How to Integrate Your eCommerce Solution with ERP and CRM

Managing an online eCommerce store can be exciting, but it can also result in trouble. You must maintain track of all orders, customers, inventory, and payments. This is where your eCommerce solution can use an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or eCommerce CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to help you stay organized, save time, and keep your customers happy. This blog will explain how to link your eCommerce system to ERP, specifically eCommerce. By the end of this guide, you'll understand why this is important and be able to follow it step by step on your own.

Why Should You Integrate Your eCommerce Solution with ERP and CRM?

Let's start by discussing the importance of this kind of integration. Running an online store requires a lot of task management. For instance, you manage inventory, process orders, and address customer service issues. Doing all of this by hand takes a lot of time and is prone to mistakes, which becomes more difficult when considering eCommerce. This is especially true when an eCommerce CRM and ERP are useful.

What Is an eCommerce Solution?

An eCommerce solution is the platform that you use to manage your online store. Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento are some of the more popular choices. These online solutions enable you to sell things, collect and manage payments, and provide an outstanding shopping experience. However, eCommerce systems often do not provide paid/upfront information to assist you with backend tasks such as inventory and customer data. This is why you need ERP and eCommerce CRM.

What Is ERP?

ERP is a tool that helps you manage the "behind-the-scenes" aspects of your business. For example, maintain records of:

• Inventory (how many products you have in stock)
• Finances (how much you earn)
• Shipping things to customers.
• Supply chain (where your items come from)

If you connect your eCommerce solution to ERP, all of this data can flow easily. 

What is eCommerce CRM?

An eCommerce CRM enables you to manage your consumers. It stores customer information like:

• Customer names and emails
• Transection history
• Order Preferences

eCommerce CRM enables you to send personalized emails, provide discounts, and develop positive relationships with your clients. When you link an eCommerce CRM with your eCommerce solution, marketing becomes much easier and more effective.

Why Connect Them?

Integrating your eCommerce solution with ERP and eCommerce CRM saves time, reduces errors, and increases the effectiveness of your organization. Take, for instance:

• Orders from your store automatically update ERP inventories.
• Customer data from your eCommerce Solution is routed to your eCommerce CRM for marketing.
• You have visibility into your whole business, from sales to inventory.

Now that you understand why this is important, let's look at how you can connect them.

Step-by-Step Guide to Integrating Your eCommerce Solution with ERP and CRM

Integrating your eCommerce solution with ERP and eCommerce CRM. That may seem difficult, but it isn't. Here are some steps for you to consider.

Step 1: Choose the Right Tools

First, you must choose the right ERP and eCommerce CRM for your organization. Not all of these tools do the same thing, nor do they work with every eCommerce system, so you should spend some time exploring your possibilities. Here are some popular ones:

• ERP Tools: NetSuite, Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics
• eCommerce CRM Tools: HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM
• eCommerce Solutions: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce

Just make sure that the tools you choose are all compatible with your eCommerce solution. Shopify works effectively with NetSuite ERP and HubSpot eCommerce CRM. Remember to check the platform's webpage or contact support!

Step 2: Plan Your Integration

Before you start with a plan. This will prevent future migraines. You should consider:

• What information would you like to communicate between systems? (e.g., orders, customer information, inventory) 
• How frequently should the systems sync? (e.g., hourly or daily)
• Who will manage the integration? (for example, your IT team or a professional)

Write down your goals and share them with your team. For example, you may want to sync orders from your eCommerce solution to ERP in real time to minimize overselling or overstocking. When you begin the integration process, planning will make things easier.

Step 3: Implementing the Integration Platform

To integrate your eCommerce system with ERP and eCommerce CRM, you will require an Integration Platform. Integration Platforms serve as a bridge, transferring data between systems. Some of the most often used integration platforms are:

• Zapier: User-friendly and links with many apps.
• MuleSoft: Ideal for more sophisticated integrations.
• Celigo: Works well with NetSuite and Shopify.

Zapier, for example, can automatically deliver customer data from Shopify to HubSpot eCommerce CRM. Most Integration Platforms have step-by-step instructions, so you don't need to be a tech expert to use them.

Step 4: Set Up the Integration

You are now ready to establish the connection. To establish the connection, perform the following:

• Log in to your integration tool: Create an account if you haven't already.
• Connect your applications: Connect your eCommerce platform, ERP, and eCommerce CRM to the integration tool. You'll need login information for all three of these apps.
• Map the data: Determine what data exists and where it should go. For example, connect the "customer email" in your eCommerce solution to the "contact email" in your eCommerce CRM.
• Test the connection: Perform a quick test run to confirm that the data is moving properly. For example, you may place a test order through your eCommerce solution and see if it is loaded into your ERP.

If there are any issues, check the help section of the integration tool you are using or reach out to their support team.

Step 5: Automate Processes

When the integration is in good working condition, you can set up automation to reduce manual effort. Here are some examples of automation.

• Automatically communicate order information from your eCommerce system to your ERP to process the order.
• Sync customer data with your eCommerce CRM for marketing activities.
• When your ERP's inventory changes, update the inventory levels in your eCommerce solution.

Establishing automation can help minimize manual work while also keeping systems up to date. Most integration technologies allow you to create rules such as "every hour" or "when a new order is placed," for example.

Step 6: Monitor and Maintain

Once your integration has been configured, do not leave it unattended. Make sure to monitor your integration and ensure that your data is flowing properly. Look for the following.

• Are orders being produced in your ERP?
• Is consumer information being updated in your eCommerce CRM?
• Are there any errors indicated in the integration tool?

If you find an issue, address it immediately. You don't want to end up overselling or missing orders. Most integration tools will give notifications if something goes wrong, so make sure to enable notifications.

Best Practices for a Successful Integration

Here are some best practices to help you set up a successful integration and maintain everything working properly.

Keep Data Clean

To avoid future data integrity issues, make sure the information in your eCommerce solution, ERP, and eCommerce CRM is up to date and accurate before launching. For example:

• Delete any duplicate customer records.
• Update any changes to the product information, or flag it for manual review.
• Fix any typos or errors in customer names or emails.

Clean data can help eliminate potential integration mistakes. Before you integrate, please review your data and make any necessary changes.

Make Sure Your Team is Trained

Your team must understand how to use the connected systems. Give them basic training in:

• How to check the order status in ERP.
• How to Create Marketing Campaigns in the eCommerce CRM
• How to update products in your eCommerce solution.

The training ensures that everyone works collaboratively and reduces mistakes! You can locate free training classes on YouTube or pay a training professional if necessary.

Start Small

Don’t try to integrate everything at once. Start with one or two integrations, such as syncing orders with ERP. When that's satisfactory, go on to more complex tasks, such as mapping customer data from eCommerce to a CRM. Working in small groups allows you to identify and resolve problems early. 

Work with Experts

If integration feels overwhelming, hire a professional. Many companies will offer integration services for eCommerce solutions, ERP, and eCommerce CRM platforms. They can put it all together and show you how to manage it. Look for 'eCommerce integration services' or contact your internet platform vendor for advice.

Stay up to date

Your ERP, eCommerce Solution, or eCommerce CRM will get updates from time to time. These changes may affect your integration. To stay safe, here are a few suggestions:

• Check for updates at regular intervals.
• Test your integration after each product upgrade.
• Read the platform's changelog to understand what has changed. 

Keeping your systems up to date will make them work better together.

Common Issues and How to Fix Them

Integration is not perfect. The following are some typical issues and how to solve them. 

Problem 1: Data Doesn’t Sync

Sometimes, data does not transfer between your eCommerce system, ERP, and eCommerce CRM. Even after identifying the integration, things can get blocked because of: 

• The integration tool is down 
• The login details are incorrect 
• Data fields do not match (e.g., "email" vs "contact_email"). 

Solution: Check the tool, the login information, and your data mappings. Most integrations have a "troubleshoot" area for use. 

Problem 2: Slow Performance

If your system's performance is delayed after integration, it could be due to a significant volume of data being synced at the same time. For example, if you're syncing thousands of orders every minute, your eCommerce solution may become overloaded.

Solution: Reduce the syncing frequency (for example, hourly sync instead of every minute) or sync smaller amounts of data. Speak with the support team for your integration tool and ask for advice.

Problem 3: Errors in Reports

Reports in your ERP or eCommerce CRM may show inaccurate statistics (for example, the sales total). The inaccurate report is caused by a lack of data mapping or a failure to sync properly. 

Solution: Verify the boundaries of your data mapping and do a test sync. If the situation persists, contact your integration tool or platform service provider and request assistance. 

Benefits of a Fully Integrated eCommerce Solution

A fully integrated eCommerce solution (when combined with an ERP and eCommerce CRM) implies that your company becomes one unit. Here are the benefits:

• Save Time: Automation saves time by doing monotonous, repetitive chores like updating inventory counts and sending emails. 
• Fewer Mistakes: Data transfers as a single unit, resulting in fewer human mistakes.
• Happy Customers: Personalized marketing and rapid shipping alternatives provide significant value to customers who value your store. 
• Better Decisions: Having all of the data in one place helps you understand what works and what doesn't.

For example, a clothes business might utilize ERP to maintain track of their inventory, an eCommerce CRM to send discount codes to consumers, and an eCommerce system to process orders. When carried out smoothly, the process is faster and easier.

Internal Linking Suggestions for SEO

Consider including relevant internal links inside your website's content. Here are some suggestions:

• If you mention a platform like Shopify, include a link to our blog post titled Top 5 eCommerce Solutions for Small Businesses.
• If you mention a CRM tool, including a link to our blog post titled "How to Choose the Best Ecommerce CRM."
• If you discuss the benefits, consider participating in a case study of a business that uses its ERP to grow.

These links will increase visitor time on your website and improve its ranking in search engines!

Are you prepared to improve the performance of your ecommerce store? Connect with Decodeup to integrate your ecommerce platform with ERP and CRM. Our comprehensive professional services will improve the client experience, minimize errors, and save you time. Contact us today to see how you can easily scale your ecommerce business!

The final line

Having your eCommerce system combined with your ERP and eCommerce CRM can benefit your online business. It saves time, reduces errors, and ensures client satisfaction. If you follow the steps in this guide, select the appropriate tools, plan wisely, and connect with the tools included with your new solution, your ecommerce store should work easily. You should also avoid multiple errors and improve your integration by implementing best practices such as data organization and team training.

Are you ready for it? Choose your tools, create a plan, and take the first step now. Your business will appreciate you! For further details, connect with us!