Cortex carries products, orders, customers and stock between your online store and your shop floor, and stops to ask when the two disagree. It is AI-native: an MCP server lets the assistant you already use run it with you.
Fields Cortex can connect include Title to Short Description, SKU to Supplier SKU, Vendor to Default Supplier, Price to POS Price (Inc Tax), Type to Product Type, Compare-at Price to RRP (Inc Tax), Barcode to Manufacturer SKU, Fulfillment location to Outlet, Payment gateway to Payment method, Shipping title to Freight type, Return reason to Return reason.
Every store names things its own way. On the mapping canvas you connect each Shopify field, option or metafield to the Retail Express field it belongs in, and Cortex writes products exactly along those lines.
Three fields are wired below and one required field is not. Pick Vendor or Barcode, then the field it should feed.
Cortex was built to be run by people and by their AI assistants. Its Model Context Protocol server gives an assistant 40 tools that cover what the app itself does: setting a store up, drawing its mappings, and working through Sync history.
You stay in charge. You grant access store by store on a consent page, the assistant never gets more than your own access, and every tool that changes real data asks you first.
You:Anything in Cortex need me this morning?
Tool used:list_order_syncs
Tool used:list_product_syncs
Assistant:Two things. Order #1042 was edited in both systems and needs your decision. One product is waiting because the vendor “Burke & Wills” isn’t mapped. Map it to the supplier of the same name?
You:Yes, map it.
Tool used:create_catalog_mapping
Assistant:Mapped. The product has synced on its own. The order is still yours to decide.
Check what is left to do, pair Retail Express and load both catalogs.
Read and change product fields, product types, vendors and order details.
List what needs attention, then retry, resolve, recheck or approve it.
Turn product, order and stock sync on or off and adjust their settings.
https://app.cortex-ai.com.au/mcpNot everything should flow both ways. Each record travels the way a retailer would expect, and nothing is written until you turn its sync on.
Shopify: New and changed products and variants are sent across.
Both directionsRetail Express: New products come back as Shopify drafts, ready for you to publish.
Shopify: New orders are created in Retail Express as they are placed.
Both directionsRetail Express: Fulfilments, edits, cancellations and refunds are written back.
Shopify: An order’s customer is matched by email, or created and then kept current.
Shopify to Retail ExpressRetail Express: Receives only. Nothing about customers is sent back.
Shopify: Receives stock levels for linked products at the locations you map.
Retail Express to ShopifyRetail Express: Sends counts every minute and in full once a day. Off until you turn it on.
From checkout to the shop floor and back, without anyone retyping it.
Order #1046: one oilskin coat, Express Post, paid by card.
Matched in Retail Express by email. Had there been no match, one would be created.
Your mappings turn the location, payment and shipping title into an outlet, a payment method and a freight type.
Created against the right outlet, ready for the shop floor to pick and pack.
Staff mark it fulfilled where they already work.
The fulfilment is written to the Shopify order, so both systems agree it has shipped.
Cortex has no “last write wins”. If an order is edited in both systems, or a product already exists on both sides, the sync stops in Sync history with both versions intact and waits for a person to choose.
Retrying re-reads the current data rather than replaying the old change, and every decision is recorded with who made it.
Syncing is the easy half. These are the screens that keep two systems from quietly drifting apart.
When a product already exists on both sides, Cortex shows what linking would change and waits. You choose which system is the source.
Review before linking
| Field | Shopify | Retail Express |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Drover Oilskin Coat | Drover Oilskin Coat |
| Price | $289.00 | $279.00 |
| Supplier | Burke & Wills | B&W Outfitters |
A refund raised in Retail Express above the limit you set stops for approval first.
Refund on order #1038$129.00, over your $100.00 limitApproval required
Off by default. Flip the switch to see what turning it on does.
Cortex leaves Shopify’s stock alone.Refreshed every minute, and in full once a day.
The Shopify account owner holds everything. Everyone else gets what you grant.
Who changed a store’s setup or access, and when, kept for 400 days.
Alerts are grouped by topic, carry counts rather than customer data, and each person switches their own on or off.
Cortex to you
3 syncs need your attention
The whole product, grouped the way the app is.
Retail Express includes its own Shopify connector in every plan. Here is what each does, in the vendor’s own words where we could find them.
| Retail Express’s own Shopify connector | Cortex | |
|---|---|---|
| Refunds, returns and cancellations | No | Yes Carried between the two systems, exchanges included. Some wait for your approval or decision first. |
| Where a product can start | Created in Retail Express first, then published to Shopify.1 | Create it in either system. Products new in Retail Express arrive in Shopify as drafts. |
| Which product data moves | A set list of fields. Long descriptions, custom fields, custom attributes and images are listed as not synchronised.13 | You draw the mapping: fields, options, attributes and metafields, down to tags, cost, weight, the search listing and the featured image. |
| An order changed in both systems | Retail Express is the source of truth.1 | Cortex stops and asks which version to keep. |
| Linking a catalogue you already have | Existing products are linked by matching SKU.1 | Products that exist on both sides wait for your review before they are linked. |
| Stock | Stock from the outlets you select is combined into one quantity for Shopify, with optional buffers.46 | Optional. Each mapped outlet’s stock is mirrored to its own Shopify location every minute, less any safety stock you hold back for the store or a product type. |
| Catching what was missed | Changes are queued; Maropost says orders typically sync within a few minutes and that peak congestion typically clears within 30–60 minutes.5 | Besides live notifications from both systems, Cortex rechecks for missed orders every 5 minutes and missed products every 15. |
| Seeing and fixing a failed sync | Not described in the help-centre articles we reviewed. | Yes Every sync is listed with its outcome; retry one, or every failure since a date. Finished history is kept 90 days. |
| Access, audit and AI | Not published. | Yes Four kinds of access per person, a 400-day audit log of setup and access changes, and an MCP server with 40 tools your AI assistant can use. |
| Cost | Included in every Retail Express plan.7 | A separate subscription, from US$49 a month. |
Cortex takes the place of Retail Express’s own Shopify connector: the two can’t run on the same store.
Competitor information from Maropost’s help centre and Retail Express’s pricing page, accessed 13 October 2026. It may have changed; check with the vendor.
Cortex is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by Retail Express, Maropost or Shopify. Retail Express and Shopify are trade marks of their respective owners.
Every plan is the whole product. What you choose is how many Shopify orders a month Cortex creates in Retail Express for the price, and what each one costs after that.
Passing the included number never pauses a sync. How extra orders are billed
$49US dollars a month
500 synced orders a month included
$0.10 for each order after that
The lowest bill up to 1,300 orders a month.
$129US dollars a month
2,500 synced orders a month included
$0.05 for each order after that
The lowest bill from 1,300 to 5,900 orders a month.
$299US dollars a month
10,000 synced orders a month included
$0.03 for each order after that
The lowest bill above 5,900 orders a month.
Cortex walks you through them in order and remembers where you stopped. Nothing is written to either system until you turn a sync on.
Sign in with Shopify, then pair your Retail Express account.
Wire your fields on the canvas and confirm product types and vendors.
Products that exist on both sides wait for your review before they are linked.
Match locations, payments, freight and return reasons.
Orders placed from that moment on are created in Retail Express.