ERP system has become the backbone of most businesses. However, of late, eCommerce sector has been left away from realising its dynamic advantages because its seem to be a stringent task to integrate an online site with an ERP system. It calls for a right strategy and logic to push aside all the obstacles in the method of integration and realise benefits like centralised data, streamlined administration and uniform information access. Moreover, every eCommerce merchandiser struggles hard to handle large volumes of orders and online transactions every day manually. In such a scenario, ERP will not only automate every function of your eCommerce portal but will also provide a 360-degree of all processes, making data more precise and manageable.
So, before you look for integrating your online store with ERP, conform to this checklist to ensure that you get effective results post-integration.
#1 The ERP is going by your unique eCommerce requirements
Considering all the specific requirements for your online business portal, map out all features you want in your ERP to fulfil them. Every retailer needs to make sure that the list of features penned down gets included in the solution.
#2 Confirm the compatibility of ERP with the store interface
For assuring that ERP integrates smoothly without any fuss, there’s should be complete compatibility between the store interface and modules of ERP. Both should be consistent with each other for facilitating data flow and sharing prompt updates.
#3 The chosen ERP is a scalable solution
Your business is ought to grow in sales with time. That needs you to manage huge volumes of products, wide-ranging categories and innumerable transactions per day. Thus, make sure your ERP solution is scalable and can be modified as customers multiply and business expands.
#4 Decide the touch points of your ERP and eCommerce store
Before your software partner, start with the process of integrating, decide all the touch points and information to be synchronised at those points. Few of the possible touch points are product data (descriptions, images, SKUs, etc), order invoices, payments, shipping, tracking, taxes.
#5 Make sure the ERP is powered to serve you with real-time data
The integrated ERP system must able to give accurate and real-time information to the users on its customised dashboards. Real-time data and metrics will help you analyse and predict sales, manage inventory, and cope with the changing demand.
#6 The ERP comes with an integrated CRM
While customers are your prior concern, make sure you are one-step ahead in customer service after integrating ERP. Thus, seek for an advanced ERP solution that has a CRM integration so that you can offer great customer experiences and quickly resolve the order issues.
#7 ERP comes with multi-language or multiple stores support
Lastly, if you have more than one store to manage in different regional languages, then make sure the integrated ERP system interacts with all the stores separately.
As you proceed with the process of integrating your eCommerce site with ERP, conforming to this list will cut all risks and take you more close towards your business goals. While there’s no doubt that integration is a challenging task, discretion and few careful steps can help you get away from all the difficulties.
