Running a promotion or sale event
What to check before, during, and after a promotion to keep your integration running cleanly.
When to use this
Use this checklist when you are planning a promotion or sale event. Promotions introduce discount logic, volume spikes and sometimes unusual order structures, any of which can surface edge cases in your integration. The checklist covers what to do before, during and after the promotion.
For how discounts are represented in your integration, see How HC handles promotions and discounts. For how HC copes with volume spikes, see How HC handles high-volume events.
Before you start
Access to the Control Panel, including Alerts (under Settings) > Configure Alerts
Which discount types the promotion will use, and whether any of them are new to your integration (for example a new discount code structure, bundle pricing or gift-with-purchase)
Your expected order volume compared with a normal day
How to reach HC: see How to get support
Steps
Before the promotion
Test any new discount type in advance. Place a test order and verify that it flows correctly through to your ERP or destination system. If anything looks wrong, raise it with HC before the sale goes live.
Tell HC if you expect significantly higher order volumes than normal. HC can confirm whether any rate limits or queue configurations need adjusting ahead of time.
Check Alerts (under Settings) > Configure Alerts to make sure alerts are going to the right people and the thresholds are appropriate for elevated volume. A failure rate that would be unusual on a quiet day may be normal during a flash sale, and vice versa. See Setting up error alerts.
During the promotion
Monitor the Control Panel actively, not just passively. Watch specifically for:
Failed events: any sudden increase in failures warrants immediate investigation
Retrying events: a growing retry queue can indicate an upstream or downstream API issue
Unusually low volume: if orders are coming in on Shopify but not appearing in HC, something may be blocking events from reaching the integration
If you see anything unexpected, contact HC straight away. Do not wait to see if it resolves itself.
After the promotion
Review the event log for any failures that occurred during the window.
Check that failed events have been reprocessed or deliberately excluded. See How to fix and resend a failed event.
Verify inventory levels in your destination system. Sale events can create rapid stock movements that occasionally trigger edge cases.
Check financial postings for the period to confirm that discount values and order totals have posted correctly.
If you find failures that were not caught during the promotion, raise them with HC with the relevant order or event references.
What you should see
Before the sale, your test order arrives in your ERP or destination system with the discount handled correctly. During the sale, the event list shows order volume in line with what is coming in on Shopify, with no sudden increase in failures or growing retry queue. Afterwards, inventory levels in your destination system and financial postings for the period (discount values and order totals) are correct. For what a normal event list looks like, see What a healthy integration looks like and Understanding event statuses.
If it did not work
A test order does not flow correctly before the sale. Raise it with HC before the sale goes live.
Failures increase suddenly or the retry queue grows during the promotion. Contact HC straight away; do not wait to see if it resolves itself. For a single failed event, see How to fix and resend a failed event.
Orders are coming in on Shopify but not appearing in HC. Something may be blocking events from reaching the integration. Contact HC straight away.
You find failures after the promotion that were not caught during it. Raise them with HC with the relevant order or event references. If many events are affected, see Requesting a bulk resend.
To contact HC, see How to get support.
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