E-commerce and ERP Integration

The 5 Things to Take Care

Most enterprise-level businesses run on ERP systems. Most of the large-scale retailers have their e-stores already. However, the use of disparate tech systems to manage resources as well as online orders might cause friction within organizational functioning. Thus, companies have always looked at integrating their ERP and E-commerce systems for higher efficiencies. By staying mindful of certain aspects, this integration is bound to be smooth and successful.

Ensure 2-way Integration

A bidirectional integration of ERP and E-commerce ensures that any addition/deletion or modification of data on one system would seamlessly reflect on the other system. This is important because the people who operate the systems need to have access to real-time data and updates to be able to work in sync. The following are typically the type of processes that need to be integrated while working on the connection of the ERP system and E-commerce platform:

ERP to E-commerce – Orders, Payments, Customer Information Flow, Promos and Discounts

E-commerce to ERP – Product Information, Pricing, Inventory & Stock Updates, Order Status updates, etc.

Integration over Cloud

Remember that your ERP — E-commerce integration needs to be future-safe. Therefore, if you are planning this integration, it is ideal to go for a SaaS cloud platform. This would not only help in easy data management and remote access control, but also enable real-time updates and addition of unlimited synchronizations.

Planning for integration beyond just ERP and E-commerce

The reason you are attempting to integrate the two systems is primarily because of the need to have a synchronization between the teams handling those functions. However, in future, the need might arise to integrate other such systems. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a well-thought-out integration framework and strategy. Such an integration could include other systems such as CRM, CMS, Product Information Management, and so on.

Testing before the launch

In the eagerness to launch the integrated system, it is possible to overlook the importance of testing. However, before such deployment, companies would do well to extensively test the integrated software for bugs and synchronization of modules. This will ensure that once the software is deployed, its operation is hassle-free, and your personnel can perform their tasks without any inconvenience.

Training and Feedback

Once you deploy the integrated software, it is essential to train your team on how to operate different modules and how each module is synchronized with other modules for cross-module real-time updates. Moreover, there is always the possibility of improving on existing modules to make the software more intelligent. For this, it is essential to receive and catalog the feedback that your employees who use the software might provide you regarding their experience.

The above-mentioned pointers can ensure that your ERP and E-commerce integration efforts are met with the desired success. While the integration of the two is surely bound to require a high upfront cost, the integration would enable you to extract more productivity out of your workforce, thus reducing the need for increasing its size as the scale of your operations increases.