In June, we will upgrade the Lulu Direct app for Shopify to provide you with a new experience. 


This upgrade will not disrupt your store or sales.


What is the Upgrade?

Until now, Shopify has connected to Lulu through the downloadable Lulu Direct App, with everything managed on Shopify, through the Lulu Direct App.


During the upgrade, services and projects that used to be handled by the Lulu Direct App will be migrated to the user’s Lulu Account, which will be managed on the Lulu Direct Dashboard moving forward. The Lulu Direct App will still be visible in your Shopify Store, however when it is clicked, a new tab will open directing you to the Lulu Direct Dashboard in your Lulu account.


Note: Everything will be done automatically, and there is nothing you will need to do regarding any of your current projects, orders, or store information. If you are using other third party apps, they will not be affected by this upgrade and will function as normal.


The new experience will give you a simplified and cohesive publishing experience. This includes free access to Lulu’s book cover designer, sales channels like the Lulu Bookstore, and our Order Import tool for easy bulk ordering.


Upgrade Process & Duration

The upgrade will not be implemented to every account at once. Instead, the process will happen in several waves spread out over a 2-3 week period. You will be emailed once the update begins, and again when it is complete.

After the upgrade, only Shopify orders created within the last 12 months will be migrated to the Lulu Direct Store Channel Orders Dashboard in a user's Lulu account. The remaining orders can be downloaded as a CSV file, if necessary.



What Will Change After the Upgrade:

Once the upgrade is complete, changes will include the location of your Lulu Book Projects, Shopify Product Connections, Lulu Bill & Auto-Payment Settings, the location of the Orders Page, Mapped Shipping method functionality and the location of your Packing Slip Data. 


Upgrade Changes:


Lulu Book Projects: Any Lulu Book created in the Lulu Direct app will automatically be migrated into the My Projects page on Lulu.com in your Lulu account. On this page you can revise or retire book projects. To create a new book project go to your My Projects page, then click the Create A Project button. From there, the Book Creator will open, follow the steps in this article to complete and publish your new book. 


Shopify Products: The location of your current Shopify products and settings will remain in Shopify, however, the way that products connect to Lulu Direct moving forward will change. After the upgrade, products will be added to Lulu Direct through the Lulu Direct Store Dashboard in your Lulu account. To access the Lulu Direct Store Dashboard, login to your Lulu Account, select My Stores from the top-menu, then click your store to open it. On the main store dashboard, you will be able to see any current products you have connected to Lulu Direct. To add new products, follow the steps in the article here. 


Orders: The Shopify Order page in your Shopify account will stay the same, however, the Lulu Direct App order page data will also be migrated to the Lulu Direct Dashboard Channel Orders page in your Lulu account. To access the Lulu Direct Dashboard Channel Orders page, login to your Lulu account and click My stores in the top-menu. Next, click Channel Orders in the top-menu. All of your Shopify orders will now appear on this page, including tracking information when an order ships.


Shipping Methods: 


Lulu Direct will no longer support mapped shipping methods.


Shopify allows you to create custom shipping rates that customers see in your store’s checkout. Normally, those rates need to be mapped to the Lulu Direct App so the Lulu Direct App understands which shipping methods to add to your Lulu Direct orders based on what the customer chooses during checkout. However, as part of the upgrade, Lulu Direct will no longer support mapped shipping methods.  Your Shopify store will retain all of the current shipping options you’ve created in your store’s shipping section, however, the shipping rates will no longer be mapped to Lulu Direct.


Instead, all orders will automatically default to the least expensive tracked option Lulu supports for that country. Any changes to a shipping method can be done manually. To manually change upgrade a shipping method, login to your Lulu account, then click My Stores in the top-menu. Next, click Channel Orders in the top-menu, then locate the order in the order list. Click the order to open it, then click the Update Shipping Method button. When complete, click the Save button to save the changes.

Note: If you are currently using Lulu's Live Shipping Rates, nothing will change for you.


Lulu Direct Store Settings Location: The remaining store settings normally handled by the Lulu Direct App including Billing Information, Store Address Information, Packing Slip data, Auto-Pay settings, and Production Delay settings will all be migrated to the Lulu Direct Store Dashboard, in your Store’s Settings page. To access your Lulu Direct Store Settings, login to your Lulu account, then click My Stores from the top-menu. Click your store to open it, then click the Store Settings button.

Important: After the upgrade is complete, please carefully review your products to verify the shipping rates are correct.