E-commerce boomed as locked-down consumers turned to their computers and mobile devices to buy virtually everything during the pandemic. This growth continues as post-lockdown online revenue in the United States topped $1 trillion for the first time.
Companies also are migrating to e-commerce for big-ticket purchases — $50,000 to $500,000 — according to McKinsey & Company, whose research shows that “COVID-19 has changed B2B sales forever.” As a result, the competition for customers is now running at the speed of data. To gain a competitive advantage in rapidly expanding and lucrative consumer and B2B markets, companies are integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) software into their online business.
Graduates of Lamar University’s online Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Enterprise Resource Planning program learn the basics of ERP and how to maximize this knowledge to benefit their organizations.
What Is ERP?
ERP software enables and stores real-time data collection from across business departments and operations — finance, accounting, inventory management, production planning and HR, for instance — and provides access to anyone with access anywhere in the organization.
Centralized, accessible data storage supports automated, integrated e-commerce processes, resulting in greater efficiencies, more accurate predictions, accelerated decision-making, effective collaboration across teams and a richer customer experience.
“In a new era of buying, more value is placed on transparency than ever before. With ERP e-commerce integration, your customer is kept in the loop on the sales process,” according to Sana, which notes that ERP e-commerce integration lifts conversion rates by 21%, increases repeat business by 11% and reduces order errors by 16%. Most importantly, Sana reports that integration increases e-commerce revenue by 67%.
How Do Professionals Gain Expertise in ERP E-commerce Integration?
Acquiring the knowledge and skills to leverage the power of ERP to optimize online retail and B2B operations is often acquired through participation in advanced education that builds technical and management proficiencies and an understanding of how disruptive technologies yield market advantages.
The online MBA in Enterprise Resource Planning program from Lamar University equips graduates with insights into ERP and related systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as tools that accelerate business intelligence, data mining and predictive analytics. The following are examples of how business professionals can use ERP systems:
- Trends and patterns: For instance, ERP systems enable all levels of an organization, from the C-suite to front-line managers, to explore the same data to identify relationships, trends and anomalies relevant to the operations they oversee. Consolidating, filtering, distributing and presenting data through dashboards, visualizations and real-time reporting simplifies the development of comprehensive business intelligence based on numbers-driven insights in finance, customer service, supply chain and production operations.
- Centralized data warehousing: This also enables policy-makers and leaders to make statistical analyses and predictive models to assess a customer’s likelihood of making additional purchases. Understanding consumer behavior is the key to determining the buyer’s lifetime value, recommending products to that buyer based on previous purchases and forecasting demand needed for efficient production, supply chain and inventory management.
- Customer relationship management: Aligning ERP with a related platform, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, is another data strategy that improves the buyer experience. Integrating data flow across the platforms improves visibility into customer behavior and supports lead generation, advertising campaigns and marketing decisions.
“ERPs leverage the full power of the digital transformation to empower online companies to fully leverage modern technologies like automation and AI,” according to BigCommerce, which enables them to grow by finding efficiencies, optimizing processes and automating e-commerce operations.
What Careers Are Open to Professionals With an ERP-Ecommerce Education?
Graduates of the Lamar University online MBA in Enterprise Resource Planning program can fill high-demand positions as ERP business and technical analysts, technical directors and operations resource and customer support planners.
The accelerated online program, which students can complete in as few as 12 months, hones core business skills and focuses on technology platforms and data analytics, positioning graduates to bridge the gap between overall business goals and essential business technology. The curriculum includes the following courses in ERP specialization, among others:
- Business Intelligence introduces students to user-centered processes of exploring data, data relationships and trends to improve overall decision-making.
- Data Mining and Predictive Analytics explores processes that enable business leaders to make data-driven decisions based on trends, relationships and outliers in large, complex data sets.
- Enterprise Systems/CRM focuses on the operational, strategic and analytic capabilities of CRM software to acquire customers and retain them through integration with ERP and other technologies. The program also provides intensive, hands-on training in using and applying industry-leading SAP enterprise software such as NetWeaver, Visual Composer, Data Warehousing and Business Information Warehouse and supply chain management platforms.
Earning an online MBA in Enterprise Resource Planning from Lamar University can help you leverage your skills and knowledge to advance your business career and become an ERP leader.
Learn more about Lamar University’s online MBA in Enterprise Resource Planning program.
