Many companies have taken advantage of using SAP ERP systems to implement their business goals and improve their operational efficiency. They also leverage SAP Hybris integration to enhance their omnichannel customer service and add e-commerce functionality. SAP takes every effort to make the integration simple, seamless, and effective.
Source: SimilarTech Report
What’s more, Hybris offers multi-language and omnichannel opportunities, flexibility, a number of highly effective cockpits, and capability to adapt it to any business needs. Hybris Omni Commerce Connect layer enables its users to integrate the commerce API with multiple front-ends, access key commerce functionality across all touch points, easily extend Web services, and customize.
However, to enable effective front-end integration, we need to ensure proper integration between the commerce API layer, the ERP, and third-party applications. It requires hands-on SAP Hybris expertise and involvement of qualified, certified, and experienced software engineers. Let’s consider some concerns SAP Hybris integration may raise:
1. Synchronous or asynchronous integration?
It is a challenging task to decide whether to choose synchronous integration and present data to customers in real-time mode or opt for asynchronous integration and load it from ERP to Hybris e-commerce system on a defined schedule. It will impact many parametres of your application such as performance, usability, and load balancing.
Different pieces of data can be chosen to get loaded either synchronously or asynchronously. Choosing synchronous integration means that your system would need to be responsive at nights and weekends which would require more maintenance effort and withstanding a higher load.
Hybris Data Hub is used for the asynchronous migration of master data, stock information, pricing data, order statuses, and more.
To make SAP Hybris integration simpler, Hybris enables data to be exported directly from SAP through the Data Hub into Hybris.
2. B2B and B2C pricing
Another challenge you face when integrating SAP and Hybris is determining how to display B2B pricing to customers. B2B pricing differs from B2C pricing since it is negotiable and may vary in different cases. In the B2B context, businesses are presented with different prices based on various factors, whereas B2C pricing remains static regardless of customers. It may vary depending on discounts and sales. Within B2C pricing scheme, prices change depending on sales and promotions. Thus it is more efficient to write prices into e-Commerce platform like Hybris since it is more flexible than an ERP system. Whereas, in the B2B context, different businesses are presented with different prices based on multiple predefined factors, and these pricing conditions are usually written within the ERP system.
Also, you should define whether to load prices synchronously or asynchronously and predict how hard it will be to transfer prices from SAP to Hybris. If the prices don’t change often, it is better to use synchronous integration and load prices to Hybris in a real-time mode. If the pricing system is complicated, and it is difficult to export prices to Hybris, it is more recommended to use asynchronous integration.
3. Inventory stock management
Another key consideration is inventory stock management in the context of Hybris integration with ERP systems. Inventory stock management is one of the key tasks which are to be handled across different channels. It is challenging both in terms of integration and user experience.
The key question is where to show the info on product availability and stock information. Sometimes ATP calculations (available to purchase calculations) are really complex and may take much time to get processed. Thus it is better to display the info at the shopping cart stage.
To get a customer informed about the availability of a product, Hybris must make a query to SAP to learn if the product is available. In case it is not in stock, the system will set the shipping date. To set the data, Hybris should receive the info from SAP ERP and Warehouse Management System.
4. Custom product configurations
One of the top challenges is creating custom configurations for different products, placing appropriate prices, and informing the warehouse what parts should be chosen for building a certain product. To enable seamless integration, Hybris and SAP released a module called SAP Configure, Price, and Quote. However, to use it correctly, you need to approach experienced SAP Hybris experts.
5. Order submission
The final step in the ordering process is the submission of the order from Hybris to SAP. If a real-time integration for pricing or inventory data has been created, the best practice is to submit the order from Hybris to SAP in real-time. Otherwise, it is best to submit orders to SAP asynchronously.
Wrap-up
SAP and Hybris complement each other in a great way. They help easily connect with customers, increase the efficiency of operations, and drive tangible business impact. However, to enable that, the systems should be efficiently and seamlessly integrated. And before doing that, we need to analyze reasons for choosing a certain way of solving a specific business problem. The key to successfully implementing SAP Hybris integration is to contact qualified SAP Hybris specialists with hands-on expertise.
