This presentation discusses common mistakes people make when starting an eCommerce site and integrating it with their back-end inventory and accounting ERP software.
3. www.BlueLinkERP.com
Poll
• How many people here work for or own a start-up?
• How many companies here use a 3rd party
warehouse?
• How many years have you been involved with
eCommerce?
– 1 or less
– 2 or 3
– 4 or more
4. www.BlueLinkERP.com
“My current order volume is manageable, why
do I need to worry about integrating my
backend system?”
• Increased order volume requires an appropriate back-end
system with proper integration
• A realistic timeline for getting
a new system is not overnight
• Realistic timeline =
3 months for backend
implementation +
time searching
5. www.BlueLinkERP.com
“I just need order information pulled
down from my eCommerce store”
• Orders
• Credit card authorization
• Customer information:
Shipping address, billing info etc.
• Inventory availability
• Order status
• Pricing
• Product information:
descriptions, images,
attributes
Other Important Information:
6. www.BlueLinkERP.com
“I can just pass info to my 3rd party warehouse, right?”
3PL
Warehouse Back-end Inventory & Accounting System
Front-end eCommerce
7. www.BlueLinkERP.com
Summary
• Be proactive in finding an appropriate system
• There’s more to integration than just order
info
• Your backend system should be the
foundation of eCommerce integration
– ERP is the relationship
– eCommerce is the sex
8. www.BlueLinkERP.com
Problems With NO Integration
• Selling an item that you don’t have in stock
– Now you have to call the customer and explain the
situation
• Delay in received product being reflected on the site
– Now you have lost sales because they are still “out of
stock”
• Manually update product information – pricing, descriptions
etc.
• Maintaining customer information
9. www.BlueLinkERP.com
Questions?
• Any other integration issues that we haven’t
discussed today?
• What major changes have seen with
eCommerce integration in the last several
years?