Data integration and automation of ERPs is a growing need of the industry. Not only do they reduce data redundancies and input errors, but they also streamline all e-commerce work processes while cutting down on manpower needs. So, integrating one’s ERP with Amazon’s digital market, the world leader when it comes to e-commerce stores, should pique the interest of any ambitious business owner.
Amazon is the biggest there is when it comes to e-commerce stores and is a lucrative asset to sellers who wants to reach a wider audience globally. For this aspiring sellers, Amazon provides them Amazon Seller Central, a digital platform that streamlines the process of selling products by third-party vendors, by taking care of the logistics of storage, delivery of the products, and easy transfer of payments directly to the vendor’s bank account.
What is ERP Integration?
Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software has become an industry standard for almost every business. Almost all businesses have back-end ERP software to manage their company resources and keep track of crucial data related to their customers, logistics, finances, operations, etc.
So, what is ERP integration then? ERP integration is simply the process of connecting the back-end ERP software to the other business software, such as the front-end e-commerce store, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, and database containing important data points, like data related to marketing analytics, customer demographics, logistics, etc. So, in short, ERP integrations streamline the workflow for all the other business software and make them work in harmony while providing the user with synchronized and unified data.
Why integrate your ERP with Amazon?
So, a seller gets their Amazon Seller Central account setup and starts selling on Amazon. That’s all well and good, then why bother connecting their business ERP to Amazon then? That’s a very astute question.
Let us take look at the advantages of integrating a business ERP with Amazon Seller Central.
1. Reduced Manual Workflow
Let’s take for instance a customer places an order on the e-commerce store of a seller, now the ERP system of the business has no idea about this order because they are not connected to each other. So, someone needs to manually enter the order details into the ERP system. Now 10-20 orders are not difficult to enter, but Amazon has a huge customer base, so the number of orders coming in on a regular basis will increase significantly, and manually entering all those data will require unrealistically large manpower. Integrating the ERP with the front-end Amazon store automates the data entry process and reduces the manpower needed.
2. Time Efficiency
The reduced manual workflow also brings with it another advantage that is a better utilization of time. Time is a crucial resource that once spent cannot be earned back no matter what. So efficient use of time is crucial in order to attain success. With an automated integrated ERP system, all data is updated in real-time which means negligible loss of time, which in comparison to manual data entry, which can take up to hours if not days or weeks.
3. Error-Free Data
One of the bigger advantages of an integrated ERP is the reduced human error in data entry. Manual data entry is very prone to redundant data and data errors. Such errors can perpetuate through all the other systems as well making it very difficult to rectify them as well. An integrated system straight up removes the human element, making the data inconsistency issue impossible.
4. Efficient Data Processing
Amazon being a huge e-commerce site will generate a lot of data for the seller, things like most in-demand products, products that are inventory, customer demographic, customer feedback, orders placed, orders shipped, orders delivered, transactions completed, etc. With an integrated system, all this data is processed and updated in real-time, making any relevant data required readily available. This ready availability of data is not available for a non-integrated system where data update is done manually.
5. Increased Sales Conversation
The end objective of the seller is to convert the customers visiting the seller’s page on Amazon into actual buyers of the products. With the help of the integrated ERP system with Amazon’s website, these prospective customers are easily converted into leads and eventually buyers. This is achieved by streamlining the process of recording data about the leads from the e-commerce store to the CRM software which enables the respective teams to work in coordination to convert thess leads into actual customers. The more effective and directed customer support and interaction act as a double fold benefit where there is an increase in customer satisfaction and repeated returning customers increase revenue generation as well.
Conclusion
By looking at the above advantages a seller gets by integrating their ERP systems with Amazon’s Seller Central platform, we can come to an easy conclusion that, an integrated ERP system not only streamlines the workflow and reduce errors but also reduces the manpower need and increase profits as well.
Don’t already have an integrated ERP system? Looking for the best in class integration platform to integrate your Amazon Seller Central account with your in-house ERP system? Look no further! APPseCONNECT is an intelligent and robust integration platform that helps you connect and integrate ERP systems efficiently, enabling the free flow of important business data securely. By operating as an iPaaS industry, APPSeCONNECT proves to be a best-in-the-class platform that easily connects systems and automates the business process.
Now, you can easily connect Amazon Seller Central with all your business applications under one single platform to automate the business process!
