Custom branch systems integration for ecommerce and retail operations

The customer selects a branch and collection time on ecommerce. The order is routed to an order management system or the branch system with customer details, item list and expected time. Branch staff are notified via till or a pick-list screen. When the order is picked and ready, the branch confirms and the customer receives a notification. At collection, staff hand over the parcel and mark it complete.

The integration checks real-time or near-real-time stock in the branch system before letting the customer complete the order. If the branch is out of stock, ecommerce either blocks the branch as an option or offers the customer an alternative branch with stock or a standard shipping option. If the branch goes out of stock between order placement and pick confirmation, the branch system flags the exception and the order is re-routed (to another branch, held for restock, or cancelled with customer notification).

Stock moves from the branch system to ecommerce either via real-time API, a cached feed refreshed every 15-60 minutes, or a batch export at set intervals. The refresh rate depends on your throughput and freshness tolerance. iWeb defines the cadence and builds fallback logic: if the branch system is offline, ecommerce either shows stock as unavailable for that branch or keeps the last-known-good snapshot temporarily. A monitoring dashboard alerts you if the stock feed stalls.

Trade-account records and their negotiated pricing are held in ERP and replicated to the branch system. The branch staff can view the account balance and outstanding invoices at the till. When a trade customer logs into ecommerce, their account is linked to the ERP record, and ecommerce applies their negotiated pricing and credit limit. Online orders from trade accounts post to the same ERP ledger as till sales, so invoices and credit are unified.

This should not happen if ecommerce and the branch system share a single ERP source for trade-account pricing. During design, iWeb clarifies whether trade pricing is negotiated per-channel or per-account. If per-account (recommended), the same price applies everywhere. If per-channel (more complex), the integration enforces channel-specific pricing rules and avoids confusion by being explicit in the online catalog or at cart time.

When branch staff register a customer at the till (name, email, phone), that record is sent to a customer master system or ecommerce. If the same email or phone already exists in ecommerce, the accounts are linked. If new, a record is created and synced back to the branch system. From that point on, the customer has one account across both channels with unified loyalty, purchase history and preferences.

Branch staff scan or look up the online order at the till. The system pulls up the original transaction, confirms the returned item, and processes the refund. The refund is logged against the correct online order and the customer's ecommerce account is credited. The item is returned to stock and the till receipt is updated. The integration ensures the return flows back to ERP and ecommerce accounting is consistent.

This depends on what is offline: if ecommerce loses connection to the branch stock feed, it stops showing that branch as an option for click-and-collect until the feed returns. If the till goes offline, branch staff can usually continue selling with a local cache (if configured) and reconcile transactions back when the system comes online. iWeb defines the fallback behaviour upfront so there is no guessing when something breaks.

Stock is the single source of truth in the branch system. The till updates it in real time as items are sold. Ecommerce consumes the branch stock snapshot via API or feed. At regular intervals (daily or weekly), your team runs a reconciliation check: do the three systems agree? If not, you investigate (lost till transaction, incomplete feed, manual adjustment at the branch) and correct the master record. iWeb builds observability so reconciliation gaps are visible.

This depends on how much you want to invest. Simple scenario: a customer adds items to cart online, saves the cart, then walks into the branch and staff recalls the cart at the till to complete the sale. Complex scenario: a customer's online basket is automatically synced to the till and they can pay either channel. iWeb can build this, but it requires shared cart architecture and real-time customer identity. Discuss your use case during discovery.

Ecommerce needs to know branch hours and the collection-slot availability (e.g., 9am-5pm, slots every 30 mins). This is usually configured as a reference table in ecommerce or a hosted service that both systems query. The branch system may also push updates if hours change for a day (e.g., early close on public holidays). During checkout, ecommerce offers only available collection slots; the integration ensures the slot is still free when the order is confirmed.

iWeb recommends monitoring: branch stock feed freshness (is the last update recent?), click-and-collect order latency (time from online order to branch notification), in-store transaction posting time to ERP, customer account reconciliation (are online and till records matching?), and exception queues (how many orders, refunds or stock adjustments are stuck waiting for manual intervention?). You should also track whether branch fulfillment SLAs are being met (e.g., 90% of collection orders ready within 2 hours).

This is usually a one-time effort before launch. iWeb exports the branch customer base (name, email, phone, trade-account ID if applicable), de-duplicates and matches against any existing ecommerce customers. Matches are linked. New records are created in ecommerce for any branch-only customers. You may run a preview to validate the matches before committing. Once linked, future registrations are auto-linked via email or phone.