Your shop deserves integrations that actually work

Every integration project has unique requirements: different ERP systems, different data volumes, different synchronization intervals. In over 50+ projects, we have learned what matters and distilled this experience into six coordinated service areas. Whether you need a single DATEV connection for accounting handover or a complete middleware architecture connecting five systems: we deliver the right solution.

In many organizations, product data, customer master data, prices and inventory information exist simultaneously in multiple systems: in the ERP for inventory management, in the PIM for product information, in the online shop for digital sales and in accounting for invoicing. Without proper interfaces, inconsistencies arise that have direct business impact. Incorrect prices in the shop lead to margin losses or customer complaints. Outdated stock levels cause overselling and delivery delays. Manually transferred orders consume staff capacity and are error-prone.

The solution lies in a well-designed integration architecture that reliably connects all involved systems. This is not about one-time data transfer during initial setup, but about ongoing, bidirectional synchronization: product changes in the ERP are visible in the shop within seconds. Orders from the shop automatically flow as sales orders into the ERP. Invoice data is transferred to DATEV in a structured format. And inventory changes after goods receipt or picking update the availability display in the shop in real time.

Every integration project has individual requirements, but the fundamental data flows recur. The following overview shows the six most important synchronization areas that we implement in nearly every project. Depending on your system landscape and business processes, we jointly prioritize which data flows should be realized at launch and which in later phases.

Integration projects frequently fail not because of technology, but because of insufficient requirements analysis. Which system is the master for which data? How are conflicts resolved during simultaneous changes? What happens when a system is temporarily unreachable? We clarify these questions in the analysis phase before the first line of code is written.

In our project practice, we repeatedly encounter similar challenges that we address with proven solution approaches. The biggest challenge is often data quality: when product data in the ERP has been maintained over years with inconsistent formatting, missing mandatory fields or outdated category assignments, a connector alone cannot fix this. That is why every project begins with a data quality analysis that identifies problems and delivers a remediation plan.

Another typical challenge is the differing data models of the involved systems. A product in the ERP has different attributes than a product in the shop. Customer address tables follow different schemas in every system. The transformation between these data models, known as data mapping, is a critical component of every integration project. We document every transformation in a mapping matrix and test it with real data before deploying to production.

Last but not least, error handling in distributed systems presents a challenge. What happens when the ERP is unreachable during a product update? How does the middleware handle timeout scenarios? How are inconsistent data states detected and resolved? Our middleware solutions implement proven patterns for precisely these scenarios: circuit breakers for controlled interruption during system outages, retry strategies with exponentially growing wait times, and dead-letter queues for transactions that have failed after multiple attempts.

The choice of technology determines how reliable, performant and maintainable your integrations work long-term. We rely on proven technologies with active communities and long-term support, rather than proprietary platforms that lock you into vendor dependency.

System integration is relevant in every e-commerce sector, but some industries place particularly high demands on data quality, synchronization frequency and business logic complexity. From our project experience, we know which industry-specific characteristics need to be considered when designing and implementing an integration architecture.

Introducing a professional integration architecture is an investment that typically pays for itself quickly. Companies regularly report that automating manual data entry between systems reduces the time required for order processing by 40 to 60 percent (project experience). The error rate in transferring product data and prices drops to near zero because automated synchronization eliminates typos, transposed numbers and forgotten updates.

At the same time, seamless data flows create the foundation for scaling. When your shop grows from 5,000 to 50,000 products, manual data maintenance must not grow proportionally. A clean integration architecture ensures that maintenance continues in the leading system and the shop automatically receives current data. The same applies to new sales channels: when you operate a marketplace presence or B2B portal alongside the shop, the central middleware delivers consistent data to all channels.

We recommend a phased approach: start with the most business-critical data flows, typically product master data and order synchronization, and expand the integration landscape step by step. This approach has proven successful in over 50+ projects, minimizes project risk and enables early user feedback. Talk to us about your system landscape and we will show you which data flows have the greatest business value and what a realistic project plan could look like. Learn more about our team and methodology on the About page.

An integration architecture is a long-term investment that must endure for many years. ERP updates, shop relaunches, new sales channels and changing business requirements must not jeopardize existing interfaces. That is why we consistently rely on a modular architecture where every component is replaceable: the ERP connector can be changed without adapting the shop adapter. A new sales channel is connected as another consumer to the middleware without affecting existing data flows. And when you migrate your ERP system in three years, the entire shop-side integration remains intact.

Our operations contracts ensure your integration is professionally maintained after go-live. Proactive monitoring detects anomalies before they become business-relevant. Compatibility checks before system updates prevent unexpected interface breaks. And quarterly optimization reviews ensure your integration architecture grows with your business. This long-term perspective distinguishes us from providers who set up an interface and then move on. Our contract renewal rate of 97 percent shows that our clients value this continuous support.

Many companies face similar questions when planning the integration of their online shop with ERP and accounting. How long does a typical project take? Which systems can be connected? What does integration cost? Detailed answers to these and many more questions can be found on our FAQ page. Here are the three most common questions in brief: