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BookKeeper for Shopify

BookKeeper for Shopify is a custom Python integration that keeps Bruce McKenzie Booksellers' Shopify store in sync with their Bookscan point-of-sale system.

What it does​

BookKeeper runs on the shop computer and syncs the Bookscan database to the Shopify website every hour — products, prices, stock levels, descriptions, and cover images. Only products that have changed since the last run are processed (delta sync).

Why it exists​

Bruce McKenzie Booksellers uses Bookscan as their in-store POS and product catalog (~38,000 products). The official Shopify connector from Barcode Solutions was never delivered, so BookKeeper is a custom replacement built to run directly on the shop machine — no cloud server, no external dependencies.

Key behaviour​

  • Delta sync — only changed products are pushed each hour, keeping API usage low
  • Publish guard — a book only goes live on the website once it has both a title and a price in Bookscan
  • Available to order — out-of-stock books remain visible and purchasable
  • DBF schema validation — if a Bookscan update changes a field name, the sync halts before touching Shopify