Why trace real orders before an ERP eCommerce implementation?

Tracing real orders shows how an order actually moves through your company, including where employees step in and which information is entered manually. Non-routine orders such as backorders, multiple warehouses, approvals, and special fulfillment requirements can expose requirements that are easy to miss when you only look at the ideal order.

Why does data ownership matter in an ERP eCommerce project?

The ERP and eCommerce platform both need product, customer, and order information, but they may use it for different purposes. Deciding which system maintains each type of data helps prevent conflicting records, duplicate data entry, and uncertainty about which system to update when information changes.

What business rules should be documented before implementation?

Document rules such as customer-specific pricing, minimum order quantities or order multiples, approval requirements, different units of measure, products limited to specific accounts, restrictions on configurable product options, and special shipping or fulfillment requirements. These rules help determine what the eCommerce platform can handle, what the ERP must enforce, and where additional development may be needed.

What should you document about data moving between the ERP and eCommerce platform?

For each data type, document the direction it moves, the timing of the transfer, any transformation needed to map formats, identifiers, or units of measure between systems, and any dependencies where one process must finish before another can begin.

How should you plan for errors in an ERP eCommerce integration?

Decide before implementation how employees will know when a transaction fails, whether the system explains why, who monitors and corrects issues, whether failed transactions can be retried, how duplicate orders will be prevented during recovery, and where previous transactions can be reviewed. The goal is to make problems visible, assign responsibility, and establish a clear path to resolution.

What scenarios should be tested before launching an ERP eCommerce site?

Test realistic scenarios such as a standard order from a new customer, an order with negotiated pricing, products with different units of measure, limited or unavailable inventory, orders requiring approval, product updates, failed transactions that must be corrected, and orders that progress through fulfillment and shipment. Testing should involve business users as well as technical staff.

Who Owns Your Product Data: ERP or eCommerce?

Q: What should you map before starting an ERP eCommerce implementation?

Map how an order moves through your business after checkout, which system owns each piece of information, your business rules, and what needs to move between the ERP and eCommerce platform. You should also plan for errors and exceptions, involve the people who use the systems, separate essential requirements from future improvements, and define the business scenarios you will test before launch.

October 22, 2026

By: Tiffany Hindman

Summary: What should you map before starting an ERP eCommerce implementation? Start with how an order moves through your business, which system owns each piece of data, your business rules, and what needs to move between systems. Planning for errors, involving the people who use the systems, and testing real scenarios helps keep the project on track.

ERP eCommerce Implementation Planning

An ERP eCommerce implementation can look straightforward on paper. Connect your website to your ERP, make sure the data moves between them, test a few orders, and launch.

Then someone asks how customer-specific pricing should work. The warehouse discovers that certain products have different fulfillment requirements. Customer service realizes that order updates are not reaching the people who need them. And suddenly, the project involves a lot more than connecting two systems.

These situations are easier to address when the requirements are identified before development begins.

For manufacturers, distributors, and other B2B businesses, a successful ERP eCommerce implementation starts with understanding how the business operates, what information each system needs, and how an online order should move through the organization.

Here is what to map before your project gets underway.

Understand What Happens After Someone Clicks "Place Order"

An online order may begin on your website, but that is only the beginning of the process.

Once the customer submits the order, what has to happen inside your business to get that order out the door? Maybe the ERP needs the order details. Inventory has to be confirmed. A warehouse team needs the information required for fulfillment. Shipping details need to make their way back to the customer. Depending on the order, sales, customer service, accounting, or another team may also become involved.

Instead of starting with what you think the integration should do, trace a few real orders through your business as it operates today. Pay particular attention to orders that are not routine. Backorders, multiple warehouses, special fulfillment requirements, approvals, and other exceptions can expose requirements that are easy to miss when you only look at the ideal order.

By the end of this exercise, you should be able to see the order as one connected business process rather than a series of separate system transactions. That gives your implementation team something much more useful than a basic integration diagram: an understanding of how an order actually moves through your company and where technology needs to support it.

Look at questions such as

Where does the order information go after checkout?
Which system handles each part of the process?
When does an employee need to step in?
Which information is entered or checked manually?
What happens when an order does not follow the normal process?
How does the customer receive updates as the order progresses?

Identify Which System Owns Each Piece of Information

Your ERP and eCommerce platform both need product, customer, and order information. However, they may use that information for different purposes.

Before implementation, decide which system is responsible for maintaining each type of data. For example, your ERP may be responsible for product identifiers, inventory, and operational pricing rules. Your eCommerce platform may manage product images, customer-facing descriptions, and online merchandising.

Customer information also requires careful consideration. Your business may maintain account records and payment terms in the ERP while allowing customers to manage certain profile details through the website.

For each item, document where the information originates, which system maintains it, and where it needs to be used. This step helps prevent conflicting records, duplicate data entry, and uncertainty about which system should be updated when information changes.

Create a list of the information your systems need to exchange

Product identifiers and descriptions
Product attributes and specifications
Customer accounts and account relationships
Customer-specific pricing and discounts
Inventory availability
Orders and order details
Shipment information and order status

Document Your Business Rules

One of the biggest mistakes in an ERP eCommerce project is assuming that every customer follows the same buying process.

B2B businesses often have requirements that go beyond a standard online checkout. Your website may need to accommodate negotiated pricing, minimum order quantities, customer-specific product availability, or purchasing restrictions. These rules should be documented before the implementation team decides how to configure the systems.

Not every business will need every rule, but the ones that apply should be understood early. For example, a manufacturer may sell products using different units of measure or require certain products to be ordered in defined quantities. If the website does not account for those requirements, customers may place orders that require manual correction.

Mapping these requirements helps determine what the eCommerce platform can handle, what the ERP must enforce, and where additional development may be necessary.

Consider questions such as

Do different customers receive different prices?
Are there minimum order quantities or order multiples?
Can customers purchase products that are temporarily unavailable?
Do certain orders require approval before processing?
Can customers order products in different units of measure?
Are some products available only to specific accounts?
Do configurable products have restrictions on which options can be selected together?
Are there special shipping or fulfillment requirements?

Define What Needs to Move Between Systems

Once you understand the business processes, data ownership, and operating rules, identify how information needs to move between the ERP and eCommerce platform.

Not every field needs to be transferred. Some information is used exclusively by one system, while other data must be shared to support ordering and fulfillment.

For each data type, document four things:

Direction

Does the information move from the ERP to eCommerce, from eCommerce to the ERP, or in both directions?

Timing

When does the information need to be transferred? Does it need to be available immediately after a transaction, or can it be updated on a scheduled basis?

Transformation

Does the information use the same format, identifier, unit of measure, status, or structure in both systems, or does it need to be translated or mapped as it moves between them?

Dependencies

Does one process need to finish before another can begin?

For example, product and pricing information may need to move from the ERP to the website. In an ERP-driven eCommerce environment, customer orders typically move from the website into the ERP for downstream processing. Shipment details may then need to return to the eCommerce platform so customers can check their order status. The exact requirements depend on your systems and business processes.

Documenting these exchanges helps your implementation team understand what the integration needs to accomplish and which data flows require the most attention.

Plan for Errors and Exceptions

It is easy to map the ideal process. It is just as important to understand what should happen when something does not go according to plan.

What happens if an order cannot be transferred to the ERP? What if a product is missing a required field? What if inventory changes after a customer places an order? Without a defined approach, employees may have to discover problems manually, investigate what happens, and determine how to correct the issue.

Before implementation, decide how your team will handle common exceptions. These requirements are particularly important when order volume grows or several departments depend on information moving between systems.

The objective is not to eliminate every possible error. It is to make problems visible, assign responsibility, and establish a clear path to resolution.

Your plan should address questions such as

How will employees know when a transaction fails?
Will the system explain why the transaction failed?
Who is responsible for monitoring integration activity?
Who is responsible for investigating and correcting an issue?
Can a failed transaction be retried after the problem is fixed?
How will your team prevent duplicate orders during recovery?
Where can employees review previous transactions and their status?

Involve the People Who Actually Use the Systems

ERP eCommerce projects are sometimes treated as technology projects led almost entirely by IT. However, many of the most important requirements come from the people who manage daily business operations.

Sales understands customer agreements and purchasing habits. Customer service knows which questions customers ask most often. Warehouse employees understand picking, packing, and fulfillment requirements. Accounting knows how orders affect invoicing and financial processes. Each department sees a different part of the same transaction.

Before implementation begins, bring these groups into the planning process. Ask them to explain how they work today, where manual tasks occur, and which problems they regularly encounter.

Their answers can reveal requirements that may not appear in a technical specification but can significantly affect the final solution. Involving the right people early also gives employees a chance to prepare for changes to their workflows.

Questions worth asking

Which tasks require employees to enter the same information more than once?
Which customer requests are difficult to handle through the current website?
Where do order delays or corrections commonly occur?
Which reports or details do employees need to do their jobs?
What exceptions require someone to step outside the normal process?

Separate Essential Requirements From Future Improvements

Once departments start discussing their needs, the project scope can grow quickly.

One team wants a new approval process. Another wants additional reporting. Someone else suggests a new customer portal feature that would be useful but is not necessary for launch. These requests may all have merit. The challenge is deciding which ones belong in the initial implementation.

Organize requirements into clear categories:

Required for Launch

Functionality needed to process orders correctly, support essential business rules, and maintain operational accuracy.

Important Improvements

Features that would improve efficiency or the customer experience but do not prevent the core process from working.

Future Opportunities

Enhancements that can be considered after the initial implementation is stable.

This approach helps your team establish priorities without losing sight of longer-term goals. It also makes it easier to evaluate customization requests. Before adding a feature, determine whether it is essential, whether existing functionality can meet the requirement, and what additional implementation and maintenance effort it would involve.

A clear scope gives the project team a more practical basis for estimating work, setting expectations, and managing changes.

Test Real Business Scenarios Before Launch

A successful test is not simply an order appearing in the ERP after it was placed on the website.

The complete process needs to work, including the business rules, data exchanges, and exceptions that apply to your organization. Build your testing plan around realistic scenarios.

For each scenario, define the expected result. Confirm that the right information appears in the right system, the applicable business rules are followed, and employees can identify and resolve exceptions.

Testing should involve business users as well as technical staff. A transaction can transfer successfully from one system to another and still fail to meet the needs of the people responsible for processing it. The more closely testing reflects everyday operations, the better prepared your team will be for launch.

Scenarios to test

A standard order from a new customer
An order from an existing customer with negotiated pricing
An order containing products with different units of measure
An order for an item with limited or unavailable inventory
An order that requires approval or manual review
A product update that needs to appear on the website
A transaction that fails and must be corrected
An order that progresses through fulfillment and shipment

The Bottom Line

Your Implementation Should Start With the Business, Not Just the Technology

An ERP eCommerce implementation involves more than connecting a website to an ERP. It requires a clear understanding of how your business sells products, manages information, processes orders, and fulfills customer commitments.

Mapping these processes before development begins helps uncover missing requirements, clarify system responsibilities, and identify potential problems while there is still time to address them. It also gives your implementation team a stronger foundation for making decisions about configuration, connectors, customization, testing, and future improvements.

At Strabo Partners, we help manufacturers and other product-based businesses connect their eCommerce platforms with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management. By understanding your workflows and requirements first, we can help align the implementation with how your business actually operates.

Simplify. Automate. Grow.