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E-commerce Integration with business systems – outperform the competition

The purpose of this article is to highlight the major points of e-commerce integration with business software systems such as ERP or CRM and others.

Let us start with a high-level definition of important terminologies.

What is an e-commerce platform?

An e-commerce platform is software platform, that enables companies to launch, host, and manage their online eCommerce store, normally in a “self-service” model.

According to various sources, there are more than 300 different e-commerce platforms in the marketplace. They all offer different features and terms of use but allow merchants to create an online store to sell their products.

In other words, thanks to e-commerce platforms, companies and individuals can create or expand their e-commerce business without coding and web design skills; most importantly, without the need of a large budget to implement such projects.

Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities

The incredible number of e-commerce platforms, as well as the huge number of online stores opening every day, are driven by the growing interest of consumers in online shopping.

Moreover, in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, the popularity of online shopping in the grocery segment and among local businesses has also grown.

According to Statista, online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide, thus a global number of digital buyers is growing rapidly. Over 2.14 billion people worldwide are expected to buy goods and services online, up from 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2016.

Why is e-commerce important in 2021?

Just some 5-8 years ago, it was common for a small business to work offline only. The companies did not have their e-commerce sites and did not run online sales. It seemed to them that this was not necessary to invest time and effort in the e-commerce business.

Times have changed and companies began to develop more and more online businesses. However, the turning point came in early 2020, caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic and massive lockdowns. Due to restrictions, many sellers, especially those who did not expand their e-commerce business, were on the verge of collapse. Continue sales despite the closure of physical stores has become vital even for a local business.

Now the company may no longer have an offline store or even not have an office with employees. Everything goes online. Workers around the world had to switch to a “work from home model” (WFH)

Huge sales happen through online stores or marketplaces like Amazon.

However, creating your own online store does not guarantee success yet. The next challenge is customer satisfaction.

According to HubSpot 80% of respondents said they had stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer experience.

Thus, customer satisfaction depends on how you are going to handle online sales in the future. How quickly, efficiently, and accurately you can process orders. How fast and correctly you will manage inventory, etc. To do this you need to synchronize your e-commerce website with your internal business system (ERP/CRM or accounting)

In other words, the success of online sales largely depends on the level of your ecommerce integration with other business systems of the company.

Leading e-commerce platforms in 2020

Despite the fact that there are huge varieties of e-commerce platforms, there are certainly unchanging leaders among them.

In the top of e-commerce platforms are:

If you want to learn more about e-commerce platforms, check out this article: The Top 9 Absolute Best Ecommerce Platforms for 2021

Why you need e-commerce Integration?

If the online store operates independently, for example without connecting the company’s ERP system, employees have to manually upload product data; enter customer delivery addresses, tracking codes, etc. Each order placed through the online shop must be manually transferred to the business systems. The manual data entry always carries a high risk of human error. Moreover, it is ineffective and leads to delays in fulfilling. Besides, if the process is completely dependent on the staff, order processing cannot be processed on weekends.

Thus, achieving high efficiency and profitability of a company business, as well as customer satisfaction, is almost impossible.

To increase the efficiency of its online store, a company needs to integrate its back-end systems with its e-commerce platform. In this case, all key information such as customer data, delivery information, orders, and warehouse stock levels will be automatically synchronized and do not require human intervention.

Most common third-party eCommerce Integration

Systems listed below are commonly integrated with e-commerce platforms for product master data, customer records, financial transaction, and supplier management and so on:

  • ERP (Enterprise resource planning)
  • CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
  • PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)
  • SCM (Supply chain management)

Typical Integration Tasks

– Automate online orders, improve efficiency, and meet delivery times.

– Improved data accuracy

– Stop using employees to enter data and perform repetitive tasks

– Perform integration without internal IT specialists.

Integration platform

It is very important to choose an integration solution that connects your e-commerce online store with back-end systems, as well as for real-time integration and a robust scalable integration platform.

We provide a fully managed and cost-effective integration solution to integrate your e-commerce store seamlessly and quickly with all leading business systems such as:
e-commerce ERP integration

With Magic xpi integration platform, we integrate quickly and seamlessly using a no-code visual drag and drop approach as well as large numbers of certified connectors.

Integrate easily, quickly, and efficiently with the best experts and solutions

At any stage of the development of your online store, we can quickly and efficiently set up data exchange with your business system. Bi-directional data exchange such as
  • customer information
  • sales orders
  • order status
  • stock information and so on.

To find out more about synchronizing with an online store, contact us.

Call (450) 681-3009 or use the form below to contact our integration specialist!

Free Consultation

Must-Have Integration between E-Commerce and Business Systems


This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

Must-Have Integration between E-Commerce and Business Systems

Prior to addressing the e-commerce integration with different business systems and applications, let me start by asking the obvious question, and try to answer: “What is integration?“

In a short sentence, “Integration” is the process of orchestrating processes and synchronizing data between two or more different business software systems, without human intervention.
The integration between online eCommerce store and one or more systems, allows a company to overcome important challenges such as:

– Maintaining up-to-date product information on the e-commerce store (availability, price, specifications)

– Connecting online payment services (payment on the website via bank cards, Authorize.Net, PayPal, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments, etc.);

– Using various support services (statistics services, online consultants, and many others) and many more.

Does Your Business Need Systems Integration?

Do you know how to determine whether your business needs to automate and orchestrate flows and data? Here are some of the most common reasons that indicate the need to integrate your online store with your CRM:
  • Your Online Store receives more than 150 orders per month. With this volume, manual data entry and processing takes a lot of time and resources, thus becoming ineffective.
  • Your e-commerce store needs to improve the customer experience. Constantly, you have problems with orders, due to incorrect inventory status.
  • You have an issue with getting the shipment tracking number from your business system, into your eCommerce store, immediately after the product is shipped.
  • Your online store accumulates orders that are waiting to be processed. which directly affects your delivery timeline.
  • You have no real-time inventory update, such as inventory available to sell. Of course, here you are risking to under sell your goods.

Cost-Effective Integrating Solution

In today’s age and time, there are sophisticated technologies to bridge any system to any system and build an efficient integration. There is a lot of integration approaches. However, for entrepreneurs and large corporations alike, the important aspects they look at when planning integration projects are the budget and the timeline to implement the integration project while having a powerful technology capable of delivering.
Integrating your e-commerce store with other business systems, allows your company to benefit from:

– An enhanced customer service experience, with accurate and quicker handling of orders.

– An outstanding quality of information, free of human errors.

– An Increased efficiency, accuracy and timeliness.

Regardless of which e-commerce platform your company adopted, be it Shopify, Magento, Volusion, BigCommerce, OpenCard, eBay or Amazon, etc. your online store will be always in sync with your ERP/CRM or any home-grown system your company might have adopted.

If you what to find out all about selecting an Integration platform, take a look at our article: How to Choose the Right Integration Platform? It will help you figure out the issue and make the right choice! 

The Most Common Integrations to E-commerce

Warehouse Management System

One of the most popular integration is to build an integration between an eCommerce store and a company’s Warehouse Management System (WMS).
A warehouse management system is a software that automates a company’s warehouse operations. This operation may include inventory management, picking processes, and auditing, among other processes.
There are different types of Warehouse Management System:

• Standalone systems – usually deployed on-premise
• Cloud-based systems – SaaS solutions
• ERP modules –as a component of enterprise resource planning.

The demand to integrate e-commerce stores with Inventory Management Systems is quite high that is why, an integration platform such as Magic xpi, has more than 100 pre-built connectors and adapters for quick and easy integration. This makes integrators’ life much easier; integration time is greatly reduced and saves customer’s money.
No matter what warehouse management system your company adopted, or plan to adopt, SAP EWM, Oracle WMC, NetSuite ERP, NetSuite Warehouse, Zebra Warehouse, WIMS 2.0, etc. it’s always worth remembering that integration is best done with proven experts and technologies.

If you want to know more about Warehouse Management System (Types,  Features, and benefits of WMS)  read the article here

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Another not less popular is the integration of an e-commerce store with the company’s CRM. If your online store has been successfully operating for a long time and sales are growing, it is likely that you are thinking about using a CRM system (Customer Relationship Management). Maybe you already use it and now it’s time to integrate your CRM and your e-commerce store.

But how to maintain the relevance of information in CRM and organize the work of employees in such a way that they are not torn between the work in the administrative panel of the e-commerce site, the mailbox, and the CRM system? In case of integration of your CRM with the online store, orders and other relevant information will appear directly into the system. According to financesonline.com, the best CRM systems are:
  • Salesforce CRM
  • Hubspot CRM
  • Freshsales
  • Pipedrive
  • Insightly
  • Zoho CRM

DropShipping

Currently, there are a lot of online shops who offer the Drop-ship concept to their suppliers. “Drop-ship” is a popular fulfillment method where an online store (eCommerce) doesn’t keep stock. The process is that the online store sends information about customers’ orders to the manufacturer and then, the manufacturer ships the goods directly to the consumer. This method eliminates the need for the merchant to handle the goods. In this business model integration of the company’s internal systems with the drop-ship eCommerce store, becomes very critical for a successful dropship experience.

For more information about Dropshipping integration read our blog: 4 Challenges of EDI and Drop-Ship in eCommerce

When Discussing third-party integration options, you should not forget about the delivery service. Certainly, one of the key factors influencing clients ‘ decisions about purchasing is delivery.
An integration platform like Magic xpi can also easily connect your online store to the most Populaire delivery services such as DHL, FedEx, or UPS.

Payment systems

Another popular integration is the integration with payment systems. By payment systems, we understand service providers that allow you to process financial transactions, and the provider would charge a percentage of the commission to cover his fees. Many payment systems have already developed API (application programming interface) of their payment gateways, for integration purposes.
If you are wondering what kind of system to connect, here are some of the most popular Payment system:

  • Paypal
  • Amazon Pay
  • Google Pay
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Stripe
  • Square
  • Visa Checkout
  • Masterpass
  • 2Checkout (now Verifone)

Everything you Need to Know about Online Payment Processing: Online Payment Processing Guide

Leave your e-commerce integration to the experts

E-commerce Integration needs a professional approach. It takes time, resources and skills, and in case of an error, the company may incur significant losses.
Therefore, if you have any questions or need integration with any service, feel free to contact us. We have a great experience with integration between e-commerce and different systems.
We will be more than happy to help and assist!
Shopify integration price list

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The Main Reasons Why You Need Microsoft Dynamics Integration with your Business Systems

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information

Microsoft Dynamics is an enterprise resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software applications. Microsoft has several product lines within Dynamics:
  • Microsoft Dynamics GP – Great Plains
  • Microsoft Dynamics SL – Solomon
  • Microsoft Dynamics AX – Axapta
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV – Navision (Dynamics 365 Business Central now) 

Today I want to talk about the most popular of the Dynamics product line – Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision)

What is Microsoft Dynamics NAV?

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an Integrated Business Management Solution (ERP) for midsize and small businesses, delivered by Microsoft in the Microsoft Dynamics product line. Microsoft Navision combines ERP and CRM business solutions.

Besides being known as Microsoft Dynamics Navision, this robust Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution has also been referred to by a few other names over the years. Here are some of the alternative names for Dynamics Navision:

1. Navision: This is the most common and concise way to refer to the ERP system. Many users and professionals in the field simply use “Navision” to discuss it.

2. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: In recent years, Microsoft has integrated Navision into its broader suite of business applications under the umbrella of Dynamics 365. As a result, Dynamics Navision is now often called Dynamics 365 Business Central. This name emphasizes its central role in managing various business processes.

3. Microsoft Business Central: Some users shorten the name even further and refer to it as Business Central. This streamlined version highlights its core purpose as a central hub for business operations.

Regardless of the name, Dynamics Navision (or its modern counterpart, Dynamics 365 Business Central) remains a powerful tool for managing finances, supply chain, inventory, and customer relationships. If you’re exploring ERP options, it’s worth diving deeper into its capabilities!
Book your Free Consultation with Integration expert

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is designed to manage customer relationships, finances, production supply chains, analytics, and e-commerce. Microsoft Dynamics NAV — the development of the Danish company Navision Software A/S, which Microsoft acquired in 2002.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Technology

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a three-tier client-server application. It consists of three main components:
  • The Database Server
  • The application server
  • The Client(s) who connects using Windows or the web interface.

As a database management system, Microsoft SQL Server is used. SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services are used to analyze and process operational data. Microsoft Dynamics NAV’s adaptability is provided by the object-oriented development environment of C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment). This allows to freely change the application code: modify the standard functionality, create individual reporting, etc.

According to Statista  22 percent of respondents said that they used Microsoft Dynamics for the purpose of CRM.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Modules

Microsoft Dynamics NAV, has several modules delivering multiple functions for an enterprise. The main modules of Navision from Microsoft are:
  • Financial Management
  • Distribution Management
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Products management
  • Projects management
  • Human resources management

There are more of the core modules by now, but I wanted to give an idea about Dynamics ERP.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Integration

Companies using Microsoft Dynamics NAV, often need to integrate it with third-party systems. It is a rare exception to find a company that uses only Navision without any other system on-premises (or in the cloud). For example, lots of companies doing eCommerce use either Shopify or Magento (or any other eCom platform), and they use Microsoft Navision as their ERP backbone. Another example, is a company might be using some point of sale (POS) software, exchanging data with a 3PL, or even exchanging EDI with its partners; To avoid redundant data entry and data processing, companies decide mainly to go with full integration and automation of their flows and processes.

Integrating Microsoft NAV with other business systems is a big challenge and it’s possible to realize in-house, considering a company has enough qualified IT personnel and resources. Most companies outsource such a job in order to optimize the time of their internal IT staff, already stretched thin…

The Main Signs that You Need Microsoft Dynamics NAV Integration

There are many common factors that indicate the necessity of Dynamics NAV integration. But I would like to draw your attention to the following three main points:

You and your staff spend a lot of time on manual data entry in different systems

Entering the same information into different business systems takes a lot of time. If employees spend aт hours to moving data manually, this is a sure sign that you need to think about automation and integration. You can free up your employee’s time to perform more important tasks.

Mismatch information in your business systems

You can’t avoid the human mistakes when you manually enter information into the system. Typo errors such as invalid addresses or inaccurate numbers can be transferred from one software business system to another and lead to a wrong delivery address or inaccurate inventory (for example). As a result, such errors can create a great loss for any enterprise if it is happening frequently.

Unproductive Processes

Can you quickly get new items up on your eCommerce store? How much time does it take to update your inventory? When these processes are not smoothly running and it takes a lot of human intervention and time it negatively influences your business performance.

So, Integrating Microsoft Dynamics NAV permits to automatically synchronize information between your ERP and other software business systems.

Third-Party Integration Platform

You don’t need to have the capabilities in-house, for realizing an integration Dynamics NAV with the other systems. You can use a third-party integration provider that has a platform for integrating NAV with other business systems, from the cloud and without any installation on your premises. The best solution in the integration market is Magic xpi Integration Platform. Magic xpi delivers code-free, enterprise-grade integration, business process automation, and data synchronization solutions. This integration Platform uses pre-built certified connectors for automatic, real-time integration of CRM and ERP data with other enterprise applications such as email, calendar, and database systems.

Seamless integration with EDI2XML and Magic xpi

Find the Right Partner for your integration project. Contact us if you want to improve and change the way you do your Business. Click the image below to get a Free consultation about automating your processes.
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Business Tech Terms Definitions

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

We compiled a shortlist of business technology terms that are useful to keep on hand when looking for software solutions for your business or when speaking with an IT Service Provider. Because, sometimes a short and simple definition is all you need, and that’s exactly what we have here.

“SOFTWARE” Terms

Software EDI

• ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning; a fully integrated business process management software suite. It allows users to view, manage and track core business processes and resources using one single database.

• CRM: Customer Relationship Management is a software system that allows your business to manage contacts, collaborate effectively, increase productivity & grow your business. It is based on the preservation and analysis of information to improve the marketing, service and business relations with your customers.

• BI: Business Intelligence; a performance optimization software that aims to produce detailed analyses with the help of customized drillable dashboards. BI provides immediate access to relevant and timely business information (through visualizations & reports)

• WMS: Warehouse Management System; a software application to manage warehouse operations (track inventory, shipping, receiving, stock locations, picking, etc.)

• eCommerce: Website used to make commercial transactions electronically over the Internet; in other words, an online store to sell products and services.

• eCommerce integration: is the synchronization of a company’s eCommerce website with its back-end accounting or ERP system.

• API: An application programming interface (API) is a set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building application software. In general terms, it is a set of clearly defined methods of communication between various software components.

• Implementation: The process of installing and configuring software; this phase includes many steps such as business process re-assessment, system testing, user-training and support.

• Integrated Software: A collection of computer programs (modules like accounting, purchases, sales, inventory management, sales forecasting, EDI & more) which share one database.

• IT Consulting: Consulting services provided by an outside organization/consultant to advise business executives or IT managers on appropriate strategies and solutions to bring efficiency into the company through technologies.

• Digital transformation (DT): Digital Transformation (DT) is the transformation of business by remodeling the business strategy or digital strategy, models, operations, products, marketing approach, objectives etc., by adopting digital technologies. This accelerate sales and growth of the business from end to end.

• Office automation: Office automation refers to the varied computer machinery and software used to digitally create, collect, store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the management of electronic business information comprise the basic activities of an office automation system. Office automation helps in optimizing or automating existing office procedures.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence (AI) is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans. Some of the activities computers with artificial intelligence are designed for include speech recognition, learning, planning, and problem solving.

• Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items connected to the internet, collecting and sharing data. An example of an Internet of Things device a lightbulb that can be switched on using a smartphone app is an IoT device.

• Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) The Industrial Internet of Things is a unified system of computer networks and production equipment with built-in sensors and software for collecting and exchanging data. This system has remote monitoring and control in automatic mode, without human intervention. Industrial Internet of Things allows creating industries that are more economical, flexible and efficient than existing ones.

“EDI” Terms

• EDI: Electronic Data Interchange; the secure process of electronically exchanging business documents, like Purchase Orders, Invoices, ASNs, (in a pre-defined format) between Trading Partners

• EDI Standard: EDI documents are sent using standard-specific formats, describing what each piece of information is; these standards avoid trading partners sending documents back and forth using company-specific formats. Common standards include: ANSI ASC X12 (North American Standard), EDIFACT (International standard)

• EDI Translation System: Software application used to translate the EDI format (into a format readable by humans and systems) so the data can be read and used by business people and processed by a company’s internal management system.

• Communication Protocol: Communication method used to transmit data to and from Trading Partners; FTP, sFTP, AS2, VAN, Https

• Point-to-Point: Direct Connectivity; rather than having documents pass through a VAN, Trading Partners can exchange documents directly through secured communication protocols like FTP, sFTP, AS2, Https, etc.

• VAN: Value Added Network; a private network provider to facilitate electronic data interchange for Trading Partners; considered the “EDI post office” for incoming & outgoing documents.

• AS2: Applicability Statement 2; A point-to-point connectivity method that sends messages across the internet using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol, with increased verification and security.

• Trading Partner: Participant in an ongoing business relationship

• XML Extensible Markup Language; a markup language used to describe data. This is typically the go-to in EDI translation, since it is a format that is human and system-readable

• Data Mapping: The method by which information in one format is restructured into a different format.

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Magic xpi Integration Platform: The Best Fit for Enterprise Data Integration

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information

Magic xpi is Magic’s code-free integration platform that lets you streamline business process quickly and easily, integrating them across diverse applications, platforms, and databases. Magic xpi enables you to integrate your business information, logic, and data into cross-organizational, cross-platform business processes. Smooth running business processes reduce operational costs and increase revenue and reduce business risks.

Magic xpi: The Code-Free Integration Platform for Seamless Business Process Automation

Magic xpi is Magic’s powerful, code-free integration platform that enables businesses to streamline their processes quickly and efficiently. By integrating diverse applications, platforms, and databases, Magic xpi ensures seamless communication between all areas of your business. Whether you’re working with ERP, CRM, finance, or other enterprise systems, Magic xpi makes business process automation simple.

Why Choose Magic xpi for Your Business Integration Needs?

  1. Comprehensive Integration
    Magic xpi allows you to integrate business information, logic, and data into cross-organizational and cross-platform business processes. This reduces manual intervention, speeds up workflows, and improves overall productivity.

  2. Certified and Optimized Connectors
    One of the key strengths of Magic xpi is its out-of-the-box, certified connectors for leading enterprise systems such as SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and more. These connectors make it easy to extend the capabilities of your existing software without needing custom coding or complex configurations.

  3. Reduce Operational Costs and Risks
    With smooth-running business processes, Magic xpi minimizes operational costs, reduces business risks, and helps you focus on growing revenue. It eliminates the need for manual data entry, reducing human errors and ensuring that critical data flows freely across your entire business ecosystem.

  4. Scalability and Flexibility
    Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, Magic xpi’s scalable architecture allows you to integrate new systems as your business grows. Its flexibility supports a wide range of industries, making it the go-to solution for companies in retail, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and more.

Use Cases for Magic xpi Integration Platform

  • ERP Integration: Seamlessly connect ERP systems like SAP, Oracle, or JD Edwards with other business applications to ensure data consistency and accuracy.
  • CRM Integration: Integrate CRM platforms like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or HubSpot to improve customer experience by ensuring all teams have access to real-time customer data.
  • eCommerce Integration: Automate order processing and inventory management by integrating your eCommerce platform with ERP and fulfillment systems.

 

magic-xpi-integration

 

Learn More: Download the Magic xpi Integration Platform White Paper

For a deeper dive into how Magic xpi can transform your business, we invite you to download our comprehensive White Paper. You’ll discover:

  • Detailed insights into how Magic xpi works
  • Real-world examples of successful integrations
  • The key benefits for different industries
  • How Magic xpi enables businesses to quickly adapt to changing markets and customer needs.

Download your free copy now and start streamlining your business operations today!

 

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How to get more out of Salesforce with EDI Integration


This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


At the end of a discussion we had with one of our contacts, who was inquiring about EDI, Salesforce and how to integrate it all together, I decided to write this article, in order to clarify and structure my arguments with the hope it can help other readers who might fall on this article having the same questions and concerns. I will start by defining some technical terms, prior to getting to the points.

What is Salesforce?

Salesforce is one of the most popular cloud-based CRM. The company is based in California (USA), and it has thousands of users worldwide. We’ve already written an article that provides more about the product, which I invite you to read, and learn more about salesforce itself, and how Magic xpi can be the best integration platform with Salesforce.

What is EDI?

Electronic Data Interchange or (EDI) is fundamentally a standard that regulates the electronic exchange of business documents between trading partners. EDI contains a set of message types. There are many different EDI standards i.e. X12, EDIFACT, RosettaNet…used mainly in different industries and different parts of the world. In North America, the US standard ANSI ASC X12 is p predominantly used.

Some example message types are:

Help: What is EDI2XML as a Service?

EDI2XML as a Service is our popular translation and communication service offering to businesses of all sizes, from various industries. All conversions of EDI files are done on our end, leaving customers with no on-site installation of software or hardware and an EDI project that is on time and within budget.

Download our EDI2XML Translation Service Pricing Package here for more information

Why EDI Integration with Salesforce is Important

Companies of all sizes have different systems in place: i.e. ERP, CRM, Warehouse management…Some other companies might only operate their business using Salesforce.

It is a common situation that companies will have business partners requesting to exchange EDI (regardless of the standard), with them. The truth is that companies’ can NOT refuse such a request coming from a customer for example. They have to comply with such demand and become “EDI ready” or “EDI compliant”.

In a such scenario, the company running Salesforce will be receiving a Sales order (850 as an example) and sending back and invoice (810) for billing purposes, all in X12 standard (for example). What to do about this requirement? Companies need to take action.

Why You Need to integrate EDI into Salesforce

Given the above facts and considering that Salesforce “out-of-the-box” does NOT support any EDI standard, there is no choice for a company leveraging Salesforce, to escape the integration request.

Ultimately, businesses need to Integrate EDI into their Salesforce instance. By pushing EDI messages into their Salesforce instance in a near real-time basis, companies can achieve even more with the Salesforce system.

“Need Integration” Checklist

Each company is unique, and it can be a lot of reasons why your business needs Integrations. Following are the most common reasons a company might need to consider, in order to jump into integration projects:

– Your trading partner(s) is requesting to exchange data electronically

– Your company gets a lot of orders (200+ orders a month on average), this is being taped manually in different systems, thus taking lots of time of your employees, and creating inefficiencies.

– You are looking for a better experience with your customer. You need to get your inventory out that always exact, tracking numbers are received instantly after the merchandise is sent, etc.

– You do not have enough time to process orders. Your costumers need to wait for order processing.

– As third-party sellers, you are getting penalties from Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces for the reason that you are not shipping orders fast enough.

– Your company receiving negative reviews from your customers who shop online, because of slow service or erroneous orders processing.

What to do Next to integrate EDI and Salesforce

Integrating EDI with Salesforce, is a bit different from other types of integration projects, a company might go through. Due to the fact that EDI is very specific, it requires very specific expertise. Here are some of the important points to consider before going into EDI integration projects:

  • For EDI integration in general, work with an EDI provider, and NOT with VANS (Value Added Networks). VANs are more expensive and less into integration.
  • Make sure the EDI provider is “integration oriented”; meaning he is not only specialized in EDI, but in integration as a concept
  • Do NOT settle half-way with “file integration”, look for near “real-time” integration, directly into your system.
  • Do NOT settle with point-to-point integration”. Developing and “coding” integration points, is very expensive to maintain at long term.
  • Look for the best integration method: look for certified connectors from the manufacturer (salesforce).

Integrate EDI with Salesforce to drive your business

If you need more information or help in determining your need in EDI to Salesforce Integration, please contact our integration experts, and Feel free to request a free demonstration.

EDI Salesforce Integration