eCommerce Integrations

How Can Integrated eCommerce Solutions Help Your eCommerce Business?

Updated May 3  |  8 min read
Key Takeaways
  • Building an integrated eCommerce marketplace is necessary for any online store that wants to succeed in the highly competitive industry.
  • Through eCommerce integrations, you can gain the advantage you need to build an efficiently-working and scalable online business.
  • To help achieve that, take advantage of a dedicated eCommerce integration platform like Clarity Connect so you can build an extensive network of integrated eCommerce solutions to suit your business.

Considering the growth of eCommerce in the past few years, one might think that opening and running your eCommerce store is not a very complex task. And sure, while setting up an online store isn't overly difficult, managing it can soon become a nightmare. There's a reason why 90% of eCommerce businesses fail within their first 120 days [1].

One of the greatest challenges online store owners face is managing their daily operations on multiple eCommerce platforms and applications. There are numerous apps available, some dedicated to marketing, others to inventory management and customer relationship management. Managing them all separately isn't the most efficient operation.

Here's where the integrated commerce software comes in. Through the integration app, you will be able to streamline your operations, creating a well-oiled eCommerce system for an enhanced employee and customer experience. More importantly, you will be able to boost your sales and put your online commerce business on a steady course toward success.

In this article, we'll discuss:

  • what eCommerce integration is
  • what its advantages are
  • available eCommerce integrations
  • how to create an integrated eCommerce environment
An integrated e-Commerce platform for data exchange to prevent fraud and security threats

What Is eCommerce Integration?

In simple terms, eCommerce integration connects eCommerce platforms with other online business systems, such as marketing tools, sales, accounting, or payment gateways.

ECommerce integration is also referred to as data integration, as it manages and centralizes information from various platforms, such as financial data or customer data, creating one fully integrated system. An integration syncs data between the applications you use, helping you manage your operations more efficiently. Bringing all of this information together during eCommerce integrations reduces the need for manual data entry.

ECommerce integration platforms, like Clarity Connect, help online businesses manage accurate data integration.

E-Commerce integration and data integration management.

What Is an eCommerce Integration Platform?

Integrated eCommerce platforms connect all the business's integrations in one place. Through such an all-around integration solution, eCommerce businesses can manage their integrations more easily and efficiently, saving time and costs while boosting productivity and customer experience.

Let's take our Clarity eCommerce integration platform as an example. Using it, you will be able to connect all your eCommerce solutions—CRM and ERP systems, marketing tools, shipping, accounting software, eCommerce software, and other integrated commerce software—and manage them all from one place. Our platform supports dozens of integrations, including Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, WooCommerce, Shopify, and much more.

Our integration platform, Clarity Connect, connects all your integrations, ensuring smooth and accurate data flow that boosts and streamlines your eCommerce integration system. Even better, the platform is fully customizable, allowing you to tailor it to your unique business processes.

Benefits of a Fully Integrated eCommerce Platform

When managed correctly, integrations can take any online business to a whole new level. But what are the exact benefits of a fully integrated eCommerce platform? We've already mentioned several, but there are numerous other advantages to talk about. Let's go through the most significant ones.

Elimination of Manual Data Entry

As your online store grows so does the amount of data you need to move around for it to work efficiently. And sure, it's possible to transfer that data between your site and third-party services manually. Indeed, that's what fully integrated eCommerce platforms do.

However, as you probably suspect or already know, that's not the most efficient way to manage your customer and business data. It also increases the risk of error or duplication, which further decreases your business efficiency.

You can eliminate that by using the right fully integrated platform. With integrated data, you will be able to automate the data flow between your business systems, ensuring you and your employees don't waste time on repetitive tasks, boosting your employee productivity and time management.

Through automation, you will also be able to eliminate human error and increase the accuracy of your customer and product data.

Streamlined Inventory Management

Your store's environment isn't static. Your inventory will constantly change as customers visit your store and place their orders. Without the proper inventory management software in place, you may soon find yourself with an incomplete inventory, causing shipping disruptions and customers taking their business elsewhere.

To ensure you always have real-time insight into your inventory data, you will need to integrate your eCommerce platform with your third-party ERP system (enterprise resource planning) system. Through ERP integration, you will be able to monitor your inventory and update your inventory on the go, ensuring all your best-selling products are available.

Cloud ERP providers utilize inventory management on fully integrated eCommerce platforms.

More Effective Marketing Campaigns

The online retail industry is extremely competitive. To attract customers, online stores often take advantage of aggressive marketing campaigns, offering huge discounts and promotions that often aren't even profitable. Many eCommerce stores also target the wrong audiences as they create their campaigns without comprehensive research. As a result, they spend tons of money on marketing efforts while selling their products at prices that are too low.

These mistakes can be easily avoided by building integrations using integrated eCommerce platforms. With one, you will have quick access to customer and inventory data, allowing you to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. You can also use the integrated data to find your target audience and learn when the best time is to increase your marketing efforts and through which channels to deliver your message.

Improved Finance and Accounts Management

Managing an eCommerce site involves a lot of data pertaining to finances. Without a proper system to manage your finances and accounts, you can get lost pretty quickly when meandering through sales reports, profit and loss accounts, payrolls, etc. Wouldn't it be nice to have all that financial information stored in one place for easier access?

Creating a fully integrated eCommerce platform ensures that you have centralized financial data silos. It saves time, reduces errors, and helps your team access the necessary information quickly, ensuring you manage your finances better by carrying out more accurate financial reporting, managing accounts and payrolls, handling real-time transactions, and planning your budgets.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Synchronizing and automating your eCommerce business systems and processes leads to a more seamless customer experience. An integrated eCommerce website ensures all its processes are transparent and efficient, creating a more convenient shopping experience. And if there's a golden rule in eCommerce is that happy customers mean loyal customers. Customer satisfaction is key, and custom integration with customer support software can improve customer relationships.

That loyalty can be enhanced even further by integrating your store with a dedicated CRM platform. Doing that will grant you quick access to accurate data, helping you build an even better experience and cater to your customer's individual needs. It will also help you notice patterns, enabling you to expand your client base without losing any of your operational efficiency.

Fully Integrated eCommerce platforms enhance the customer experience.

Better Business Scalability

As your eCommerce brand grows, it will become more challenging to manage all its processes and systems. The key here is to scale your business without losing any of your operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. That can be difficult with too much data coming from multiple platforms. At least, that would be a problem for a non-integrated eCommerce site.

By integrating your eCommerce apps and systems through a dedicated, fully integrated eCommerce platform, you will be able to build integrations more smoothly to help you scale your store and reach your business goals. This is an important step in one's business journey. A step you can't afford to fail. Integrated eCommerce guarantees success, ensuring your store continues to reach new audiences and grow while maintaining or even improving its efficiency.

Enhanced Security

The amount of sensitive data fully integrated eCommerce platforms store is massive. Each customer who purchases a product leaves their personal and financial information, trusting that the store keeps them safe.

Any possible data breach can be disastrous, ruining one's brand reputation or, even worse, ending in legal proceedings. And the more third-party services, e.g., payment processors you use with your platform, the higher the risk of losing your customer information.

A fully integrated eCommerce platform minimizes that risk by storing all the data in one place, ensuring it doesn't move around unauthorized. Furthermore, top-quality eCommerce integration platforms, such as Clarity Connect, use state-of-the-art encryption and security features, keeping all the stored information safe and sound.

Available eCommerce Integrations

Building eCommerce integrations between different platforms can be daunting. Not all apps can work and support each other, so integrating them all together takes time when done manually. As covered, that process can be sped up using an eCommerce integration platform like Clarity Connect. Through such a platform, online retail stores can easily build their integrated networks, providing them with the numerous benefits of integrated eCommerce.

That we've already discussed. What we haven't talked about yet are the available integrations. For example, Clarity Connect users can take advantage of multiple platforms essential for eCommerce brands to expand, ranging from ERP software and CRM integrations to shipping, tax, and content management integrations.

ERP Integrations

ERP software helps businesses handle their daily business operations. Fully integrated eCommerce platforms can use ERP integration to automate risk management processes, supply chains, human resource management, or accounting.

An ERP system can help an eCommerce store streamline order tracking processes, provide customer updates, notify about potential pricing changes, and help manage inventory through automating processes involved. Some of the most popular ERP system integrations available include SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, and Oracle. You will find them all at Clarity.

CRM Integrations

Businesses use CRM software to streamline communication between the company and its customers. An efficient CRM system can boost how businesses manage their customer relations, providing better service and enhancing the overall customer experience.

By integrating your CRM platform with other systems, you will be able to use the customer data to plan your marketing campaigns better and save time when transferring information between multiple apps. Popular CRM platforms available at Clarity include Salesforce, AgileCRM, and Xero.

Shipping Integrations

The more shipping services a fully integrated eCommerce platform offers, the better. By integrating numerous shipping services with your store, your customers will be able to choose between their favorite shipping solutions, boosting their experience and convenience. Clarity works well with all popular shipping integrations, including DHL, UPS, FedEx, and TNT.

Payment Integrations

Like shipping services, the more payment methods a fully integrated eCommerce platform offers, the better for its customers. Integrating your store with several payment gateways is vital for an enhanced user experience, allowing your customers to pay for the products you offer with their preferred method. Clarity can help integrate eCommerce platforms with numerous payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Sage Pay.

Content Management Integrations

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need excessive technical skills to open and manage your own eCommerce website. All it takes to get your site up and running is to use the right content management system (CMS). A CMS such as WordPress or Sitecore work as back-end systems for fully integrated eCommerce platforms. CMS integration can help ensure the two systems can share information seamlessly.

CMS integration on fully integrated eCommerce platforms

How to Create an Integrated eCommerce Platform

While challenging, building a fully integrated eCommerce platform is your best chance to succeed in the highly competitive online retail business environment. Luckily, you don't have to do everything manually. With a little help from an integrated eCommerce platform, you will be able to build your integrated network in no time.

That is why your first step should be choosing the right eCommerce data integration platform. Our eCommerce platform and integration solutions provide you with a fully customizable eCommerce solution that is built to scale your operations. Choosing your eCommerce integration software will also help you shortlist suitable services.

The next thing to do is identify where your operations could be streamlined and automated with the help of an integrated eCommerce platform. The goal here is to remove potential errors and ensure your workflows are smooth and efficient. Then, determine which processes require integration, including shipping, customer communication, sales, etc.

If you're unsure how to best go about these processes to integrate your back-end software with an eCommerce platform, feel free to ask our experts by clicking the button below or using our live chat. We're always happy to discuss this with you and answer any questions you may have.

If you've already determined what you'd like to integrate, you can simply sign up for a free consultation.

ECommerce integrations offer an eCommerce solution for business processes

Get Expert eCommerce Integration

Our experts are ready to help implement any integration you need. Contact us today and learn how we can help your store with an eCommerce integration. The future of eCommerce is now. Are you ready to embrace it?

FAQ

 

An eCommerce integration describes the connection between various business systems, such as marketing tools, sales channels, accounting software, or payment gateways. It also refers to the data transfer between these systems so that you can manage all your information in a centralized location.

 

Here's an example of an eCommerce integration between an online store and a customer relationship management (CRM) system:

  • eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
  • CRM System: Salesforce

Integration Scenario: When a customer places an order on the WooCommerce-powered online store, their order information is automatically synced and stored in Salesforce CRM, allowing the business to manage customer data and provide personalized services efficiently.

To set up the online commerce integration, you'll need to define the mapping between data fields in the two systems and use a middleware integration solution like Clarity Connect to complete the integration. From there, you can set up order syncing, automatic customer record creation, order information transfer, workflow automation, and data synchronization for the ERP systems.

 

ECommerce integration platforms play a pivotal role in streamlining online businesses, enhancing efficiency, and ensuring a seamless customer experience. Key features include:

  • Multi-channel Integration: An eCommerce platform should seamlessly connect and synchronize various sales channels, such as websites, mobile apps, and marketplaces, to centralize data and operations.
  • Order Management: It should also efficiently handle and process orders from multiple sources, providing real-time visibility into inventory levels and order status.
  • Payment Gateway Integration: The platform should facilitate secure and smooth transactions by integrating with diverse payment gateways, supporting various payment methods to enhance customer convenience.
  • Inventory Management: Inventory management integrations should centralize inventory data to prevent overselling, automate stock updates, and optimize order fulfillment processes.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM): The platform should integrate with CRM systems to consolidate customer data, enabling personalized marketing, targeted promotions, and improved customer support.
  • Data Analytics: An eCommerce platform should harness data analytics tools to gain insights into customer behavior, sales trends, and overall business performance, aiding informed decision-making.
  • Shipping and Logistics Integration: ECommerce software integrations should seamlessly connect with shipping and logistics partners to automate shipping processes, calculate accurate shipping costs, and provide real-time tracking.
  • Scalability: The eCommerce integration platform should ensure the platform is scalable to accommodate the growing needs of the business, adapting to increased product lines, traffic, and transaction volumes.
  • Security: An integration platform should Implement robust security measures to protect sensitive data, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and fostering trust.
  • Customization and Flexibility: The eCommerce integration platform should offer a customizable and flexible platform that allows businesses to adapt to their unique requirements, integrating with other tools and technologies effortlessly.

ECommerce integration platforms with these features empower businesses to optimize operations, enhance customer satisfaction, and stay competitive in the dynamic online marketplace.

 

ECommerce integration streamlines inventory management by creating a seamless connection between online platforms and inventory systems. This synergy optimizes real-time tracking, reducing the risk of overstock or stockouts.

Automated updates triggered by online sales ensure accurate inventory levels, preventing discrepancies between online and physical stock. Centralized control facilitates efficient order fulfillment and minimizes manual errors, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

ECommerce integration often also includes features like order processing automation, demand forecasting, and reporting tools, enabling businesses to make informed decisions based on comprehensive data. By harmonizing online sales channels with inventory management software, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction, reduce holding costs, and adapt swiftly to market demands, ultimately fostering a more agile and competitive eCommerce ecosystem.

Fully integrated eCommerce platforms don't just tackle inventory managment integrations. ECommerce integrations also include marketing software, ERP software, eCommerce software, CRM software, and the eCommerce website itself.

 

Integrated solutions enhance efficiency in an eCommerce business through:

  • Automation: Streamlining processes with order processing software, inventory management systems, and customer data updates reduces manual workload and minimizing errors.
  • Centralized Data: Providing a single, unified database for all operations, ensuring real-time data synchronization and consistency across the entire system.
  • Time Savings: Automation of routine tasks allows employees to focus on strategic aspects of the business, such as marketing and customer engagement.
  • Improved Communication: Enhancing communication between different departments by breaking down data silos, fostering collaboration, and facilitating a more cohesive workflow.
  • Enhanced Customer Experience: Utilizing custom integration solutions like customer support software to gather and analyze customer data, enabling personalized experiences, targeted marketing, and efficient customer support.
  • Faster Decision-Making: Access to real-time analytics and reports allows for quick and informed decision-making, helping businesses adapt to market changes promptly.
  • Scalability: Adapting to the changing needs of the business, as integrated solutions are often scalable, accommodating growth without significant disruptions.
  • Resource Optimization: Efficiently allocating resources, both human and technological, to tasks that contribute the most to the overall business goals.
 

Fully integrated eCommerce platforms are comprehensive software solutions that enable businesses to establish and manage online stores. An integrated commerce platform encompasses a wide range of features essential for running an online retail operation smoothly. This includes tools for creating product listings, managing inventory, processing payments, and handling orders.

They often offer customizable website templates and themes to design a visually appealing and user-friendly online storefront. Additionally, integrated content management systems allow for easy creation and editing of web pages.

Fully integrated eCommerce platforms also incorporate marketing and SEO tools, enabling businesses to optimize their online presence, attract traffic, and convert visitors into customers. They frequently include analytics and reporting functionalities, providing insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and other critical metrics.

CRM features are commonly included, helping businesses build and maintain relationships with their clientele. This involves tools for email marketing, customer support, and even loyalty programs.

Furthermore, fully integrated eCommerce platforms often have seamless integrations with third-party services, such as shipping and fulfillment providers, accounting software, and various marketing tools. An ERP system may also be integrated. This ensures a cohesive and efficient operation.

Overall, an integrated platform serves as all-in-one solutions, streamlining the process of establishing and managing an online business, making them highly valuable tools for entrepreneurs and established enterprises alike in the digital commerce landscape.

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Autumn Spriggle is a Content Writer at Clarity Ventures who stays up to date on the latest trends in eCommerce, software development, and related topics to provide readers with the latest and greatest. She strives to help people like you realize the full potential for their eCommerce business.