Web Site Integration

Web Site Integration: Overview

In general, there are 2 aspects of sharing data between PERFECT FIT and a web site store.

1. Upload Inventory data from PERFECT FIT to the web site.
This may inlcude the definition of items for sale, and/or the quantities available for sale.
There are 2 methods that can be used. The inexpensive way is to use the built in Inventory export report in PF to create a txt file, and send that to the web site where the web software will import it into the web database. This can be done for basic data or the quantities available. It can be put on a timer procedure with automatic FTP to run periodically, or can be user controlled. We can also make custom mappings so only the data that is needed is uploaded.
The second method that can be used to update the web site is to have PERFECT FIT connect directly to the web database. We do not recommend this for initial product setup, but it can be effective when used to update quantities. Whenever a quantity in PF changes, the web will be updated in real time. There are some issues to pay attention to, such as demand against inventory for orders on the web that have not yet been imported into PERFECT FIT.

2. Download orders from the web site into PERFECT FIT
The common solution here is to allow the user to open a utility on the web site that will download the orders into a txt file on the user’s computer. In PERFECT FIT, an Import Tool is available that will read the text files and insert the orders just as though they had been entered manually. We make custom maps to align the data, and just about anything can be done to process the orders as part of the import procedure.
We do not have a way where an outside program and connect directly to the PF database, unless the SQL version of PF is used.
However, this can be expensive for our smaller customers.

Here is the spec sheet for designing a mapping for order import:
Import Tool Specifications