Whether you have a webshop or ERP, seamless integration with your fulfillment provider is key!

‘Seamless integration’ sounds appealing! It sounds like a process that’s smooth, needs little maintenance, and enhances your business.

When it comes to webshop integration with your logistics provider, whether you use one B2B webshop or several, or whether you use your own ecommerce ERPs to manage your orders and returns, these should be integrated seamlessly – there’s that phrase! – so that fulfillment is smooth and reliable.

This should be the case no matter what webshops you use, whether that’s Shopify, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce, PrestaShop or any other marketplace. The same goes for companies with complex IT landscapes.

You will have spent time and resources on building your IT stack. It might be the webshop(s) you use, and/or your ERP, and you won’t want to have to switch any of these just to meet the requirements a fulfillment provider might have. You shouldn’t have to: a good provider should be able to integrate with your current IT landscape.

You might be on a journey of horizontal growth, wishing to reach new customers across a wider geographical area, perhaps in new countries or even a new continent. You might also be on a journey of vertical growth, deepening your sales of a new product range with your existing customers.

Whichever of these resonates with you, you need the webshop or ERP integration with your fulfillment provider to allow you both to scale up when you need it, with ease. You don’t want to have to change your integration each time you grow into a new segment. 

You may have understandable concerns around growth: however, knowing that you can integrate with a professional fulfillment provider’s network should go a long way to allaying your anxieties. It’s not only possible, but it should be easy (if you choose the right provider).

Although a close relationship with your fulfillment provider is great to have, you will still want to be able to run your business your way. They should be a neutral player who provides you with the fulfillment backbone you need, yet allows you to grow and make your own business decisions, including allowing you to maintain your own relationship with your webshop(s). You make the decisions, your customers place their orders and, thanks to integration, your fulfillment provider receives and manages these for you.

At the DHL Fulfillment Network, we know that collaboration will only be a success if it works for both parties. 

“We offer consultancy on integration to our new customers as they’re onboarding,” explains Paolo Roberto Grassi, Chief Information Officer of the DHL Fulfillment Network. “We assess each customer set-up to find the best integration option together.”

Markets are volatile, “so we become for our customers that support they need – from a technical point of view when it comes to integration, and from a physical point of view in terms of getting their products into end users’ hands,” says Paolo. “By being open and working together, we achieve the best for our customers.”

For a customer that uses webshops and marketplaces, the DHL Fulfillment Network has middleware to integrate with these – be it one or many. And for those that have their own ecommerce ERPs or indeed a more complex landscape, direct integration is achieved smoothly via API and EDI. “An API in logistics is essential to link disparate parts of the supply chain, from address verification to invoicing, and the link to fulfillment is an essential part of this,” explains Paolo.

“Once we have established the best way to integrate, we run a phase of testing to ensure multiple connections and multiple fulfillment nodes are all being served. Then the customer goes live: from initial set-up to roll-out we make it as easy as possible.” Paolo describes the benefits for customers: “No matter which option was chosen, it will be supported and maintained by us, meaning no extra activities or effort are needed on the part of the customer.”

Customer Delta Galil, an apparel company licensed to design, produce and distribute Adidas Underwear – with some 2,000 SKUs – needs a robust e-commerce solution. The successful integration of their Shopify webshop with the DHL Fulfillment Network was a key part of this.

“We partner with lots of webshops and indeed many other third parties, and as a leading industry player with a global network that we are constantly enhancing, our list of partners is always evolving, as is our technical expertise,” comments Paolo.

Are you ready to take the next step in your growth journey? Talk to us today about how we can integrate with you.