Synchronize data between the e-shop and ERP

Every company is different. So is yours. It is rare to encounter two companies that have identical pricing structures and discount systems. Specifically in the realms of B2B or international sales, such coincidences happen once in a hundred years. This difference should also be taken into account when creating an e-shop.

Consider the speed of data synchronization

Imagine a customer who visits your e-shop with the intention to make a purchase. They will likely be interested in whether a specific item is available in stock immediately. Not tomorrow, not in an hour – now. Therefore, we can say that the ideal concept of data synchronization is in real-time. As soon as the ERP changes stock availability, the information is reflected on the e-shop instantly, and the customer knows what they can add to their cart. This is what the ideal state looks like. 

However, not every ERP allows for this immediate data synchronization. Moreover, not every ERP informs the e-shop about changes in data. In such cases, the website must constantly query for the current data. Therefore, before starting the actual work, consider what type of solution you are looking for.

There are three:

• You do not expect immediate data exchange at all

The e-shop must download the stock availability of all products and compare it with its own values.

• You partially expect immediate data exchange

The ERP logs changes and can return stock changes for products that have been updated since the last import. This significantly shortens the synchronization time. It can occur very frequently – even several times a minute.

• You want the synchronization to be designed in real-time from the start 
  

The ERP includes a connector that informs the e-shop when data changes in the ERP. The e-shop updates the data immediately. The same works in the opposite direction.

Communicate with external systems

Are you launching a new e-shop and considering changing your ERP? Or are you selecting a completely new system?  

In addition to accounting functions, we recommend focusing on communication with external systems. Even today, you can still find many large solutions surprisingly among those that do not account for synchronization at all. Our recommendation for you: when choosing an ERP system, be sure to ensure that it maintains data integrity. 

Systems must be properly separated

E-shop data from ERP not only loads but can also write data: for example, order data or new client registrations. Both ERP and e-shop should operate independently and separately. 

How can you tell if the systems are properly separated? An order can be created on the e-shop, but the data cannot be synchronized. At PUXdesign, we queue such orders as pending. As soon as the ERP system is back up, we immediately send the order.

Note: it may happen that the ERP is not functional at the time of order creation. This occurs during planned outages, updates, or system crashes. 

Delayed data transmission has a solution

• How often does the ERP go down?
• How often will it be updated?
• Are multiple systems writing to the ERP?

We consider the possibility of delayed data transmission when designing order numbers (IDs) that we display to the customer. They look like this: “Your order no. 12345 has been created.” It is always better to work with a single order number system. Whether a client calls the sales department or an accountant communicates with a developer – everyone has the same order in mind.

ID synchronization can be created in two ways:

• The e-shop receives the order number from the ERP

If the ERP experiences an outage or downtime at the time of order creation, the e-shop does not have the opportunity to find out its number (ID). Therefore, it cannot work with it. As a result, the customer waiting for an email about the completed order will not see it. 

• The ERP receives the order number from the e-shop

If multiple e-shops are writing data to the ERP or orders are created directly in the ERP, a system needs to be established.

Data analysis will reveal what you need

Some accounting systems have been on the market for over 20 years. If this is the case in your company, many functionalities that are no longer used may have accumulated over time. To uncover all the specifics of a particular solution at PUXdesign, we conduct an analysis before the actual integration. 

We start by collecting the data we need to work with on the e-shop. For each item, we look up the relevant data in the ERP. Sometimes it is painstaking work, but so far it is the best approach to ensure that we do not miss any data in the implementation process or that it is not in an undesirable format. 

Export of Orders to ERP

Often, it is not enough to send the data entered by the user in the cart from the e-shop. In such cases, it is necessary to address the logic on the e-shop side that should be on the ERP side but is missing there.

This may include:

• establishing organizations and their addresses
• allocating total order discounts to individual items
• special warehouse identifiers
• matching payment methods to bank accounts that the e-shop does not work with at all, but the ERP requires them for order processing

In such cases, we will require you to provide specific use cases and an example of a request that meets the requirement. For example: a B2B order going abroad created in the ERP, by a user who does not yet exist in an existing organization using a total order discount, may have a drastically different scenario for recording in the ERP than a simple order from an end customer without any discounts and cash on delivery in the Czech Republic. 

We log every data exchange between the ERP system and the e-shop. We will provide you with a module with data in PUXdesign. You can easily check the communication and verify whether the e-shop is receiving the data from the ERP that you expect, or if something else needs to be set up in the ERP. 

The process of data synchronization is a complicated issue that requires the involvement of an analyst, developers, the e-shop client, and a consultant on the accounting system development side. If you want the best solution, contact us. At PUXdesign, we are at your service.