eSellerPro

eSellerProHowdy,

I’ve been exceptionally busy over the past few months working on solving different businesses challenges with integrating third party website solutions to eSellerPro and I now have a set of integrations that are worth sharing.

If you’re new to this site, then to bring you up to speed in a single sentence, “I was the implementations team leader for a couple of years at eSellerPro, I know what it’s capable of because I helped design it at the customer level“. You can find out more about me here.

It’s because of that depth of knowledge with the eSellerPro product, the way I work, open & honestly, is why I’m able to develop deep, fast & stable integrations into third party platforms that are not just limited to normal websites, this can also include EPOS systems, affiliate networks, mobile sites and mobile iOS & Android applications.

eSellerPro can provide an interface that allows your to do the following:

  • Keep ALL the core functions in eSellerPro.
  • Create new inventory externally
  • Send stock, price and sale price updates
  • Receive orders
  • Send order updates

The interface is generally provided free from eSellerPro. At a high level the interface allows your business to keep all the core back office functions in eSellerPro such as inventory data, stock control & order aggregation and leverage a third party system such as a website that is completely separate from eSellerPro.

There are several key reasons why you would want to consider using a third party website solution, these are:

  • Open source code with a large, inexpensive base of development resources available
  • More flexibility with custom features & functions
  • A lower total cost of ownership
  • Complete flexibility should you decide in the future to move software platforms
  • The ability to deploy more than one website, quickly, efficiently & cheaply.

If you don’t see an integration to your current website or external application from the list of integrations, then email me (matt [at] lastdropofink.co.uk) or call me on 0117 230 2500 (24 Hrs)  for a chat, anything is possible. No obligation and absolutely no BS.

eSellerPro to BigCommerce Integration

eSellerPro to BigCommerce IntegrationThis is a full integration to and from eSellerPro to the BigCommerce website platform. BigCommerce powers over 20,000 online stores and is a fully hosted solution.

I was approached to integrate a new BigCommerce website to eSellerPro and working directly with the business to ensure that they are 100% satisfied with the integration work. Because I know eSellerPro exceptionally well, this integration is an excellent mix between using existing features & functions in eSellerPro to keep administration down and the flexibility of them both.

With this integration you are able to process all core functions in eSellerPro and let eSellerPro power the inventory creation, stock updates, order collection and order updates for transactions made on your BigCommerce website.

There are highly specific limitations to what can be achieved with the BigCommerce integration, the most notable is that custom fields are not yet supported, however once supported these will be added to the integration.

Up to 250 brands are currently supported, product variations are supported one level deep (but can support more), category matching and as a general rule if you see it in the BigCommerce  interface, it can be updated and is already included in the integration.

Questions?
If you’d like to know more about the integration from eSellerPro to BigCommerce or if you’re undecided on which 3rd party platform to use, contact me at the bottom of this page.

eSellerPro to OpenCart Integration

OpenCart eSellerPro IntegrationThis is a full integration from eSellerPro to the popular free & open source shopping cart system OpenCart.

I’m personally an avid fan of OpenCart, I’ve used it for numerous projects over the past few years (since version 1.2 in 2009) because its so simple and it “just works”. Themes for the website are plentiful and are typically 60% less than Magento.

While we’re on the topic of Magento, one of the reasons to chose Magento is for its multi-store capability, this is fantastic on massive sites, however unless you’re paying £50 or more a month for website hosting to run Magento on, then its not enough. Whereas with OpenCart you can also set up multiple stores, languages and currencies within a single backend and it’ll happily run on shared web hosting, which is a “damn sight” cheaper (typically less than £10 per month).

Here is a line up of the features in OpenCart and you’ll soon see why I like it so much. I should also point out that there is an extensive range of extensions for OpenCart and off-the-shelf themes.

  • Open Source
  • Unlimited Categories
  • Unlimited Products
  • Unlimited Manufacturers
  • Templatable
  • Multi-Language
  • Multi-Currency
  • Multi-Store capability
  • Product Reviews
  • Product Ratings
  • Downloadable Products
  • Automatic Image Resizing
  • Multiple Tax Rates
  • Related Products
  • Unlimited Information Pages
  • Shipping Weight Calculation
  • Discount Coupon System
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Module extension system

The only negative you need to be fully aware of is that in the standard installation of OpenCart complete stock control on product variations is not supported (for example shoe sizes). This can be solved with a 3rd party extension that costs $25, however in the implementations of the OpenCart to eSellerPro so far this has not been required and is not included. If this is something that you require, then it can be added, but will take several days to complete.

Besides that it really rocks and supports multiple stores/websites.

Questions?
If you’d like to know more about the integration from eSellerPro to OpenCart see this dedicated page or if you’re undecided on which 3rd party platform to use, contact me at the bottom of this page.

eSellerPro to CubeCart Integration

eSellerPro to CubeCart IntegrationThis is a full integration from eSellerPro to the popular free & open source shopping cart system CubeCart.

CubeCart has been the mainstay for shopping carts for years and it still offers a compelling feature set to run a bespoke eCommerce website from. There is a free options for up to 250 orders, however even in the full option for £120 (lifetime price) its hardly going to break the bank.

There are over 300 extensions for CubeCart that takes it beyond the base site and themes are really inexpensive at around £30 for off-the-shelf skins. Version 4+ of CubeCart is supported, I’ve looked at the latest version version 5 and there are only minor changes that need to be accounted for.

Questions?
If you’d like to know more about the integration from eSellerPro to CubeCart or if you’re undecided on which 3rd party platform to use, contact me at the bottom of this page.

eSellerPro to Magento Integration

eSellerPro to Magento IntegrationThis is a part and a full integration to Magento from eSellerPro.

Magento is at best quirky and at worst cranky when working over various versions. I have written custom functions that hijack the core functions through an extension that uses the MVC(L) structure that allow for ultra fast processing of stock updates. Order collection and order updates are batched and can be run in almost real time if required.

The biggest challenge integrating Magento & eSellerPro is with inventory, as the inventory structure for Magento is not straight forwards, however I have solved this using a different approach that will process several thousand inventory lines in seconds (not needed normally, but handy for high inventory volume sites).

As most Magento integrations require bespoke coding, if you are looking for stock updates, order collection & order updates, these can be delivered in a few days, however for a full integration requires a complete understanding of your current Magento & eSellerPro set up to work out the most time and cost effective approach to handling inventory creation.

Questions?
If you’d like to know more about the integration from eSellerPro to Magento or if you’re undecided on which 3rd party platform to use, contact me at the bottom of this page.

eSellerPro to EPOS Integration

eSellerPro EPOS IntegrationI’ve previously built a customised &  fully automated EPOS integration. Due to the terms of the development the code cannot be shared as it was a bespoke POS system.

However… now knowing what is involved to keep an EPOS system updated and how “primitive” & quirky they can be, I am happy to suggest that almost regardless of what EPOS system you are using that it can be integrated back to eSellerPro for adding new stock lines, stock updates and delivering orders back to keep accurate stock and sales histories.

Microsoft Dynamics is an exception as it gets deep really quicky. You need to set up methods to be able to interface with the backend and .net is not a programming platform I tend to use. However if your administrator and/or distributor are able to enable the SOAP webservices then this can be integrated.

Questions?
If you’d like to know more about the integration from eSellerPro to an EPOS system or if you’re undecided on which 3rd party platform to use, contact me at the bottom of this page.

Bespoke eSellerPro Integrations

I have extensive knowledge of eSellerPro and the varying layouts of data that can be achieved using eSellerPro and that of most third party products. This could include, but is certainly not limited to the following:

  • Mobile websites
  • Almost any website platform
  • POS systems
  • Affiliate networks
  • Mobile iOS & Android applications

If you have a requirement to leverage your inventory data externally to eSellerPro, then the chances are high that I’ll be able to assist you with your project.

Other Website Integrations

To add to the current line up of integrations, I am exceptionally interested in integrations to PrestaShop, Shopify & WP e-Commerce. ZenCart & OsCommerce are of interest if they’re not hacked to pieces (I’ve work with these before and most of them are modified heavily).

How The Integrations Work

API IntegrationsAll integrations are externally hosted from the website core(s), this allows for ultra fast processing of data and updates without dragging down your hosting and maximum flexibility with custom features and functions.

I work with you to identify your custom requirements for the integration and factor these into the connector between eSellerPro and the 3rd party system. This could be working the inventory data in eSellerPro or processing the data to your bespoke requirements. Where ever possible I ensure that you’re able to manage as much as possible in eSellerPro without having to “hack” the 3rd party system.

One topic that is rarely discussed, but vitally important is error and process reporting. Because the interface is working as an middle party between two separate parties, you need to know what the interface is doing, especially when features (also known as bugs) arise to track them down or even just to confirm that the interface is working correctly.

A full reporting interface is included, that allows you to filter by actions & statues to verify the integrations actions.  Also a console is included to provoke actions on demand, if its 3pm and you the five orders you know are waiting to arrive, you can manually trigger them without a delay. Tick a box & press a button, its that simple.

Most processes are run every 15 to 30 minutes, with larger processing happening over night or twice per day, this suits most standard integrations. These can be increased to almost “real-time” or “on-demand” updates if required, but requires heavy resource usage and if this is required then we will need to discuss to gauge the resource requirements.

A a general rule if you products are not highly complex (think +2 variants)  and under 5,000 separate SKU’s then the current integrations will port well to your requirements. Each integration has its natural limitations and I would be happy to discuss your requirements with you.

Pricing

The pricing varies from integration to integration as the level of customisation varies along with the resource requirements. Normally there is a sensible set up cost and an ongoing monthly fee which covers three key factors:

  • Server resources for process updates
  • Any feature fixing
  • Feature or functionality additions

There is no percentage of sale fees and I work with you to ensure that you are 100% confident in what can and cannot be done via the integration with the website platform of your choice and will ensure that where possible all processing is seamless.

I have a simple referral scheme that will bring the your ongoing monthly fee to zero and if you have more than one integration requirement that can be catered for too.

Contact Matt Today

With the exception of Magento & bespoke integrations, I work in time frames of days not months and a typical integration lasts no more than two weeks and you’re away. Support is available and of course I am always interested in expanding the current features & functions beyond what has been previously been created.

If you have bespoke design requirements or need a current theme porting to your website platform of choice, while not a web designer myself, I work with trusted, experienced parties that also work in time frames of days and are equally affordable.

If you’re already using OpenCart, CubeCart or BigCommerce, then a full integration can be completed within a few days or if you have a bespoke requirement, then email me (matt [at] lastdropofink.co.uk) or call me on 0117 230 2500 (24 Hrs)  for a chat, anything is possible. No obligation and absolutely no BS.