Zoho Inventory for Amazon and Multichannel Selling

Which sales channels does Zoho Inventory integrate with natively?

Zoho's sales channel help lists Amazon, Etsy, eBay US and eBay UK as marketplaces, and Shopify and Zoho Commerce as shopping carts. Zoho also states that the scope of each marketplace is restricted to certain regions, so your edition decides which ones you can connect.

The table below reflects Zoho's help pages at the time of writing. Treat it as a starting point and confirm under Integrations in your own organisation before you plan around a channel.

Channels such as Walmart, Flipkart, noon, Amazon.ae and TikTok Shop are not on Zoho Inventory's native list. Zoho's Commerce knowledge base confirms Flipkart is not natively supported and points to third-party connectors or the API.

What syncs between Amazon and Zoho Inventory?

Zoho's Amazon help describes the sync in detail. Once you authorise your Seller Central account, existing data syncs within about 15 minutes, and auto-sync then runs every four hours by default. You can set it anywhere between 30 minutes and four hours.

• Orders: confirmed orders, or confirmed and fulfilled orders, arrive as sales orders depending on your setting.
• Stock: stock changes in Zoho Inventory are pushed to Amazon when stock sync is on.
• Items: Amazon items missing from Zoho Inventory are created automatically.
• Shipments: shipping details go back to Amazon when you create a shipment.
• Customers: Amazon restricts buyer personal data, so Zoho deletes it 30 days after fulfilment and synced orders use a default customer name.

For Fulfilment by Amazon, Zoho Inventory can track FBA stock and orders through a designated FBA location. FBA orders cannot be edited in Zoho Inventory, because Amazon ships and tracks them. Zoho also notes that Amazon item groups with more than three attributes will not sync.

How do you connect channels to Zoho Inventory step by step?

The prerequisites below come from Zoho's sales channel and Amazon help pages.

1. 1Confirm your base currency matches the currency of the channel account. Zoho lists this as a prerequisite.
2. 2Enable taxes such as sales tax, VAT or GST before integrating.
3. 3Make sure items already exist on the channel with matching SKUs. Zoho can bring new channel items into Zoho Inventory, but not the other way round.
4. 4Decide your warehouse mapping. Shopify can map Zoho Inventory warehouses to Shopify Locations, or combine stock into one total.
5. 5Go to Integrations, open the eCommerce section and click Set Up Now on the channel.
6. 6Choose the import date carefully. Zoho states the initial sync happens only once.
7. 7Turn on stock sync only after a test order completes cleanly.

Two details catch sellers out. Using manual sync in one marketplace triggers a sync to the other connected channels too. And successful sync records are cleared after a month and failed ones after two months, so investigate errors promptly. Our Zoho Inventory implementation for multichannel sellers includes SKU clean-up, mapping and a test order on every channel.

How do Shopify, Etsy and eBay syncs differ from Amazon?

The pattern is similar on every channel: orders come in, stock goes out and shipment details go back. The details differ.

On Shopify, Zoho's help lets you track all orders under a single customer or map customers individually. Zoho fetches Shopify stock counts only once, during the initial sync, after which Zoho Inventory becomes the source of stock. Use the same email address for Shopify and Zoho Inventory when you connect, and note that reauthenticating cannot switch the connected account.

On Etsy, Zoho maps items by SKU or item name, lets you choose between confirmed orders and confirmed and fulfilled orders, and updates Etsy when you record a shipment. Customer details are matched by email, and a new contact is created when there is no match.

If you also run a Zoho Commerce store, it connects as a shopping cart in the same way, which keeps your own website and marketplaces drawing on one stock figure.

What marketplace tax rules apply in your market?

Marketplaces often collect tax on your behalf, which changes how sales should be recorded. Confirm treatment with your accountant.

• USA: most states have marketplace facilitator laws, so Amazon, eBay and Etsy collect and remit sales tax on many orders. Set up Zoho Inventory so that tax is not charged twice on your own records. The US edition also offers Sales Tax Automation and an Avalara integration for direct sales.
• Canada: platform operators can be required to collect GST/HST on some sales. Check how each channel reports tax so your Zoho Books filings match.
• UK and EU: online marketplaces can be the deemed supplier for VAT on certain sales, especially for overseas sellers and low-value imports. Zoho's Amazon UK page does not state support for Amazon's EU marketplaces, so confirm before relying on it.
• UAE and Gulf: the native Amazon integration is not listed for the UAE edition, so Amazon.ae and noon sellers need a connector or custom integration. Saudi sellers should keep ZATCA e-invoicing in mind for direct invoices.
• India: e-commerce operators collect TCS under GST on sales made through them, so reconcile marketplace settlements against your GST returns. Flipkart and Meesho need third-party connectors.

What should you plan before going multichannel?

Most multichannel problems are data problems.

• One SKU scheme across every channel and Zoho Inventory
• A rule for how much stock each channel may see, if you hold back buffer stock
• A daily owner for sync errors and failed orders
• Payout reconciliation from Amazon, Shopify and others into Zoho Books
• A plan for unsupported channels: connector, custom integration or manual import

Settle these before you connect the first channel. Fixing SKUs after orders start flowing means unpicking duplicates on every channel at once.

How can Flowpeak help you sell on several channels with Zoho Inventory?

Flowpeak is a registered Zoho partner with Zoho certified consultants, founded in Chennai in July 2024 and working remotely with sellers in the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe, the Gulf and India. Founder Harikrishnan has more than ten years in Zoho and has been involved in over 600 implementations. We clean SKUs, connect native channels, build integrations for channels Zoho does not support and set up payout reconciliation. Scope is quoted in writing after a free scoping call. Book a free call to review your channel mix with us.

Frequently asked questions