Connecting your Shopify catalog to Zest lets you quickly bring products into your account and make them available for corporate gifting orders. Importing is a two-step process:
First you bring products into your Zest Products tab
Add your imported products to one or more Storefronts.
Understanding this distinction will save you time and prevent the most common setup issues.
Before you begin, confirm the following:
Your Shopify integration is connected in Zest. Products cannot be imported until this step is complete.
Each product you want to import is set to Active status in Shopify. Draft products will not appear in search results.
Each product has at least one image and a price set in Shopify. Products without a price will display as $0.
Importing Products From Shopify
Step 1: Import Products Into the Products Tab
Log in to your Zest Partners portal and click the Products tab.
Click Import products.
In the search window, type at least three characters of the product name, or search by a Shopify product tag.
Select each product you want to import. You can select multiple products at once.
Click Import.
Zest will automatically pull in all variants, images, prices, and descriptions from Shopify. Note that importing a product here does not add it to any storefront — this happens in the next step.
Step 2: Add Products to a Storefront
Navigate to the storefront you want to add products to.
Go to the Products section in the left-hand menu.
Click Select products.
A product drawer will slide in from the right, and this is where you can search for and select the products you want to appear in this specific storefront. Click each product’s corresponding checkbox and click Select.
Within the Product listings section, you can drag and drop products to set the order in which they will appear in your storefront by grabbing the six stacked dots to the left of each product image.
Click Save changes.
Each storefront maintains its own product list, so if you have multiple storefronts, you will need to add products to each one individually.
Note: You can also import more products from Shopify by clicking Import new products at the top of the product selection drawer.
How Product Information Syncs From Shopify
Shopify is the source of truth for all product details. Zest imports the product title, images, price, description, and variants. Any changes you make to these fields in Shopify will sync to Zest automatically via webhooks.
You cannot edit product titles, prices, images, or descriptions directly in Zest at this time. All changes must be made in Shopify.
Settings that are managed within Zest — such as shipping profiles, order lead times, minimum order quantities, and blackout dates — are handled separately and are not affected by Shopify syncing. Manage these settings from the Settings tab in your Zest Partners portal.
Tips for a Successful Storefront
Curate your selection. Most successful Zest storefronts feature 12–24 products (roughly one to two pages). A focused catalog reduces choice overload for corporate gifters. You can import a larger catalog into Zest for use in Concierge orders while keeping the self-service Storefront streamlined.
Use Shopify tags to organize imports. Tagging products in Shopify (for example, with a "zest" or "corporate-gift" tag) makes it easy to search and bulk-select products during import. Tags are not required but are a recommended best practice for large catalogs.
Use native Shopify variants. Products built using third-party bundle or variant apps may not import correctly. If your main storefront uses a bundle builder app, consider creating separate products with native Shopify variants for use in Zest.
If you want a product available in Zest but hidden from your public website, set it to Active in Shopify but deselect all sales channels, including Online Store.
Troubleshooting: Product Not Showing Up
If a product isn't appearing in your storefront or in import search results, check the following:
The product is set to Active in Shopify, not Draft or Unlisted.
The product has been imported into the Products tab and explicitly added to the storefront. Remember! These are two separate steps.
The product hasn't been archived in Zest. Check the archived products view if you suspect this is the case. Note: Unarchiving a product does not automatically re-add it to a storefront.
You're using the exact product name when searching, including any special characters.
The product is not out of stock with out-of-stock visibility restrictions enabled in Shopify.
If you recently reactivated a product from Draft to Active in Shopify, there may be a brief lag before Zest recognizes it as available. Wait a few minutes and try importing again.