Integrating E-commerce with SAP Business One: The Complete Checklist

Running a B2B ecommerce store involves a lot of moving parts. You’re simultaneously juggling marketing, product selection, supply chains, checkouts, and many, many other things. Linking your ecommerce platform to an ERP system like SAP Business One can bring everything together in one place, giving you a birds-eye-view of what’s going on at any given time. 

This checklist covers everything you need to do to successfully integrate SAP B1 with your existing ecommerce operations. 

How to Prep for your SAP Business One Integration

1. Assess Your Current Systems

Take stock of your existing ecommerce and ERP systems

Start by listing all the ecommerce and ERP systems you currently use. For example, if, like a lot of small businesses, you’re using a basic spreadsheet system, note its limitations, whether that’s a high risk of errors or just the clunkiness of it all. 

If you have a more complex system—like cloud-based inventory management that automatically syncs sales and provides real-time stock levels—note down its strengths (and weaknesses, if there are any). 

Knowing what works well and what doesn’t can help you pinpoint potential gaps that SAP Business One can plug. For example, if you’re using old-fashioned spreadsheets, this might be automating the repetitive manual processes required to input loads of data. 

Identify what you want to achieve with the integration

Define what you want to achieve with the integration. Are you looking to streamline your existing workflows, juggle inventory levels, improve the health and accuracy of your data, or improve the overall customer experience? If your goal is to, say, streamline operations, look at how SAP B1 can automate repetitive tasks. For example, its automated replenishment feature can put an end to manual reordering by triggering purchase orders when stock levels reach a certain point. 

2. Check Your Platform Compatibility  

Make sure your ecommerce platform is compatible with SAP Business One

This is all moot if your ecommerce platform doesn’t actually integrate with SAP Business One. 

Note that platforms like Magento, WooCommerce, and Shopify are only compatible with SAP Business One through connectors. These act as a bridge between the two systems so that data—including orders, inventory, and customer information—can move freely between your ecommerce site and SAP Business One.

SaaS ecommerce platforms designed to natively work with SAP B1 can achieve full integration in a matter of minutes and don’t require any ongoing maintenance. 

Check you meet the system requirements 

Double-check your systems can actually talk to each other—in particular, check your bandwidth, firewalls, and connectivity so you can avoid any potential comms breakdowns later on. 

3. Run a Data Audit

Thoroughly audit your existing data

Chances are, you’ve got a wealth of data embedded in your current systems. Before you integrate the two platforms, check the data you already have is accurate and a true representation of your customers and sales. 

This might involve: 

1. Reviewing product information. Check for discrepancies in product descriptions, prices, and SKUs. For example, if you sell clothing, make sure all the size and color options are consistent across your systems.
2. Examine customer data. Scan your customer records to find any duplicates or outdated information. For instance, it can cause shipping errors if you have multiple entries for the same customer with different addresses.
3. Assess inventory levels. Check your inventory data is the same as your stock levels. If your system shows 100 units of a product in stock but only 50 are physically available, this could lead to overselling and customer disappointment.

Clean and organize your data 

Integrating your ecom platform and SAP B1 should feel like you’re starting afresh—the last thing you want is to transfer across existing errors. Post-audit is the perfect time to clean and organize your data, especially if you’ve got years and years of old, wrong information floating around. It’s up to you how you want to organize your data, but at the very least, delete duplicate entries, format data in the same way, and fill in any missing information. 

4. Get Your Team On Board

Choose which team members will lead the integration—as a general rule of thumb, this will include IT staff, project managers, and any department heads who will be affected by the changes. Once you’ve got a list, get everyone on the same page. Clearly set out the objectives of the integration and what you hope operations will look like once it’s complete. It’s useful here to create a loose timeline for the integration. This gives team members ownership over their tasks and some kind of end goal to aim for. 

Your Integration Game Plan 

1. Define The Parameters of Your Integration

Decide which data and processes to integrate

Start by identifying the specific data and processes that need to be integrated. For example, you might decide to integrate customer data, order management, and inventory levels. This means customer information from your ecommerce site will automatically update in SAP B1, and vice versa. 

Set clear objectives and determine what success will look like

Clearly define what you want to achieve with the integration. If your objective is to speed up order processing, your success criteria might include reducing processing time by 30% within the first six months. 

Tip: make sure your objectives are SMART—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. 

2. Choose Your Integration Method

The success of your integration hinges on how you integrate it. 

There are a few ways you can approach this, but we’d caution against using middleware. APIs are often a better option, as they provide a direct way to exchange data between systems in real-time. Middleware, on the other hand, can introduce unnecessary complexity and potential points of failure. 

While middleware might seem appealing if you need to integrate multiple systems, it’s worth weighing up the trade-offs. In many cases, a well-designed API can achieve the same integration goals but with added reliability and transparency. 

3. Create a (Realistic) Timeline

Put together a detailed project timeline with milestones

Break down the project into phases and set specific milestones within each phase. For example, you might have milestones for completing the initial data audit, setting up the integration environment, and carrying out pre-integration tests. 

Assign responsibilities and timelines to team members

Integrating your ecommerce platform with SAP B1 requires all hands on deck. You’ll need the help of IT, operations, and even your web dev team—each of which will have its own role and set of duties. 

Clearly assign tasks and responsibilities to team members as well as relevant deadlines. You might designate someone to handle the data cleaning process, while someone else oversees testing and validation.

4. Carry Out a Risk Assessment

Identify potential risks and challenges

There are always risks involved in switching up your tech stack and plugging together two very separate pieces of software. But as the saying goes, “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. Jot down all the things that could potentially go wrong—for example, systems that support different data formats can create corrupt data if it’s not handled in the right way. 

Decide how you’ll mitigate risks 

Plan strategies to mitigate each of the risks you’ve identified. For example, you might thoroughly test your systems in a sandbox environment before going live to make sure data is compatible (and not corrupt). It’s worth having a rollback plan just in case you stumble on any critical issues during integration. This means you can revert back to the previous state without causing too many disastrous disruptions to your systems and data.

Let’s Get Technical

1. Get Your Systems Ready for Integration

Get SAP Business One ready for integration

In some cases, you’ll need to tweak the settings and capabilities in SAP B1 so it supports integration with your ecommerce platform. In particular, you might need to adjust how data flows between the two systems in your settings (again, this will be more effective if everything is clean and formatted in a uniform way). 

Most people find they need to toggle on specific modules or features so their inventory and sales data can transfer between the two systems—but only make these changes on the recommendations of your ecommerce or SAP B1 partner. 

Set up any modules and extensions you might need 

Install any add-ons or extensions that will help with the integration. For example, if you need extra reporting capabilities, you may need to install a reporting add-on with advanced analytics. 

2. Set Up Any Necessary APIs

Create and test APIs to make sure they work as they should

Put APIs in place and test them to make sure they can handle transferring lots of data between the two systems. For instance, you can set up an API that automatically sends real-time inventory updates from your online store to SAP B1. 

When the APIs are in place, it’s good practice to continuously test them to make sure they’re working as they should be. 

Make sure your connections are secure and reliable

If you’re transferring lots of data back and forth, you can open yourself up to security weaknesses. Apply appropriate security measures so that data is fully protected while it moves from one platform to another—this might include using encryption protocols like HTTPS to safeguard customer information and private transaction details. 

3. Map Your Data

Map data fields between your ecommerce platform and SAP Business One

You want to make sure both systems are speaking the same language. If your online store calls it “customer name”, check that SAP B1 isn’t calling it something completely different. Go through your existing customer data fields to check that they match up on both platforms—this will avoid any confusion as data moves from one platform to another. 

Make sure data translation is consistent and accurate

If your online store uses inches and pounds but SAP B1 uses the metric system, it’s going to cause problems when they communicate between themselves (and you might end up thinking you have less stock than you do). Take a look at how your data is being moved around and make sure there are no mix-ups between centimeters and inches or kilos and pounds.

4. Custom Development 

Imagine you need a super-specific report that pulls data from both your online store and SAP B1. Instead of juggling two separate reports and trying to piece them together, create a custom script that automatically collects the information you need and packages it up in a simple report. 

Once you’ve got these custom scripts set up, throw different scenarios at them to see how they handle them. For example, you might see what happens if you suddenly get a hundred orders in an hour or if a product goes viral.

Time to Test and Validate

1. Initial Testing 

Start by testing the basic functions of your integration to make sure everything is set up correctly—e.g. check if a new order placed on your ecommerce site appears in SAP B1. Look for any niggles or issues at this stage, such as data not transferring or incorrect information appearing in SAP B1. 

2. Test Data Synchronization 

Check that data updates in real-time (or as scheduled) between your ecommerce platform and SAP B1. For example, if you update a product price on your ecommerce site, check that the change takes place in SAP B1 too. 

Take this opportunity to check that all data is accurate and consistent across both platforms. Do the inventory numbers match up? How about the sales figures? And is that new customer showing up correctly in both places?  

3. End-to-End Testing 

Test the entire workflow from start to finish to catch and iron out any wrinkles. 

• Place a test order on your website
• Check that it shows up correctly in SAP Business One
• Make sure the inventory updates automatically 

Keep an eye out for hiccups as you go through each step—if something doesn’t look right, fix it. For example, if order confirmation emails aren’t going out, you might need to tweak your email notification settings. Or, if there are discrepancies in inventory levels and they aren’t adjusting in real-time, check there’s not a syncing issue. 

4. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) 

Involve key stakeholders—such as sales and inventory managers—in testing the integration. They can provide valuable insights into how the system performs in real-world scenarios. You can have them process orders and update inventory levels to see if the system meets their needs. 

Collect feedback while you’re doing this and log any issues or improvements. 

Prepare to Go Live

1. Give It All a Final Review

Go through all your configurations and custom developments to make sure they’re set up correctly. Use this time to double-check all data mappings are accurate and that any custom scripts work as intended. If you find any issues during the testing phase, make sure they’re addressed and ironed out. Then, keep testing them until they work as they should every single time. 

2. Get Your Training and Documentation in Place

Run training for all users

It’s time to roll out training sessions for everyone who’ll be using the new integrated system. For example, show the sales team how to process orders smoothly with the new setup and help inventory managers learn how to update stock levels. 

Create detailed documentation for reference

Put together some handy documentation that users can refer to when they run into any bumps in the road. Include things like step-by-step guides, FAQs, and troubleshooting tips. For example, you might put together a guide on how to tackle common data entry issues. 

3. Create Your Backup and Rollback Plan 

Before you hit the “go live” button, back up all critical data and system settings. At the very least, you should back up customer data, order histories, and inventory records—but it’s well worth backing up all data that’s crucial for running your business. If you want to be extra cautious, create a Plan B so you can revert back to the previous system if there are any major issues with the new integration. 

4. Create a Comms Plan 

Outline how and when you’ll communicate important information about the go-live event. This might include emails, meetings, or updates on a project management platform—or wherever you chat with your teams.

Make sure all stakeholders—including employees, managers, and possibly even customers if appropriate—are aware of the timeline and any changes they should expect. Don’t forget to inform customer service teams about potential downtime or changes in order processing. 

Post SAP Business One Integration Best Practices

1. Regularly Monitor the Integration’s Performance

Closely monitor system performance

Regularly check the integration to make sure it’s working as you want it to. This includes monitoring the flow of data between your ecommerce platform and SAP B1, making sure that orders are processed correctly, and that inventory levels are updated in real-time. You can set up alerts to notify you of any data synchronization delays or if the system experiences any downtime. 

Identify and address any post-go-live issues

Be prepared to quickly resolve any issues that might crop up after you go live. For instance, if users report problems with order processing, you can adjust data mappings or troubleshoot API connections to see what the issue is—and, more importantly, fix it ASAP. 

2. Aim For Continuous Improvement 

Get feedback from users

Make getting feedback from users a regular part of your schedule. You might hold periodic meetings or surveys to better understand any challenges your team faces or features they’d like to see. 

Make continuous improvements to the integration

Use the feedback from your team to make ongoing improvements to the integration. If users find the interface tricky to navigate, consider redesigning it, or if they struggle to understand the workflow, create helpful tutorial documents that break it down. Remember that as your business grows, you may need to add new features or modules to support the increase in transactions. 

By using this checklist, you’ll be ready to integrate your ecommerce platform with SAP Business One easily and successfully. You’ll benefit from smoother operations, more accurate data, and better customer experiences. 

Experlogix is building the future of B2B eCommerce

SAP Business One integration is just one of the powerful B2B ecommerce solutions Experlogix offers.

If you’re new to Experlogix and run a B2B ecommerce store, get a personalized demo to see how our solution can supercharge your selling capabilities overnight. Like what you see? Let us know, and we’ll figure out how best we can help you take your ecommerce game to the next level 🤘