A three-step guide for relieving your data entry headaches with integration
Monday, November 13, 2017Lauren Macdonald
At some point, keeping up with your growing order volume will become unmanageable. When your business starts receiving 200+ orders a month, it’s likely that manual data entry will no longer be a sustainable option if you hope to process and fulfill orders quickly, and accurately.
Here’s how you can solve your order entry problem using integration:
First step: Understanding which data you need to synchronize.
In an eCommerce integration, a “touch point”, or “work flow” refers to one specific category of data that will be automated as a result of your integration solution. Examples of common touch points involved in most (if not all) eCommerce integrations include the following:
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Inbound sales orders from eCommerce platform into ERP
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Outbound inventory quantities from ERP to eCommerce platform
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Outbound shipping details from ERP to eCommerce platform
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Outbound product data from ERP to eCommerce platform
That being said, there’s a whole bunch of other touch points that businesses may wish to integrate as well. Try out this integration blueprint builder tool to see which touch points can be integrated with your business systems.
Next step: Determining the scope of your integration project.
Clarifying the scope of your integration project before getting started can go a long way in ensuring the integration process is smooth and efficient. Here’s some suggestions to consider:
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Appoint a main contact person who is responsible for overseeing the project.
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Determine a realistic timeline for the project, keeping in mind that any specific customizations will take extra time.
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Set a budget that makes sense for your business, and stick to it. You can always add more touch points to your integration solution at a later date. For now, we suggest sticking to only what’s absolutely needed as you get started.
Step Three: Knowing what to look for in a reliable integration solution.
When selecting an integration solution, the good news is that you have plenty of options. The hard part is deciding which option is best for your business. Here’s a few of the options you have to choose from:
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Keep things the way they are. If you’re quite content with your current process of manual data entry and feel as though you can keep up with order processing, than by all means carry on! If business picks up somewhere down the road, reconsider integration when it makes sense for your business.
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Do it yourself, in-house. If you choose this option, remember that upgrades and changes in business systems are inevitable and you need to be prepared for the ongoing maintenance in order to keep your integration working properly.
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Leave it to the experts. This option allows you to have a fully automated, bi-directional integration solution that will be fully managed and maintained on your behalf.
We make integrating eCommerce, ERP and EDI systems easy.