Today software applications are designed to make launching eCommerce sites easier, less expensive and faster than ever before. Most companies launching new generations of sites are doing so to save money, improve design functionality and integrate back office business systems, like ERP, for scalability and efficiency.
A cloud-based ecommerce platform is a great option if you are looking to cut costs from your technology budget and or increase your ecommerce site’s accessibility. Generally, a cloud-based initiative on a virtualized server may save a company 80% of the costs normally associated with a traditional eCommerce roll-out.
Reduce Costs
New eCommerce cloud-based services will eliminate hosting costs without losing any functionality and eliminate SEO services fees. Since your storefront or marketplace shopping cart is cloud based every product you offer for sale in the cloud produces several links back to your web site enhancing your web site's authority and visibility in the search engines. As your visibility on the search engines increases, so do your sales.
With cloud-based services you no longer have to have a dedicated server on-site to manage your hosting requirements. You do not need to have one or more dedicated technology resources on-staff to manage the server and its on-going maintenance. In addition, you’ve also freed up room in your data center.
Improve Efficiencies
You can improve efficiencies on your backend by providing employees with access to the eCommerce site from a login or management console via any web browser with Internet access. With web-based access, changes and updates can be made anywhere by anyone with access and shared between back-end operating systems. This helps ensures that your site and supporting systems stay updated and current.
The availability of open, documented application interfaces (APIs) for cloud-based applications has opened the door for companies to deploy the cloud for integration strategies. Cloud-based integration strategies can enable your existing systems such as Magento, Microsoft Dynamics or Sage to exchange information such as item and inventory data, sales orders and shipping notifications with your web store or eCommerce solution.
Sometimes porting data back and forth between one or many applications is not enough. There are situations in which decisions need to be made about how to transact data based on more complex factors. Drop shipping is a great example of how a cloud-based integration can take the place of more traditional approaches. An order coming in from Amazon may have several line items. One of the items on the order is drop shipped, which requires that an electronic sales order be sent to the drop ship supplier. Cloud-based integration platforms can deploy business rules such as order splitting and routing to accommodate even the most complex multi-channel environments.
When faced with the expense and time involved in a traditional integration project many companies resort to manual data entry as a short-term fix. Cloud-based platforms can change the equation, making projects easier, more affordable, and bring the focus back to filling orders instead of entering them.
Cloud Integration
The cloud has not just impacted the deployment of new applications, but also the way in which companies can connect and manage the many existing applications they use in their environments. Enabling data exchange via the cloud provides more opportunity for enhanced visibility, business intelligence and scalability. Cloud-based integration platforms are more productive, affordable, and flexible for both large and small companies.
Check out this video demo showing Microsoft Dynamics GP to Magento integration for better item and inventory management. Using nChannel connectors you can connect eCommerce and marketplace sites to a variety of ERP and Point of Sales systems you already use, including Microsoft Dynamics GP to Magento.
by nChannel
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