Microsoft Insights: 5 Arguments for Pairing Your Dynamics 365 ERP with E-Commerce

Especially now, buyers appreciate the flexibility, convenience, and safety it offers to both businesses and consumers to shop online. In fact, many companies are turning to e-commerce to keep them going in these uncertain times. Whether B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer), e-commerce is growing in demand, and consumers have choices and high expectations.

To remain competitive, you have to give buyers what they want. Pairing ERP with e-commerce to implement an integrated e-commerce solution, like Sana Commerce's, is a great way to make sure your business is also to meet this demand and these expectations, without a huge workload for your internal teams.

But even well into the age of digital commerce, some current B2B e-commerce approaches depend on manual management of inventory and other data or require middleware to take your offerings from inventory to website offerings. Both can hamper operations and leave your customers looking for easier, more efficient solutions.

Fortunately, though it may not seem like it at first, what you want as a business and what your customers want are largely one and the same.

Want to skip straight to the insights from Microsoft? Download our free collaborative whitepaper, ERP E-Commerce: The Best-Kept Secret of Agile, Efficient Businesses. 

What you and your customers both want

In the age of Amazon and other fulfillment giants, customers have come to expect complete product information, in-stock items, and, of course, easy ordering,

An e-commerce solution from Sana Commerce seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 to deliver a smart, scalable omnichannel solution for inventory management, real-time data, and enhanced customer experiences.

With a Sana Commerce e-commerce solution:

• You can automatically push items directly from your inventory to your webstore with minimal content updating.
• There’s no need for transitional middleware.
• Products entered into your Dynamics 365 ERP are instantly and automatically available for inclusion in your web store.

Think of it as a self-updating display case for your goods. Inventory information on your e-commerce site is always up to date. Eliminate the risk of overselling or having to backorder out-of-date products. Save time for your team and frustration for your buyers.

Sound good? Of course.

At Sana Commerce, we have identified five key factors in making an e-commerce solution work for you and your customers:

1. Implement an efficient and accurate ordering process.

If your customer must perform multiple steps to place their order, there will be more opportunity for error. Automate the ordering process with less duplicate data and fewer steps.

2. Win customer loyalty by providing the convenience they demand.

Right now, B2B buyers are making most of their purchases online. It’s to your advantage as well as theirs to make the process easy. If they can help themselves, you’ll save resources on customer service, phone centers, and order taking.

3. Stay ahead of a changing marketplace.

The ability to quickly scale e-commerce capabilities in response to challenges and changes in direction can make a difference in the viability of your business. Keeping up under rapidly changing conditions is possible through integrated ERP e-commerce.

4. Empower your sales reps.

When your ERP and your online store operate in sync, your sales reps will have a much more complete view of each customer’s history and preferences no matter which channel they choose to use. This can provide opportunities for upsells or cross-sells.

5. Offer a seamless order-to-cash process.

Order-to-Cash (O2C) includes everything involved in turning customer interaction into bottom-line revenue. From the shopping cart to automatic billing and transaction confirmation, the success of your business and the satisfaction of your customers depend on accurate and efficient O2C.

Why Sana Commerce for Dynamics-integrated e-commerce?

Together, Sana Commerce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 deliver a smart, scalable omnichannel solution seamlessly integrated for quick implementation, real-time data, and enhanced customer experiences.

To find out more about building an e-commerce site that will benefit your business and your customers, download our collaborative whitepaper, created with Microsoft, ERP E-Commerce: The Best-Kept Secret of Agile, Efficient Businesses.