Ecommerce architecture case study
Simplifying Commerce Inventory with an ERP First Strategy
An ecommerce platform was taking orders for products that were not available. We made the ERP the source of truth for inventory and let Adobe Commerce focus on selling.
Case study summary
Adobe Commerce and the ERP were both making inventory decisions, creating opportunities for the data to diverge.
Commerce only needed to determine whether a product could be sold; it did not need a competing inventory lifecycle.
Inventory inconsistencies decreased and the recurring order and cancellation experience was addressed.
The Challenge
An ecommerce platform was regularly accepting orders for products that were no longer available. Customers could complete checkout only to have an order canceled later because the inventory was not actually there.
The real problem was not only inaccurate inventory data. Two systems were trying to manage the same process.
Adobe Commerce has its own inventory system, including available inventory, reservations, multiple sources, cancellations and other parts of the inventory lifecycle. The organization also had an ERP responsible for inventory across the business. With both systems making decisions, inventory could get out of sync and unavailable products could still be sold.
The Approach
DrockTech started with one question: Which system owns inventory?
The answer was the ERP. Once that ownership was explicit, the role of Adobe Commerce could become simpler. Commerce needed to know whether a product could be sold. It did not need to independently manage an inventory lifecycle the ERP already controlled.
The Solution
We customized the Adobe Commerce inventory workflow around the ERP being the source of truth. Inventory management stayed with the ERP. Commerce focused on selling.
Inventory behaviors that conflicted with the ERP were removed. Adobe Commerce was no longer independently trying to manage allocations or return inventory after cancellations when the ERP was already responsible for those decisions.
The ERP managed inventory. Commerce rang the cash register.
The Result
The organization established one system responsible for inventory decisions and removed competing inventory logic. This reduced inconsistencies and addressed the recurring problem of customers purchasing products that could not actually be fulfilled.
The integration also became simpler because Adobe Commerce and the ERP were no longer trying to perform the same job.
Key Takeaway
A lot of integration problems are really ownership problems. Before building more synchronization, determine which system owns the process. Then design everything else around that decision.
How DrockTech Helps
Commerce platforms have to work with ERP, PIM, CRM, identity, payment, fulfillment and other systems.
DrockTech helps define those boundaries and simplify how the systems work together.