Enterprise resource planning is the lifeline of any competitive startup. It holds your important business data, including finance, shipping, and inventory.
ERP systems help you handle the data safely and more efficiently. They automate the process and eliminate human errors.
One such ERP system is an eCommerce platform.
eCommerce platforms are your point of interaction with customers. You'll use it to offer product information, pricing, shipping status, and other essential information. For it to be fully efficient, you’ll need to link it to other business systems.
In this article, we explore some examples of ERP eCommerce integrations that will help propel your enterprise to the next level.
Common Integrations and Examples
Here are some common eCommerce integrations and examples.
ERP Integration
Your ERP is the lifeline of your business operation. It holds important business information, including inventory, order, customer, shipping, and accounting data. Integrating the systems that handle each specific function facilitates a quick, error-free flow of information between the different systems.
Here are some benefits of ERP integration:
- No manual entry and, by extension, zero human errors
- Up-to-date information across all functions
- Improved ordering and fulfillment transparency
When Animal Supply Company expanded rapidly, they found themselves running multiple premises, ERPs, and outdated systems. The employees found it challenging to switch between websites and self-service portals, and inventory and order management failed.
To curb the onslaught against productivity and retailer satisfaction, ASC utilized Oro integration to connect their ERPs into a middleware to manage customer, product and order information. This integration of ERPs allowed ASC to centralize its operations, which cut down order fulfillment time and improved customer satisfaction.
2. CRM integration
Connecting your eCommerce platform to your CRM helps you meet customer expectations effectively. You'll integrate your digital commerce platform with marketing and sales tools. The integration helps the sales and marketing staff insight into sales, orders and shipments.
CRM integration will also eliminate entry errors, enhance visibility, segment customers and provide reports on sales, conversions and others.
Samuel Hubbard never compromised on their B2B and B2C customer experience. When their employees couldn't meet B2B need efficiently due to manual processes, they leverage OroCommerce's B2B-focused product, checkout options, and flexible workflows.
Oro's ERP and CRM integrations helped them eliminate errors and automated order management.
3. PIM integration
Product Information Management (PIM) is in charge of all product data. Integrating with eCommerce helps centralize specifications, descriptions, multimedia, and customer-generated content. PIM integration will help you:
- Manage digital assets centrally
- Reveal the connection between related products and upsells
- Centralize product information per product
Petra, a consumer electronics distributor for over 800 brands, used Akeneo's PIM solution to centralize and add value to product information. Earlier on, they wasted time on retailer onboarding, updating SKUs and sharing product information. In addition, they had synchronization issues among product data silos and product catalogues.
They used Oro's API and quickly transferred product data, creating a single source of information.
4. Shipping Integration
Shipping integration helps you give your customer a more visible and improved buying experience. When you integrate your shipping systems with your eCommerce platform, you provide the customer with up-to-date information on the shipping status. It will also:
- Provide customers with a choice of various shipping and courier options
- Integrate all warehouses
- manage packaging and label printing
Trupar provides material handling machinery and industrial parts to the USA and its immediate neighbors. Since such goods are essential, they needed a way to relay accurate shipping information to customers, making some want to take business elsewhere.
Trupar used the OroCommerce B2B eCommerce platform's workflow automation engine and API to integrate with UPS. It helped them provide accurate information regarding the shipment, thus mitigating disruptions and maximizing efficiency.
5. Punchout Integration
Meeting your customer's supply needs on time is essential to your business. One way you can make the process efficient is by integrating your eCommerce platform with your business partner's procurement system. It will help you manage orders faster and eliminate the need for human intervention in creating Purchase Orders.
Punchout integrations include:
- support for protocols such as EDI, cXML, UBL, OCI
- approval workflows according to customer requirements
- local tax compliance support
6. Other Systems
eCommerce integration is not limited to the systems mentioned above. Here are more systems that could require integration with your eCommerce platform.
- Warehouse management(WHM) systems for efficient inventory, orders, shipment and asset management.
- Business intelligence systems to get reports and analytics to make informed business decisions
- Artificial intelligence systems like chatbots and predictive product recommendations
- Payment gateways, financial tracking, tax compliance, and accounting systems.
Summary
If you use an eCommerce platform for your B2B and B2C, you need to integrate it with other business systems to make general operations smooth. You can integrate various systems, including finance, inventory, shipping, sales, and accounting. It will eliminate the need for paper, reduce process time, increase efficiency and provide insightful data.
