One of the main goals of any ecommerce business is to save costs while offering a quality service to its customers. To achieve this, it is essential that they use an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution for the management and development of their online business, which helps them to improve their competitiveness and increase their profitability.
There are several ERP solutions for ecommerce within the reach of all budgets that allow to have a central database where to gather all the resources and information of the company, facilitating a comfortable and simple access to this information from any other system, department or employee. An ERP is a long-term investment that offers immediate positive effects on the business, as it helps our ecommerce to be more efficient in cost management, access to product and business information, the organization of daily work and collaboration between different departments.
Any ecommerce store without a specific ERP runs the risk that the management of its product catalog, sales channels, suppliers, customers, etc., is completely chaotic.
The integration of a specific ERP with our ecommerce platform will allow to automate a large number of tasks in order to control the business in a more efficient way. For this reason, one of the key factors in the development of our online business will be its integration with a suitable ERP.
Knowing how to locate the most appropriate ERP solution for each ecommerce is therefore essential because it is the central database where all the resources and information of the online store are gathered. By using an ERP we will be able to access from any system to all the information of the business in a fast, agile and orderly way.
Characteristics that an ERP for ecommerce must have
The ERP we choose for our ecommerce business should offer a series of features to make it ideal:
Ecommerce friendly
The best option is always an ERP as a complete system, but there are also options of modules with ERP functions that we can integrate into existing systems in our business.
The software we choose must be first and foremost ecommerce friendly, ensuring the possibility of connecting all departments of our company such as development, manufacturing, marketing, logistics, finance and customer service. The ERP should therefore be specifically oriented to online stores.
In addition, this ERP must be able to automatically connect to the main ecommerce platforms or CMS (Content Management System).
Centralized and automated
Another essential feature of an ecommerce ERP is the centralization of information and the automation of access to it.
There is a wide variety of types of software that we use in our business on a daily basis. At the same time there are dozens of daily actions that need the same type of information. If we manage to gather all the data in one place, we can ensure that there are no errors in both company and product information, such as customer data, the status of an order, the number of orders per day, warehouse stock, invoices, and so on.
But in addition to the centralization of information, the ERP for online store offers automation, both in the addition of new data to the central database and in the access to it. All the information will be gathered and updated in the same system, being able to automate its update and use in any system or equipment.
Omnicanal
An ERP for e-commerce must facilitate the process linked to multichannel and omnichannel sales and connect departments as different as sales personnel, inventory management, marketing team, etc. Thanks to an ERP, this chain of actions is instantaneous.
Warehouse and inventory management
The use of an ERP in the warehouse is essential since a correct integration between the inventory and the rest of the departments ensures that the daily sales processes will occur without errors due to excess or shortage of stock, as well as in shipments to customers.
It is very interesting to opt for a scalable software, which offers multiple warehouse management. In this way the process will be easier, in case of business growth, if the chosen software has the capacity to grow together with our sales level.
Information analysis capacity
A good ERP system must be able to correctly interpret all the processes it gathers and provide analysis reports and actions that can be useful as a summary and reference for the financial team.
It is also important to remember that training all the people who will be working with the ERP is a necessity that must be taken into account to ensure a correct and effective integration.
Why is it so necessary to have an ERP for ecommerce?
An ERP for ecommerce is therefore a management tool that can not miss in our business and that helps us to have under control all the processes related to an online store.
There are multiple advantages that we get if we implement an ERP in an ecommerce:
There are several ERP solutions for ecommerce within the reach of all budgets that allow to have a central database where to gather all the resources and information of the company, facilitating a comfortable and simple access to this information from any other system, department or employee. An ERP is a long-term investment that offers immediate positive effects on the business, as it helps our ecommerce to be more efficient in cost management, access to product and business information, the organization of daily work and collaboration between different departments.
Any ecommerce store without a specific ERP runs the risk that the management of its product catalog, sales channels, suppliers, customers, etc., is completely chaotic.
The integration of a specific ERP with our ecommerce platform will allow to automate a large number of tasks in order to control the business in a more efficient way. For this reason, one of the key factors in the development of our online business will be its integration with a suitable ERP.
Knowing how to locate the most appropriate ERP solution for each ecommerce is therefore essential because it is the central database where all the resources and information of the online store are gathered. By using an ERP we will be able to access from any system to all the information of the business in a fast, agile and orderly way.
Characteristics that an ERP for ecommerce must have
The ERP we choose for our ecommerce business should offer a series of features to make it ideal:
Ecommerce friendly
The best option is always an ERP as a complete system, but there are also options of modules with ERP functions that we can integrate into existing systems in our business.
The software we choose must be first and foremost ecommerce friendly, ensuring the possibility of connecting all departments of our company such as development, manufacturing, marketing, logistics, finance and customer service. The ERP should therefore be specifically oriented to online stores.
In addition, this ERP must be able to automatically connect to the main ecommerce platforms or CMS (Content Management System).
Centralized and automated
Another essential feature of an ecommerce ERP is the centralization of information and the automation of access to it.
There is a wide variety of types of software that we use in our business on a daily basis. At the same time there are dozens of daily actions that need the same type of information. If we manage to gather all the data in one place, we can ensure that there are no errors in both company and product information, such as customer data, the status of an order, the number of orders per day, warehouse stock, invoices, and so on.
But in addition to the centralization of information, the ERP for online store offers automation, both in the addition of new data to the central database and in the access to it. All the information will be gathered and updated in the same system, being able to automate its update and use in any system or equipment.
Omnicanal
An ERP for e-commerce must facilitate the process linked to multichannel and omnichannel sales and connect departments as different as sales personnel, inventory management, marketing team, etc. Thanks to an ERP, this chain of actions is instantaneous.
Warehouse and inventory management
The use of an ERP in the warehouse is essential since a correct integration between the inventory and the rest of the departments ensures that the daily sales processes will occur without errors due to excess or shortage of stock, as well as in shipments to customers.
It is very interesting to opt for a scalable software, which offers multiple warehouse management. In this way the process will be easier, in case of business growth, if the chosen software has the capacity to grow together with our sales level.
Information analysis capacity
A good ERP system must be able to correctly interpret all the processes it gathers and provide analysis reports and actions that can be useful as a summary and reference for the financial team.
It is also important to remember that training all the people who will be working with the ERP is a necessity that must be taken into account to ensure a correct and effective integration.
Why is it so necessary to have an ERP for ecommerce?
An ERP for ecommerce is therefore a management tool that can not miss in our business and that helps us to have under control all the processes related to an online store.
There are multiple advantages that we get if we implement an ERP in an ecommerce:
- Our business is much more efficient, since all the information about customers, orders, suppliers, inventories, etc., is integrated into the system automatically without the need to enter them manually.
- Avoid duplication. All information is controlled with a single tool.
- Avoid data errors. As it is an automatic process, the possibility of having an erroneous data is almost null.
- Real-time warehouse control. This avoids possible stock breakage and the possibility of customer orders being left unattended.
- Cost reduction. By having much more efficient processes, management costs are reduced.
- Improved customer service. An ERP allows us to have constantly updated customer information and thus provide a better service.
- Integration of invoicing and accounting processes. From the same tool we can carry out both invoicing and accounting of orders.
- Delivery times for smaller orders. All orders enter directly into the shipping process without having to wait for synchronizations or imports of any kind.