Is an ERP System Worthwhile for Your E-commerce Business?

Why do you need an ERP system? Those who want to sell in e-commerce usually use their own online shop. The goal? Growth and satisfied customers. Numbers, data, facts - these can initially be found predominantly in Excel spreadsheets. The corresponding data is manually entered step by step.

This works until the shop becomes more successful and the company grows. Different departments, time-delayed data maintenance and transparency is lost. Just like an overview of the most important key figures.

 

The automation of all business processes is the basis for processing processes faster with less resources, increasing customer satisfaction and standing up to the competition. This doesn't work long-term with even the best Excel list.

In this post you will learn why companies need an ERP, what advantages and disadvantages there are and what is involved in implementation. If you already say "yes, I do", you will finally find out which software is really worthwhile.

Why should companies use ERP systems in e-commerce?

The e-commerce industry is booming: Almost every day new companies appear on the scene, increasing competitive pressure. Those who want to hold their own against the competition must above all be: efficient.

But those who are starting an online shop usually start small. Orders, inventory and invoices are manually recorded, usually with the help of various Excel spreadsheets. Increasing success in the form of orders and new customers leads to new problems in this case.

Due to different manual systems and lists, a real-time overview of the company is no longer possible. This allows errors to creep in and irregularities and market changes react far too late.

An example: You manage your inventory manually using an Excel spreadsheet. The current numbers are regularly transmitted to you. On some days, particularly many orders are triggered in a short period of time. The orders must be individually matched with the inventory, which takes time. During this time, significantly more customers can click the "Order" button than is actually possible. Your product is already "out of stock". This leads to your customers having to wait much longer for their goods and being angry.

No e-commerce company wants to get into this situation. No matter whether it's a start-up or an existing company, efficient processes and an overview of your own KPIs are the key to success.

An Entrepreneur Resource Planning system (short: ERP) makes exactly that possible. What is the ERP system?It supports all business areas in a company as cross-functional software. A shop mainly lives from an efficient backend. All numbers and expenses within a company are important. Not only the turnover counts, but also the reduction of internal process costs. A missing ERP system makes the real-time overview of your company difficult.

With an ERP, on the other hand, you can remove bottlenecks, reduce manual work to a minimum and establish targeted processes. This speeds up, for example, delivery times, adjusts marketing measures sensibly and provides reliable inventory planning. But that's not all.

Use of an ERP system

What are the advantages and disadvantages of ERP systems in e-commerce?

An ERP has many advantages. It is clearly to be distinguished from a inventory management system. Unlike this, an ERP system can map processes holistically and cross-departmentally. A WaWi has a much more limited range of functions.

ERP systems - advantages:

• Mapping of production
• Safe inventory planning
• Automatic offer and order entry
• Storage of all customer data in one place
• All article information at a glance
• Omnichannel-capable: Almost every platform (e.g. Amazon or Shopify) can be connected to the ERP
• Detailed controlling (reports, statistics)
• Transparent cooperation, also cross-departmental
• Interfaces to third-party systems like Hubspot
• Tracking sales
• Simplified returns processing
• Standardized processes
• Warning and overview function
• Digitized processes (e.g. automatic invoice creation)

In summary, an ERP system in e-commerce provides a central database for all information and the automation or standardization of processes, leading to increased efficiency.

The ERP system can be described as the heart of your organization, enabling faster real-time collaboration of all areas. This in turn improves overall business performance, leads to more transparency and enables faster growth.

ERP System - Disadvantages:

In addition to all the advantages of an ERP system in e-commerce, it also has few but significant disadvantages. The main disadvantage is the implementation. Depending on the status, size and structure of the company, it can be very complex. This requires time and carries the risk that not all data can be transferred without problems.

In addition, employees must be trained intensively. Implementation only makes sense if your employees, who are supposed to work with the system, can actually use it. The complexity is therefore not to be underestimated. In addition to the trainings, there should ideally be contact persons with the necessary expertise who can accompany the process.

The described disadvantages should clarify that when deciding to implement an ERP system, the necessary resources and capacities must be planned in particular. The implementation and transition doesn't work overnight. Every e-commerce company must be aware of this fact.

What tasks does an ERP system for online shops take on?

The ERP system takes on several tasks at once: creating orders and invoices, sending orders to the fulfillment service provider, storing customer data and storing information about each item, controlling, etc.

Basically, the software takes over everything that is triggered by an order and beyond. The backend of a shop is managed by the ERP.

Tasks of an ERP system in an online shop

The shop itself should only serve as a shop to sell your products and not be used as an ERP, because that's not what shop systems like Shopify were built for. Sooner or later they reach their limits. This continues to pose the named risks and consequences.

• How can an ERP system be integrated into a web shop?
• How exactly does the webshop ERP integration work? In advance: There are cloud solutions and on-premise solutions to integrate ERP systems. However, e-commerce mainly focuses on the former. This has several reasons: The expensive purchase of own servers is eliminated, individual adjustments and services are possible, the security standards are very high and automatic backups are run. An ERP e-commerce is usually therefore a cloud solution.
• Before the actual integration takes place, a target-actual analysis is advisable. Which optimizations are important? How should your company develop in the future? Which resources must be provided for integration?
• Although the term ERP systems and online shops is always associated with integration, an ERP is not really integrated in the shop. Instead, the web shop is connected to the ERP, which becomes the central source including all information.

ERP systems and online shops work seamlessly together. The ERP pulls the orders, customer data and all order details from the web shop; the shop pulls the item information, prices or tracking information in reverse.

If you don't initially want to bring in experts, there are reliable step-by-step instructions for

ERP implementation

. These give you at least a rough overview of how the implementation or connection works. Here you will quickly notice that there are many different ERP software offers. There are a few things to consider when making a selection. So now for the solution for e-commerce ERP.

Which ERP systems are suitable for e-commerce?

The chosen ERP system should enable business growth, not complicate it. It has to be able to grow with it. This is why it is worth comparing various software offers, functions and the respective providers in advance to find the appropriate option for your company. Four typical ERP systems suitable for almost all companies for e-commerce are:

. This software convinces with its slim pricing and extensive tools that are already available in the basic version. Plus, an intuitive design and numerous interfaces to Shopify, Amazon, eBay etc.

: An all-in-one solution and many interfaces. But with many extensions, the interface can quickly become confusing.

: The biggest plus point: Billbee offers countless interfaces to a wide variety of platforms. These include shop systems, shipping service providers and marketplaces. It thus offers a SaaS solution for omnichannel needs.

: Particularly suitable for teams. Here, all relevant business processes are depicted. The tools are modular and there is the possibility of a CRM extension. Each new user needs a new license, which can increase costs depending on requirements. This system has received several awards and is one of the most popular solutions on the market.

Another factor that is a decisive factor in choosing or opting against a cloud system: the price. Some systems can already be used for comparatively low monthly costs. If different team members should work in the system, the cost factor should also be taken into account with regard to additional licenses. These often have to be purchased individually and therefore paid for.

ERP systems, advantages & disadvantagesEach ERP software has its own advantages and disadvantages. It makes sense to involve an expert in the decision to choose the right system. All of the mentioned and many more enable the complete digitalization of the company as well as individual adjustments depending on requirements.

To get an overview of possible ERP systems, take a look at OMR Reviews, where you'll find a detailed overview of

Xentral ERP.

plentysystemsConclusion

BillbeeIf you are currently noticing that you no longer have a clear overview of your processes and KPIs, or are generally considering implementing an ERP system - do it. Yesterday would have been better than today.

weclappThis decision will take your company to a new level. This benefits not only your company but also your employees, the workflow and most importantly your customers. And happy customers - who doesn't want that?

Ein weiterer Faktor, der bei der Entscheidung für oder gegen ein Cloud-System entscheidend ist: der Preis. Einige Systeme können bereits für vergleichsweise geringe monatliche Kosten genutzt werden. Wenn verschiedene Teammitglieder:innen in dem System arbeiten müssen, sollte der Kostenfaktor auch in Hinblick auf weitere Lizenzen berücksichtigt werden. Diese müssen oft, wie bei WeClapp, einzeln erworben und somit bezahlt werden.   

ERP-Systeme, Vorteile & Nachteile

Jede ERP-Software hat ihre eigenen Vor- und Nachteile. Es ist sinnvoll, eine:n Expert:in bei der Entscheidung hinzuziehen, um sich für das passende System zu entscheiden. Alle von den erwähnten und viele weitere ermöglichen eine vollständige Digitalisierung des Unternehmens sowie individuelle Anpassungen je nach Bedarf.

Um Euch einen Überblick über mögliche ERP-Systeme zu verschaffen, empfiehlt sich ein Blick auf OMR Reviews, wo Ihr eine ausführliche Übersicht über ERP-Systeme findet.

Fazit

Wenn Ihr aktuell merkt, dass Ihr keinen klaren Überblick mehr über Eure Prozesse und KPIs habt, oder generell darüber nachdenkt, ein ERP-System zu implementieren – tut es. Am besten gestern als heute.

Diese Entscheidung wird Euer Unternehmen auf ein neues Level bringen. Davon profitiert nicht nur Euer Unternehmen, sondern auch Eure Mitarbeiter:innen, der Workflow und am meisten Eure Kund:innen. Und happy customers – wer will das nicht?