The power of Sage 200 Professional e-commerce integration to maximise efficiency and growth
As covered in our sister article Elevating you business: Implementing Sage 200 Professional from Sage 50, it’s never been more important in today’s digital age for a business to have a successful e-commerce integration system. Undeniably, e-commerce has become an integral part of business operations, offering companies the opportunity to reach new markets, attract customers, and drive revenue growth.
For those businesses using Sage 200 Professional, integrating e-commerce capabilities can unlock a world of key possibilities, enabling streamlined operations and enhancing customer experiences.
Within this article, we explore the benefits and share the current best practices of Sage 200 Professional e-commerce integration, including ongoing projects of real businesses that we’re currently working with and guiding through their e-commerce integration.
The significance of choosing Sage 200 e-commerce integration
E-commerce integration with Sage 200 Professional enables seamless communication and data exchange between your e-commerce platform and your back-office systems, which is crucial for any business operating with online capacity.
By synchronizing sales, inventory, customer information, and order fulfilment processes, businesses can eliminate manual data entry, reduce errors, and improve operational efficiency. Additionally, e-commerce integration provides real-time visibility into inventory levels, sales trends, and customer behaviours; all of which empower businesses to make informed decisions and optimize their online sales channels.
Project 1 – a real business we’re supporting
We are currently working with and supporting a wholesale and retail business that supplies hair care products, throughout five stores in the Northeast of England. They use Sage 200 Professional as their core accounting and business management system. The sales order processing and stock control module allows them to manage inventory successfully and effectively across all five of their locations.
Through using Sage 200 Professional, they can process over-the-counter orders through integration into their EPOS/Tills in each store. Customers who order through their website’s Shopify store can also process orders and payments, which are then downloaded into Sage 200.
For in-store orders, the stores use barcode scanners, which allow them to scan the product barcode directly, generating the transactions on the store’s tills. This then uploads the data into Sage 200 and ensures stock is booked out accurately.
Key benefits of using Sage 200 e-commerce
Before deciding on your e-commerce platform, it’s crucial to know the key benefits of working with that system. Choosing Sage 200 e-commerce comes with significant benefits. We’ve selected some of the key benefits below:
Efficiency and automation
E-commerce integration automates the flow of data between your e-commerce platform and Sage 200 Professional, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reconciliation. This streamlines order processing, inventory management, and accounting tasks, saving time and reducing the risk of errors.
Management of inventory
With e-commerce integration, inventory levels are automatically updated in real-time across your e-commerce platform and Sage 200 Professional. This ensures accurate inventory tracking, prevents overselling or stockouts, and optimizes order fulfilment processes, all of which equate to improved customer satisfaction. Effective management of inventory enables a business to maintain a positive customer’s e-commerce journey and enhances the probability of repeat customers.
Order fulfilment.
E-commerce integration streamlines order fulfilment processes by automatically transferring orders from your e-commerce platform to Sage 200 Professional, where they are processed. This, in turn, accelerates order processing times, reduces order errors, and enhances the overall customer experience.
Customer insights
By integrating customer data from your e-commerce platform with Sage 200 Professional, businesses gain valuable insights into customer behaviours, preferences, and purchase history. This enables personalised marketing efforts, targeted promotions, and enhanced customer relationship management.
Scalability and growth
As previously touched upon, E-commerce integration with Sage 200 Professional provides a scalable solution that grows with your business. Businesses that grow too rapidly tend to falter, so this ensures that won’t happen. Whether you’re expanding into new markets, launching new product lines, or increasing sales volumes, e-commerce integration enables seamless scalability and flexibility to support your business growth objectives.
Project 2
We are also pleased to be working with a furniture wholesaler, based in London, who has recently moved their core accounting function from Xero to Sage 200 Professional.
Part of the project was to integrate their website e-commerce platform (‘Visual Soft’ in this case) onto Sage 200 Professional. This move will enable them the ability to take orders and payments processed on their online store and download them into Sage 200 Professional, which was crucial for this project and their business’ needs as a whole.
Project 3
Recently, we also worked alongside a wholesale and distribution business that had previously migrated from Sage 50 to Sage 200 professionals (due to rapid growth within the company). Their busiest period was the annual Black Friday Sales, which account for almost 60% of its total retail division revenue each year.
It became clear that what was vital in both projects was the ability to process and manage the whole sales order process; right from starting order placements to invoice generation, as well as effectively and efficiently managing the inventory. All of these need to be completed without the need to log into multiple systems, download orders, and manually re-key the sales orders into their on-premises business management system.
Sage 200 professional makes all this possible by allowing full integration into third-party applications, written and maintained by Sage Developer-accredited Vendors. This allows for integration into e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Visual Soft, Amazon, and many more, giving Wholesale and distribution businesses the ability to have a full end-to-end solution from order placement to stock management to accounting entries.
Sage 200 Professional e-commerce integration: Best practices
For you to maximise the potential working with Sage 200 Professional brings to your business, there are best practices to adopt that will enable this to happen seamlessly. We have highlighted some below:
Choose the right e-commerce platform for you and your business
Select an e-commerce platform that offers robust integration capabilities with Sage 200 Professional. Look for platforms that support seamless data synchronisation, flexible customisation options, and scalability to meet your business needs.
Work with experienced partners
Partner with experienced e-commerce integration providers and Sage 200 Professional consultants who have expertise in implementing seamless integrations. Their help and support are pivotal to your success. They can help tailor the integration to your specific requirements, ensuring a smooth and successful implementation.
Ensure data accuracy and consistency
Prioritise data accuracy and consistency by mapping data fields between your e-commerce platform and Sage 200 Professional. Conduct thorough testing and validation to verify that data is synchronised accurately and reliably across systems. We understand this can feel overwhelming and very technical. As always, if you need support with anything highlighted in this article, feel free to contact one of our experts today.
Provide training and support
As outlined in our article regarding transitioning from Sage 50 to Safe 200 Professional, training is essential. For any transition to run smoothly, training your team on how to use the integrated e-commerce solution effectively and provide ongoing support to address any questions or issues that may arise is of paramount importance.
Empower your team to leverage the full capabilities of the integrated system to drive business success.
Monitor performance and optimisation
Continuously monitor the performance of your e-commerce integration and identify areas for optimisation. Track key metrics such as order processing times, inventory turnover rates, and customer satisfaction scores to identify opportunities for improvement and refinement.
Sage 200 e-commerce integration: Our final word
Sage 200 Professional e-commerce integration offers businesses a powerful solution to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive growth in an increasingly digital world. By leveraging the benefits of e-commerce integration, businesses can achieve greater efficiency, scalability, and competitiveness in today’s dynamic marketplace. With careful planning, strategic partnerships, and ongoing optimisation, businesses can unlock the full potential of their digital presence and thrive in the digital age.
As always, for any advice, support or further questions relating to Sage 200 e-commerce integration, please don’t hesitate to contact us. In the meantime, feel free to read our case studies of other businesses we have supported through their integrations.