E-Commerce Automation
Orders, stock and invoices flow between shop, marketplaces, warehouse and accounting – without anyone copying numbers by hand. The most common failure is not the order but the stock level.
Overselling happens in the gap
Anyone selling through more than one channel has a problem that never occurs in their own shop: the same unit sits in three shop windows at once. If it sells in the shop, the marketplace only learns about it when somebody or something tells it.
That gap is where overselling comes from – and with it the cancellation email, the bad review and, on marketplaces, a metric that can reduce your visibility. The damage is rarely the lost sale, it is the trust.
So we build the stock sync first and everything else after: order handling, shipping, returns, accounting. In that order, because a perfectly automated order flow is worthless if the goods were already gone.
Where to start
We always start with the stock sync. Everything else is easier afterwards – and without it, of limited use.
Stock sync across all channels
The starting point of any multi-channel automation. One sale reduces stock everywhere, not only where it happened.
Order handling
From the order through payment verification to the picking job – with no detour through a mailbox.
Shipping and tracking
Create the label, write the number back, inform the customer – on every channel in its own format.
Returns
Register the return, check goods in, trigger stock and refund. The process with the most edge cases.
Invoicing and accounting
Create the invoice, send it and hand it over as a posting record – including credit notes for returns.
Product data and listings
One record as the truth, from which the variants for each channel and its own fields are produced.
Where overselling begins
Stock per channel with the time of the last update. One cell has drifted – and that is exactly what produces the cancellation email.
| Item | Warehouse (actual) | Shop | Amazon | eBay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workbench set 120ART-4471 · beech variant | 122 min ago | 122 min ago | 123 min ago | 122 min ago |
| Cordless driver P2ART-2210 · 18 V | 31 min ago | 31 min ago | 54 hrs ago | 31 min ago |
| Sanding paper setART-8802 · grit 80–240 | 645 min ago | 645 min ago | 646 min ago | 645 min ago |
| Assembly adhesive 310 mlART-1155 · grey | 01 min ago | 01 min ago | 02 min ago | 01 min ago |
The alert colour is the same validated palette as the critical values on the feedback page – distinguishable from the normal state even with red-green colour blindness.
Illustrative figures. What matters is not the number but the age next to it: a channel not updated for hours is selling goods that no longer exist.
What happens after the purchase
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Receive the order
Whichever channel it came from: the order arrives in one format in your leading system. Marketplace quirks are translated, not passed through.
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Check payment and plausibility
Is it paid, does the delivery address fit, is the quantity plausible? Unusual orders go to review instead of running into the warehouse automatically.
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Reserve stock and reduce it everywhere
The decisive step: the goods are reserved immediately and the new level is reported to all channels – not at the next scheduled sync.
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Ship and report back
Picking job, shipping label, tracking number. The number goes back to the channel the order came from, and to the customer.
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Invoice and accounting
Create the invoice, send it, hand it over as a posting record. On a return, the credit note takes the same route in reverse.
What changes day to day
Today
- Stock levels are maintained by hand once or twice a day
- Overselling ends in cancellation emails and bad reviews
- Orders are collected from three portals
- Tracking numbers are carried back one by one
- Invoices are produced in one batch at month end
With an end-to-end flow
- A sale reduces stock on all channels within minutes
- Overselling only happens in genuine edge cases
- All orders come together in one format
- Tracking numbers go to channel and customer automatically
- Invoice and posting record are created with the dispatch
Where multi-channel stays uncomfortable
We can narrow the gap but not close it. These four points belong before the quote:
- Stock sync is never real-time. Marketplaces limit how often a merchant may send data – depending on the provider, in minutes rather than seconds. We shrink the window considerably, but with scarce single items a residual risk remains. Anyone selling one-offs should also keep a safety buffer.
- Marketplaces change their rules. Interfaces, mandatory fields and metrics shift, sometimes at short notice, and a breach can cost visibility. This product therefore needs ongoing maintenance – without it, it ages faster than an internal automation.
- Returns cannot be fully automated. Whether a returned device is sellable again is decided by a human at goods-in. Everything around it can be automated: registration, label, refund, credit note, stock return.
- Accounting needs your tax advisor. We create invoices and posting records technically correctly and hand them over cleanly. Which accounts, which tax rates and how to treat marketplace fees or cross-border deliveries is defined by your tax advisor – we implement it.
Fits your systems
Scope and price
The entry price covers the stock sync and one order flow for up to three channels. What moves the price, we say before the quote.
- Review of your systems and channels
- Stock sync between warehouse and up to three channels
- Order flow including payment and plausibility checks
- Shipping label and tracking number write-back
- Invoice creation and handover to accounting
- Alerting on discrepancies and failed syncs
- Documentation, handover session and 30 days of support
What increases the price
- More than three sales channels, each with its own fields
- ERP or inventory system without an open interface
- Variants, bundles and bills of materials in the stock sync
- Returns handling with inspection stages and partial refunds
- Cross-border deliveries with differing tax logic
More channels with variants, return stages and cross-border deliveries typically land in the range of our Workflow Enterprise package from €5,900. We quote the binding fixed price after the systems review.
All prices excl. VAT · ongoing maintenance recommended because marketplaces change
What you get
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Production stock sync
Set up between warehouse and channels, tested with real items
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End-to-end order flow
From order to tracking number, consolidated into one format
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Alerting on discrepancies
Notification when a channel does not respond or levels drift apart
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Handover to accounting
Invoices and posting records in your tax advisor's format
Frequently asked questions about e-commerce automation
These solutions fit alongside
Automated invoice creation & delivery
The part after dispatch: invoice, credit note and handover to accounting.
API Integration & Data Sync
The foundation: shop, ERP and warehouse permanently on the same data.
AI Chatbot for Customer Support
Answering where-is-my-order questions without anyone looking it up.
Automated Dunning
For invoice payment: chase open receivables without list work.
How often did you last have to cancel?
In the free intro call we review your channels and your inventory system and work out where the gap is biggest today. Usually it is not the order flow but the stock.
Book a free intro callWhere e-commerce automation creates value in everyday work
Orders, inventory, fulfilment status and customer communication are orchestrated consistently across shop, ERP and CRM.
Three concrete operating scenarios to compare with your own process.Hand off complete orders
Customer, line-item and payment data moves into ERP and fulfilment after validation.
Keep inventory in sync
Reservations, returns and corrections update available stock across connected systems.
Inform customers proactively
Shipping, delays and returns trigger appropriate messages with real status data.
A strong fit when …
Leads, appointments, messages or orders follow repeatable rules and should become visible in the CRM without manual handoffs.
- You handle recurring orders using repeatable rules.
- The intake, target system and accountable business role can be named clearly.
- Exceptions are allowed to remain visible and move to people deliberately.
Deliberate automation boundary
Fraud signals, unusual discounts, fulfilment conflicts and goodwill decisions are escalated with full order context.
Explore the technical approach and platformsEstimate time savings with your own volume
The calculator uses 9 minutes today and 2 minutes after automation as fixed example assumptions. It does not replace process analysis.
Illustrative estimate based on the visible assumptions — not a guarantee.