ERP-first
ERP-first is a product philosophy of avanta: existing information and processes of the ERP system are used directly for digital sales, service and AI processes – instead of rebuilding them in the shop.
ERP-first is a product philosophy of avanta. It describes the principle of using important information and processes that already exist in the ERP system directly for digital sales, service and AI processes – instead of rebuilding them in the shop. Customers, sales, service and AI applications access the same information base; digital sales build on the existing ERP processes. This is how it is implemented in our B2B e-commerce platform – and this is how modern B2B e-commerce works without duplicate data maintenance.
ERP-first is a product philosophy – not a technology, not an architecture and not an interface. And ERP-first does not mean synchronising as much data as possible between the ERP system and the platform, nor that all data must be stored exclusively in the ERP or read exclusively in real time. What matters is that responsibility for information and processes stays where it originates in the company. Background: why an ERP-first approach is so important in B2B e-commerce.
Typical information and processes from the ERP
Typical information: products, customers, customer-specific prices, product ranges, availability, delivery dates, documents, quotations, orders, invoices, contacts, parts lists and serial numbers.
Typical processes: price determination, discount logic, delivery date determination, freight cost calculation, carrier selection as well as quotation, order, approval, spare parts and configuration processes.
These processes are used, not rebuilt: a B2B shop does not determine a customer-specific price itself but accesses the price and condition logic held in the ERP. Which functions build on this is shown in the feature overview. Via cXML PunchOut the shop can additionally be embedded into existing eProcurement processes.
Advantages for B2B companies
No duplicate maintenance of existing information, use of established ERP processes instead of parallel logic in the shop, higher data quality and fewer redundancies. This reduces the implementation effort, accelerates project delivery and lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO).
One example: with order automation there is no need to maintain separate procurement rules, because demand is checked against the item, price and delivery information already held in the ERP. The AI assistant avaBot works on the same information base and the permissions defined there. In the chemical industry, customers access batch- and customer-specific information maintained in the ERP.
Positioning compared with shop-centric approaches
In shop-centric solutions, price, condition and ordering logic is first modelled in the shop and then reconciled with the ERP system. This creates two places in which the same business logic has to be maintained.
The difference lies not in individual functions but in the starting point: ERP-first starts from the existing company processes. This reduces custom development and maintenance effort – particularly with complex condition models, customer-specific product ranges and multi-level approval workflows. Via OCI PunchOut the shop can also be embedded into existing ERP and purchasing processes.
Practical example / industries
A mechanical engineering company links its B2B store directly to SAP so that customers from the mechanical/plant engineering sector can see current spare parts availability and order wearing parts around the clock using the spare parts service.