Magento is one of the world’s leading eCommerce platforms and consequently happens to be the most popular and frequently requested integrations we come across here at eBridge Connections.

We are continually updating our Magento connection functionality and I would like to share some of the highlights and enhancements that are supported by the API connection.

• Multi-store, tier pricing is now fully supported and can be configured right from your accounting/ERP database. Tier pricing is a promotional tool that lets you price items differently for higher quantities. You can think of this as volume discounting.
• Order retrieval filter for order creation date has been added. This is in addition to order number range (start/end).
• Configurable, multiple concurrent connections for product and inventory creation and updates has been added. Instead of processing items one at a time, this feature allows multiple connections to run in parallel, resulting in performance that is 15x faster on average!
• Usually new customers will be created directly on Magento but some people have existing customers in their accounting/ERP system that they would like set up with accounts on Magento. Customer creation on Magento through the API is supported!

Of course we also continue to support the following touch-points:

• Orders out of Magento
• Product & pricing creation/updates into Magento
• Inventory quantity updates into Magneto
• Shipment with tracking information updates into Magento

Build your Magento to accounting integration today!

Webstore Integration, eCommerce

Over the next few articles, I will be looking at some principles of effective communication and how it relates in a business setting.  We will look at some typical questions that you, as a customer, should be asking when soliciting products or services as well what is expected from you during a project.  Finally, we will be looking at some common reasons a (software) services project would go over time or budget.

Let’s start by looking at some fundamental communication requirements.

There are two important qualities every successful person has, the ability to ask the right questions and to be a good listener. Of course, there are other traits of the successful but these two are near the top and nearly universal of every successful individual I have met and read about.

In the first part, I’m focusing on asking the right questions; next time we will look at being a good listener.

Read more…

eBRIDGE Blog

Have you ever analyzed your personal finances to figure out where your money goes, just to find out that you spend $500 a year on take-out coffee when you are depriving yourself of that new outfit or gadget you’ve had your eye on? It’s a sobering realization that has certainly affected some of the choices I make on a daily basis.

In the same light, let’s consider what it costs you to manually key data into your back-office systems. It starts out innocently enough; the volumes are manageable and you get some personal satisfaction from ‘touching’ every new order that comes in.

Before you know it, sales ramp up and your online business is actually generating so many orders that you can’t keep up with the demand of processing and shipping.

You start loosing sleep and late one night you sit down to key in the orders. By the 10th one, you accidentally Read more…

Technology Corner accounting integration

If you have kids, I’m sure you’re thinking about getting them back to school. New clothes, new supplies, haircuts and gadgets, whatever it is that’s on your list, that’s probably all you have on your mind at the moment.

If you happen to run an online business, you should realize that it’s not too early to start thinking about the holiday shopping season with Christmas being a mere 120 days away. This is especially true if you were planning on finally integrating your web store with your accounting system; after all, you will have enough on your plate collecting payments and shipping orders. Doing just about anything else would be better than manually keying even a few dozen orders, let alone a few hundred or thousand!

The great part about integrating your orders, besides all the time you save, Read more…

Technology Corner

It used to be that integration was difficult and expensive, and in many cases it still is, but as Integration-as-a-Service continues to mature, hopefully there will be a day in the not too distant future, when not only will all your internal system be integrated but you will have visibility across your supply chain. Access to valuable business data for your customers and vendors, both upstream and downstream from you will help you and your partners make better decisions more quickly, allowing everyone to be more agile and profitable. Read more…

Integration, Technology Corner

As the Technical Sales Engineer at eBridge, one of my duties, along with the Account Rep, is to conduct a needs analysis with prospective clients to determine if the eBridge solution is a good fit.

This is done by:
1) Determining what systems we are to integrate
2) Clarifying what business documents / data / touchpoints need to flow between the systems and in which direction
3) Discussing the business process
4) Addressing a specific pain points and explaining how eBridge can handle it using expertise and technology
5) Putting together an integration solution that involves no or minimal changes to the business process
Read more…

Integration, Technology Corner best practices, Integration, Mike C

Although it happens less frequently these days, I’m still surprised when a business doesn’t have a website. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fish monger, or a lawyer, a restaurant or a landscaper, if you’re not online, you are going to be increasingly shut out of business opportunities because you will be invisible to those who are searching for you.

Let’s think for a moment about how you used to find businesses you never dealt with before, say a plumber or catering company; you probably used Read more…

Technology Corner Mike C

Here at eBridge Connections, we have been putting a lot of emphasis on web store integrations recently but the reality is that EDI is still a major reason companies need to undertake an integration project.

In an effort to realize cost savings throughout the supply chain, more customers than ever are mandating EDI as business requirement. That means that if you want to do business with companies like Walmart, Target, JC Penney, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, or any other number of retail or grocery chains, automotive companies or the healthcare industry, you need to be prepared to exchange your business documents electronically, and that usually means EDI. Read more…

EDI Integration, EDI Tips and Tricks, General EDI, eBRIDGE Blog Mike C

In a previous article, I mentioned that in order to truly leverage the power of a (cloud-based) application, an API (application programming interface) should be available to allow you to integrate and share information between systems easily. In other words, if you have a great software application and want others to interface with your software, you should have an API that may extend the reach beyond what you can, or want to do with your product.

An example might help; I’ll try to keep this simple. Here at eBridge Connections, we integrate data (eCommerce, EDI, CRM and others) with accounting systems. A company that sells an invoice billing system recently approached us.  They recognize the value in having invoices from their customer’s accounting system automatically populate their billing system and are looking to eBridge to facilitate the link because eBridge already connects to 40 different accounting systems. eBridge can provide API access to the partner to allow them manage the integration between their billing system and the eBridge integration platform. Everyone wins in this case: the end user doesn’t have to manually key invoices into the billing system, eBridge gains an integration customer without having to do any development, and the partner has a more compelling offering to help promote their product.

Read more…

Technology Corner Mike C

In part one of my 2010 year in review, I looked at the impact social media is having on society and what it means for business owners of all sizes.

It seems like 2010 is also the year I.T. had their heads in the cloud (computing, that is). While most of us already use cloud-based services (Facebook, Gmail, Flickr and YouTube are all examples), the general acceptance of cloud-based software within the business enterprise seems to have reached a point Read more…

Technology Corner, eBRIDGE Blog Mike C