've added ability for draft orders from Shopify to sync into HubSpot.

I'll admit, for some retailers looking for a more basic integration to get started, the native HubSpot Shopify integration may be a good fit. For ecommerce marketers needing access to the most amount of data, to drive highly segmented workflows, and leverage advanced features like dynamic coupon code generation, the ability to send segmented transactional emails through the the HubSpot Transactional Email API, connect multiple stores to a single HubSpot account, conduct RFM segmentation and more, I think you'll find Unific is the better fit. (Can you tell I am biased?)

Now saying all of that, be aware that we are 100% committed to the HubSpot ecosystem and we’re actively working with them to make great ecommerce tools to help all HubSpot customers that need them. Everyday we support many HubSpot customers with ecommerce specific expertise and services. It's a great platform, a great partnership and I think we all agree that the tide is rising!