e-commerce applications in Wholesale

Wholesale eCommerce has given businesses the platform to accelerate sales opportunities. Alongside an eCommerce solution, wholesalers can rely heavily on an accounting/ERP system and/or an inventory management solution to run day-to-day wholesale operations. Yet, despite proficiently implementing systems and applications to perform their specific role within the organisation, they often operate in isolation.

Running multiple business systems that are not integrated results in disparate information, miscommunication and repetitive bi-directional data entry.

Wholesale and eCommerce Integration

One of the biggest challenges wholesale businesses face is having the disconnection between eCommerce and back-end systems. Integrating wholesale eCommerce with an accounting/ERP system and an inventory management solution provides the ability to synchronise information between systems and enables them to talk to each other.

Data integration and synchronization will enable wholesale businesses to streamline day-to-day operations by eradicating repetitive bi-directional data entry. Streamlining manual administration tasks that surround back office activities not only improves speed and data accuracy, it also improves ROI and helps to drive the business forward. Why have an employee wasting valuable time processing orders and keeping an eye on inventory levels when it can be automated?

Here’s a selection of common wholesale eCommerce integration processes that businesses look to automate:

• Synchronisation of orders taken online and offline between systems
• Synchronisation of customer details including payment details and transaction IDs into an accounting/ERP system
• Automatic update of product details, stock levels and pricing to an online web store
• Automated data distribution including price changes, remove from sale notices, end of line information and delivery schedules
• Automatic update of wholesale eCommerce solution with a ‘complete’ or ‘shipped’ status when an invoice or delivery has been created in an accounting/ERP system
• Automatic update of stock levels (including returned stock) to warehouse(s), eCommerce and retail stores
• The creation and distribution of PO requisitions when an eCommerce order depletes stock levels below agreed levels
• Automated order placement with couriers and shipping services

Improving the way that data is processed and documented can play a significant role in improving company performance. Wholesale eCommerce integration can be achieved by deploying business process automation (BPA) functionality. BPA software, such as Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform, provides a positive influence on the performance of an organisations’ systems and applications. Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform facilitates automated business processes between systems and applications that can be set to specific business rules on a scheduled or event-driven basis. This means that data can be passed between systems and applications in real-time without any employee intervention.

The benefits of integrated wholesale eCommerce

Wholesale businesses that have integrated an eCommerce platform with other business systems and automated a number of wholesale processes can achieve the following commercial benefits:

• Removal of repetitive bi-directional data entry and administration errors
• Reduction in processing costs
• Remove the need to recruit seasonal or temporary employees
• Reduction in stock waste
• Optimised inventory levels
• Enhancement to communications between departments
• Increase in the visibility of critical information
• Improved procurement process flow