eCommerce automation: A modern approach based on the Mendix low-code platform

As an owner of a small or medium-sized company, you are well aware of the challenges modern eCommerce poses. Online sales are evolving dynamically, and marketplaces like Amazon, Allegro, or Empik are becoming key distribution channels. To compete effectively, companies must manage a large number of products, control inventory levels in real time, and automate processes related to listing offers and synchronizing orders. Many sellers struggle with finding the right tool that will streamline these processes and allow them to focus on business development instead of tedious administration. 

There are many solutions available on the market – from classic ERP systems, through ready-made integrators, to dedicated SaaS platforms. Each offers specific benefits but also has limitations, such as high license costs, a complicated and unintuitive interface, lack of flexibility, or hidden fees related to system maintenance and development. 

In this article, I will analyze the most popular available solutions, their strengths and weaknesses, and then show why Mendix – a low-code platform – may be the best choice for companies that want to build a flexible and effective tool for managing sales on multiple marketplaces at the same time.

Challenges in multichannel sales

Multichannel sales are a huge opportunity for companies looking to increase their revenues and reach new customers. Marketplaces such as Amazon, Allegro, or Empik provide a ready-made sales infrastructure, eliminating the need to build your own online store and acquire traffic. On the other hand, selling on multiple platforms at the same time is associated with numerous operational and technological challenges. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

Technical and operational requirements of marketplaces

Each platform has its own rules for publishing offers, formatting descriptions, and a different pricing policy. For example, Allegro requires detailed product category assignment and provision of specific attributes, Amazon applies restrictive standards regarding photos and descriptions, and Empik emphasizes the unification of offers, limiting the possibility of manual editing. The lack of a tool enabling easy adaptation of offers to the requirements of a given platform means that sellers spend a significant amount of time manually adjusting each item, which can lead to errors resulting in the rejection of the offer or even imposition of penalties for non-compliance with the regulations.

Synchronization of inventory levels and order handling

When selling the same product on multiple marketplaces simultaneously, it’s extremely easy for orders to exceed available inventory levels. This leads to canceled transactions and possibly negative customer reviews. Sales platforms such as Amazon or Allegro take a rigorous approach to the quality of order handling – frequent errors in product availability can result in limited visibility of offers or even a suspension of the seller’s account. Automated warehouse synchronization with marketplaces allows you to reduce the risk of such errors and provides customers with up-to-date information on product availability.

Dynamic pricing policy management

Product prices on marketplaces can change several times a day. Many platforms use ranking algorithms that reward offers with attractive prices and high-quality customer service. Lack of competition monitoring and real-time price adjustments can lead to lost sales or selling products below the break-even point. However, manually updating prices on different platforms is not only burdensome (imagine hundreds or thousands of constant, repetitive tasks), but, in the case of a larger number of offers, it may be simply impossible to implement effectively. Automation tools streamline offer synchronization, warehouse management and dynamic pricing and allow entrepreneurs to focus on developing their business instead of the tedious management of sales processes. 

Analysis of available ecommerce solutions

Choosing the right system depends on the specifics of the company’s business – scale and level of technological advancement. The following section will provide a detailed analysis of the functionality of the most popular systems, such as BaseLinker, Apilo and IDEAerp. I’ll take a look at their application scenarios, benefits, limitations, and potential implementation challenges.

BaseLinker – comprehensive multi-channel sales management

BaseLinker is one of the most popular tools for integrating online sales with numerous marketplaces. This system offers a wide range of functions that help manage offers, synchronize inventory levels, and automate order handling. Thanks to its flexible approach, BaseLinker can operate both as a standalone tool and as a complement to an existing ERP system such as SAP. This solution is particularly valued by small and medium-sized companies that are looking for a way to quickly implement multichannel sales without having to invest in expensive and complicated systems.

Main advantages:

• BaseLinker has a modular structure and offers a wide range of integrations. 
• The platform allows for the automatic downloading of orders from various marketplaces, synchronization of inventory with the ERP system, and integration with courier companies, which significantly improves logistics. 
• BaseLinker also enables the dynamic management of pricing policy, which is crucial in the context of sales optimization and competing on platforms such as Amazon, where prices change very dynamically. 
• An extensive automation system allows users to define rules that, for example, automatically mark orders as shipped, generate courier labels, or send notifications to customers. 

Main disadvantages:

• A big limitation is the dependence on currently available integrations. If your company has non-standard sales processes or needs advanced system personalization, integration will require the creation of a dedicated solution using the BaseLinker API. This involves the need to allocate additional resources to develop such a solution and the need to maintain it independently. 
• The platform requires regular configuration and supervision, especially with dynamic changes in offers or pricing policy. 
• Despite its wide functionality, BaseLinker isn’t a full-fledged ERP system – for example, it doesn’t provide advanced financial management features or full control over production. 

Pricing model

BaseLinker’s pricing system is relatively flexible – the system operates in a subscription model, and the fee depends on the number of orders and modules used. For small sellers, prices may be affordable, but in the case of companies with a large number of transactions, monthly costs can ramp up to hundreds of dollars (or more). Moreover, some integrations, like external ERP systems or additional functionalities, may involve additional fees.

Apilo – a tool for companies that base their sales on ERP

Apilo (formerly ErpBox) is an advanced platform created for companies that use ERP systems and want to automate sales on multiple marketplaces and increase operational efficiency. This is a particularly attractive option for medium and large enterprises that handle hundreds or thousands of orders per month and need to optimize their synchronization, invoicing and order handling. Without proper integration, companies often waste time on manual data transfer between the ERP system and marketplaces, which leads to errors, delays and increased costs. Apilo eliminates this problem by integrating with popular ERP systems (such as Comarch ERP, enova365, or SAP), which allows for full data synchronization and automation of sales processes.

Main advantages:

• Apilo is fully synchronized with ERP systems. The platform allows for central real-time management of inventory, invoices, sales documents and customer data, which significantly speeds up order and return handling. 
• The system also offers the ability to manage sales in various currencies and foreign markets. 
• With Apilo, companies can fully automate their pricing policy – ​​the system dynamically adjusts prices based on exchange rates, inventory levels or competition strategy, which allows for maximizing margins. 

Main disadvantages:

• The platform offers limited functionality in terms of automatic actions and the number of integrations
• Apilo has a high entry barrier – implementation requires an existing ERP system, as well as time to configure and adjust to the company’s processes. For small businesses that do not have an advanced ERP background, Apilo may prove to be too complicated and expensive.
• The platform requires regular maintenance and adjustment of settings as the business develops. 
• Apilo’s interface is more extensive than in the case of BaseLinker, which means that its use requires greater knowledge of ERP systems and more time to master it (though, for companies that work with advanced tools on a daily basis, this can be an advantage, as it provides greater control over data). 

Pricing model

The prices are in Polish zlotys (1 zloty is around 0,25 USD). While they may seem low at first glance, there are significant additional costs.

In terms of costs, Apilo operates on a subscription model, but its prices are higher than BaseLinker’s. The cost of implementation depends on the level of integration with ERP, the number of supported marketplaces, and the number of processed orders. This is mainly a solution for large companies that process thousands of orders per month – and for them, the monthly fees can be significant.

IDEAerp – a comprehensive solution for large companies

IDEAerp is an advanced sales and logistics management system created mainly for medium and large enterprises that need full control over business processes. Unlike BaseLinker or ErpBox, IDEAerp is not just an integration tool but rather a full-fledged, customizable ERP system, offering extensive modules for warehouse management, accounting, invoicing and sales data analysis.

Main advantages:

• IDEAerp can be deeply integrated with marketplaces, online stores, ecommerce marketing automation software, and courier systems, which allows for full automation of order handling, price management, and synchronization of inventory levels. 
• The system also offers extensive reporting and analysis of sales data in real time, which is crucial for companies operating on many markets at the same time. Thanks to this, entrepreneurs can dynamically adjust their sales strategies and maximize profits.

Main disadvantages:

• Implementing the system is a large investment – it’s necessary to adapt the modules to the specifics of the business, integrate with existing systems (often via custom, dedicated integrations), and train employees. This makes IDEAerp one of the more expensive solutions on the market.
• Unlike BaseLinker, which is ready to use immediately after configuration, implementing IDEAerp requires a lot more time. 
• The system is also more complicated to use, which means that it may be less intuitive for smaller companies without experience in working with ERP. 

Pricing model

The billing model is based on a subscription, but in the case of companies with a more complex structure, there may be additional fees incurred by the development and personalization of modules. 

A dedicated Mendix application – ecommerce automation software tailored to your needs

There’s also a different route you can take – creating a dedicated application for managing multichannel sales in Mendix. It’s ​​a good option for companies looking for full control over their processes, flexibility, and cost optimization. Unlike ready-made ecommerce automation tools such as BaseLinker, ErpBox, or IDEAerp, the Mendix platform allows you to create an application precisely tailored to the specific requirements of your company, thus eliminating the limitations imposed by external tools. 

Thanks to the low-code approach, the time needed to design and implement individual modules can be significantly shortened, which results in a faster return on investment and better adjustment to dynamic market changes. The developer who works on the application in Mendix focuses mainly on creating integrations with key marketplaces and software (like marketing automation platforms) while maintaining full control over order synchronization, stock level updates, and pricing policy management.

The advantages of a Mendix eCommerce app

• Customization – The biggest advantage of Mendix over ready-made solutions is the possibility of full personalization of the application and its adaptation to unique business processes. While BaseLinker or ErpBox offer standard modules and limited ability to interfere with the system structure, Mendix lets you implement functionalities precisely tailored to the needs of the organization – from comprehensive order management, through dynamic pricing mechanisms, configuring automated workflows, to deep integration with ERP systems, accounting and logistics. 
• Scalability – As the company grows, the application can be easily expanded with additional marketplaces, additional automation processes, or changing requirements for reporting and data analysis. There’s no need to adapt to the rigid structures of external systems, which means that Mendix provides incomparably greater flexibility and the possibility of developing your application. 
• Long-term cost optimization – In the case of solutions described above, the subscription model means that fees increase with the development of the company, including, among other things, the number of transactions, integrations, or additional functionalities. In the long term, this leads to significant financial burdens, especially for companies that dynamically scale their operations. Implementing your own application in Mendix eliminates these barriers to a degree (there are still some licensing fees for Mendix, but you don’t need to pay a % from every transaction, and there are no additional costs for integrations, etc.).

• Enhanced security – An additional advantage of a dedicated application is full control over data security. Unlike systems operating in the SaaS model, where data is stored on external suppliers’ servers, the solution based on Mendix allows the system to be implemented both in the cloud and in the on-premise infrastructure. This gives the company the ability to adapt its security policy to its own standards and eliminate the risk associated with sharing key information with third parties. This can be an important factor, especially for companies that operate on a large scale and need to ensure the privacy of customer data, inventory levels, or pricing strategies.

An example of a ready-made solution created with Mendix

To illustrate how the Mendix platform can improve multichannel sales management, in this section, I will present an example of a dedicated application that addresses the key problems an owner of an ecommerce store faces. This system was designed to automate processes, synchronize data, and simplify everyday work. It can help you scale your business without worrying about operational errors or limitations imposed by ready-made integrators.

The dashboard

The first element of the application is the dashboard, which acts as a sales management center. The user can access the most important data – such as current stock levels, the number of active offers, order status, and notifications about possible problems – in one place. This eliminates the need to log into each marketplace separately to track the situation – all key information is always at hand. Moreover, the system analyzes sales trends and suggests actions, e.g., increasing expenditure on products that are the most popular. Automatic alerts help avoid situations in which a popular product suddenly becomes unavailable, which could result in losing customers.

Product management module

Another key function of the application is the product management module, which allows for quick and efficient editing of offers on all platforms at the same time. Unlike ready-made tools, where each change must be entered separately, here, the seller can update prices, descriptions, photos, or attributes in one place, and the system automatically synchronizes these changes on integrated marketplaces according to the programmed logic. The application has been adapted to update offers based on the entered values ​​in accordance with the marketplace regulations, eliminating the risk of products being rejected by the platform. The intuitive search engine and filters allow you to quickly find a specific product, and the history of changes gives you full control over previous modifications.

Order handling module

An inherent element of multi-channel sales is also order handling, and each marketplace has its own reporting and transaction processing system. In the case of a large number of orders, manual management becomes not only time-consuming but also increases the risk of errors, such as inventory discrepancies or shipping delays. My application integrates orders from various platforms in one place, providing the seller with full control over the fulfillment process. Automatic generation of shipping labels, invoices and customer notifications streamlines logistics and improves the quality of service. The system also allows you to monitor order statuses and analyze indicators such as average fulfillment time or the number of returns, which helps you plan operational processes better.

External system integration

The last important element of our application is integration with external systems such as ERP, accounting systems, ecommerce marketing automation tools, solutions used to automate ecommerce customer service, or logistics platforms. Unlike ready-made tools, which often have a limited number of integrations, the application created in Mendix allows for full flexibility and adaptation to your individual needs. The ability to synchronize data with warehouse systems and automatic transfer of information to the accounting department make business processes faster, more transparent, and compliant with applicable regulations. Thanks to the open API, the application can be constantly developed and adapted to the changing needs, which is a huge advantage over closed off-the-shelf solutions.

Mendix-based marketplace sales automation – ecommerce businesses have a lot to gain

The sample application I made shows how Mendix can be used to create a fully integrated, flexible, and efficient tool for managing multichannel sales. The benefits of ecommerce automation are numerous – it not only saves time but also minimizes errors in inventory or order handling (which means you don’t waste money). Unlike ready-made integrators that impose specific frameworks, the Mendix application gives you fine-grained control over your business and enables development in line with your strategy. This exceptional flexibility lets you adapt to changing market conditions and consumer needs, and the platform’s scalability ensures your solution will be able to grow along with your business. Mendix also supports advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or real-time data analysis, which can significantly increase the efficiency of operational processes and help you devise an effective sales and marketing strategy.

Need help with implementing ecommerce automation tools based on Mendix? Work with an official Mendix partner with over a decade of experience with low-code technologies. Reach out to us at hello@pretius.com (or using the contact form below) and tell us about your needs. We’ll respond within 48 hours and tell you what we can do for you (preliminary consultations are always free)!

And if you’re interested in Mendix and its capabilities, check out some of the other articles on  this topic on our blog: 

1. Mendix platform 101: What is it, why is it interesting, and how much does it cost?
2. Mendix tutorial: Start making apps using a powerful low-code platform
3. Mendix React Client: Introduction and main changes compared to Dojo
4. Build custom CRM using just Mendix and Excel spreadsheets