Magento ERP Integration for Ecommerce Business Owners
Billion dollar enterprises like Walmart, Ford, and Procter & Gamble rely on Magento to power their ecommerce operations. This is because Magento empowers store owners to streamline inventory management and build a flawless omnichannel strategy using its versatile API and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.
The term ERP refers to the management of primary business processes such as supply chain, accounting, compliance, and procurement using technology. ERP software facilitates this management, often in real-time, and helps modernize business operations.
The Magento integration API supports popular technology like REST, SOAP, and GraphQL out of the box. Thus, merchants can integrate their online stores with both modern and legacy software and design effective business processes that help them manage multiple facets of their business. Here are eight ways a Magento ERP integration can benefit a growing online business.
The Benefits of Implementing a Magento ERP Integration
1. Process Optimization
Integrating your Magento store with an ERP system allows you to monitor and manage all your business data and activity from a centralized dashboard. It eliminates the need for juggling multiple software, credentials, and data for B2C and B2B ecommerce businesses alike.
You can integrate your Magento store with an ERP system like Oracle ERP Cloud and synchronize all business data in real-time. Each time an order comes in, all relevant data is shared across your organization as it goes through the various stages of the order life cycle.
The ERP system consolidates all your business data into a single location. Thus, it makes it easier for you to use this data to boost business growth by optimizing workflows and everyday processes.
2. Inventory Planning
Selling across multiple touchpoints is no longer optional for an online business — it’s a necessity. As the number of touchpoints between a brand and its customers grows, the complexity of ensuring a seamless customer experience increases as well.
When you’re selling on eBay, Amazon, Instagram, in addition to your own online and offline stores, it can be tough to ensure accurate stock across all platforms, predict product demand, and plan restocks. ERP systems help you overcome these issues by centralizing your inventory data and provide real-time insights into inventory flow rate.
With such insights, you can accurately forecast restocks and minimize dead stock. Further, you can also ensure precise stock allocation for each channel and maximize the use of your warehouse real-estate.
3. Business Insights
ERP systems give you detailed dashboards and reporting functionality out of the box. You can access your business data from a centralized location, review operational performance as it happens, and share the data with other stakeholders.
This flexibility is crucial because every business is different. Understanding a business’s performance is more than simply consolidating reports or sales figures. It requires a comprehensive understanding of the business, its systems, and processes to identify opportunities and measure success.
A Magento ERP integration consolidates your business data and ensures it’s always up to date across all your systems. It provides you with real-time insights into your business operations that can prove invaluable when you’re looking for ways to grow.
4. Error Reduction
Human error during manual tasks is unavoidable. But, as a stakeholder, you know that mistakes result in lost profits, negative customer experience, and hurt your business reputation.
An ERP integration can help you automate repetitive tasks prone to human error. And in case you’re wondering, this automation doesn’t eliminate the need for employees. It only eliminates trivial and error-prone tasks.
This results in fewer errors and an increase in productivity. Your employees can focus on big-picture tasks and contribute to the growth of your business.
5. Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory compliance is mandatory for every business. Failing to meet compliance requirements can result in heavy penalties and legal issues. And although you might work hard to ensure compliance, sometimes, a lack of resources can leave your business vulnerable.
An ERP integration eliminates such issues. When your accounting, inventory, sales, and marketing data are in sync, you don’t need to worry about trivial issues like reconciliation errors.
ERP systems provide you with a birds-eye view of your business’s health and performance. They dive deeper into your organization data than a simple CRM or standalone accounting system. With a Magento ERP integration you can identify data inconsistencies and fix them proactively and eliminate compliance issues.
6. Sales and Marketing
Integrating your Magento store with an ERP system can take your sales and marketing efforts to the next level. And the best part is that you can use separate platforms for both sales and marketing.
For instance, you can use Salesforce for its robust sales functionality. At the same time, you can bring a marketing automation platform like ActiveCampaign into the mix. If you’re worried about the complexities of a multi-platform integration, here’s the good news: your ERP system will manage that for you.
You only need to connect each platform to the ERP and watch them all come together like magic. Armed with deep insights and real-time data from your online store, your sales and marketing teams will be able to predict demand, identify patterns, and adapt their strategies to help your business succeed.
7. Data Security
ERP systems come in various shapes and sizes. You can opt for an on-premise ERP or a cloud-based solution based on your business resources and needs. Suppose you find that your organization lacks the resources to secure its data. In that case, you can opt for a cloud-based ERP to outsource data security.
ERP providers have the infrastructure required to identify, analyze, and mitigate threats in real-time. And when you’re dealing with sensitive customer data like payment information and addresses, it helps to leave it to the experts to protect your business data.
A Magento integration ensures that your store data is only shared over secure APIs and encrypted channels. Moreover, it allows you to configure roles and permissions within your organization to prevent unauthorized access to data.
Most ERP software give you advanced Identity and Access Management capabilities. You can use them to supervise, share, and secure your data from a centralized system and minimize the chances of a security incident.
8. Customer Retention
According to Invesp, customer acquisition costs five times more than customer retention. Moreover, retained customers can spend up to 31% more than newly acquired ones. A Magento ERP integration can help you increase customer satisfaction and retention by ensuring consistent data across your systems.
When a customer places an order with your business, they’ll be able to track the order as it goes from being picked and packed to shipped and delivered. And when they want to return a product, they’ll not only be able to do it online but also offline by driving down to your store and dropping it off in person.
Integrating Magento with ERP introduces flexibility in your business processes and systems. It allows you to offer a seamless shopping experience that results in happy customers who stay loyal to your business.
Magento ERP Integration: The Best Way to Optimize Your Online Business
An ERP integration can work wonders for your online business. From simplifying your daily operations and minimizing errors to providing deeper insights and ensuring regulatory compliance, the benefits of a Magento ERP integration are undeniable.
The key to a successful Magento ERP integration is working with an experienced partner who understands both Magento and your ERP software. At Endertech, we’ve successfully implemented Magento ERP solutions for leading online businesses. Book a call with our experts to learn how we can help you with your next Magento ERP integration project.