How ERP Integration With Ecommerce Can Benefit Your Business?

Reading Time: 5 minutes

In 2019 alone, retail eCommerce sales amounted to $3.53 trillion worldwide. It is expected to reach 6.54 trillion US dollars in 2022.

Ecommerce has transformed the conventional ways of selling things both in terms of price and communication.

Customers like to buy things in the comfort of their room with just a single click. Besides, the Coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated the need for having an eCommerce store.

The advancement of technology has enabled eCommerce stores to automate various tasks. But how do you achieve full automation? The answer is ERP and eCommerce integration.

Let’s understand the scenario in detail.

What Is eCommerce Integration?

Simply put, eCommerce integration is the coordination of data between a company’s eCommerce site and five critical components of the back-end system ie accounting system, inventory, sales, CRM system, and marketing.

When your eCommerce sales start to grow, it becomes harder to manage the volume. You will use third-party applications to manage different aspects of your operations. However, if those systems aren’t connected, it might not be as effective as it could be.

An enterprise resource planning software is one that combines different processes of a business into an integrated one.

When ERP is integrated with eCommerce, it starts acting as a unified platform for all your data, eliminating silos.

Benefits of ERP Integration With Ecommerce

We have seen many businesses that struggle with the thought of integrating their ERP and eCommerce sites.

Let’s talk about the advantages of combining your ERP and eCommerce site.

1. Better Use of Data

ERP integration with eCommerce will ensure all your data stays in one place. Normally, you would have to download data from each separate system and export it into a different tool.

However, an integrated system will provide faster access to all your current data, figures, and developments. You can view all insights from one platform.

This holistic view of data will allow you to identify patterns and trends effortlessly helping you make smarter decisions faster.

2. Better Control of Your Business

System integration allows you to work from a single platform. That means you can easily view all the changes from one screen, instead of having to switch to multiple systems.

It reduces the time spent on administrations and gives you better control of all your business processes. You get access to accurate, real-time business information, which drastically increases the chance to better cross- and- up-sell.

Having ERP and eCommerce integration also makes it easy to scale your operations without much chaos.

3. Decreased Operational Costs

First of all, having all your data in one place reduces the cost to install, procure, and maintain multiple systems. It also saves time and efforts spent in troubleshooting. In some cases, businesses save licensing fees, and extra subscription costs too.

Furthermore, automated data inputs into one unified system helps save on errors and order backfires. This not only reduces operational costs but also increases customer satisfaction.

4. Reduced Error and Increases Productivity

Another significant benefit of ERP and eCommerce integration is that it helps streamlines different facets of eCommerce businesses. From accounting to inventory management and order fulfillment, it helps automate the entire process.

This results in less involvement from humans and reduces the chances of error. Besides, employees can focus on more important tasks requiring decision-making instead of just trying to import data from various systems.

It ensures accurate entry of data and reduces the order fulfillment cycle.

5. Decreased Inventory Cost

An integrated stock system ensures that your stock level is updated in real-time. When your inventory management is tied up with an eCommerce site, it can automatically update the items that are out of stock or have been replenished.

Furthermore, it collects all information about web sales that helps ensure that you are not overstocking or understocking your products. Thus, an ERP user can plan the purchase in a proper way, saving extra investment and warehouse cost.

6. Improved Customer Satisfaction

When your ERP system is integrated with an eCommerce site, a lot of things become easy. For instance, the integration of inventory systems ensures that customers don’t order out-of-stock products.

When the order is placed, an ERP system ensures that all the shipping and billing address is correctly entered. Besides, it helps optimize the order fulfillment cycle, making sure that all orders reached their customers at the earliest. It results in happy customers.

7. Financial Information

An ERP system is also responsible for billing and invoicing, and accounting systems. These modules, when integrated with eCommerce, ensure that all data is streamlined, thus making it easy to keep track of every transaction.

It gives you a real-time view of all transactions and understands the company’s financial position.

Tips for ERP Ecommerce Integration

A lot has been said about ERP eCommerce integration. But to reap its maximum benefits, it’s crucial that the integration is done in the right way.

Here are some of the ERP Ecommerce Integration best practices.

1. Consider Future-Focused Approach

Combining your ERP system with an eCommerce site requires a framework that will ensure the smooth functioning of the two as a unified system.

While integrating, consider the fact that the system should accommodate not just present needs but also future plans. Eventually, you might plan to expand your operations, the software system should be prepared for any feature.

In short, take a future-focused approach so that you don’t have to worry about changing your systems again.

2. Choose SaaS Systems

The best option here is to choose a SaaS system as these systems use API that is required for easy integration. It saves a lot of time during the integration process and makes it easy to implement. Besides, SaaS eCommerce software syncs in real-time across all devices.

3. Choose a Two-way Integration

Another ERP eCommerce integration best practice is to implement bidirectional integration. Yes, there are several ways to integrate eCommerce and ERP systems depending on the system as well as the number of repositories.

But a bidirectional integration will ensure that you can update data both ways in real-time.

4. Training and Support

Train your team on how to use the software before they start using it. After all, your employees will be using the system on a daily basis. They must understand the function of the system so that they can ensure proper synchronization between the ERP system and the eCommerce site.

5. Plan to Test

Before launching, you should test the program. Many businesses often forget to include this critical stage in their first schedule.

The testing phase is a great way to know whether there are any bugs and be fixed before going live. Furthermore, make sure that these testings are done by your employees only. This will also help you know whether your employees know the tool and find it useful or not.

Wrap Up

Integrating the ERP system and eCommerce sales channels allows you to operate smoothly. It ensures efficiency at work.

With automated order updates, delivery tracking, and others, the ERP integration with eCommerce can help take your online store to the next level.

So, what are you waiting for? Invest in a good ERP to set your boat sailing to success.