If you sort your Etsy shop into sections and your Shopify store into collections, Shuttle can link the two. Once they are linked, products land in the right section or collection when they move between your shops, so you have less to sort by hand.
How does Shuttle use your section and collection mappings?
Shuttle uses your mappings between Etsy sections and Shopify collections in both directions:
When a product moves from Shopify to Etsy, it goes into the Etsy section linked to one of its Shopify collections. If the product is in more than one linked collection, the row highest in your list wins.
When a listing moves from Etsy to Shopify, it is added to every Shopify collection linked to its Etsy section.
Map Etsy sections to Shopify collections
Step 1: Open the Collections → Sections page
In Shuttle, go to Settings > Catalog Mapping > Collections → Sections.
If you just created a section on Etsy or a collection on Shopify, click Refresh to bring it in.
Step 2: Add your mappings
Click Add row.
In the Etsy section column, pick a section.
In the Shopify collection column, click Select collection.
Type at least three letters of the collection name and click Search. Shuttle shows up to 20 results, so be specific.
Click Select next to the collection you want.
Repeat these steps for each section. You can link one section to more than one collection.
To change a collection, click Change. To remove a row, click the delete icon at the end of the row.
Step 3: Set the order (optional)
The order of your rows decides which section a Shopify product goes into when it belongs to more than one linked collection, because Shuttle uses the highest row.
To move a row up or down, drag it by its handle on the left. You can also select the handle and use the arrow keys.
Step 4: Save your changes
Click Save to apply your mappings to future transfers. To undo changes you have not saved, click Discard.
Which settings control section and collection assignment?
Transfers from Shopify to Etsy
The settings for transfers to Etsy are in Settings > Products > Shopify → Etsy, on the Etsy Section card:
Assign sections based on Shopify collections turns on the mapping for transfers to Etsy. It is on by default.
Section metafield key lets a metafield choose the section. If you enter a key, the section named in that metafield takes priority over your mappings. The name must match the section's name on Etsy.
Allow section changes on product updates decides whether updating a product that is already on Etsy can change its section. It is off by default.
Transfers from Etsy to Shopify
The settings for transfers to Shopify are in Settings > Products > Etsy → Shopify, on the Collections card:
Default collection adds every newly transferred product to the Shopify collection you pick. No collection is picked by default.
Assign Etsy section as Shopify collection also adds the product to a Shopify collection with the same name as its Etsy section. Capital letters do not matter, and if no collection has that name, Shuttle creates one. This setting is off by default.
Etsy category to collection adds the product to a Shopify collection named after its Etsy category. Choose Assign Etsy Top Category as Collection to use the broad top-level category, or Assign Etsy Bottom Category as Collection to use the listing's most specific category. Shuttle finds a collection with that name, or creates one. This setting is Do not assign Etsy Categories as Collections by default.
Featured collection adds listings that are featured in your Etsy shop to the Shopify collection you pick. Listings that are not featured are not affected. No collection is picked by default.
Any collection Shuttle creates on Shopify is a manual collection.
Matching by name only works from Etsy to Shopify. For transfers to Etsy, Shuttle uses the mappings on the Collections → Sections page.
When does Shuttle add a product to Shopify collections?
Shuttle adds a product to Shopify collections at different times, depending on whether it is a new transfer or an update:
A new transfer from Etsy to Shopify always adds the product to collections, based on your mappings and the settings on the Collections card.
Default collection applies only to new transfers. Updates never add a product to the Default collection.
If a transfer finds a matching Shopify product and updates it instead, Shuttle treats it as an update.
When you update a product that is already linked, Shuttle adds collections only if the update includes Collections and Collections is not ticked in the Master Switch under Settings > Products > Etsy → Shopify.
An update only adds collections. It never takes the product out of a collection it is already in.
If you leave every setting at its default and set up no mappings, a transfer from Etsy to Shopify puts the product in no collection.
A listing with no Etsy section gets no collections from your section mappings or from Assign Etsy section as Shopify collection.
What happens when a mapped section or collection is deleted?
If you delete a section on Etsy, Shuttle removes its rows the next time it refreshes your sections.
If a linked Shopify collection no longer exists, Shuttle skips it.