How NetSuite Shopify Integration Makes Business Easier

The online marketplace is highly competitive with hundreds of businesses literally offering the same products and services as yours. So, how do you intend to stand out amongst the competition?

Well, for once you need to become the “brand” and not just a commodity. If you have been into the online industry, you must have to stumble upon a popular front-end web development platform – Shopify. The platform is known to offer businesses looking to establish an online presence a unique opportunity to easily set up their stores without any technical knowledge. Furthermore, the platform offers robust functionalities and features that help online stores stand out amongst the competition and grow rapidly.

However, even with all the positive features of Shopify, at the end of the day, it’s just a front-end platform and you need a robust back-end system like NetSuite ERP to effectively manage all backend operations and improve productivity and efficiency.

But these two are essentially separate systems, which don’t integrate easily. Still, integrating these two systems opens up the doors of endless opportunity for businesses; allowing them to automate various business processes and systems, while vastly improving the efficiency and productivity of operations. For instance, businesses can automate real-time data flow between inventory management and order tracking, thereby, they can be sure of never getting out-of-stock for orders.

Well, below we will be looking at how NetSuite Shopify integration makes things easier for businesses, while also briefly discussing the integration process (which definitely is a complex process).

So let’s begin…

Advantages of NetSuite Shopify Integration

In today’s highly competitive online industry, eCommerce stores require a robust and comprehensive ERP system. That can tackle various backend business operations and help them to expand at their pace.

With NetSuite Shopify integration, eCommerce stores essentially get to automate the real-time data flow between various crucial business systems. By integration, the NetSuite ERP system to the Shopify stores. The entire business data generated across various business functions are synced automatically. This not only vastly improves the efficiency of data management. But also helps improve the accuracy of data by eliminating error-prone human data entry. Also, since the integration allows for real-time data synchronization between multiple departments it help businesses keep up with the performance and take timely actions where requires.

For instance, with NetSuite ERP integration with Shopify stores, businesses can automate inventory stocking, based on the historical order patterns including seasonal variation in sales. All of this is achieved by advanced analytics tools offered by the ERP system, which is able to feed the historic orders data into the system and estimate inventory requirements. Similarly, with data synchronization between various departments, the marketing department is able to access crucial insights into customers’ data including their preferences and shopping patterns. Subsequently, they can improve the marketing campaigns by sending customized emailers or promotional offers to improve the leads and sales generation. You can check the Shopify Facebook product feed.

NetSuite Shopify Integration

As mentioned above, NetSuite Shopify integration may offer great benefits for online stores; however, achieving the right integration isn’t the easiest feat. Nonetheless, here are three widely used implementing approaches for NetSuite Shopify integration;

Point-to-Point Integration

According to FourCreeds, Point-to-point integration is the simplest and fastest approach for NetSuite Shopify connection. As can be taken by name, the approach essentially points data between two nodes for seamless data synchronization; without any operational platform required in-between. This also means that businesses have more control over the type of systems for which they want to manage data.

While this may be a simple and effective approach, it is inherently less flexible as compared to other approaches. Also, since this approach connects two nodes (Point-to-point), integration of various functions may make it much complex for the liking of large businesses. Thereby, the Point-to-point approach is best suited for small businesses operating with a limited set of operations.

2. Custom NetSuite Shopify integration

The Custom NetSuite Shopify integration approach essentially enables businesses to customized the integration process as they require. This is done through application programming interfaces (APIs), which are used to connect these two platforms, while also allows writing for custom codes for integration. The custom integration approach is much more superior and flexible as compared to the Point-to-point approach and enables the handling of many complex operations. This essentially makes it suitable for SMEs and fast-growing businesses.

3. Saas-Based Middleware Integration

Lastly, we have the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) integration approach which is essentially the best possible approach. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) approach utilizes cloud-based platforms that operate as the operational hub that is used to integrate NetSuite and Shopify. This is why this approach is also called hub-spoke models.

While the SaaS-based middle integration approach for NetSuite Shopify connection is a highly flexible, robust, and effective model, the high price limits its application to small businesses.

Integration Checklist

Systems integration is inherently a complex process as it essentially requires creating a bridge between two standalone platforms that aren’t meant to communicate with each other. That’s why it’s important to choose the right NetSuite Shopify integration partner who got the expertise, resources, and experience to seamlessly execute each stage of integration. Nonetheless, here are some important aspects to consider for NetSuite Shopify Integration;

–         Background Checks

Before you move on with the integration process, it’s important to research the various steps and processes involved in the integration. Also, make sure you know the bottlenecks, which may arise at any stage of the process. The key here is to have the right integration partner that can help you to understand the entire process and inform you of potential disruptions you may experience along the way.

–         Documentation

Unfortunately, most of the integration projects are undertaken without any discussion or consideration for documentation. Documentation for the integration system is important since it improves the communication between the integration teams. Any repetition in the documents or incomplete documents may lead to added complexity and disruptions during the integration process.

–         Data Volume

Before you move on with integration, it’s important for you to have a realistic idea of existing and future data volumes. Moving on with the integration process without considering the expected increase in data volume in the future may result in inadequate integration, which will add to the loss of time, resources, as well as, cause business disruptions. Thereby, if you are expecting fast growth in the future, the best approach is to utilize a scalable integration solution like SaaS, which can grow with your business.

–         Technical Resources

Lastly, you should ensure the availability of adequate technical resources to undertake the integration process. In general, most companies (even enterprises with dedicated IT departments) don’t have the adequate in-house technical expertise to undertake the integration process on their own. Thereby, the best practice is to hire a reliable, and experienced NetSuite Shopify integration partner that can help you with a seamless integration process without any unnecessary delays or business disruption.

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