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What is CRM and ERP integration and why it is essential?

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

Integration of CRM and ERP systems: Definition

CRM and ERP integration is the synchronization of data from ERP and CRM systems. The purpose of CRM and ERP integration is to provide automatic exchange of information between the enterprise systems.

Nowadays, many enterprises use numerous different business systems and applications for enterprise management, in other words, a combination of ERP, CRM, home grown applications, and many other applications for different business needs.

All these business systems have the same goal – to optimize business processes. However, their tasks are different. So how is CRM different from ERP? Do you need to integrate data from these different systems? How to perform such integration at its best? Let’s take a look at these questions in this article.

 

What is CRM?

CRM Customer relationship management – the name speaks for itself. It is a business software designed to automate interactions with customers (clients), to increase sales, optimize marketing and improve customer service.

 

What does a CRM software do?

CRM allows you to store and organize data about clients (prospects) as well as all their orders and transactions.

Information about customers can be built according to convenient parameters: names, contacts, purchases, contracts, invoices, and payments.

In most CRM systems you can follow in chronological order the entire history of communication with the client, emails, orders, and call records.

Most importantly, the CRM system automates processes and helps at every stage of the sale: automatically generates documents (according to a template), reminds of calls, issues invoices, and creates analytical reports, sends SMS notifications, and many more.

What are the Top 10 CRM Software Vendors?

According to the leading technology market-research company APPS RUN THE WORLD, Salesforce is the leader in the CRM software market. The other biggest providers of standalone or embedded CRM systems are:

What Is ERP?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. The ERP software is designed for storing, processing, and maintaining a single database for all divisions of the company: orders, production, warehouses, logistics department, accounting, etc. ERP creates a single information space for all employees of the company.

The main goal of an ERP system is to unite the disparate processes of the company into a single well-functioning mechanism.

What is the main component of an ERP system?

Typically, ERP systems are designed based on a modular principle to cover all the key processes of the company’s activities.

The main modules in the ERP system are:

  • Planning
  • Budgeting / Financial Management.
  • Logistics/ Supply Chain Management
  • Human Resources
  • Production Management / Manufacturing
  • Order Management
  • Warehouse / Inventory Management

The ERP allows the management to get a comprehensive picture of the company’s activities, which makes the ERP system an indispensable tool for making current and strategic management decisions.

ERP software examples

According to Statista, the global enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market is forecast to grow to around 97 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. SAP and Oracle are two of the leading ERP vendors in this market.

The most popular ERP systems on the market are:

SAP Business One
It is an ERP solution for small businesses designed to automate key business functions. Can be deployed On-premises or cloud.

SAP S/4HANA
It is an ERP solution for large enterprises. SAP S/4HANA has built-in intelligent technologies, machine learning, and advanced analytics. Could be deployed in public/private cloud, hybrid, and on-premises.

SAP Business ByDesign
It is a Cloud ERP for small and medium-sized enterprises. SAP Business ByDesign is sold and operated by software as a service model.

NetSuite
It is Oracle’s Cloud ERP solution for Small and Mid-sized Enterprises. NetSuite offers modular systems ranging from finance to supply chain management, invoicing, and more.

Sage Intacct
This cloud-based ERP software solution with high ROI was designed by an American provider of cloud-based Financial management Sage Intacct, Inc. Sage Intacct includes core financial modules with possibility to add additional modules.

Acumatica
It is a complete Cloud ERP solution for all your business management needs, created for flexible workplace such as mobile, and remote work.

Tally
It is an enterprise ERP software provided by an Indian multinational company Tally Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Is CRM and ERP integration possible?

As you might have noticed, CRM and ERP systems are not competing systems, but one complements the other. In fact, some big ERP systems, they offer their own CRM modules, to keep the whole process under one umbrella. Both software systems help for efficient and cost-effective enterprise management.

An ERP system helps control production, planning, and logistic processes; a CRM helps track and follow up and increase sales and customer loyalty. However, to get the most out of these two important business systems, it is necessary that the ERP and CRM “communicate” with each other.

“Is it possible to do an integration between two heterogenous systems from two different vendors?” – This is one of the most frequent questions that companies care about. Of course, it is possible! With Magic xpi integration platform, the integration between CRM and ERP can be done easily, quickly, and reliably.

What is Magic XPI integration platform?

Magic xpi is an integration platform, offering a complete solution to automate the flow of data between business systems and applications such as (ERP) enterprise resource planning, (CRM) customer relationship management, (HRM) human resources management, (SCM) supply chain management, EDI, database, and e-commerce.

Why Magic xpi is the best choice for CRM and ERP Integration?

Out of the box, Magic xpi includes over 100 ready-to-use connectors to all popular IT systems, in addition there is a considerable number of certified connectors to connect to branded ERP/CRM systems such as JDE, SAP, Dynamics AX, Oracle, SharePoint, IBM, Google, and more.

These connectors allow to perform integration of applications, databases, APIs, platforms quickly and reliably.

Having an intuitive and easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, it is suitable for both professional integrators and ordinary business users.

Magic xpi fits any IT infrastructure and can integrate all your business systems on-premises, on the cloud, or in a hybrid environment.

Magic xpi provides a stable front-end platform and the ability to integrate data and deliver the most relevant information to your employees, management, or customers.

Key benefits of data integration between CRM and ERP systems

The main benefits of CRM and ERP integration include but are not limited to:

1. No need to re-enter the same data and keep duplicates.

ERP and CRM systems have contact and accounting information used in both systems for different purposes. For example, in an ERP system, addresses are used for invoicing and product delivery, while in CRM, customer and prospect addresses are used to support sales / marketing.

Integration of CRM and ERP systems eliminates the need for double data entry. Thus, any change made in the CRM database will affect the ERP system and vice versa.

2. Easier and faster data exchange.

Integration of CRM and ERP data increases sales, since sales managers have full access to data from ERP having complete information on the product, they can place an order faster and more accurately.

3. Efficient order management

By integrating data between CRM and ERP, quotations created in CRM can be automatically converted into actual orders in the ERP system. This significantly reduces order processing times and increases the efficiency of the company.

Thus, the main advantages that companies receive from the integration of CRM and ERP are increased information availability, reduced order processing time, and improved interaction processes within the organization.

Suggested Readings: The main reasons why you need Microsoft Dynamics Integration with your business Systems

Integrate your CRM and ERP – quickly and efficiently

Optimize your company’s business processes and increase productivity by connecting CRM and ERP systems.

Benefit from our over 21 years of experience in integrations and cutting-edge technology.

Contact us for a free consultation and a Free Live Demo of the Magic xpi Integration Platform. In a screen-sharing format, we’ll show you how Magic xpi can solve your business needs.

Amazon Seller Data Automation and Integration: Tips and Tricks

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

Today, I would like to address a few of the most important aspects of Amazon Seller integration and automation, and why companies selling on Amazon Marketplace have no choice other than adopting the path of “Automation and integration” to their internal software business systems (ERP / CRM), to stay competitive and profitable on Amazon.

Before I start addressing my points, let me start with some definitions for terms that are often used in this article, even though, I already detailed those definitions in previous articles.

What is Amazon Marketplace?

Amazon Marketplace is a Web-based platform owned by Amazon, where buyers and sellers can engage into commercial transactions.
Amazon Integration

Amazon offers access to Sellers and buyers globally, which is why there are different “Amazon Marketplaces”; Clients from different parts of the world can buy directly from that platform. Each marketplace refers to a region or country.

As an example, in North America, there are 3 Amazon Marketplaces:

1. Amazon.com: primarily to service the US market.

2. Amazon.ca: To service the Canadian market.

3. Amazon.mx: To service the Mexican market.

The same thing in Europe where you can find an Amazon Marketplace for the UK, another one for Germany, and so on…

Amazon Seller Account

Amazon allows any entity (being a person or an enterprise), to sell their products and services in Amazon one on multiple Amazon Marketplaces; in return for the service, Amazon bills a monthly subscription fee, in addition to some other fees paid per transaction, obviously depending on the subscription plan.

An entity or person who owns an Account on Amazon Marketplace to sell its products or services, is considered an “Amazon Seller”, or owns an “Amazon Seller Account”.

Amazon Vendor Central

In contrast to Amazon Seller Accounts, Amazon Vendor Central is the total opposite of the “Seller Account”. In this case, Amazon themselves buy from the Company, and they sell the products in Amazon Marketplaces.

Managing Amazon Seller Account

Managing a store for Amazon Seller Account – is the responsibility of the “Account owner” on Amazon (or the subscriber). It is the responsibility of the account owner, to feed the Amazon Store with the products catalog, pricing, specs, images… and all aspects of the store management.

Amazon Seller Account Inventory and Fulfillment

In terms of Inventory and fulfillment, there are few options offered by Amazon for shipping and fulfillment. I will expand on this topic in a separate article. But for now, let’s keep it simple; an Amazon Seller account owner has the option to manage the inventory and fulfillment of his Seller account, or pay amazon for such a service, under the FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program.

Useful Reading: What Is Amazon Integration & How Does It Work?

Integration with Amazon Seller Account

Amazon offers several ways to read and write data into a Seller Partner account. while all the offers are publicly documented, they require a certain level of expertise to implement, quickly and efficiently.

Amazon Options for Data Integration

In addition to the Amazon portal to manually manage the store, Amazon offers two options for an Amazon Seller Account owner, to build integrations and automation:

1. MWS (Marketplace Web Service): which is the first legacy integration door with the Amazon seller store.

2. SP-API (Seller Partner API): which is a new REST API service launched in September 2020 to replace the MWS.

Amazon MWS vs SP-API

In this paragraph, I will address some technical differences between both services.

Although MWS and SP-API of Amazon are both web services that enable programmatic access to seller data, there are major differences; following are some of those differences, extracted from Amazon website:
  • SP-API treats data as REST-compliant resources that can be accessed and modified via standard HTTP methods. At the opposite, Amazon MWS exposes data using operations that are very proprietary to Amazon MWS.
  • SP-API authorization leverages LWA and OAuth 2.0. This model eliminates the need for the manual exchange of auth tokens, as required by MWS.
  • The authorization process of Developers is much different between both; With Amazon MWS, sellers authorize developers. With SP-API, sellers authorize applications. This makes it safer for the Seller to Authorize an application of a developer, that was revised and approved by Amazon.
  • SP-API provides finer grain data access control than Amazon MWS. Developers can request access to only the data they need, and sellers can grant permissions at the API section, operation, or data resource level.
  • SP-API uses AWS Signature Version 4 for authentication. Amazon MWS uses Signature Version 2

To learn more about Amazon SP-API read our blog: Why You Should Migrate Amazon MWS to Amazon Selling API (SP-API)

Data Automation and Integration: Why Integration and Automation Are a Must

When operating eCommerce transactions on Amazon, and selling on multiple Marketplaces, companies find themselves in a situation where they cannot avoid such automation and integration with their own ERP or CRM, and this is for multiple reasons; I will list a few of the important ones:

1. Amazon is by far one of the biggest eCommerce platforms in the world, with the most items sold; Selling on Amazon, will certainly increase the sales of any company with the right product. This creates the first urgent reason automate and integrate the sales on Amazon Seller Account, into the Company’s ERP/CRM system. Companies would like to keep their books up to date, with less human interaction, and near real-time.

2. Companies who are successfully selling on more than one Amazon marketplace, see the need for automation faster. It is not an option for any company to manage multiple systems for orders and fulfillment.
e-commerce Integration


3. To compete in this tight eCommerce marketplace, faster fulfillment and shipping is expected from consumers. The fastest they get the goods the better it for the seller. To meet those fulfillment expectations, automation and integration should be in place.

4. The new reality created by COVID-19 disturbance of the economy worldwide, forced companies to adjust to the new reality if they want to stay the course, and remain competitive. Hiring more employees to produce the same result that can be achieved efficiently and quickly by machines is not an option today. Investing on automation and integration is the only way companies can achieve quick results and a quick measurable ROI.

“Do It Yourself” vs Outsourcing the Service?

Someone might say, well, cannot we do it ourselves? it is not that difficult, we have enough IT resources in-house, that can certainly handle such projects and get off the ground quickly.

My answer to this point is, of course, any company with sufficient time, resources and expertise can go into the project, and certainly deliver. However, there are some aspects of this approach should be highlighted and taken into consideration:

1. When doing it yourself, without enough internal resources, such projects can fall of the crack quickly.

2. At the technical level, although it seems straight forward to build such integration and automation projects, it requires lots of expertise and lots of learning. MWS is scheduled to be phased out by Amazon, we do not know when, and SP-API is taking over, but it is new, lots of security elements added and things can take time to learn and build.

3. Since a company is going to build it itself, it will be one and only one time to do the implementation; it does not pay off for this company, especially when it takes lots of time and effort.

4. Maintaining and managing the automation of Amazon Seller account data, at long term takes a lot of time and resources to keep it up and running; it certainly takes out of the staff’s internal efforts and would stretch them thin.

Useful Reading: EDI2XML integration for Amazon Seller Partners

The above points are the most important points and challenges I have noted from previous Amazon integration projects, where customers were frustrated and lost lots of time prior to decide to outsource their Amazon integration to our team at EDI2XML. Some of them they lost a valuable resources and money prior to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Trust Our Experts For a Fully Managed Amazon Integration

To find out more about our Amazon integration expertise, and evaluate how we can help you, you can reach us by phone: (450) 681-3009 or use the form below to speak to our integration specialist!

The Following is a List of Additional Helpful Information:

What is Dropshipping on Amazon?

Amazon Business: How to increase B2B sales on Amazon?

Integration with Amazon Web Services (MWS): Things you should know

Integration with Amazon Seller or Vendor account: Things you should know

Free Amazon Integration Whitepaper

Integration with Salesforce “custom objects” using Magic xpi.

Having completed lots of integration projects between Salesforce and other platforms such as Amazon, Big Commerce, EDI in addition to many CRM/ ERP systems, I decided to write this article to present how quick and simple it is to use Magic xpi integration platform, to build integration flows that can read or write data into Salesforce standard and custom objects. All of this is without deep knowledge and expertise with salesforce scripting or programming.

Let me start with a high-level definition of important terminologies, even though some might look like repetition from previous articles, but it serves as an important refresher.

What is salesforce?
Integration Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud CRM solution, designed to manage customer relationships, sales, and marketing. The company was founded in 1999 in San Francisco. At that time, the existing CRM systems were quite complicated to configure and expensive to operate, therefore, only large companies could afford a CRM system. The initial idea of Salesforce was to offer CRM in the “cloud” and sell the software through an annual subscription or lease model, computed per user of the software.

Salesforce “Object”

An object in salesforce, is the equivalent to a “table” in a database. A table in SQL database for example, has columns and stores data based on rows. The same thing in Salesforce Object, whereas the difference is only in terminologies:
  • A “table” in SQL server, is equivalent to “object” in salesforce.
  • A “column” in SQL server, is equivalent to “field” in salesforce term.
  • A “row” in a SQL table, is equivalent to “record” in salesforce term.

As a conclusion, an “object” in Salesforce is a container of the information created by the end-user, using the Salesforce user interface.

Standard vs. Custom Salesforce Object

Salesforce “objects” are of two types:

a) “Standard Objects”: These are the objects that are available by default with every instance or subscription of Salesforce. For example, the “Account” is one of many standard objects in Salesforce.

b) “Custom Objects”: unlike standard objects in Salesforce, Custom Objects are the objects created by the Administrator of the Salesforce instance, to hold very specific information just for his organization, that is why we call it “Custom Object”. NOT every instance of salesforce will have the Custom objects defined by one administrator.

Suggested Readings: Salesforce integration and Magic xpi: Things you should know

What is Magic xpi?

Magic xpi is in integration platform to allow the integration from any system to any system, be it cloud or on premises. Magic xpi includes built-in connectors to:
  • The most commonly used Databases in the marketplace (i.e. Oracle, IBM DB2, MSSQL server, Pervasive, ODBC, JDBC…)
  • The most used file formats in the marketplace (i.e. XML, CSV, TXT, JSON)
  • REST and SOAP API
Magic xpi B2B Integration

Moreover the manufacturer of Magic xpi, has built and certified a connector for Salesforce, among other branded CRM/ERP systems in the marketplace (i.e. Oracle JDE, SAP…)

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

Magic xpi “certified connector” for Salesforce

Let me explain first what is “salesforce connector” before getting into the “Certified” portion.

In simple terms, a Magic xpi “Salesforce connector” is a software module offered part of Magic xpi, that can automatically perform the following:
  1. Connect to a specific Salesforce instance.
  2. Read and discover the Schema of Salesforce instance. Meaning, discovering ALL objects (Standard and Custom), including their fields.
  3. Read from any custom or standard salesforce object.
  4. Write to any custom or standard salesforce object.

All the above with a click of a button, without any coding or development whatsoever; It is all done automatically.

Now, what about the “certified” portion?

Magic software, the manufacturer of Magic xpi and the connector to salesforce, they took the extra step, and went to Salesforce, and presented the Connector. The team at salesforce, took the time to review the way the connector works, and approved it as functioning as per Salesforce best practices and recommendations. Hence why there is an additional licensing fee when using Magic xpi salesforce connector.

Ease of use of Magic xpi

Magic xpi is in integration platform to allow the integration from any system to any system. It has so many advantages over similar competing products in the marketplace, especially when it comes to its ease of use and deployment. Here are some of those advantages:
  • Deployable on premises, in a public or private cloud
  • Licensed based on a subscription basis.
  • Connect and synchronize: Cloud to On-Premises, Cloud to Cloud
  • Connect and synchronize a Cloud based to On-Premises system.
  • Visual Mapping, Drag and drop with NO coding.
  • Ideal for systems analysts with little experience in coding

Why Integration with Salesforce

There are many business cases where companies need to integrate their disparate systems and processes, into their Salesforce instance. I will list few of those cases:
  1. Integration of sales orders received from customers via Electronic Document Interchange (EDI / X12 / EDIFACT)
  2. Integration of sales orders received from customers in xslx, csv, xml or json format.
  3. Integration of eCommerce orders created by the consumer in Shopify or Big Commerce as an example and populating it automatically into the company’s salesforce instance.
  4. Updating the inventory status in eCommerce platform by reading the Salesforce instance Standard or Custom objects, extracting the necessary information, and populating it into Shopify or Big Commerce for example, using their REST API.

The above use cases are for information and example purposes, but there are many challenging business cases that a company can face daily, especially during this difficult times of COVID-19 where business owners and executives are becoming creative to adapt to the situation and stay the course in a profitable manner.

Steps to build integration to Salesforce with Magic xpi

There are about [5] steps to build a simple flow to integrate with Salesforce.

1. Create the Connection to Salesforce

As the above illustration, there are 3 steps to create the connectivity to Salesforce, once. Enter the url, click on the “OAuth2” button, where the Salesforce OAuth screen will popup and ask the developer to enter the Salesforce credentials. Once entered and validated, it will ask to Authorize the access. Once authorized, it will close the screen and go back to the above.

To validate the connection is active, click “Validate” and a message will appear to indicate it is Successful.

2. Create the connection to the Database or to any other CRM/ERP/API (if needed):
Depending on whether there is a need to use different resources, they need to be defined once.

3. Define the logic of the integration flow.

This step is to define the logic and steps of the flow on paper, before starting to draw the logic in Magic xpi. A systems analyst should have a clear vision where he is heading, prior to starting the project. This step can be the most difficult one.

4. Start Mapping from source to destination.

First step is to select the Object to map from / to in salesforce (screenshot # 1), and then start mapping (screenshot # 2).

Screenshot # 1

Screenshot # 2

Trust our experts for a fully managed integration

To find out more about our salesforce integration expertise, and evaluate how we can help you, you can reach us by phone: (450) 681-3009 or use the form below to speak to our integration specialist!

Best Practices for Improving E-Commerce Supply Chain Management

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


Currently, many businesses are operating their own eCommerce stores on Shopify or Amazon to sell their products and services over the Internet to clients and consumers, all over the world. This is a great way to increase sales and brand awareness.

United States: top 10 online stores

The e-commerce market in the United States is constantly evolving. According to Statista’s forecasts, in the coming years, retail sales of B2C e-commerce in the US will grow rapidly: from 315.6 billion US dollars in 2018 to more than 565.7 billion US dollars in 2023. The most popular online store in the United States is, of course, Amazon.com, the second most popular is Walmart.com
United States: top 10 online stores

As you can see in the graph above, at the top of the e-commerce rating are the 2 largest retailers:

Amazon.com, Inc. is a global e-commerce corporation that provides online retail, consumer electronics, digital content and other services such as daily deals and local groceries. The greatest part of the company’s revenue is generated from third-party seller revenues, subscription services, and AWS activities. Due to quality standards and global reach, Amazon is considered one of the most valuable brands in the world.

Walmart, Inc. is one of the biggest retail chains offering low prices and immensely varied products, giving Walmart a competitive edge.

Challenge of efficient e-commerce transaction

Whatever you choose, open your own online store on one of the most popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento or sell on Amazon, or deal with Walmart, Home Depot, Target, etc. it is very beneficial for companies of all size and various industries to expand their online business.

However, many executives still do not consider a full integration between there online store, and their business management system (ERP, CRM), as a must and important option to adopt.

Efficient supply chain management and prompt exchange of the necessary information between trading partners is the key to the success of your electronic business and the high satisfaction of your customers.

Download our whitepaper for more information about Shopify integration.

The main problems that online store owners may encounter when they omit a full integration between their store and their ERP are as follows:
  • They must hire more staff to manage their supply chain, in order to respond to growing customer demands.
  • It is difficult to balance incoming demand and production (in case the company is a manufacturer)
  • Problematic transfer of inquiries and information between several business partners involved in the supply chain channel.

The challenge with supply chain management is to synchronize the supply chain with consumer demand and measure the productivity and success rate. Therefore, below are 3 useful tips to overcome these challenges:

Integrated ERP Solutions

Having one platform to manage and run a business can make all the difference. A fully integrated software system will be able to efficiently manage an eCommerce and retail business and eliminate the need to key-in information from the online store to the management system manually.

Useful reading: Must-Have Integration between E-Commerce and Business Systems

EDI Integration

As mentioned previously, the ability to balance product demands from an eCommerce store and supply chain demands is very important. Therefore, to do this would be to empower the eCommerce platform with EDI capabilities, to exchange data in real-time with suppliers and partners.

Useful reading: The most used EDI messages in the supply chain management

Modern Business Solutions

A scalable integrated IT solution, such as the one suggested by EDI2XML, is needed to be able to electronically exchange information by parsing data of different formats, like X12/EDIFACT, XML, CSV or Json, and translate EDI from one format to another. On top of that, the solution should be able to easily integrate with different systems and communicate with different partners using modern and secured communication protocols such as AS2, sFTP or API (Web services).

Improve your eCommerce management and supply chain by implementing and integrating with the best tools and solutions.
Free EDI Consultation

RELATED POSTS:

Must-Have Integration between E-Commerce and Business Systems

9 Major E-Commerce Trends That Will Help Grow Your Online Business

The main reasons why you need Microsoft Dynamics Integration with your Business Systems

PRICING PACKAGES: Shopify Integration

Shopify and Microsoft Dynamics Nav Integration: Things you should know

Top 3 Reasons For EDI Integration With Shopify

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.
EDI integration with Shopify

In short, Shopify is one of the leading Canadian eCommerce platforms offered to businesses and individuals, based on a monthly subscription fee. Anyone can subscribe and then begin to showcase their products online, to sell directly to the public. For more information about Shopify, you can visit their website here.

Who Uses Shopify?

Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that can be used by individuals and businesses of all sizes to create and manage their online stores. Here are some of the types of people who use Shopify:
  1. Small business owners: Shopify is an excellent platform for small business owners who want to sell products online without having to deal with the technical aspects of building an e-commerce website.
  2. Entrepreneurs: Many entrepreneurs use Shopify to create and sell their own products online, whether it be clothing, beauty products, or digital downloads.
  3. Large businesses: Shopify’s scalability makes it a popular choice for larger businesses that need a platform that can handle high levels of traffic and sales.
  4. Dropshippers: Shopify’s integrations with popular dropshipping apps and tools make it an attractive option for dropshippers who want to sell products without having to hold inventory.
  5. Non-profits: Shopify offers special pricing and features for non-profits, making it an excellent platform for charities and other non-profit organizations to sell merchandise and raise funds online.

Overall, Shopify is a flexible platform that can be used by a wide range of people and businesses to create and manage their online stores.

A Word on Drop-Shipping

One important thing to emphasize here is that with the emergence of the online retail (or eCommerce) market, companies selling products through the Internet on platforms such as Shopify, are not necessarily carrying inventory of their products anymore.

More and more, once a company receives an online order from a customer (through the Shopify platform), these orders are then transferred to the manufacturing business partner(s) for shipping and delivery of the bought item(s), where they are told the “white label” the delivery package. This concept is called “Drop-Ship” (or Drop Shipping) in the retail and eCommerce world. Basically, the seller receives orders from their online retail store and is paid via the Internet (through PayPal or credit card) and then forwards the order to the manufacturer to then ship directly to the client. For many, there is now no need to hold inventory in a local warehouse.

What Does EDI Have To Do With eCommerce?

For those who aren’t very familiar with EDI (or Electronic Data Interchange), it is a set of standards and processes to exchange business documents electronically between Business (or Trading) Partners. Common business documents include Purchase Orders, Invoices, ASNs (Advance Ship Notice), Inventory Inquiry/Advice and more. This data exchange can happen in both directions – incoming and outgoing.

In the context of online sales over the Internet, on an eCommerce platform like Shopify as well as with the introduction of drop-shipping, EDI comes into play for several reasons;

1. Most major manufacturing and distribution companies will require a system-to-system integration through some sort of EDI. This speeds up processes and allows for greater efficiency in partner communication.

2. Shipping companies also require integration via EDI.

3. Today, consumers are very well educated and require to be informed on the status of their orders at every step of the way during the shipping process.

As you may notice, all of the above requires system-to-system integration between so many unrelated or diverse systems and platforms. At this point in time, most major companies and retailers are well equipped with EDI platforms and standards in which they have been investing in for many years now. Companies are now finding more ways to use their EDI to increase efficiency and are truly seeing returns on their investments.

Top 3 Reasons Why You Need EDI Integration With Shopify

The reasons may seem obvious to you at this point, but I will re-iterate the top 3 reasons for EDI integration with your Shopify store or any other eCommerce platform;

Cloud Services Provider If you are in the Drop-Ship business and you are selling online through Amazon, Wal-Mart, Cabela’s or Target, for example, chances are that these retailers will impose certain rules, and require that you go on EDI. If you are dealing with suppliers, they will also impose similar rules and require the use of EDI.

Cloud Services Provider If you are selling online through your own store via Shopify, and you have a high volume of clients that expect to the informed of their orders at any given moment, this is another big reason why you should have EDI integrated with your Shopify store.

Cloud Services Provider If you are dealing with shipping companies like FedEx, Purolator, UPS, etc., and you have a high volume of shipments on a daily basis, then you need to integrate your management systems AND Shopify with EDI.

The above are the main reasons for EDI integration but there are tons of other ways EDI can improve your processes and reasons to talk with an EDI consultant today.

How Can I Integrate My Shopify Store with EDI?

This integration is very feasible however you will most definitely need a team of system integrators with a high knowledge and expertise in EDI. With the right team like the EDI2XML team, there is no going wrong.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic or any other issue related to EDI integration projects, please contact us today and receive your free consultation.
Shopify integration
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How To Successfully Complete SAP/R3 EDI Integration Projects Using iDoc

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Article written by Pierre Namroud, EDI Integration Specialist & Business Consultant

During my professional career as an integrator and EDI expert, I had the opportunity to work on several major integration projects. Some of them were in an Oracle environment while others had to do with integrating with SAP/R3. Other projects included integrations with different types of systems such as Salesforce, Shopify, Microsoft suites, etc.

In today’s EDI2XML post, I will share my experience as an ‘Integrator’ to lay down the basis of a successful integration project of EDI and SAP/R3. Please note, however, that I am not an SAP expert and during these integration projects I worked closely with SAP professionals and credit them for all of their efforts in completing the SAP portions of this type of project.

What is SAP/R3?

SAP/R3 is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software solution produced by the well-known German company, SAP. This specific version,“R3”, has been renamed to ECC (ERP Central Component). SAP Business One is also a sub-set ERP software from the same Software Provider and it is designed for Small Businesses.

SAP ERP Solutions are widely present in corporate enterprises in North America, Europe and all around the world. It is one of the most popular corporate ERP software solutions.

Does SAP support EDI Integration?

SAP ECC (or R3), out of the box, does in fact support EDI integration. The EDI format that is currently supported by SAP is called iDoc. Simply put, iDoc format files or messages are proprietary to SAP and they are similar to, and based on, EDIFACT messages.

In essence, if an iDoc file is provided to SAP, it will get processed using some specific BAPI and it will turn the iDoc into an order, in SAP.

EDI Transformation for SAP Integration

Most integration projects that I have worked on involved integrating EDI X12 formats within the SAP system, in both directions (incoming and outgoing messages). Since X12 EDI format is far from the iDoc format, our team was tasked with handling the transformation and EDI translation from X12 EDI to iDoc format.

Checklist for a Successful EDI Integration Project with SAP

Now that the basics are defined, I will share my recommendations, in a checklist format, to help guide you through a successful integration project for SAP and EDI.

  • Make sure you know how to work with SAP backend. If you are not highly knowledgeable or an expert in SAP, make sure to most definitely include someone who is, as part of your team. This is a must.
  • Make sure you work in a Development SAP environment, rather than a Production environment when doing the work.
  • Make sure to use the appropriate SAP BAPIs or RFC, well identified for each point you plan to integrate with SAP. This is very important and it is crucial to be identified. Your SAP expert can take the lead in this area.
  • Make sure to equip yourself and your integration team with an efficient integration framework. The completion timeline and success rate of this project will definitely be better if you equip your integration team with an efficient integration tool.
  • To avoid getting into an unknown space, outsource the translation of the EDI X12 or EDIFACT (or any other protocol) to a reliable, knowledgeable Service Provider. By teaming up with an EDI partner, you’ll quickly notice the real value they will bring to the table since they will handle all of the complexities that an EDI project can bring. Their task will be to do the EDI transformations and create one single iDoc format of EDI for your integration flows to SAP.

Conclusion

I sure hope that I was able to expose some of the challenges and complexities surrounding a typical SAP integration project, with the above checklist, and properly explained my recommendations, from my own personal experiences.

If you are interested to learn more about this topic or any other issue related to EDI integration projects, please click on the image below and I will be more than happy to contact you for a FREE consultation.

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How to solve Shopify eCommerce integration with EDI

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

 

ECommerce (or online retail) has been a growing trend over the last few years. Due to this, business partners, retailers and suppliers have been transforming their flows and processes in order to better serve today’s well-connected, tech-savvy and wise consumer, who is constantly plugged in to the latest technologies. Read more