An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is considered the backbone of any business. It is integrated across departments from supply chain management, finance, customer relationship management to business eCommerce platform.
Businesses that are looking to reach the next level of performance and growth understand the importance of integrating Magento into their ERP system. Doing so will provide a frictionless experience that keeps the customers happy and streamline the efficiency across your sales and fulfillment processes.
Key benefits of Magento ERP integration
By integrating your Magento Commerce platform into your ERP system, you can benefit from the increased efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Here are some of the main advantages of connecting Magento Commerce to an ERP.
- Synchronization of Data. You get an accurate view of important information such as item availability, stock, prices, customers profile, order tracking, etc.
- Lower Inventory Cost. A Magento ERP integration helps you automate processes and update you on your inventory from online and offline sales channels. This visibility allows you to better plan your purchases and makes it easier for you to keep track of your entire stock, leading to a reduction of cost in inventory management.
- Improved customer experience. You benefit from data accuracy and visibility, which helps your departments work in sync with each other, leading to team efficiency. Better communication between departments such as customer service, procurement, and shipping directly improves customer experience.
- Time saved and reduction in errors. The information doesn’t need to be entered twice and follows a bidirectional flow between Magento and the ERP. This reduces the chances of having errors and the burden of updating and transferring data from one system to another. It saves time in manual work.
- Financial Transparency. You can produce real-time financial reports from the input of your eCommerce sales and your ERP finance department.
4 Best Practices for a smooth Magento ERP integration
Integration is a complex process that needs to be planned. Many variables need to be evaluated. To ensure seamless integration we will share four best practices to follow, which will help you steer clear of common pitfalls and minimize the challenges associated with integration.
1. Define the right flows
There should be one flow for the product, one for inventory and order sync, for invoices, and for return merchandise authorization (RMA). Each of these should be determined before the integration process begins.
2. Choose the right method
There are many ways to sync data between an ERP and Magento (Webservice, direct access to the database, CSV files, XML files…). While each method comes with pros and cons, the best approach should involve these three parameters: speed, robustness, and availability. The more data there is to be exchanged with the ERP, the better the sync will be. Concretely, an efficient sync may prevent out-of-stock items from being sold.
3. To anticipate is better than to adapt
There is nothing more frustrating than realizing that something is wrong without being able to identify where the issue stems from. Setting up notifications and alerts enables your business to avoid likely errors and keeps your website from losing potential sales.
4. Test, test and test again
Since each ERP system has a unique set of specifications, it’s crucial to double-check each step of the integration process to avoid any interruption in the sync.
So here you have it; four simple guidelines to start integrating Magento into your ERP system. That being said, if you’re looking for some additional help to achieve this sync, feel free to contact us. We would be happy to look at your processes and help give your business the push it needs to succeed!