Field locking: the feature that unlocked wholesale

When we launched field locking in February 2024, we thought maybe 10% of customers would use it.

By the end of the first week, 60% of merchants had configured at least one field lock. By month two, it was our most-used feature after basic product sync.

We were wrong about it being niche. Here's what we learned.

The Problem

Let's say you run two stores: a retail DTC store and a wholesale portal.

Same products. Different prices. The DTC store charges $99. The wholesale store charges $45.

You want to sync product descriptions, images, and inventory. But NOT prices.

Before field locking, SyncTec would sync everything. Including prices. Which meant your wholesale prices would overwrite your retail prices (or vice versa). Not good.

The Workaround (That Nobody Liked)

Before field locking, merchants had two options:

1. **Don't sync these products at all** — Defeats the purpose of SyncTec

2. **Manually fix prices after every sync** — Time-consuming and error-prone

Neither was acceptable. We needed a better way.

How Field Locking Works

Field locking lets you say: 'Sync everything except these specific fields.'

You can lock:

• Price
• Compare-at price
• Cost per item
• SKU
• Barcode
• Weight
• Tags
• Vendor
• Product type
• Any metafield

Once locked, SyncTec won't touch that field during sync. Even if it changes on the source store.

Why It Matters for Wholesale

Wholesale merchants need different prices. Sometimes dramatically different.

But they want everything else to stay in sync: descriptions, images, new variants, inventory, etc.

Field locking makes this possible. Lock the price fields. Sync everything else. Done.

Why It Matters for Multi-Region

Regional stores often need different:

• Prices (currency, local market conditions)
• Tags (for region-specific collections)
• Vendors (different suppliers per region)

Field locking lets you maintain these differences while keeping product data in sync.

The Surprise: Other Use Cases

We built field locking for wholesale. But merchants use it for all kinds of things:

• Testing: Lock prices on an experimental store while testing new pricing
• Compliance: Lock weights/dimensions on stores that must meet specific regulations
• SEO: Lock titles/descriptions on stores optimized for different keywords
• Seasonal: Lock tags on stores with different seasonal collection structures

How to Use It

1. Go to Settings → Sync Lock Settings

2. Select a destination store

3. Toggle on the fields you want to protect

4. Save

That's it. From now on, syncs to that store will skip those fields.

Per-Product Overrides

You can also lock fields on individual products:

1. Select a product

2. Click the lock icon next to any field

3. That field is now locked for this product on this store

Per-product locks override global settings. Use this when you need fine-grained control.

What We Learned

Field locking taught us something important: merchants don't want all-or-nothing sync. They want control.

SyncTec isn't about making all stores identical. It's about keeping them consistent where it matters and different where it doesn't.

Field locking is the tool that makes that possible.

What's Next

We're working on:

• Conditional locks: Lock a field only if it meets certain conditions
• Temporary locks: Lock a field for a specific time period
• Bulk lock management: Apply locks to multiple products at once

If you're running multiple stores with different pricing, audiences, or positioning, field locking is probably the feature you need most.