CRM and Accounting package integration with E-Commerce website

[SPA_EPoS_Solutions_Guy]

Looking for advise on CRM packages and Accounting packages that integrate with E-Commerce websites

The company I work for is about to launch a new E-Commerce website and in the near future I would like to have it integrated with a CRM package and an accounting package. This way all customer info is in automatically and when they purchase something or enquire our managers know something needs to done and they can track the progress of the sale or order.

Accounting package integration would mean keeping control of stock would be a lot easier. There would be a lot less chance of sales and profit data being wrong, no rekeying.... etc.

Also interested cloud solutions for this, so that managers can keep track of things from anywhere.

Has anyone got experience in this? What packages are best for this?

 

[antropy]

Interesting requirement, can I ask a few questions?

1. If the site is already in progress, what platform is it based on? (i.e. Magento/Prestashop/OpenCart)
2. Do the company currently use an accounting package such as Sage?
3. Are they willing to pay for a hosted CRM like SalesForce or do they want to go for a self-hosted solution like SugarCRM?
4. How much is the average order value? If you're selling quite low value items, a relatively simple CRM built in to the ecommerce website might suffice. If they're really high value items (perhaps £1000+) then a professional CRM solution might make sense.

Paul

 

[SPA_EPoS_Solutions_Guy]

Interesting requirement, can I ask a few questions?

1. If the site is already in progress, what platform is it based on? (i.e. Magento/Prestashop/OpenCart)
2. Do the company currently use an accounting package such as Sage?
3. Are they willing to pay for a hosted CRM like SalesForce or do they want to go for a self-hosted solution like SugarCRM?
4. How much is the average order value? If you're selling quite low value items, a relatively simple CRM built in to the ecommerce website might suffice. If they're really high value items (perhaps £1000+) then a professional CRM solution might make sense.

Paul

Hi Paul

1. I believe it is in Magento but will confirm this with my developers
2. Sage 50
3. I have been looking into SaleForce, I think the company wil pay for the solution that works best for us really. By self-hosted do you mean that SugarCRM is not cloud-based?
4. Average order value is definitely over £1000

Cheers

Guy

 

[antropy]

Hi Guy

Thanks for the answers.

1. Yes, would be good to know as it affects the integration with other parts.
2. Whatever platform it is, it may be easier to connect to Sage 50 via http://www.tradebox.uk.com/
3. Depends what you mean by "cloud" it's a bit of a marketing buzzword. You can access SugarCRM from anywhere just like SalesForce. I have used both platforms but not extensively - I'd say SalesForce is more refined and polished.
4. Then to me it makes sense to use a really good CRM to track the sales process.

Paul

 

[SPA_EPoS_Solutions_Guy]

Hi Guy

Thanks for the answers.

1. Yes, would be good to know as it affects the integration with other parts.
2. Whatever platform it is, it may be easier to connect to Sage 50 via
3. Depends what you mean by "cloud" it's a bit of a marketing buzzword. You can access SugarCRM from anywhere just like SalesForce. I have used both platforms but not extensively - I'd say SalesForce is more refined and polished.
4. Then to me it makes sense to use a really good CRM to track the sales process.

Paul

Thanks Paul

1. I should be able to confirm this once the website is up (hopefully later today early tomorrow, they are behind schedule).
2. This looks good thanks
3. Do you know what the differences are cost wise? Would you say these 2 are the best CRM packages?
4. Definately, I think with the increase in efficiency it will pay for itself.

 

[RubixEvolution]

Looking for advise on CRM packages and Accounting packages that integrate with E-Commerce websites

The company I work for is about to launch a new E-Commerce website and in the near future I would like to have it integrated with a CRM package and an accounting package. This way all customer info is in automatically and when they purchase something or enquire our managers know something needs to done and they can track the progress of the sale or order.

Accounting package integration would mean keeping control of stock would be a lot easier. There would be a lot less chance of sales and profit data being wrong, no rekeying.... etc.

Also interested cloud solutions for this, so that managers can keep track of things from anywhere.

Has anyone got experience in this? What packages are best for this?

Have you checked Magento ?
I believe you can do all these on Magento by default. You can control the stock, you let certain people in the team to know availability of the stock and if you give them access to backend they can control this from anywhere
Regarding, book keeping, you can get all the sales info extracted but I think there are some extensions that you can use on Magento. I can't see anything here that what Magento cannot do.

 

[SPA_EPoS_Solutions_Guy]

Have you checked Magento ?
I believe you can do all these on Magento by default. You can control the stock, you let certain people in the team to know availability of the stock and if you give them access to backend they can control this from anywhere
Regarding, book keeping, you can get all the sales info extracted but I think there are some extensions that you can use on Magento. I can't see anything here that what Magento cannot do.

We also do a lot of work offline as well, especially with our bigger customers, we would still need to sell to them, support them, delivery to them, store their customer details, etc. Plus payments are also made offline (mainly offline currently) in cheque form, BACs, credit card, etc.

We need to be able to raise worksheets for support, service and helpdesk or send them to smart phones (which is what we do currently).

Obviously for efficiency, better customer service and less headaches, it is better if better if everything is streamlined and integrated..... can magento cover both online and offline customers and payments?

 

[antropy]

3. I'd say SalesForce is widely considered the best. It's probably the option to go for in this case.

 

[SPA_EPoS_Solutions_Guy]

Thanks for your help Paul

 

[Laurenpears]

SalesForce is a CRM not an accounting package, so you would need another solution to do this, meaning 3 systems.

Look at NetSuite..... As what you are looking for is an ERP system

 

[KA_Tweet5]

I work for Sage and another option may be our Sage One offering (Online Accounts) if the 50 Accounts is proving a barrier. It has full integration with Magento, SagePay and Really Simple CRM (online CRM).

If you use a company called OneSaas then you can also integrate Sage One with a variety of other applications including Salesforce, Sugar CRM etc

 

[SuperOfficeman]

Guy

our partners Vismagic based in Totnes have experience in what you are looking for and combine a Visma ERP system with SuperOffice as a front-end CRM.

I believe they have experience working with the magento websites also.

Speak to George Rourke there if you aren't sorted yet and he'll help you out.

Thanks

Matt

 

[Jack@GillespieBS]

Looking for advise on CRM packages and Accounting packages that integrate with E-Commerce websites

The company I work for is about to launch a new E-Commerce website and in the near future I would like to have it integrated with a CRM package and an accounting package. This way all customer info is in automatically and when they purchase something or enquire our managers know something needs to done and they can track the progress of the sale or order.

Accounting package integration would mean keeping control of stock would be a lot easier. There would be a lot less chance of sales and profit data being wrong, no rekeying.... etc.

Also interested cloud solutions for this, so that managers can keep track of things from anywhere.

Has anyone got experience in this? What packages are best for this?

Hi Guy,

I work for an accountancy firm who specialise in supplying and implementing CRM and Accounting packages that integrate with E-commerce websites.

Front end wise, I would suggest sticking with Magento. Lots of our clients use them and it can be integrated extremely well with a lot back end systems.

There are a number of good systems out there that will manage your CRM, Accounting and also integrate with Magento (amongst other platforms). Independently speaking 'Sage One' is perhaps a little bit outdated and 'Microsoft Dynamics' is good though the integration's aren't that great.

Judging by your requirements a 'Brightpearl' system would be most suitable, as it integrates all the systems you need extremely well.

We specialise in implementations for Brightpearl and also integrating with front ends such as Magento so that clients can get the most out of it. So any requirements you need with that, we can help.

Feel free for any further advice.

Thanks,

Jack
GillespieBS

 

[ProjectOcto]

Firstly - having used Salesforce myself - I don't recommend jumping onto that without proper investigation. I don't believe it suits the eCommerce scenario the best, where you want to track orders, customers, line items etc - plus there is a whole lot of Reporting Setup you have to do to get the best out of it.

Magento should be able to integrate with Sage, Quickbooks etc on the accountancy side, and also many CRM packages BUT there are often upgrade costs. Check those out first as Magento is largely a 'one size fits all' (but with add-ons) ecommerce platform.

Also speak to your developers. They are the guys who have to do the integration work, and if they aren't 100% competent/confident then you really should outsource/consult.I cannot stress this strongly enough - don't let them pretend to know what they are doing!