For Those Who Want to Learn the Subtleties of E-Commerce: What is Integration?

E-commerce is one of the fastest and most practical methods for businesses today. However, handling several platforms, order processing, and payment procedures by hand can be difficult and time-consuming. This is where integrations come into play, they not only save you time but also increase the efficiency of your business by allowing you to manage everything from a single point.

 

What is E-Commerce Integration?

 

While the dictionary definition of "integration" is "unification" and "harmony," e-commerce integration refers to the procedure that makes it possible for an e-commerce platform to function harmoniously with other programs and systems. This process simplifies automatic data flow between different software, helping the e-commerce store manage its business processes more efficiently, quickly, and without errors. Integration applications, which consolidate and organize data, make adjustments that are difficult to do manually easier with real-time data entries. Furthermore, they also bring extra functionality to the website and remove the need for manual data entry by combining multiple platforms into a single panel.

 

Why Does E-Commerce Needs Integration?

 

Integration systems improve the effectiveness and organization of e-commerce operations by combining various software applications and programs into one primary system. Accounting, virtual POS, and marketplaces are just a few examples of the systems that can be integrated into an e-commerce website to cooperate and automatically exchange data. As a result, business owners can easily manage all their digital operations from a single user interface. Integrations speed up e-commerce processes, reduce the error rate, and increase business efficiency.

 

What Are the Types of Integration?

 

E-commerce integration is divided into various types according to different needs and functions. There are many types of integration, such as accounting, virtual POS, and marketplace integration, that businesses can use based on their needs. Some of these are:

 

• Accounting integration 

• E-invoice integration 

• Virtual POS integration 

• Marketplace integration 

• Shipping and logistics integration 

• Supplier integration 

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) integration 

• Social media integration 

• Marketing integration 

• Call center integration 

• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integration.

 

Accounting Integration:

 

Accounting integrations automatically transfer financial transactions such as sales and purchases, along with stock movements, from e-commerce platforms to accounting software. This reduces manual entries and eliminates the possibility of errors in reporting. Through accounting software integrated into the e-commerce platform, the company's financial and stock data can be tracked and managed in real-time.

 

E-Invoice Integration:

 

E-invoice integrations eliminate the need to manually prepare invoices for sales on the e-commerce site. This integration allows e-invoices to be automatically generated for sales on the site. As a result, it is possible to automatically transfer e-invoices to the necessary system without needing manual adjustments.

 

Virtual POS Integration

 

Virtual POS integrations enable payments to be accepted via credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, digital and mobile wallets on the e-commerce site. Thanks to this integration, businesses can accept online payments easily, quickly, and securely.

 

Marketplace Integration

 

Marketplace integrations connect the e-commerce site with platforms like Trendyol and Hepsiburada where products will be sold. With this integration, the listing of products on marketplaces, order tracking, and stock management processes are handled automatically. Thus, it becomes possible to manage and track sales, stock status, orders, and shipping operations on marketplaces from a single panel.

 

Shipping and Logistics Integration

 

Shipping and logistics integrations enable orders to be automatically sent to shipping companies, receive automatic price quotes from logistics companies, print shipping labels, track logistics data, and share tracking numbers with customers. This way, instead of manually entering information for each order, the data processing becomes automated, making the process faster and easier.

 

Supplier Integration

 

Supplier integrations establish connections with suppliers that you work with. Through this integration, you can automatically view the products that suppliers need.

 

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Integration

 

ERP integrations improve the management of the e-commerce platform by allowing stock, supply chain, production processes, and financial processes to be controlled and monitored from a single platform.

 

Social Media Integration

 

Social media integrations connect the site to social media platforms to enable e-commerce on different platforms and access to data. With this integration, you can display products in posts on social media accounts like Instagram, receive data about customers visiting your site from social media platforms, and sell products directly through social media accounts.

 

Marketing Integration:

 

Marketing integrations add various marketing features to the e-commerce site, allowing you to gain better insights into your digital marketing efforts and manage these activities more effectively.

 

Call Center Integration

 

Customer services and call centers are digitalized through call center integrations. Through this integration, calls and customer relations procedures are digitally managed, and customer support can be provided via different communication channels.

 

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Integration

 

CRM integration enhances the management of customer data. With this integration, you can improve after-sales services and customer loyalty programs, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

 

What Are the Benefits of Integration in E-Commerce?

 

E-commerce integrations offer businesses numerous advantages by improving internal operations and customer experiences. The benefits of integration include data consistency, time savings, and more. Some of these benefits are:

 

• Data consistency 

• Time savings 

• Error Rate Reduction   

• Competitive advantage 

• Scalability 

 

Data Consistency

 

With integrations, data such as stock status, order details, and customer information is automatically updated on a single platform, allowing it to be managed accurately without errors.

 

Time Savings

 

 Integrations automate processes that business owners would otherwise have to handle manually, making operations much faster. This minimizes time losses for business owners.

 

Error Rate Reduction

 

Integrations reduce error rates by automating manual data entry processes. This reduces the possibility of errors in organizational processes and enhances customer satisfaction.

 

Competitive Advantage

 

E-commerce platforms have an advantage over competitors in the market when they can process orders, stock, and customer data more rapidly and precisely through integrations.

 

Scalability

 

Integrations that adapt to all business processes prevent issues that may arise during the growth phase of businesses and simplify these processes.

 

What Conveniences Do Integrations Provide for Businesses in E-Commerce?

 

E-commerce integrations help business owners save time by automating business procedures. They also give business owners convenience by allowing control of systems from a single panel with real-time data flow. Integrations make it easier to track and manage stocks, improve order management processes, and manage shipping processes with convenience. Therefore, in addition to saving time, ensuring customer satisfaction becomes easier for businesses.

 

What Infrastructures Are Used in Integrations?

 

E-commerce infrastructures ensure that an e-commerce site reaches the necessary features and offers them to customers. These integrations generally use cloud-based solutions or APIs. APIs serve as a tool that allows systems to exchange data with each other. E-commerce platform integrations are typically carried out using three main infrastructures. These infrastructures can be listed as follows:

 

• API-based integrations 

• Cloud-based integrations 

• XML and CSV file-based integrations 

 

API-Based Integrations

 

API-based integrations are the most common method used for data exchange between e-commerce systems and third-party software. The most widely used APIs are Restful APIs and SOAP APIs.

 

Cloud-Based Integrations

 

Cloud-based integrations are preferred mainly by large businesses that manage their entire business processes through cloud-based platforms. These platforms provide businesses superior security by providing cloud-based software integration options.

 

XML and CSV File-Based Integrations

 

XML and CSV file-based integrations enable data exchange by periodically exporting data and submitting it to the platform to be integrated. These integrations can be a simple solution for small and medium-sized companies.

 

Sources: 1, 2, 3.