How and Why to Build an ERP Powered Ecommerce Platform

Quick Summary: ERP-integrated eCommerce has become a popular choice for B2B brands aiming to streamline online sales and back-office functions. Effective ERP software facilitates the seamless management of business applications such as product or catalog management, inventory management, IT management, and customer services.

What is an ERP powered ecommerce platform?

Integrating an eCommerce platform with enterprise resource planning (ERP) ensures synchronization between the two systems, facilitating a seamless flow of data and enhancing overall system security.

What are the benefits of E-commerce ERP? 

With the best ERP for ecommerce, your business can streamline operations by using a single software solution that eradicates system inefficiencies and delivers precise and dependable data to your online customers. Research indicates that organizations implementing ERP-integrated eCommerce experience:

• 11% improvement in customer retention
• 67% growth in revenue
• 21% boost in conversion rates
• 16% decrease in order errors

Apart from these statistics, ERP can benefit your business in following ways- 

1. Saves time– It saves your employees time in performing key activities like hand keying stock, customer requests, managing inventory, and a lot more. With an efficient ERP platform in place, customers can see all the data at one place and your employees can concentrate on those problems which require more attention. 
   
2. Simplify order tracking- ERP automatically keeps a track of orders and notify the customers of the tracking details and whereabouts of their orders. This service ensures that there is no miscommunication from your end and the customer remains engaged with the brand. 
   
3. Automate accounting tasks- An ERP software that assists in accounting helps in reducing human errors as it gives you more accurate data and leaves no space for mistakes while filing taxes. Moreover, it saves time as you don’t have to manually enter numbers every time. 
   
4. Handle demand increase- If you have a good ERP software solution integrated in your business, you no longer have to worry about the increased sales or increased web traffic. The ERP handles heavy demand of customers while streamlining the business processes at the back end at the same time. 

Most common ERPs that are used with ecommerce 

1. Microsoft dynamics- Microsoft Dynamics has brought up a new and fresh approach to AI powered businesses where it offers an array of ERP systems that helps you with enterprise resource planning (ERP), real time customer insights, improving team productivity, automated financial operations, and maintaining supply-chain agility. Whether you choose one, or all, microsoft dynamic applications are designed to work hand-in-hand with your existing systems and offer you a comprehensive solution that gets your business processes connected. 
   
2. SAP– SAP was amongst the first companies to develop a standard software for modern business solutions and continues to provide expert ERP services. It offers a range of integrated applications which connects all parts of a business into an excellent suite that takes care of the business needs. SAP replaces the traditional process driven platforms and it provides 100+ business solutions covering all the functions, and probably the largest cloud portfolio of any provider. 
   
3. Oracle- Oracle offers a complete suite of ERP applications, functional databases, and secure cloud services embedded with AI to solve complex business challenges. Today, 400,000+ businesses in every industry around the world use Oracle to help automate their business processes so that the leaders can focus more on achieving success. 
   
4. Workday- Workday, as it may seem like an ERP platform, in reality, is a completely new class of software. It is a cloud based ERP for ecommerce businesses which offers them an intelligent database system to extract customer data and analyze it for deeper insights. Its adaptable data architecture can transform both the structured and unstructured data without the need to extract it from the database. 
   
5. Odoo- Odoo is an open source ERP platform that offers you multiple business apps where each of them can simplify a process. While having a vast collection of these apps at your disposal, you can empower more people and automate business processes within your organization. With more than 12 million users, odoo continues to help businesses grow and flourish. 

Case study: Cadbury 

As you may already know, Cadbury is a big name and is a 123 year old confectionary which still continues to win hearts by offering its premium quality chocolates. The company was growing steadily while facing problems regarding the production and distribution requirements. The demand was on the rise but production was not. So the company utilized SAP, ERP-integrated ecommerce platform, to resolve the growing concerns. As a result, the company leaders saw significant changes throughout the supply chain, along with an entire revamping of the warehouse and its distribution processes. This in turn allowed Cadbury to reduce overall operating costs, and come up with better production abilities. 

So if you are a small, medium, or large sized business owner, you must consider ERP platforms to reduce the complexity of business operations. With services like order tracking, accounting, hiring and onboarding, inventory updates– an integrated ERP software can elevate your digital presence to another level while also maintaining customer satisfaction. 

ERP ensures that your brand’s online presence is seamless, your existing and potential customers have a smooth purchasing experience and they feel informed at every touchpoint. 

If you have any questions in mind, feel free to email us!