From boosting sales figures to analyzing financial data, managing eCommerce store business processes takes a lot of hard work.
eCommerce store owners often sell on several platforms and use multiple suppliers and software tools to run their businesses.
Having separate systems that don’t talk to each other is a recipe for siloed data, manual tasks, and errors.
Fortunately, eCommerce integration streamlines things so store owners can focus on what matters most: serving customers.
But what, exactly, is eCommerce integration? And how do you use it for your online business?
In this guide, we’ll break down the most common types of eCommerce integrations and show you how to make integration work for your business.
What is eCommerce Integration?
eCommerce integration connects all of your eCommerce business software and systems.
Instead of managing everything separately, the right integration builds a unified system where all of the components of your online business function in harmony.
Every eCommerce integration is a little different, but these tools can unify several processes into a single eCommerce integration platform, including:
- Inventory management
- Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Payment gateways
- Data integration between accounting software, marketing tools, and sales channels
- Multichannel management for inventory levels across all online platforms, including social media platforms
Custom solutions are also an option.
You’ll likely need to hire a developer, but custom eCommerce software integrations are perfect for solving unique business challenges that off-the-shelf integrations can’t address.
To give you a better understanding of ecommerce integrations, let’s have a look at the seven most common types of integrations.
Seven Common Types of Integrations
If you can dream of it, there’s an integration for it. There are numerous types of integrations on the market, but these are the most important for running an online store.
1. Inventory Management Integration
Inventory integrations sync your eCommerce platform with your inventory management systems. This ensures real-time stock level tracking, which is a must-have for preventing stockouts.
For example, integrating a platform like Shopify with an inventory system like Zoho Inventory helps businesses manage stock levels efficiently across multiple sales channels.
2. CRM Integration
Integrate your CRM system with an eCommerce platform to personalize marketing and improve customer data management.
For example, maybe you integrate your Salesforce CRM with your eCommerce website so you can track customer interactions and tailor your marketing based on that data.
3. ERP Integration
Small businesses don’t usually have ERPs, but if you run a larger eCommerce business, you might have one in place for processing orders, accounting, or supply chain management.
Some businesses integrate an ERP like SAP with eCommerce platforms, like Magento, to centralize all business operations in the same dashboard.
4. Marketplace Integration
Plenty of eCommerce businesses sell on multiple platforms. But selling on Amazon, eBay, your website, and social media takes a lot of resources.
Spark Shipping’s eCommerce site integration simplifies selling on multiple marketplaces. Automate data exchange between Amazon, BigCommerce, eBay, Magento, Shopify, and more to streamline customer management, order fulfillment, and inventory management in one user-friendly dashboard.
5. Payment Gateway Integration
This type of eCommerce integration connects your eCommerce store with various payment processors, which gives customers more flexibility when it’s time to pay their bills.
For example, PayPal integrates with WooCommerce to provide customers with a fast, secure way to complete their purchases.
6. Shipping and Fulfillment Integration
Shipping and fulfillment require a complex interchange of logistics data that store owners can’t manage manually. This type of integration streamlines the entire process, connecting your integration platform with a shipping and fulfillment service.
For example, you can integrate FedEx or UPS services with platforms like BigCommerce to automate the shipping process.
Some eCommerce integrations will even price-match shipping rates to help you choose the lowest-cost shipping option every time.
7. Vendor Integration
Who do you buy your products from? Chances are, you source from multiple vendors. That’s a great way to ensure in-stock items at all times, but it’s tricky managing multiple vendor feeds.
Spark Shipping’s vendor integrations simplify the entire process by connecting your systems with multiple vendors at once.
Not only does it automate the exchange of product data, inventory levels, and order fulfillment with vendors, but it automatically sources the lowest-cost, in-stock vendor for each order to maximize your revenue.
If you need something more custom, don’t sweat it—we’ve got something for that, too. Spark Shipping helped iShop Nutrition build custom API integrations for vendors that didn’t offer pre-built integrations.
This made it possible for iShop to automate areas of its business that the team previously handled manually, saving tons of time and effort.
Seven Benefits of Integration for an eCommerce Platform
Who has time to jump from platform to platform? Integrating your systems and applications has many benefits, ultimately making your online business more profitable and efficient.
1. Streamlined Operations
Without an eCommerce integration, you have to go from platform to platform to keep your business running. That adds up to a lot of wasted effort and focus.
eCommerce integration reduces the complexity of managing all of these systems separately.
By linking your inventory management software, customer relationship management systems, ERP systems, and other solutions, you centralize your operations for smoother workflows and better operational efficiency.
2. Accurate, Real-time Data
Integration ensures seamless data exchange between your platforms and applications, usually in real time.
This improved speed and accuracy in eCommerce data integration eliminates discrepancies in inventory levels, pricing data, and customer data, ensuring your systems always have the most up-to-date information.
3. Better Customer Satisfaction
Integrating systems will actually give your shoppers more personalized, responsive service. This improves customer satisfaction and builds long-term trust.
For example, synchronizing your CRM with your eCommerce platform makes it easy to deliver personalized marketing messages, product recommendations, and faster customer service.
Over time, that translates into improved customer loyalty that drives purchasing behavior.
4. Reduce Errors
Typos and errors cost your business time and money. And nobody likes manual data entry, anyway.
Fortunately, eCommerce integration automates the transfer of data between systems, minimizing the need for manual data entry.
This significantly reduces the likelihood of errors, boosting data reliability while saving time.
5. Boost Inventory Management Accuracy
Integrate your inventory management systems with your eCommerce platform to ensure that stock levels automatically update as shoppers make purchases.
You never have to worry about stockouts or overstocks again, giving shoppers a better experience while enabling better inventory planning for your business. It's a win-win!
6. Streamline Order Processing
You probably sell products on multiple platforms, including your own website and Amazon, eBay, or Walmart. Processing cross-platform orders takes a lot of effort, especially when you have lots of orders.
eCommerce integration is the perfect solution for multi-channel eCommerce sales because it streamlines order processing.
Integration facilitates the smooth flow of order information from the eCommerce platform to order processing and fulfillment systems. This speeds up order processing, boosts order accuracy, and improves customer satisfaction.
7. Business Growth
Systems become more complex as your eCommerce business grows. An integrated system scales more efficiently, supporting increased transaction volume and more complex operations—without more time or resources.
Challenges of Integration for eCommerce Platforms
eCommerce integration is definitely the future, but this tool isn’t without its problems. While they aren’t deal-breakers, you’ll need to plan for these challenges before implementing integration.
Complexity
Plenty of integration tools make it easy to integrate systems, but even then, things don’t always go smoothly.
All eCommerce tools and platforms have different APIs, data structures, and features, which make integration surprisingly complex. It isn’t unusual for tools to suddenly become incompatible or require a special setup to work properly.
This isn’t the end of the world, though. For peace of mind, it’s best to hire a developer to integrate everything for you and maintain those integrations over time.
If that’s not an option, use an integration tool offering implementation or setup help. This way, you aren’t on your own when it’s time to set everything up.
Data Consistency
It’s hard to guarantee consistent, accurate data across your integrated systems.
Sometimes, there’s a discrepancy during the data exchange process. This can lead to inaccurate inventory levels, pricing errors, and mismanaged customer data.
You can overcome data accuracy problems by regularly checking your eCommerce integration setup.
If you do spot an issue, tell the eCommerce integration platform ASAP—it’s likely an issue with the connection.
Cost
eCommerce integration has a great return on investment (ROI) but comes with upfront costs.
The integration software usually will have a subscription cost and upfront setup fees. If you want custom solutions, you’ll also pay extra to hire external consultants or developers for the job.
It’s tempting to do everything you can to reduce implementation costs, but remember, eCommerce integration will save you time and money in the long run.
This is an investment, so ensure you have the budget for a high-quality solution.
Security Concerns
Integration is awesome, but you’re creating connections between separate systems, which comes with an increased risk of data breaches.
You should always take cybersecurity seriously if you handle customer data, but even more so if you use eCommerce integrations to process this data.
Maintenance and Performance
eCommerce integrations work well, but like any software solution, they require maintenance over time.
All of your integrated systems will upgrade and change, so you’ll need to conduct regular updates to ensure compatibility and functionality.
Ask your eCommerce integration provider if they offer this.
If not, you may want to hire a developer to manage these time-intensive upgrades.
eCommerce Integration Implementation Tips
Implementing eCommerce integrations in your business is a game-changer, but it requires careful planning. Follow these tips to get the most out of integrations.
Choose The Right Platform for Your Requirements
Before you start integrating systems, clearly define what you’re doing and why. What’s the purpose? Does it actually make sense to integrate your systems?
It might sound a little corny, but knowing your “why” will help you select the best eCommerce integration solution for the job.
Once you know your goals, pick a platform that best aligns with your business needs.
It’s smart to go with a vendor that offers custom integrations, like Spark Shipping, so you can build something tailored to meet your specific requirements and unique vendor relationships.
We also recommend going with a platform that can grow as your business grows. Get a provider that can handle an increasing volume of transactions as you scale over time.
Otherwise, you’ll have to make a time-consuming migration to another integration platform once the business scales, and nobody wants that.
Prioritize Security
Data breaches are no laughing matter. They could cost your business thousands in regulatory fines, not to mention lost customer trust and revenue.
Ensure your integrations adhere to data protection regulations at a minimum.
Robust security measures might seem like overkill, but it’s best to err on the side of caution when you’re handling sensitive customer data.
Prioritize security by:
- Only hiring reputable integration partners
- Regularly auditing your security
- Using SSL data transmission
- Enabling two-factor authentication
- Updating all software and integrations
- Educating and training your team on common phishing scams and security breaches
- Only using secure APIs
Test Thoroughly
Integrations and automations are helpful, but only if they work properly. Configuration can be confusing, so always test these connections before pushing them live.
Conduct comprehensive testing to identify any issues before customers enter the picture. It’s better to release a perfect integration than a glitchy, broken one that causes problems.
Get Expert Help When You Need It
eCommerce integrations sometimes need an expert hand, especially if something breaks. If that happens, don’t try to fix it yourself! It’s usually faster, cheaper, and better to ask an expert to troubleshoot issues or manage complex integrations for you.
Spark Shipping: Your All-In-One eCommerce Integration Platform
Whether you’re processing one order a day or one thousand, you probably don’t have time to process everything manually. eCommerce integration is the smartest way to streamline your operations, enhance the customer experience, and drive growth.
The trick is finding the right eCommerce integration tool, and that’s where Spark Shipping comes in.
Take your eCommerce business to the next level with our integration software. Not only does it streamline vendor data, but it also manages fulfillment, order tracking, and everything in between.
While we’re happy to build custom integrations, Spark Shipping has a huge library of pre-built integrations ready to go.
Check out our integrations now to kick-start your eCommerce automation journey.