3 ecommerce system integration challenges solved by middleware

Today’s ecommerce tech stacks are more interconnected than ever. Data often flows between your ecommerce platform, order management system, marketplaces, and ad channels.?

Integrating these systems requires a simplified way to move, synchronize, protect, and format data correctly.

In this Ecommerce Elevator, we share how using middleware can streamline integration and solve common problems that ecommerce system integrators (SIs) face.

#1 Integrating with new channels

Each sales channel has its own APIs and data schema requirements, so building new integrations is often costly and time-consuming.?

SIs must dig through the documentation to learn about available endpoints, as well as rate limits and accepted data formats.

Once an integration is built, ongoing maintenance is expected as channels update their APIs and requirements over time. This workload grows exponentially as a brand expands to additional channels.

You can save time by using a middleware feed management platform that has pre-built integrations with the channels you want to list products on. These platforms can also own the ongoing maintenance for every channel’s API updates. This way, you can also try out other channels quickly if your newly added channel doesn’t produce the results you’re looking for.

#2 Migrating and optimizing data

Mapping product attributes directly from your source data to outgoing channels is rarely straightforward because each channel only accepts certain values.?

Valid value requirements can be as specific as the naming of colors, the abbreviation or spelling of sizes (XL vs. extra large), and the character counts of titles or descriptions. In most cases, it’s necessary to transform the data before products can be listed on new channels.

With the right middleware tech, it’s possible to endlessly transform and map content to prepare files in any format needed.?

Once your data is migrated correctly, you can make catalog updates to optimize your data for individual campaigns and channels without affecting your source data. This is important because product listings optimized for a marketplace like Amazon won’t perform the same on a social commerce destination like Facebook. For example, you could employ shorter product titles for social audiences or feature lifestyle images instead of product photography.

#3 Maintaining data integrity

As more channels are layered into your ecommerce mix, it becomes easier to miss small problems in your data. The result is a snowball effect that impacts your listings downstream.

For example, if you have a catalog with a large volume of SKUs, updating your listings on a channel can be slow. A long processing time may result in a timeout on the channel’s side. If you’re not monitoring the upload, you might not realize that it never went through. Now customers are looking at outdated inventory, and the end result is a series of orders you need to cancel.

Any number of data anomalies can affect your listings. Establishing data governance protocols to minimize the number of errors affecting external channels is simple with the right platform.

Some middleware platforms like Feedonomics are equipped with data governance features that monitor the quality of imported data, transformed data, and exported data. You can set up alerts that trigger when a certain percentage of your products are out of stock or prices are missing, and receive email notifications to help you investigate the problem at the source.

You can also choose to exclude groups of products from your exports, or allocate and reserve inventory on different channels to avoid overselling issues.

More

Many system integration challenges also apply to businesses that need to onboard multiple sellers onto their platforms. Learn how data standardization tools can help tackle common seller onboarding challenges .

Omnichannel commerce relies on a series of interconnected systems, platforms, and channels. Learn how to leverage feed management tech to power your omnichannel strategy .?