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Do you wonder, “How do you integrate an Ecommerce website?” This guide offers insights into integrating your Ecommerce site and the benefits. Our five takeaways include:

  • Ecommerce integration is the blending of electronic commerce with data integration.
  • Integrating an Ecommerce website involves linking that site to multiple sales channels, an accounting system, inventory management software, and a good customer relationship management (CRM) program, but that's just an overview.
  • Much of today's commerce is online — Ecommerce — much more than 20 years ago. It isn't a fad. It's an inextricably linked aspect of modern commerce.
  • Integrate.io's new ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) platform with deep Ecommerce capability can pull data from your CRM, enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, APIs, databases, marketing tools, and more. It then sends it to other databases, warehouses, and even Salesforce. Never miss an insight with the lightning-fast CDC platform. Need to send information from a warehouse back to your CRM or ERP? No problem with reverse ETL capability.
  • The greatest benefits of knowing how to integrate an Ecommerce website include easy removal of manually entered or replicated data, enhanced customer experiences, proven data accuracy and integrity, and overall promotion of business growth.

How do you integrate an Ecommerce website? Running a solid Ecommerce retail business often involves several software programs managing your daily operations, along with additional programs handling customer questions and concerns. All this while juggling multiple sales channels and keeping your Ecommerce platform updated. The more siloed your data and the more tools you have to manage all those locations, the more your once simple-to-manage Ecommerce store becomes increasingly complicated. How do you funnel all that data into one place, so you can not only manage the information but also capture the valuable insights the data offers — and apply it to your business? It all depends on how to integrate your Ecommerce website.

Ecommerce retailers are doing increasingly more business in omnichannel environments, highlighting the need for coherent ecosystems management. It presents businesses with the question, "How do you integrate an Ecommerce website?" The days of having a different tool for every task are over. What businesses need is a cohesive Ecommerce ecosystem that automates data streams between all systems and touchpoints. Not only is it easier for the business, it also creates a seamless customer experience in today's omnichannel setting. You can lift your business to this level with ecommerce integration.

But how do you integrate an Ecommerce website? Does it work with Shopify? What about Magento? BigCommerce? WordPress? Etsy? And what are the most important and readily apparent real-world benefits businesses can gain from learning how to integrate an Ecommerce website? We'll get to that in a moment, but first, what exactly is Ecommerce integration, in a nutshell?

What is Ecommerce Integration?

What is Ecommerce integration, and how do you integrate an Ecommerce website? As an overview, Ecommerce integration refers to the connectivity between an Ecommerce online store, its sales channels, and various data management solutions, such as:

  •  An accounting program, like QuickBooks or Square
  •  An inventory management app
  •  A customer relationship management tool

Then, how do you integrate an Ecommerce website? These data management software programs typically connect with the Ecommerce site using application programming interfaces, or APIs. "API integration" facilitates the data sharing between the many endpoints. But when you think of it that way, it's bound to make you wonder just what's going on behind the scenes. How does it all work together so seamlessly? How do you integrate an Ecommerce website?

Business used to be relatively simple: People got in their car, drove to the store, filled a physical cart, and then paid for their purchases in an actual checkout lane using actual cash, check, or a physical credit or debit card. But the growth of technology and the internet turned this accepted convention on its head.

For the businesses that welcomed this additional revenue stream, accepting the challenge of branching out and reaching far more customers wasn’t a question of when they were ready. It was a question of how. And they, too, have wondered, “How do you integrate an Ecommerce website?” Embracing new technology early helped set these companies ahead of their competitors. Businesses that had put off moving into the online space indefinitely got a sudden shove in 2020 when the shift to online-only purchase options became the norm. This shift has since evolved again, with 49% of all Ecommerce payments in 2021 originating from digital or mobile wallets. Business owners see now that Ecommerce activities — and the need for integration support, such as ETL, ELT, and CDC — will continue to grow and evolve.

How do you integrate an Ecommerce website? With Integrate.io. Our data warehousing and integration solution offers a comprehensive integration suite that transforms your own data warehouse into a fully functioning data platform that facilitates comprehensive

  • Authority
  • Prep
  • Acquisition
  • Storage
  • Control
  • Delivery
  • Security
  • Applications and APIs

…for all your organization’s data needs.

Integrate.io users enjoy an ETL platform with reverse ETL capability and lightning-fast change data capture (CDC). Integrate.io has the deep Ecommerce capability, no matter how intricate your online business is.

While Integrate.io doesn't do third-party to third-party data integration, you can pull data from a wide range of sources, such as:

  • Databases
  • Warehouses
  • Marketing tools
  • CRM software
  • ERP tools
  • APIs

Then your data is sent where it needs to go, whether that’s into another database, warehouse, or your Salesforce platform — whatever your business needs. How do you integrate an Ecommerce website? With our integrations.

What Problems Can You Solve with Ecommerce Store Integration?

Every day your commerce website is disconnected means you have tools, programs, software, and more all generating data — talking — but not to each other. You’re losing out on all those insights without a robust Ecommerce solution. Other problems tied to this clear disconnect include:

  • Mishandling of resources, such as a lack of time management, proper staff scheduling, and mismanaged financial planning
  • Illogical use of time
  • Order fulfillment issues
  • Lack of preparedness and inability to function during peak sales loads
  • Careless client support and no real-time visibility into customer touchpoints or exchanges
  • Lack of cooperation between departments
  • Human-introduced errors in data entry, which botch the entire process and ruin the customer experience
  • Data update delays, leading to lack of visibility into inventory, pricing, and products
  • Missed connections, because all data that’s not harnessed is lost, taking valuable insights with it
  • Constant shifts in priorities, ongoing changes in strategy, and overall poor decision-making
  • If neglected indefinitely, the entire organization could suffer beyond repair

And all of this comes down to one missing link: Neglecting integration.

But what if your business doesn’t know how to integrate an Ecommerce website? Partnering with Integrate.io can keep you on your intended trajectory by turning on real-time data “conversations” between your Ecommerce site and every other system you use.

Benefits of Learning How to Integrate an Ecommerce Website

The consequences of not integrating are steep. An integrated Ecommerce solution and dedicated payment gateway can propel you far beyond your competitors and give you the “edge” you need to remain relevant and always prepared. Think of all the businesses in 2019 that hadn’t yet stepped up their Ecommerce game, or the millions of companies and small businesses that didn’t have an online footprint at all.

2020 arrived in a tidal wave. Many businesses were fortunate enough to already be online. Others simply needed to add some additional functionality to their existing framework. Unfortunately, there were companies that had never asked, “How do I integrate an Ecommerce website?” and that tidal wave swept those businesses out to sea.

The benefits of Ecommerce integration are innumerable, but some of the most prominent — the benefits you recognize from day one — include:

Eliminating duplicate data

Integration stores all your data in one central hub, rather than interfacing through multiple other systems first. The constant exchange of information during interfacing can inadvertently cause some of that information to be replicated. Integration improves accuracy of both product and customer data.

Plus, having an integrated Ecommerce system practically eliminates manual data. Manual data tends to have a whole set of challenges that, if not adequately addressed, can cause problems, not the least of which is an incompatibility with the entire concept of integration. If you have manual data prior to integration, there’s a high likelihood that data can be replicated or lost.

Optimizing time spent

How many processes do you think your business performs in a day? Integrating Ecommerce lets you spend less time on your day-to-day and more time on the tasks that truly matter. Ecommerce integration optimizes your day by automating many of your manual, repetitive, or time-consuming back-end tasks. Plus, it helps save time and improves the speed at which data transfers occur between systems. That's because each other system interacts with only one other system — the integration — rather than communicating multiple times with multiple, spread-out tools.

Managing customer experiences

It used to be “the customer is always right,” even at the expense of the business. This isn’t the case anymore. While businesses always strive to do right by their loyal customers, today’s businesses understand that, as much as they need their customers, their customers also need that business’s products or services. Today’s technology plays an important role in how well a business gets to know its customers. Having an omnichannel approach is one thing, but if you have data coming in from all directions without the means to properly use it, your efforts are for nothing.

Companies that went omnichannel in 2020 did so because they understood the importance of integration. But knowing why integration is important and knowing how to integrate an Ecommerce website isn’t the same thing. Partnering with Integrate.io can help you actually see the bigger picture, get the cleanest data, and use the information for more strategic planning. After all, taking care of your business is taking care of your customers, and vice versa.

Assuring the accuracy and integrity of your data

Information is power.

That statement is true whether you apply it to your company or your life. But truly powerful information is accurate. Inaccurate information doesn’t support your business. If you make a major business or financial decision based on inaccurate information, it can cost you more than if you’d never had any information at all.

Your business relies on information, and this information comes from your data — your data is information. When you have the right data, it can help you lay the groundwork to remain competitive and respected.

Pricing data, inventory numbers, and customer details must be accurate for any of it to be meaningful. Clean, accurate, and meaningful data can keep your customers loyal and less likely to look to your competitors for what they currently buy from you.

Growing your business

This is the ultimate goal. Sometimes growth is achieved by aggressively expanding into new territories. Sometimes businesses experience growth by reaching out to a brand-new target market. But the ultimate way to achieve actual, sustainable growth and improved conversion rates is by cultivating and maintaining the customer relationships you already have as you strategize how to extend your customer base.

Making sure your existing customers remain satisfied while you’re looking for new customers helps ensure you keep your current customers. Customers who are especially happy with your service tend to tell other people they know. Word-of-mouth, especially on social media and online marketplaces, shouldn’t be overlooked.

How do you integrate an ecommerce website while trying to grow a business? Well, integrating keeps the business agile. The world changed in 2020, forever altering the world of commerce. People began staying home more, and to compensate for drastic business losses, businesses moved their brick-and-mortar stores to the web. Over time, these businesses developed a rhythm, adding plugins for easier accessibility and more functionality, improving customer support, boosting audience engagement, and creating better user experiences. In the time since, people have grown accustomed to buying where they want, when they want, and with the payment method they feel most comfortable with, whether it’s a debit or credit card, mobile wallet, or contactless. This isn’t something that’s likely to change.

Integrating Ecommerce Using ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools help businesses manage daily tasks. How do you integrate an Ecommerce website and ERP? An ERP solution often automates time- and attention-intensive activities, such as:

  • Project management
  • Risk assessments
  • Risk management
  • Supply chain procedures
  • Procurement and product information
  • Accounting
  • Human resources

Automating these tasks dramatically reduces the manual performance of complex business processes, thereby reducing the amount a business spends on payroll.

ERP tools help fill in gaps, which allows staff to work on more specialized aspects of the company.

Some of the more common tasks ERP products help with include

  • Order placement
  • Updating customers
  • Sending price changes to the right processing equipment
  • Updating changes to inventory

Integrating Ecommerce Using CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) software handles communications between businesses and their clients or customers. A CRM also serves as a reference point for personnel when answering questions or offering solutions to customer questions and concerns.

How do you integrate an Ecommerce website and a CRM? What are the benefits of a CRM and Ecommerce integration? Some benefits that stand out most in favor of a business (and its customers) include

  • Improving the relationship between business and customer, as well as offering customers a more targeted experience
  • With improved customer experiences, marketing and sales see a boost
  • Planning resources becomes easier and more manageable
  • Businesses limit their losses

How Can Integrate.io Help?

Integrate.io is a cloud-based ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) solution that provides simple visualized data pipelines for automated data flows across a wide range of sources and destinations. The company's powerful on-platform transformation tools allow its customers to transform, normalize, and clean their data while also adhering to compliance best practices.

How do you integrate an Ecommerce website? If you want to learn how to integrate an Ecommerce website, the following is a short-list of Integrate.io’s features and capabilities.

Integrate.io can:

  • Centralize all your data from anywhere, whether it’s in data stores (databases, third-party apps, CRMs), or a data warehouse (BigQuery, Redshift, and more) and connect this data warehouse to a BI tool such as Tableau or Looker. It’s the perfect Ecommerce platform for Ecommerce businesses.
  • Integrate.io centralizes all marketing efforts, such as Google Ads, Facebook, Twitter, and more, while also pooling all your sales data (from Salesforce, for example) to find the best-performing marketing channels.
  • Move and internally transform your data between your own data stores, such as migrating a MySQL database to a PostgreSQL database.
  • Enrich your Salesforce account by sending your lead source data directly from any marketing channels, apps, etc. into Salesforce or Heroku Postgres DB, using Heroku Connect to complete the sync.

Integrate.io's platform helps Ecommerce business organizations integrate, process, and prepare data for analytics on the cloud. By providing a platform with code-free data integration and transformation features, both developers and non-developers can build rich data pipelines. Integrate.io's scalable platform ensures businesses can quickly and easily benefit from the opportunities offered by big data without having to invest in hardware, software, or related personnel. How do you integrate an Ecommerce website? To learn more, send us an email or Schedule a Demo.