1C Integration

1C is business software that many trading companies in Estonia with Russian-speaking management use for stock, sales and accounting records. Once such a company runs an online store, the question is how to keep the same data in two systems. Integration means that for each type of data one system is the master and the other receives it automatically.

Products with their categories and properties, prices and stock levels usually flow from 1C to the website. Orders flow the other way, with customer details, delivery method and payment status, and the order status comes back from 1C. The standard exchange is based on the CommerceML format, which 1C-Bitrix supports out of the box. For WooCommerce and custom sites the same logic is built with a separate module or through an API.

Texts and images need a separate decision. In 1C a product name usually exists in one language and photos are missing or low quality. So descriptions, Estonian and English translations and photos often stay under the website's control, and the exchange is configured not to overwrite them.

In the standard scheme 1C starts the exchange: on a schedule it contacts the website and hands over the changes. That leads to a practical requirement: 1C has to run on a computer or server that is switched on and online at the time of the exchange. If 1C sits on an office PC that is turned off in the evening, stock levels will not update overnight.

Frequency is chosen by data type. The first full catalog export takes the longest; after that only changes are sent. Prices and stock are usually updated every few hours, while orders are passed on immediately or at a short interval. If the same goods are also sold in a physical shop and stock is low, it is worth running the stock exchange more often so the site does not sell what is already gone.

The most common problem is product matching. The exchange recognises a product by its 1C identifier, not by its name. If products were entered into the store by hand earlier, the first exchange creates duplicates. Before launch the existing products must be linked to 1C records by SKU, and everyone has to agree that new products are created only in 1C from then on.

The second topic is VAT. 1C may hold several price types, with and without tax. In an online store a private customer has to see the final price including VAT, which in Estonia has been 24% since July 2025. It must be clear which price type goes to the site and whether 1C or the store adds the tax. Otherwise the price ends up taxed twice or not at all.

The third is multiple warehouses. If there is a main warehouse, a shop and a supplier's warehouse, you need to decide whether the site shows the sum of stock or only one warehouse, and whether reserved goods are deducted. Units of measure and packaging belong here too: selling by the metre, the piece and the box has to be described the same way in 1C and in the store.

We test on a copy of the website and, where possible, on a copy of the 1C database. We start with a small sample: a few dozen products from different categories, with and without variants. Using a checklist we confirm that prices, stock, properties and images arrived correctly. Then we place test orders with different payment and delivery methods, including a parcel locker, and look at how they land in 1C. Only after that do we run the full export.

After launch we check the logs daily for the first days. Your accountant or warehouse manager gets a short guide: where to see what was not transferred, and what to do if a product does not appear on the site.

If your records are kept in accounting software common in Estonia, such as Merit Aktiva, the CommerceML exchange described here does not apply. In that case the integration is built through that program's own interfaces, and the scope and price are estimated separately. Tell us what you use and we will say what is possible.