Introduction

Welcome to the VARIO Cloud Developer Guide for Shop & Marketplace Integrations.

This guide covers everything you need to build e-commerce and marketplace integrations for the VARIO Cloud ERP platform using the VARIO App Framework.

Build integrations that connect VARIO ERP with external selling platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Shopware, eBay, and more

A VARIO Cloud Shop or Marketplace App connects your e-commerce platform or online marketplace with the VARIO ERP system, enabling automated data exchange between the two.

What Is a Shop or Marketplace App?

Shop and marketplace apps are a specialized category of VARIO Cloud Apps. Like any VARIO app, they are self-hosted external applications that integrate with VARIO Cloud through iframes, REST APIs, and webhooks. What makes them unique is their focus on bidirectional data synchronization between VARIO ERP and an external selling platform.

┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│                 │         │                 │         │                 │
│   VARIO ERP     │◄───────►│   Your App      │◄───────►│   External      │
│                 │         │   (self-hosted)  │         │   Platform      │
│  - Articles     │         │                 │         │  - Products     │
│  - Stock        │         │  - Inbound sync │         │  - Orders       │
│  - Prices       │         │  - Outbound sync│         │  - Inventory    │
│  - Orders       │         │  - Mapping      │         │  - Prices       │
│  - Customers    │         │  - Queue        │         │  - Customers    │
│                 │         │                 │         │                 │
└─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘

Your app sits in the middle. It receives events from both sides and orchestrates the data flow.

Shop Apps vs. Marketplace Apps

Aspect	Shop App	Marketplace App
Platform type	Your own online store (e.g., Shopify, Shopware, WooCommerce)	Third-party marketplace (e.g., Amazon, eBay)
Product control	Full control over product presentation	Must follow marketplace listing rules
Order flow	Direct customer orders	Marketplace-mediated orders
Pricing	Flexible pricing strategies	Often constrained by marketplace policies
Typical channel type	ECOMMERCE	ECOMMERCE or custom

Despite these differences, both types share the same underlying architecture and framework APIs. The patterns described in this documentation apply equally to both.

What You Will Build

A typical shop or marketplace integration handles some or all of these data flows:

Outbound (ERP to Platform):

• Product sync — Push article master data, descriptions, and images to the platform

• Stock sync — Keep platform inventory levels in sync with ERP stock

• Price sync — Update product prices on the platform when they change in the ERP

• Order status sync — Send fulfillment updates (tracking numbers, shipment status) back to the platform

Inbound (Platform to ERP):

• Order import — Pull new orders from the platform into the ERP

• Customer import — Sync customer master data from the platform

• Product import — Import product catalog data from the platform

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A VARIO Cloud tenant with access to the Developer section

• App credentials (appIdentifier, clientId, clientSecret, appJWK) from app registration

• Node.js >= 20.0.0 and npm >= 10.0.0

• Basic knowledge of Express.js and REST APIs

• Familiarity with the VARIO App Framework

If you haven't built a VARIO Cloud App before, start with the general Apps documentation first. This section assumes you understand the basics of app registration, authentication, and the app manifest.