UK-based raw pet food brand Natural Instinct has been delivering natural, balanced meals for dogs and cats since 2010. From weaning paste to working dog food, supplements to frozen bones, the company’s range is trusted by pet owners, breeders, and over 500 stockists nationwide. With a hybrid business model serving B2B stockists, registered breeders, and DTC customers, the brand needed a scalable ecommerce solution to support its growth.
The Challenge: Why Natural Instinct Needed a Shopify Sage Integration
Natural Instinct wanted to migrate from Magento Enterprise B2B due to the high costs of their existing platform. With their annual Magento licence renewal approaching, the team needed a faster, more cost-effective solution to launch a new ecommerce store on Shopify Plus without disrupting day-to-day operations.
Crucially, the brand also needed to connect Shopify to Sage ERP, replacing their existing SFTP file-based workflow with a seamless, automated Shopify Sage integration to manage orders, inventory, and customer data efficiently.
The Solution: Migrating to Shopify Plus and Connecting to Sage ERP
Partnering with certified delivery partner Swanky, Natural Instinct leveraged the Patchworks iPaaS platform to migrate from Magento Enterprise B2B to Shopify Plus. This project involved:
- Transferring hundreds of thousands of records and complex B2B configurations from Magento to Shopify.
- Building a single Shopify Plus store that serves both B2B and DTC customers.
- Implementing Shopify’s native B2B functionality alongside custom features, including:
- B2B Catalogues for controlled product availability
- Net Payment Terms to automatically assign terms in the admin
- Draft Ordering for retailers
- Easy Reordering functionality
- Bespoke credit and weight-check solutions
- Developing a bespoke Patchworks connector to integrate Shopify with Sage ERP, automating the sync of orders, inventory, and customer data.
This approach enabled Natural Instinct to launch their new store quickly, maintain their complex B2B structures, and gain a flexible, scalable platform for future growth.
Why Patchworks & Swanky
Patchworks’ iPaaS expertise and Swanky’s delivery experience ensured a smooth, reliable migration. The complex configuration of B2B data in Magento versus Shopify required a sophisticated approach to extract, map, and configure data accurately.
Patchworks provided the robust integration platform to support this, allowing Natural Instinct to handle high volumes of data and transactions while reducing risk and improving operational efficiency.
The Results: Seamless Shopify to Sage Integration
Through the partnership with Patchworks and Swanky, Natural Instinct now benefits from:
- A fast, intuitive Shopify Plus store that serves both B2B and DTC customers.
- Seamless Shopify Sage integration, allowing automatic syncing of orders, inventory, and customer data.
- Reduced administrative workload, fewer errors, and more accurate reporting.
- A significantly lower total cost of ownership compared with Magento Enterpris
- A scalable, future-proof platform to support continued growth in both retail and wholesale markets.
With these improvements, Natural Instinct is now free to focus on growing their business, enhancing the customer experience, and delivering high-quality, nutritious pet food to more dogs, cats, and pet owners across the UK.
