Clarification on sales channel requirements for external marketplace checkout + order creation in Shopify

Shopify App Store
1

Hi Shopify team,

I’m looking for clarification on whether the architecture of our app is allowed for a new Shopify app, and if so, what app type / review path it should follow.

We run an external marketplace called Golisto. Shopify merchants install our app to sync products from their Shopify store into Golisto. A buyer then discovers and purchases the item on Golisto, not on the merchant’s Shopify storefront.

Our current flow is:

  1. Merchant installs our embedded Shopify app and connects their Golisto account.

  2. We sync the merchant’s Shopify products into Golisto.

  3. A buyer purchases the product on Golisto using Golisto’s checkout/payment flow.

  4. After the sale, we create or complete the order in Shopify so the merchant can manage fulfillment from Shopify admin.

  5. We then sync fulfillment/tracking/label information back into Shopify.

Shopify has told us this should be treated as a sales channel. That part makes sense to me.

What I’m confused about is the checkout requirement. In the sales channel requirements and App Store requirements, I’m reading that:

  • sales channels must take buyers to Shopify checkout with the cart preloaded

  • public apps must not bypass Shopify checkout or register transactions in Shopify after an offsite checkout

At the same time, Shopify’s sales channel docs also describe channels/marketplaces where merchants can sell on external surfaces, including cases where Shopify receives orders placed on the channel.

“… and have Shopify receive orders placed on your channel if you run your own checkout.”
- Apps as sales channels

So my questions are:

  1. Is a flow where the buyer pays on our external marketplace, and we then create the Shopify order for merchant operations, allowed for any new app today?

  2. If yes, is that allowed only for a specific kind of sales channel, partner arrangement, or approval path?

  3. If no, does that mean any new public sales channel app must route the buyer into Shopify checkout rather than complete the sale on the external marketplace?

We want to build this in a compliant way, and we’d really appreciate guidance on which architecture Shopify expects for a marketplace-style integration in 2026.

Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

2

Hey @Mikkel_Thode_Schultz, currently for public apps published on the app store, the checkout will have to happen through the merchants checkout.

There are 2 ways to do that as documented here: Apps as sales channels

3

Alright. Thanks for getting back to me Kyle :slightly_smiling_face:

That sadly ruins our use case, so we will have to drop this project for now.
We hope this will change in the future :folded_hands: