Ecommerce Integrations UK: Connect Your Online Store to the Systems That Run Your Business
A complete guide to ecommerce integrations for UK businesses. Learn how to connect your online store with payment gateways, shipping providers, ERPs, CRMs, and accounting software to automate workflows, reduce manual errors, and scale faster.
What Are Ecommerce Integrations and Why Do They Matter?
An ecommerce integration connects your online store with the external systems your business depends on. Rather than manually copying order data into your accounting software or updating stock levels across multiple channels by hand, integrations automate these processes so information flows between systems in real time or on a scheduled basis.
Eliminate Manual Data Entry
Integrations remove the need to manually transfer orders, stock levels, customer data, and financial records between systems. This saves hours of staff time each week and drastically reduces the risk of human error.
Real-Time Inventory Accuracy
Keep stock levels synchronised across your website, marketplace listings, and warehouse management system. Avoid overselling, reduce backorders, and give customers accurate availability information at all times.
Scale Without Extra Headcount
As order volumes grow, integrated systems handle the increased workload automatically. Businesses that rely on manual processes hit a ceiling; integrated businesses can scale from 100 to 10,000 orders per day without proportional increases in operational staff.
Faster, More Accurate Finances
Automated syncing between your ecommerce store and accounting software means invoices, refunds, and VAT records are always up to date. Your finance team spends less time on reconciliation and more time on strategic decisions.
Better Customer Experience
Integrated systems deliver real-time order tracking, accurate delivery estimates, personalised marketing, and seamless returns. Customers get a professional, joined-up experience that builds trust and drives repeat purchases.
Centralised Business Intelligence
When your systems are connected, you gain a single source of truth for reporting. Understand which products are most profitable, which channels drive the most revenue, and where operational bottlenecks exist.
Common Ecommerce Integration Types
Most UK ecommerce businesses need integrations across several categories. Here are the most common types and the systems typically involved.
Payment Gateway Integrations
Connect your store to payment processors such as Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay, Opayo (formerly SagePay), Adyen, and Klarna. Payment integrations handle card processing, refunds, multi-currency transactions, and buy-now-pay-later options. For UK businesses, supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Open Banking payments is increasingly important.
Shipping & Fulfilment Integrations
Automate label printing, tracking updates, and delivery notifications with carriers such as Royal Mail, DPD, DHL, Evri (formerly Hermes), UPS, and FedEx. Fulfilment integrations connect your store to third-party logistics (3PL) providers and warehouse management systems for automated order routing and dispatch.
ERP Integrations
Enterprise Resource Planning systems like SAP Business One, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Sage 200, and Brightpearl centralise your business operations. ERP integrations sync orders, inventory, customer data, and financial records between your ecommerce store and your back-office systems, eliminating duplicate data entry.
CRM Integrations
Customer Relationship Management platforms such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, and Klaviyo help you manage customer interactions and marketing. CRM integrations push order data, customer profiles, and browsing behaviour from your store into your CRM for segmented email campaigns, abandoned cart recovery, and personalised product recommendations.
Accounting Integrations
Connect your store to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, or FreeAgent to automate invoice creation, payment reconciliation, VAT calculations, and financial reporting. Accounting integrations are particularly important for UK businesses that need to comply with Making Tax Digital (MTD) requirements for VAT returns.
PIM & Inventory Management
Product Information Management systems like Akeneo, Pimcore, and Salsify centralise product data across all your sales channels. Inventory management tools such as TradeGecko (QuickBooks Commerce), Linnworks, and Veeqo keep stock levels accurate across your website, Amazon, eBay, and physical retail locations.
Platform-Specific Integration Approaches
Each ecommerce platform handles integrations differently. Understanding these differences is essential when planning your integration strategy or choosing a platform for a new project.
Shopify & Shopify Plus
Shopify uses a curated app ecosystem through the Shopify App Store. Most common integrations have pre-built apps that install in minutes. For bespoke requirements, developers build custom apps using the Shopify Admin API, Storefront API, and webhooks. Shopify Plus offers additional capabilities including Flow for workflow automation, higher API rate limits, and checkout extensibility for custom payment and shipping logic. Learn more about Shopify development.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce leverages the WordPress plugin ecosystem, offering thousands of free and premium integration plugins. Because WooCommerce is open-source, developers have complete access to the codebase and can modify core behaviour through hooks and filters. The WooCommerce REST API supports custom integrations, and the flexibility of self-hosting means no API rate limits imposed by the platform. Learn more about WooCommerce development.
Magento (Adobe Commerce)
Magento offers the deepest integration capabilities of the three major platforms. Its modular architecture supports complex, enterprise-grade integrations through extensions, the Magento REST and GraphQL APIs, and message queue systems like RabbitMQ. Magento is the preferred choice for businesses with large catalogues, complex B2B requirements, or multi-store setups that need tight integration with SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics. Learn more about Magento development.
Not sure which platform suits your integration needs? Our platform comparison guide covers the strengths and limitations of each option for UK businesses.
How to Choose an Ecommerce Integration Partner
Getting integrations right requires specific technical expertise. A failed or poorly implemented integration can cause data loss, order errors, and significant business disruption. Here is what to look for when selecting a partner.
- Proven API and middleware experience — ask for case studies showing integrations with the specific systems you use, not just generic ecommerce experience
- Platform-specific expertise — an integration specialist for Shopify should understand the Admin API and webhooks, while a Magento specialist should know the service contracts and module architecture
- Error handling and monitoring — integrations fail. A good partner builds in retry logic, error logging, alerting, and a clear escalation path when things go wrong
- Data mapping documentation — before any code is written, your partner should produce a detailed mapping document showing exactly which fields sync between systems and how edge cases are handled
- Testing and staging environments — integrations must be thoroughly tested with real data volumes before going live. Avoid partners who test directly in production
- Ongoing support and SLAs — integrations need monitoring and maintenance. Ensure your partner offers post-launch support with clear response time commitments
- UK business understanding — familiarity with UK-specific requirements including VAT rules, GDPR compliance, Royal Mail APIs, and popular UK payment providers
UK-Specific Integration Considerations
Ecommerce businesses operating in the United Kingdom face specific requirements that affect how integrations should be designed and implemented.
UK Payment Methods
British consumers expect to pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and increasingly with buy-now-pay-later services such as Klarna and Clearpay. Worldpay and Opayo remain popular with UK merchants, and Open Banking payments are gaining traction for reducing card processing fees.
VAT Handling & Making Tax Digital
Your integrations must handle UK VAT correctly, including the standard 20% rate, reduced 5% rate, and zero-rated items. Since April 2022, HMRC's Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme requires VAT-registered businesses to keep digital records and submit returns using compatible software. Your accounting integration must support MTD-compliant VAT submissions.
Royal Mail & UK Shipping
Royal Mail is the most widely used carrier for UK ecommerce. Integrating with Royal Mail's Click & Drop API enables automated label generation, tracked delivery services, and returns handling. DPD, Evri, and DHL are popular alternatives for next-day and international deliveries. Post-Brexit, businesses selling to EU customers also need integrations that handle customs declarations and duty calculations.
GDPR & Data Protection
Any integration that transfers customer data between systems must comply with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. This affects how personal data is stored, transferred, and processed across your ecommerce stack. Ensure your integration partner understands data minimisation principles and builds in appropriate consent mechanisms.
Multi-Currency & International Selling
UK businesses selling internationally need integrations that handle GBP alongside EUR, USD, and other currencies. This includes accurate exchange rate syncing, multi-currency payment processing, and correct reporting in your base currency for UK tax purposes. Post-Brexit customs and duty calculations add further complexity for EU-bound shipments.
Marketplace Integrations
Many UK retailers sell on Amazon UK, eBay UK, and Etsy alongside their own website. Marketplace integrations keep product listings, pricing, stock levels, and orders synchronised across all channels. Tools like ChannelAdvisor, Linnworks, and Brightpearl are commonly used by UK multichannel sellers.
Typical Ecommerce Integration Costs in the UK
Integration costs depend on the number of systems, complexity of data flows, and whether off-the-shelf connectors exist or custom development is required. Below are typical price ranges for UK-based ecommerce integration projects in 2026.
Single Off-the-Shelf Integration
£500 – £2,000
Installing and configuring a pre-built app or plugin such as a Xero connector for Shopify, a PayPal gateway for WooCommerce, or a Royal Mail shipping extension. Includes setup, testing, and basic customisation of field mappings.
Custom API Integration
£5,000 – £20,000
Building a bespoke integration between your ecommerce platform and a specific system such as an ERP, warehouse management system, or proprietary business application. Includes data mapping, development, error handling, testing, and deployment.
Full Multi-System Integration
£15,000 – £50,000+
Connecting your ecommerce store with multiple systems simultaneously: payment gateway, shipping, ERP, CRM, accounting, and inventory management. Often involves middleware platforms like Celigo, Patchworks, or MuleSoft to orchestrate data flows between all connected systems.
Integration Developer (Hourly)
£75 – £150 /hr
Hiring a specialist integration developer on an hourly basis for smaller tasks, troubleshooting, or extending existing integrations. Rates reflect the specialist nature of API and middleware development work.
Ongoing Support & Monitoring
£300 – £1,500 /mo
Monthly retainer for monitoring integration health, handling errors, updating API connections when third-party providers release new versions, and making iterative improvements as your business requirements evolve.
Middleware Platform Licences
£200 – £2,000 /mo
Integration platforms as a service (iPaaS) such as Celigo, Patchworks, Jitterbit, and MuleSoft charge monthly fees based on the number of connections and data volume. These costs are in addition to the initial setup and development work.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ecommerce Integrations
Ecommerce integration costs in the UK vary widely depending on complexity. A single off-the-shelf integration such as connecting Xero or Stripe typically costs between £500 and £2,000. Custom API integrations with an ERP like SAP or NetSuite usually fall between £5,000 and £20,000. A full multi-system integration project covering payments, shipping, accounting, and inventory can range from £15,000 to £50,000 or more. Ongoing maintenance and support for integrations typically runs from £300 to £1,500 per month.
A plugin or app integration uses a pre-built connector available through your ecommerce platform's marketplace, such as the Shopify App Store or WooCommerce plugin directory. These are quicker to install and less expensive but may not cover every use case. A custom API integration is built from scratch by a developer using the APIs of both your ecommerce platform and the third-party system. Custom integrations offer complete control over data mapping, sync frequency, and error handling, making them essential for complex or non-standard workflows.
A standard ERP integration with an ecommerce platform typically takes 4 to 12 weeks. Simple integrations using middleware platforms like Celigo or Patchworks can be completed in 2 to 4 weeks. Complex integrations with SAP, NetSuite, or Microsoft Dynamics that involve custom data mapping, inventory sync, order routing, and multi-warehouse logic can take 8 to 16 weeks. Timelines depend on the number of data points being synced, the quality of existing data, and how quickly both teams can complete testing.
Basic payment gateway setup on platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce is straightforward and can often be done without a developer. Shopify Payments and PayPal, for example, require minimal configuration. However, you should hire a specialist if you need custom checkout flows, multiple payment methods including buy-now-pay-later options, multi-currency support, subscription billing, or integration with a specific UK payment provider like Worldpay or Opayo. A specialist ensures PCI compliance, proper error handling, and a smooth customer experience.
Yes, most ecommerce businesses integrate with several systems simultaneously. A typical UK ecommerce store connects to a payment gateway, shipping provider, accounting software, and email marketing platform as a minimum. Integration middleware platforms such as Celigo, Patchworks, or MuleSoft act as a central hub that connects your ecommerce store to multiple systems, reducing the complexity of managing individual point-to-point connections. A phased approach is recommended, starting with the most business-critical integrations and adding others over time.
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