Accelerating Growth with eCommerce ERP

As retailers adapt for 2022 and beyond, more realize they will need the right eCommerce integration and solution innovations to meet and exceed consumer expectations. Retailers must offer multiple sales channels where customers never feel the seams between these services. An eCommerce ERP solution can make these expectations a reality.

Increasing Customer Expectations

The IDC reported that “the global COVID-19 crisis heightened the importance of customer experience and operational systems. In 2020, IDC saw a dramatic shift toward digital commerce as organizations moved business models overnight and accelerated the adoption of digital commerce levels previously expected for 2024.”

To stay competitive, IDC analysis stated that businesses must “ensure that their customer-facing applications are deeply integrated with systems of record so that they are resilient, digitally enabled, and agile enough to tackle future commerce trends.”

For instance, if your shoppers make a purchase online, they should be able to return it at a physical location. Suppose they have an account with your business. In that case, your customer expects their contact information and order history will be accessible regardless of the channel they prefer to use to engage with your company.

Be Prepared for Any Future

One of 2021’s major retail trends was the continued growth of online shopping, even after lockdowns eased and ended. Expectations for omnichannel sales (consumers buying from a business via a website, over the phone, or in-person) were high before 2020, but they rose exponentially in 2021.

Labour shortages, website issues, and late deliveries have hobbled retailers’ efforts and dampened their performance. Luckily, the IDC analysts determined that to enable retail growth, it’s essential to provide omnichannel customer service enabled by the integration of two technologies:

• A retail ERP solution: manages, stores, synchronizes, and distributes information from every department, acting as a single source of truth for the entire organization and offering the data businesses need to glean valuable insights for intelligent decision-making.
• The eCommerce platform: the customer-facing application and the cloud-based ERP solution acts as the system of record that integrates a company’s finance, purchasing, inventory management, and customer service management needs.

eCommerce Integration Software Built for Retail

Retailers can expect to improve their customers’ omnichannel sales experiences, automate sales order and fulfillment processes, and enable continuity of operations by tightly integrating Acumatica’s Sales, CRM, Financials, Fulfillment, and Inventory applications with eCommerce solutions. These thorough, native integrations extend the Acumatica system, creating an automated omnichannel environment that produces optimal merchant and customer experiences.

Acumatica has established native integrations with several key eCommerce platforms, including BigCommerce. IDC has called the Acumatica for BigCommerce Connector a “single package solution” that “integrates BigCommerce web stores with financials, inventory, operations, and reports running on Acumatica.” This seamless integration synchronizes the two platforms into one omnichannel approach.

Acumatica has also established a new partnership with Shopify. In 2021, Shopify launched a Global ERP Program, and Acumatica is proud to be one of the first five ERP solutions to easily and directly connect its users with Shopify. These eCommerce ERP partnerships help small- and mid-market merchants scale at accelerated rates.

Specific benefits include reduced stock-outs and back orders, faster order processing and fulfillment, streamlined returns and exchanges, easy integration with web stores and POS systems, and a smooth omnichannel experience for customers. They also allow retailers to work with a single source of truth and access their synched data anytime, anywhere, from any device. Acumatica makes it easy to manage the following retail processes from one dashboard:

• Accounting
• Customer support
• Inventory
• Picking, packing and shipping

Stay Competitive by Exceeding Expectations

In an industry that is projected to grow, exceeding expectations is powerful—both the retailer and the consumer benefit from the collaboration offered by integrated solutions. Additionally, you’ll be able to accommodate and anticipate your shoppers’ needs easily by providing them with an omnichannel experience. This exceptional customer experience is enabled internal CRM, inventory management, and financial management and is the magic formula that accelerates growth.

At Aqurus, we know how valuable Acumatica ERP software is for businesses, especially in eCommerce and the retail industry. If you’re interested in how Acumatica’s Cloud ERP Software can boost your business, the Aqurus team is passionate about smooth implementation and ongoing support. Contact us today.