Are You Losing Customers Because of Out-of-Date Data?

In the generation of text messages, Snapchat, and email, it might seem nearly impossible to believe there was a day when one of the main ways to communicate with someone was to write a letter and mail it through the Post Office. Now social media and video chatting mean that you can share your life and experiences in real-time. No more waiting by the door for written news that could be days if not weeks old by the time you receive it.

So, too, has business evolved from mail order catalogs to ecommerce that delivers to your door in less time than it might take you now to remember how to write a check. Online shoppers love the immediacy of the process, and if your ecommerce process gets hung up at any point due to lack of real-time data, you risk losing that customer, their current sale,  and potentially their business overall.

Real Time Versus Batch Processing

It might surprise some business newcomers to learn that real-time processing isn’t the only way businesses currently update their data. Batch processing—also referred to as scheduler-based—involves a bulk upload performed at scheduled intervals. Uploaded information could include payment processing and creating shipping labels and packing slips. Batch processing is ideal for businesses that require little to no customization, as it offers minimal flexibility or control. Due to the heavy lift the servers must perform for batch processing, these bulk updates are often performed at hours when the servers aren’t doing much else, such as the overnight hours.

Bulk uploads don’t sound like a half-bad solution until, of course, you consider some of the challenges to the setup. Since uploads are running overnight, if the task becomes too hefty for your server capability and there’s an upload issue, you might not find out until morning, when you’re back in the office. It also means that stock availability listed on your website might not be up-to-date, and it won’t be until the next day that your customer is notified their payment didn’t process because that item is out of stock.

On the other hand, real-time processing means that every single transaction is processed individually and immediately. Data is also available to everyone who needs it right away. Problems are pinpointed much sooner and can be dealt with immediately instead of waiting until the next day. Shopping carts are less likely to be abandoned because your customer knows that the items they want are in stock.

Too Good to Be True?

It might feel like real-time processing is too good to be true, and there’s absolutely no reason to be on batch processing. That’s not entirely accurate. Batch processing is often a go-to for businesses that are integrating multiple systems together.

But what if you could integrate multiple systems together and get real-time processing? It’s not impossible. In fact, IN-SYNCH by ROI Consulting can do just that for Sage 100, your ecommerce platform, and even third-party shopping carts such as Amazon. Integrating information from these sites in real-time means customers never have to worry there won’t be enough stock to fulfill their orders. They know their cards will be charged right away and, if there is an issue with their order, they’ll be notified immediately.

IN-SYNCH’s lightning-fast bidirectional integration means information flows freely—and in real-time—across as many systems as you can think to connect. Your WMS is informed by your ecommerce platform, which in turn updates your ERP, and so on.

Custom Integration With IN-SYNCH and ROI Consulting

So much is possible when your business commits to real-time integration via IN-SYNCH and Sage 100. At ROI, we make sure your integration is one hundred percent customized to your needs with regards to the Sage platform, ecommerce site, third-party carts, custom sites, and more. Call us at 402-934-2223 ext 101 for more information or request integration information online here.