Over the past 10 years, the Canadian multinational e-commerce platform, Shopify Inc., has become the leading online store solution used by companies of all sizes. And it's no wonder — users can create and customize a robust online store without the use of coding. Physical products are sold via Shopify stores, as well as services, subscription plans, digital products, classes and lessons, ticketed experiences, rentals, and consultations.
If you're a Shopify user, you've experienced the benefits of creating your own online store and being in control of all of the little details that go into selling your product or service. And you may also use an accounting system such as Quickbooks Online or Xero, or an ERP to track everything from orders and payroll to cash on hand and production capacity.
Did you know you can power up Shopify with an API (application programming interface)? It's easy to integrate and offers companies a way to automate tasks that are being performed by humans. Because without the help of an API, someone on the team is needed to enter e-commerce data into all the other programs you use.
When customers place an order in a Shopify online store, data moves to the API, which places it into the packets of your other resources. The API does all the work; this includes purchase orders, outbound invoices, advance ship notices, and more. Customer information can also be transferred to your email marketing program.
There are several reasons to consider this integration.
1. It saves time and money. If you're using Shopify as an independent program, all of that juicy data it procures has to be manually entered into your other business applications. Ponder for a minute how much time is spent every week on bringing that information over to use elsewhere. During your 60 seconds of pondering all of that important information would already be copied to where you need it. Just saying.
This brings me to my second point…
2. Ditching the manual entry means the removal of typos and errors. I'm sure you've experienced various problems from mistakes like transposing numbers or misspellings. Perhaps you've lost a customer over such errors. And we aren't perfect, so typos happen. But they don't have to! Let an API do the work and you'll never again have to fix a data-entry issue.
3. An API keeps everything and everyone on the same page, in real-time. Team members logging into accounting software can see the same information gathered in Shopify. There's no lag because the API is churning constantly. It's like the Energizer bunny — it keeps going and going.
4. Connect with marketing tools. The Shopify data brought over to other programs is extremely valuable. For example, you can link to marketing email software. Send emails to customers without toggling to and from Shopify, cutting and pasting the desired facts. Instead, close your eyes and poof! The particulars are already there. The time spent collecting data can be put into those marketing efforts instead.
5. Security. Increased security and privacy come with seamless data transmission.
If the program offers an API, the answer is yes! BOLD VAN integrates seamlessly with any ERP, business system, and accounting software that offers an API. (But check to see if your ERP and other programs have this option; while APIs are on the rise, not everyone has that type of integration yet.)
To learn more about how to add an API into your Shopify workflow, contact BOLD VAN: call 844-265-3777, email info@boldvan.com, or start your three-month trial.
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