Businesses operating in the new digital economy have multiple tools at their disposal. They can take advantage of software solutions previous generations did not have at their disposal. Customers today expect a high level of service and are not shy about moving on if their expectations are not being met. The good news is that cloud ERP and ecommerce work very well together to streamline business operations and increase customer satisfaction.
Companies Under Pressure to Provide Products Quickly
In Better Together: SaaS Digital Commerce Platforms and ERP Help Organizations Grow Past Legacy Limitations, IDC analysts highlight the pressure B2B and B2C organizations are under to provide customers with products/services quickly, easily, and seamlessly in an online society. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic increased the pressure and customer expectations exponentially. “The global COVID-19 crisis heightened the importance of customer experience and operational systems,” they write. “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.” IDC research statistics show that:
- 61% of organizations are likely to increase B2B digital commerce purchases in the next three years
- 49% of organizations are working to future proof their business
- 41% of organizations are investing in new systems (e.g., ecommerce software solutions) to close their digital technology gaps
Interwoven within the accelerated adoption of digital commerce is the need to provide exceptional customer service. If customers are not satisfied, they have plenty of platforms on which they can express their dissatisfaction. They are able to reach infinitely more people than they previously could by word of mouth (WOM). On the flip side, satisfied customers can do the same, but statistics show that unhappy customers are more likely to share their negative experience than are those with a positive experience.
According to IDC, organizations trying to meet growing expectations (and dodging those negative reviews) while simultaneously growing their business 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.” In other words, implementing a complete digital business platform that seamlessly connects their finance, purchasing, inventory, and inventory management information system (ERP) with their website and customer relationship/revenue-driving system (digital commerce platform) is necessary.
The white paper lists six characteristics both B2B and B2C organizations should look for when choosing between their ERP and digital platform options. The characteristics include deep native integrations, open APIs, and scalability. The other three, which you can read for yourself, are just as important. The white paper also explains why Acumatica cloud ERP and BigCommerce through the native Acumatica for BigCommerce Connector meet all the criteria.
Acumatica and BigCommerce a Single Package SolutionTogether
Acumatica and BigCommerce are considered a “single package solution” by the IDC analysts. “The connector is a native interface that integrates BigCommerce web stores with financials, inventory, operations, and reports running on Acumatica. To further support the partnership, Acumatica Commerce Edition enables merchants to manage products, orders, customers, inventory, shipping, suppliers, and accounting in a single place.”
The benefits of integrating front-and-back-office systems include:
- Faster time to market
- Easier integration
- Agility
- Modularity
- Business intelligence
- End-to-end visibility
Additionally, the analysts write, “The most successful digital businesses are those that have an overarching digital transformation strategy and select ERP and digital commerce systems that are tightly integrated or coupled. For instance, IDC’s April 2020 SaaSPath Survey found that the top drivers for adopting investments in SaaS applications include guaranteed service levels, ease and speed of deployment, and improved features among SaaS applications. Individual applications that make up digital business platforms leverage APIs for integration and shared intelligent service.”
The conclusion the IDC analysts come to is that tightly integrated front-office and back-office applications are critical if B2B and B2C organizations want to succeed in the rapidly changing global and digital economy. “Savvy organizations understand that their customers dictate business needs going forward. IDC recommends that they select SaaS-based ERP and digital commerce platforms with native integrations, such as those provided by BigCommerce and Acumatica.”
Download IDC’s free Whitepaper, Better Together: SaaS Digital Commerce Platforms and ERP Help Organizations Grow Past Legacy Limitations, to learn even more about how Acumatica and BigCommerce are taking ecommerce businesses to the next level and how to future-proof your ecommerce business. The analysts also include an overview of the current ERP and digital commerce landscape as well as their observations on five trends in commerce and operations.
Find the Right Acumatica Provider
ASI has been working with business owners to help them grow their companies for more than 30 years. Let us help you determine whether Acumatica or one of our other business software solutions is right for your e-commerce venture. Contact us now to arrange your free consultation.