in: e-Commerce Integration, Company News
ERP e-commerce integration can add a powerful competitive edge to retail businesses. The integration of ERP with e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, and Magento (to name just a few) provides exceptional insight into all aspects of the business. It connects the front-end e-commerce platform with the back-end ERP system to present all data in a central location, facilitating collaboration, communication, and data insights.
ERP E-commerce Integration Reduces Manual Data Entry
One of the many benefits of ERP e-commerce integration is that it reduces the number of manual inputs. For example, instead of setting up a coupon promotion in both the e-commerce portal and the ERP’s accounting system, the promotion need only be set up in the ERP system. This results in reduced time spent entering data and limiting the potential for mistakes.
Up-to-Date Stock Information
A cloud ERP system connected to the e-commerce system also offers the benefit of updated stock information from the warehouse pushed to the e-commerce system. This ensures that when customers are shopping from your website, they see accurate information about quantity on hand- or sold-out status. And, of course, that can work in reverse, too—if a product is sold out and then arrives in the warehouse, customers can see immediately that what they need is back in stock. Then they can order it directly from your company.
Identifying Sales Patterns
ERP systems handle a large volume of data, gathering it into one platform for all types of analytics, data, and reports. This includes accounting, finance, sales, warehouse inventory, and many other types of data. Depending on the types of reports you run, you may be able to identify various sales patterns that can lead to powerful insights. If Customer X always orders additional pallets of widgets in March, you can increase your stock of widgets in February to meet the demand with ease. These and other insights can also lead to proactive communication strategies such as emailing Customer X to let them know there are plenty of widgets in the warehouse (and include a handy ordering button in the email). By having the data in an easily accessible centralized location, you’ll be able to use it to its fullest capacity.
Rewarding Best Customers
Now, more than ever, to remain competitive, you must remain top of mind among your customers. Reward clubs may seem like the purview of coffee shops and nail salons but business to business e-commerce companies can use them too to increase loyalty and customer retention. Office Depot, for example, has a loyalty program that sends coupons to its members once a month, provides special online offers, and donates a percent of every sale to a company’s selected educational institution. These are just a few ways in which the company cultivates loyalty among its business customers, but you can borrow and adapt a few of these ideas for any type of business: manufacturing, distribution, or other B2B e-commerce products. And of course, B2C e-commerce businesses can find many ways to surprise and delight consumers, whether it’s a free package of seeds included in a garden supply order or a free scarf with the purchase of a coat.
ERP E-commerce Integration Opportunities
Do you already have an ERP in place and an e-commerce system and wish them to be integrated? It may take some expertise to handle such a merger, but Mindover Software has the expert consultants to assist. And, of course, if you’re shopping for an ERP system, we can help with that, too. Contact us or call 512-990-3994.
