The Benefits of Connecting your Ecommerce with an ERP Solution can have Incredible Effects on your Ecommerce Business!

Believe it or not, over 29 million SMEs in the U.S. are still running on basic financial software like QuickBooks, and 55% are still using pen-and-paper manual processes to manage their logistics and internal business processes. U.S. consumers spent over $900 billion on ecommerce retail in 2022, and this amount is only expected to increase in the upcoming years. This ecommerce boom and digital business model places massive amounts of strain on outdated processes, forcing businesses to expand and adapt at a rapid pace. Tasks like manual data entry are becoming things of the past, and to keep up with the digital transformation of automated and streamlined processes, we saw a 17.9% increase over 2020 of organizations trading in outdated business processes for more efficient and productive back-office systems like ERPs.

Let’s discuss ERP solutions!

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is software used by companies to manage and automate the important parts of their businesses. This type of software is important for companies because it helps them implement the automation and best practices for their internal business operations. ERP solutions optimize key business processes required to run organizations such as: production planning, purchasing & inventory, sales & customer management, marketing, finance, human resources, and more; all with a single system!

A few benefits of connecting ecommerce and ERP include the free flow of communication between business areas, a single source of information, and accurate, real-time data reporting

So, it’s no surprise that 50% of companies are planning on updating, upgrading, or acquiring an ERP system soon, especially when it comes to enhancing ecommerce efforts and agility. Without the help of an ERP, the ecommerce ordering and procurement processes are prone to issues such as limited visibility, human error, and data mishaps. For example, let’s say a customer orders an item, but that item is out of stock. Without the proper communication from inventory to the ecommerce platform, the order could get placed. Now, this once excited customer is consequently disappointed. Mistakes like this happen often and are painfully time-consuming and costly but are 100% avoidable. There is almost a necessity to connect an intelligent solution to an ecommerce platform to avoid mishaps such as these.

Connecting ecommerce and ERP provides: Automated business processes that reduce risk, eliminated dependence on error-prone spreadsheets, and assurance that customer service issues will not fall through the cracks when they move across departments.

Having an ERP empowers your ecommerce to work for you. 

Using the same example as above, ERP solutions deliver accuracy when it comes to inventory counting and updating stock levels in real time. So, if an item is not in stock, the ERP will notify the ecommerce effectively disabling the purchasing of the said item until it’s back in stock. The inventory management that presides in these robust systems is designed to give detailed information, from what’s in stock to where it’s located. This data allows for quick order processing and has shown to increase on-time deliveries by 24% or help replenish your inventory faster, making sure the shelves stay stocked with the right inventory; not just when your customers want it but when they need it the most.

• Improving back-office processes like order fulfillment should be a top priority because it ultimately leads to increased customer satisfaction, determining whether or not customers order from you again. Research has shown that even just a 5% increase in customer retention can improve profitability by up to 75% .

95% of businesses achieve major improvements after using ERP through reducing process times, increasing collaboration, and centralizing enterprise data.

An ERP can be a tremendous benefit to your business, effectively reducing operational costs by 23% and administrative costs by 22%. However, not all ERPs are equally as beneficial for the varying business sizes, industries, and models. This is why when deciding to integrate back-office systems with your ecommerce by use of an ERP, it is extremely important to consider these key factors.

• What are your industry-specific business needs?
• What type of budget and timeline do you have in place?
• How flexible of a solution do I need?
• Is the system compatible with the current systems I have in place?
• Will the system grow with me as I grow, is it adaptable?

With so many ERP solutions on the market, it can seem overwhelming when searching for the perfect fit. SAP Business One is the leading ERP solution for SMB businesses that are experiencing growth and are looking to scale. It is packed full of features and functions and is designed to grow with a business.

Here at Softengine, we received the SAP North America Partner Excellence Award for 2020 because of our ongoing commitment to customer success. We understand the critical role that ERP solutions play in the success of our customers’ businesses, which is why we thrive on solving even the toughest of business challenges with solutions that directly benefit our customers. We are ready to help you take your ecommerce efforts to the next level while aligning your core business strategy to succeed.

Your success is our success. Contact one of specialists for further inquiries: info@softengine.com

 

 

Sources:

1. https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-ecommerce-forecast-2021
2. https://www.fourlane.com/blog/7-reasons-your-business-hasnt-outgrown-quickbooks/
3. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/technology/ecommerce-logistics-remains-a-manual-process
4. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/erp.asp
5. https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/ecommerce-returns
6. https://erpsoftwareblog.com/cloud/2020/08/7-how-cloud-erp-can-decrease-opportunities-for-human-error-through-automation/
7. https://learn.g2.com/erp-statistics
8. https://www.myofficeapps.com/how-exactly-does-an-erp-system-save-you-money/