eCommerce API: Establish a Seamless Integration with eCommerce Platforms
The present-day B2B eCommerce market is highly competitive. As a result, E-retailers are looking for solutions to make their eCommerce operations seamless and increase productivity. The availability of various eCommerce software ensures that e-retailers leverage this productivity as the software eliminates redundant processes and allows them to focus on their core business functions.
An eCommerce software can provide e-retailers with such functionality by integrating with several eCommerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Magento, etc. Such integration requires a connection to eCommerce APIs that can help in data transfer from eCommerce platforms to the software for further processing.
This article will walk you through eCommerce API, examples of eCommerce API, and the integration with eCommerce platforms.
What is an eCommerce API?
An API (application programming interface) is an intermediary between two applications. These applications need a medium to communicate with each other and transfer data. API is that medium that employs a request and response model to take data to and from the server.
eCommerce API is, therefore, an intermediary between an eCommerce platform and B2B SaaS software that aids the latter to retrieve data from the platforms and use it to provide their core functionality to the e-retailers.
eCommerce API is the bridge between eCommerce platforms (online stores of e-retailers) and the eCommerce software that helps e-retailers with functions like:
- Inventory management
- Shipping management
- Order management
- Warehouse management
- Marketing automation systems
- Repricing and price optimization software
- ERP software
- Mobile app development software
- Localization software
- POS software
- and many others
What is eCommerce API integration?
The process is termed eCommerce API integration when an eCommerce software is connected with eCommerce platforms via an eCommerce API to access the data stored in online stores.
Such integration allows the eCommerce software to communicate with various eCommerce platforms to retrieve the data they need for performing their designated functions. In other words, eCommerce API integration ties SaaS apps with eCommerce APIs of different shopping cart solutions and marketplaces.
Types of eCommerce API
There are multiple eCommerce APIs available according to shopping carts and marketplaces. Here are some examples:
- Shopify API — supports JSON and XML formats to allow data retrieval from online stores. It also works with HTTP requests, namely GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE.
- Ecwid API — connecting to it is possible to read, create, update, and delete data from online stores based on Ecwid. The data can be related to products, orders, customers, coupons, categories, etc.
- WooCommerce API — it is a REST API that also allows the software to read, create, update, and delete data from the WooCommerce stores. It supports JSON format.
How to Develop an eCommerce API Integration?
There are two ways to develop an eCommerce API integration. One is to onboard an in-house integration development team that will look after your requirements.
But in-house integration development comes with a lot of challenges. You will first need to find advanced developers to code such complex integrations. Every eCommerce API has a different logical architecture, and your developers will need time to understand how they function.
Moreover, you need a robust setup and infrastructure to code your integrations. Such purchases are expensive and added to the salaries of advanced developers. Besides, in-house integrations consume a lot of time, leaving your clients waiting for your services. So considering if you invest a lot of time, money, and resources in a single integration, it will be challenging to manage multiple integrations together.
The other option is to use the services of a third-party integration development platform. The ones like API2Cart can easily integrate your software with as many marketplaces and shopping cart solutions as you wish to connect with.
How Does API2Cart Help in eCommerce API Integration Development?
API2Cart is a unified API that helps eCommerce software vendors to integrate their software with more than 40 shopping carts and marketplaces at once. It eliminates the need for integrating every software and eCommerce API separately.
With API2Cart you don’t need a team of advanced developers to pay hefty salaries, spend on setup and infrastructure for integration development, or consume time in establishing individual connections. API2Cart unified API makes everything possible in one go.
Moreover, it also looks after the updates and maintenance an integration needs after development. As eCommerce platforms keep releasing new versions of their APIs for security reasons, integrations need to be updated regularly to keep them reliable and productive. Since it takes another development cycle to look after the maintenance and upgrades of integrations, API2Cart resolves this problem with its upgrades and maintenance assistance.
So, with API2Cart, you can connect any of your eCommerce software with marketplaces and shopping carts like Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc. API2Cart has more than 100 API methods to help the software retrieve data related to products, orders, customers, and categories and manage it for online store owners.
To know more about how API2Cart works, get in touch with us for a consultation call.
