Connecting an eshop to your ERP: how it works and what to watch

When your eshop and your ERP work separately, someone copies products, prices, stock and orders from one system to the other by hand. It costs time, causes mistakes and, worst of all, you sell products you no longer have in stock. Connecting the two systems solves this. Here is how it works and what to know before you start.

What usually syncs

• products, codes and descriptions,
• prices and price lists, e.g. retail and wholesale,
• stock per product or variation (size, colour),
• orders from the eshop into the ERP,
• customer details,
• order and shipping status back to the customer.

The ways to connect

There are three main ways, and the choice depends on what your ERP supports:

• through the ERP’s API: the two systems talk directly, in real time or every few minutes. It is the most reliable option, if the ERP supports it,
• through a ready-made connector: some ERPs offer a connection for WooCommerce or other platforms. It saves time but often needs adapting,
• through files (CSV or XML) on a schedule: a simpler option when there is no API, with the delay that syncing at intervals brings.

Which system has the final say

For each type of data we decide which system is the source of truth. Usually the ERP sets prices and stock, while orders start in the eshop and pass to the ERP. If this is not settled from the start, the two systems end up contradicting each other.

What to ask before you start

• Does your ERP offer an API or file import and export? Is there an extra licence cost from the vendor?
• Who supports the ERP side? Usually the partner who installed it needs to be involved.
• How often must stock update so you never sell what you do not have?
• Do you have product variations or customer-specific (B2B) prices?
• What happens if the connection drops? You need logging, alerts and automatic retries.

What drives the cost

The cost depends on whether the ERP has an API, the number of products, variations, one-way or two-way sync and customer-specific prices. Eshop development starts at €1,900 (see our packages), and the integration is priced by scope, in a written quote before we start.

Conclusion

Connecting your eshop to your ERP pays off once your orders and products are numerous enough that manual work costs time and mistakes. What matters is agreeing from the start what syncs, how often and which system has the final say. See how we handle ERP and CRM integrations.