Let’s talk about interfacing with an e-shop, or integrating with business software, what it’s good for and what its biggest drawbacks are.
You’ve got a working business – a shop, a warehouse, employees and maybe even manufacturing. You also have business software – Directo, Merit Aktiva, SAF – one of the most useful tools for exchanging information between different departments and integrating them into a whole.
Next, you plan to open an online shop. But how do you integrate the e-shop into your business ecosystem? Or if and why you need one in the first place? Perhaps an e-shop and a physical shop can work successfully for your business on their own? Like two colleagues who sit at their desks, like perfect partners, without exchanging a word.
Interfacing makes the e-shop interact with business software
But as they say, effective communication is one of the keys to a successful business. While communicating with a colleague requires language skills and willpower, getting systems to communicate with each other requires a bit more work and technical tools. Linking an e-shop and business software is called interfacing.
What exactly does interfacing do?
When the e-shop and the business software are interfaced, they most often exchange data on product stock levels, customer orders and invoices. In addition, there is the synchronisation of the customer base in order to link repeat orders to the same person, especially in the case of legal customers.
For example, if you also operate an e-shop in parallel with Amazon or Ebay, it’s almost a no-brainer to set up an interface between your business software and these different outlets to get a proper overview of your stock levels without having to do extensive manual work. This is particularly business-critical when the products being sold are, for example, one-offs, or when there is a very limited quantity of each item, and it is not desirable to risk a situation where a customer is sold a product that is no longer actually in stock.
Advantages of interfacing with e-store ERP software
If you’re not quite sure why you should integrate your e-shop with a business software, here are some of the main reasons why:
- All the management of the products you sell is done in one place.
- Inventory management in the physical store and the e-store is automatically synchronised: firstly, the employee does not have to waste time manually changing the inventory in the e-store and secondly, there is no situation where the e-store is already out of stock.
- Employees do not have to spend time looking for transport solutions.
- If the product is sent to the customer by courier or parcel machine, the automatic generation of parcel labels means that a label with the customer’s information can be immediately attached to the parcel.
- Automating activities saves time and allows workers to focus on more important tasks instead of routine ones.
- By saving staff time, the company’s running costs are reduced.
- When planning the technical solution of the interface together with the IT company’s specialists, you may discover something new about your business processes that you have not noticed before, but which would be worth paying attention to.
Disadvantages of interfacing with the e-store business software
We have learned that interfacing in e-business is very necessary and sometimes even inevitable. But is there a downside? If there is any downside at all, it could be the higher-than-average cost of the technical solution. However, it will pay for itself very quickly in terms of cost savings, and will only be profitable for the company in the future. Read also here: Making an e-shop
If you have any questions about interfacing, or are looking for a partner to help you interface your e-commerce with our business software, don’t hesitate to contact us!
