Orders straightfrom the buyer's system.

Some buyers have their own program that works out what they are short of. Connecting it to your sales removes retyping on both sides. It does not always pay off, though, and it is worth checking before talking about technology.

When it pays off

• Orders come daily or several times a week, in a similar shape.
• The buyer has a system that generates demand and a person who can extend it.
• The range is stable enough that product codes do not change every month.
• Both sides want less retyping, not a connection for its own sake.

Whose product codes

The most common trap: the buyer's system sends its numbers and your store knows yours. Before the first order flows you need a mapping table and an agreement on who updates it when a new item appears. Without it orders bounce silently.

What should go back to the buyer

Automation in one direction is half the job. The buyer should get a receipt confirmation, a note on rejected lines, the fulfilment status and the tracking number. Ideally the same way they sent the order, so their system knows too.

How it looks in Torveo

In Torveo a buyer can place orders through an API from their own system or store, and those orders land in the same queue as orders from the portal and sales reps. You can also give them a standing XML or CSV file with your offer, availability and their prices, which their system updates from on its own.

A connection to the buyer's system pays off for a customer who orders often. For the rest a good portal is enough.