Key points
- Every important field needs a clear owner.
- Shared identifiers prevent duplicate customers, products and orders.
- An integration must resume an exchange without creating duplicate effects.
Define what needs to move
Before choosing an API, write the workflow in plain language. When is a customer created? Where is the price changed? Who owns stock? When is an order eligible for dispatch? What happens when it is cancelled?
This list separates data that must be synchronized from data that only needs to be displayed. Avoid integrations in which every system tries to own the same field.
Choose the right channel
An API fits direct communication with a response. A webhook can announce an event immediately, while a scheduled file may be enough for an occasional exchange or a supplier that offers no other option.
Do not choose the technology before the workflow. For each exchange, record frequency, volume, delay tolerance and what should happen when the other system does not respond.
Map codes and identities
A product with two codes does not become the same product just because the description looks similar. Create controlled mappings for products, customers, orders, warehouses and documents. Store the external identifier beside the internal one.
Define change rules too. If the price changes in the ERP, the store receives it. If an order is cancelled in the store, the ERP knows what happens to the reservation and documents.
Design errors and retries
An integration should log time, identifier, relevant payload, response and reason for failure. A retry queue should resume the exchange after data is corrected without duplicating the order.
The alert must reach the person who can act. A generic technical message moves the problem from one system to another but does not protect the blocked order.
Protect access and measure the result
Use least-privilege access, separate keys, rotation and logs that avoid unnecessary sensitive data. Test duplicate orders, out-of-stock products, returns, price changes and incomplete responses.
After launch, track exchanges, errors, processing time and cases sent to a person. The integration is healthy when the team can explain what happened to a record, not only when a simple test passes.
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Frequently asked questions
Does an API solve the integration by itself?
No. The rules for ownership, identifiers, validation and errors must be designed separately from the data transport.
What happens when one system is unavailable?
The event should be kept in a queue, retried in a controlled way and sent to a person when it cannot be processed automatically.
How do we prevent an order from importing twice?
Use idempotent identifiers, check exchange state and test replaying the same event before launch.
