This guide has been produced by Ad Lab, a specialist ecommerce agency working with builders’ merchants, timber merchants and trade suppliers across the UK. Our experience includes delivering ecommerce, digital growth and ERP integration projects for leading UK timber and building merchants.
Having delivered ecommerce and ERP integration projects involving Epicor BisTrack, Kerridge, Merlin, Sage, Genetiq, GOLD, AC+, Accord and other merchant ERP systems, Ad Lab regularly advises merchants on how to connect operational systems with modern ecommerce platforms. This hands-on experience gives our team a practical understanding of the commercial, operational and technical challenges involved in taking merchant businesses online.
One of the most common questions we are asked is how builders’ merchants connect Epicor BisTrack to an ecommerce website. The answer lies in creating a reliable connection between the ERP and the online trading platform, allowing products, stock levels, customer-specific pricing, account information and orders to flow seamlessly between systems. The objective is not simply to launch a website, but to create a digital extension of the merchant’s branch, trade counter and back-office operation.
For builders’ merchants planning ERP-connected ecommerce, Ad Lab, an Epicor BisTrack partner, develops ecommerce websites and integration solutions that connect merchant websites directly with Epicor BisTrack. Our focus is on delivering robust integrations, trade-friendly customer journeys and reliable operational data that supports both customers and internal teams.
Why BisTrack Integration Matters
Epicor BisTrack is commonly used by builders’ merchants, timber yards and distributors to manage products, stock, purchasing, sales, accounts and branch operations. When ecommerce is not connected to that ERP data, the website can quickly become inaccurate or administratively heavy.
A disconnected website often means duplicate product entry, delayed stock updates, manual order rekeying, outdated prices and confusion between branch teams and online customers. Those problems become more serious as the merchant grows online.
Integration allows the ecommerce platform to use BisTrack as the operational source of truth. The website becomes the customer-facing layer, while the ERP continues to hold the commercial logic that staff already depend on.
What Data Needs to Be Connected?
The most important data usually includes products, prices, stock, customer accounts, orders and delivery information. The exact integration depends on the merchant’s operating model, but most projects need to define which system owns each type of data.
Typical data flows include:
- Product codes, descriptions and categories
- Images, specifications and technical documents
- Live or scheduled stock availability
- Branch-level inventory
- Customer-specific pricing
- Trade account login and permissions
- Basket and order submission
- Delivery or collection options
- Order status updates
- Invoices, statements or account documents
Product data is particularly important. Managing Director of Ad Lab, David Newman, explains that product data standards help keep product information accurate, standardised and easier to exchange. For merchants with thousands of SKUs, consistent data structure can be just as important as the integration itself.
Which Ecommerce Platform Should Merchants Use?
Builders’ merchants can connect BisTrack to different ecommerce platforms, including Magento, Shopify, bespoke builds or specialist merchant platforms. The best choice depends on catalogue complexity, customer account requirements, branch structure, budget and future development plans.
Magento can be strong where the merchant needs flexible product structures, trade-specific account features and custom workflows. Shopify can be attractive for speed, usability and lower administrative friction, although more complex trade pricing and ERP logic may need careful integration planning. A bespoke or sector-specific platform may suit merchants that want the ecommerce experience built around merchanting from the start.
The platform decision should not be made on design preference alone. Merchants should consider product complexity, checkout rules, customer segmentation, integration depth and whether the platform can support the business in three to five years.
How Does the Integration Usually Work?
A BisTrack ecommerce integration usually works through APIs, middleware, scheduled data feeds or a combination of these methods. APIs allow systems to request and exchange data more directly. Middleware can sit between BisTrack and the ecommerce platform to transform, validate and control data flows.
Some information may need to update in near real time, such as prices, stock or order submission. Other information, such as product descriptions or category changes, may be suitable for scheduled updates. The right approach depends on how often the data changes and how much pressure the ERP system can safely handle.
AdLab’s work in this area often focuses on designing integration logic that reduces unnecessary API calls, improves reliability and prevents the website from overwhelming the ERP.
What Are the Biggest Integration Challenges?
The hardest part is rarely sending one order from a website into BisTrack. The harder challenge is managing all the exceptions that happen in real merchant trading.
Common challenges include:
- Different prices for different customers
- Stock split across multiple branches
- Products sold by pack, length, weight or unit
- Timber and sheet material variations
- Restricted or local-delivery products
- Credit account rules
- Partial availability
- Customer-specific delivery terms
- Legacy product data
- Slow or overloaded imports
These are the reasons builders’ merchant ecommerce projects need more than a generic website build. They need a clear understanding of branch operations and ERP behaviour.
How Should Merchants Handle Security and Customer Data?
Security should be designed into the integration from the start. Ecommerce projects may involve trade account data, order histories, pricing, addresses, invoices and payment-related workflows. The Information Commissioner’s Office guidance on data protection by design and default is relevant because personal data should be considered throughout the design and development lifecycle.
The National Cyber Security Centre’s cloud security principles are also useful when assessing hosting, resilience, access control and data transfer. For a merchant, this means thinking carefully about authentication, permissions, API access, logging, supplier access and what happens if a service is unavailable.
How Can Merchants Reduce Project Risk?
Merchants can reduce risk by scoping the integration before design work goes too far. The project should define the customer journeys, ERP data flows, update frequencies, exception handling and fallback processes.
A sensible discovery phase should ask:
- Which customers will use the site first?
- Which branches and stock locations matter?
- Which prices must be shown online?
- Which products should not be sold online?
- What happens when stock is unavailable?
- How are orders approved, fulfilled and invoiced?
- Which data must be live and which can be scheduled?
- Who owns product data quality?
This is also where merchants should involve branch teams, sales staff and operations, not only marketing and IT. The best ecommerce projects reflect how customers actually buy from a merchant.
What Does a Good Bistrack Ecommerce Connection Achieve?
A good connection gives trade customers a faster way to buy while reducing manual work for the merchant. Customers can see relevant products, access account pricing, place orders outside branch hours and manage repeat purchases more easily.
For the business, integration can reduce rekeying, improve order accuracy, support growth without adding the same level of administration and create a stronger foundation for digital sales. It can also give sales teams a better online tool to support existing account relationships.
AdLab has applied this thinking in builders’ merchant ecommerce projects where the challenge was not just building a storefront, but improving how ERP, website and customer experience worked together.
Closing Thoughts
Builders’ merchants connect Epicor BisTrack to ecommerce by defining the right data flows, choosing a suitable platform, protecting customer information and building integration logic around the way merchants actually trade. The website should not sit apart from the ERP; it should extend it.
The most successful projects are usually those that treat ERP integration as a business process challenge, not just a technical task. Product data, pricing rules, stock visibility, branch operations and customer accounts all need to be understood before the build is finalised.
With support from AdLab, builders’ merchants can move beyond a basic online catalogue and create ecommerce platforms that work properly with BisTrack, branch teams and trade customers. Feel free to find out more at www.adlab.co.uk
Having delivered ecommerce and ERP integration projects involving Epicor BisTrack, Kerridge, Merlin, Sage, GOLD, AC+, Accord, Genetiq and other merchant ERP systems, Ad Lab regularly advises merchants on how to connect operational systems with modern ecommerce platforms. This hands-on experience gives our team a practical understanding of the commercial, operational and technical challenges involved in taking merchant businesses online.
