Meaningful e-Commerce Experiences Start with ERP Integration
The e-Commerce experience is made up of a combination of technology, people, process, and interaction. When this is done well, it can drive higher revenues, improve your working culture, and create a loyal customer and partner relationship. What really makes a standout e-Commerce experience, for both customers and business users, is integration. When integration is used as part of your overall business and is at the core of your overall e-Commerce strategy, it helps you create positive change by advancing technology and business processes, and helps to attract and retain customers. Your business will run cohesively, efficiently, and intuitively.
What Does Integration Mean
First, we need to understand the word integration because it’s a buzz word that has been thrown around a lot.
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition is the act or an instance of combining into a whole and behavior, as of an individual, that is in harmony with the environment, and organization of the constituent elements into a coordinated, harmonious whole.
In terms of software, integration takes elements of that definition; it’s the process of linking together different systems and software applications, physically and functionally, to act as a coordinate cohesive whole unit.
What does it specifically mean for Nav-to-Net™?
It’s NOT a connector; the e-Commerce solution is built literally inside NAV so your webshop is managed entirely within Dynamics NAV Business Central.
Integration in Nav-to-Net™ is very important and is at the core of what we provide. A lack of proper integration is a barrier to e-Commerce success and prevents you from getting the customer experience right. It also hinders how your business runs. Without proper integration, business workflows and processes will be clunky instead of smooth, with more errors and redundancies throughout, especially with the massive amount of data that needs to be managed in a busy e-Commerce website.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV Business Central itself is a combination of multiple business processes integrated into one. Nav-to-Net™ is the webshop component, managed in NAV, integrated with the existing NAV Business Central environment, so customizations and familiar business processes are still in place and are, in fact, being leveraged to make a more powerful e-Commerce solution. All customer, partner, vendor, dealer, and supplier communications and data go into the same place, including all orders, requests, and information changes. While Nav-to-Net™ is literally inside NAV, it is not intrusive whatsoever. In fact, it only touches the very bare minimum of NAV objects as to not impede on the ERP system.
With unified workflows, e-Commerce businesses run smoothly and efficiently for all customers.
Benefits of a Seamlessly Integrated e-Commerce Solution Suite
Not only is the e-Commerce store integrated but all the add-ons like vendor portals and Configurator are all integrated as well and work cohesively as one flexible business solution to meet your needs.
Benefits of integration include:
- Lowered maintenance and training costs because of the familiar environment, investment in NAV Business Central, and user-friendly solution with no strain on your IT department.
- Less time is spent managing and updating the website. You spend more time growing your business.
- Reduced errors from manual and tedious processes, eliminate data redundancy.
- Operate safely and securely because your software and database aren’t out in the wild.
- Customers always get up to date product information, be it content updates, real-time inventory statuses, or pricing changes.
- Always Take Orders™ and SmartPush Technology™ build upon the tight integration to NAV Business Central and ensures no missed orders ever.
Better Be Built in NAV
Integration allows you to be confident in your solution, knowing that workflows and business move along smoothly, all data is secure, and e-Commerce features work in sync with the processes already in place. Your customers will experience the e-Commerce journey as you intended – a beautiful, functional website that caters to their needs with a multitude of features. Especially with Responsive Design, they get that same carefully crafted e-Commerce experience, no matter where they are and which device they use. This also empowers your sales teams out in the field, as they will have resources right at their fingertips.
Capitalize on your Microsoft Dynamics NAV investment for B2B e-Commerce: Watch a quick 4-min demo video
You may also want to read these Whitepapers:
E-Commerce Integration Is Not Always Built Equally
5 Reasons Dynamics NAV Should be the Master Copy of Your eCommerce
10 Point Checklist for B2B NAV E-Commerce
Request a demo on Nav-to-Net™ today to see what an integrated e-Commerce solution can do for you.