Woocommerce integration
Hello all. We’re looking to plug a woocommerce shop into HubSpot to manage all the usual stuff (abandoned carts, cross selling, etc) – nothing exoteric, all very much usual stuff. I have noticed that there are two out-of-the-box integrations, WooCommerce Sync by Unific, and HubSpot for WooCommerce. Does anyone have experience with it? Or any other advice to share? Cheers.
The short answer is:
For standard ecommerce needs like abandoned carts and cross-selling, WooCommerce Sync by Unific and HubSpot for WooCommerce (by MakeWebBetter) are the top two off-the-shelf options, and reviews suggest Unific is often considered more feature-rich, reliable, and better for advanced data mapping, though it may be more expensive than the free/basic HubSpot for WooCommerce plugin which often requires paid add-ons for full functionality.
However, if your long-term goal is maximum control, data quality, and cost-efficiency without being locked into a subscription, the best solution is a custom integration that utilizes the HubSpot API and WooCommerce REST API, coordinated via Google Tag Manager (GTM) and a server-side solution like Stape or Google Cloud Platform to eliminate data gaps and fragile connections.
The long answer is:
You are right to look at those two main options.
For the usual stuff like abandoned cart recovery, customer segmentation for cross-selling, and syncing orders into HubSpot Deals, both the WooCommerce Sync by Unific and the HubSpot for WooCommerce plugins will get the job done.
The HubSpot for WooCommerce plugin, often referred to as the MakeWebBetter integration, is a popular starting point because it offers a free base that handles core syncing of customers, orders, and products.
However, users frequently find that for advanced features like product recommendations, dynamic coupon codes, or specific field-to-field syncs, you quickly need to purchase their premium add-ons, which can make the total cost creep up and lead to a dependency on multiple plugins.
Unific, on the other hand, is generally a more robust and complete solution right out of the box, with a very strong reputation for reliable data sync, extensive field mapping, and superior support.
They specialize in complex ecommerce integration and provide features like Recency, Frequency, Monetary (RFM) data enrichment, and tracking of product variants, which are fantastic for creating the sophisticated customer segments you need for effective cross-selling and targeted automation.
While their subscription is typically higher than the basic HubSpot for WooCommerce plan, the value often outweighs the cost, especially for growing stores where data integrity is critical.
Many users note Unific is less glitchy and provides better real-time updates of order and cart status.
Now, a critical piece of advice for future-proofing your business and maximizing efficiency involves a more advanced but highly cost-effective strategy: a custom API integration.
The core challenge with all plugin-based integrations is that they often rely on a constant communication bridge that can break when WordPress, WooCommerce, or HubSpot updates, leading to fragile connections and data gaps, which are especially frustrating for abandoned_cart
By using the powerful HubSpot API and the native WooCommerce REST API, you can cut out the middleman plugin entirely.
This involves configuring WooCommerce webhooks (a feature of the WooCommerce REST API) to instantly notify your custom script or automation platform of events like orders, cart updates, and customer data, and then immediately push that perfectly formatted data to the HubSpot API.
The key is to coordinate all of this via Google Tag Manager (GTM) and use a server-side tagging environment like Stape or a simple Google Cloud Platform virtual machine.
GTM acts as a single control layer that ensures all your tracking, like when a customer adds a product to their cart or proceeds to checkout, uses clean, standardized data.
Using server-side tagging then allows you to bypass the issues caused by ad blockers and browser privacy restrictions that often kill client-side tracking, providing a much higher quality and more complete dataset in HubSpot for your abandoned cart and cross-selling workflows.
Once the initial setup is complete, the operational cost of this API-driven solution, especially with pay-as-you-go server-side platforms, is often significantly cheaper than the monthly fee for premium third-party plugins, giving you superior control, data quality, and reliability.
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