Small businesses in South Africa increasingly rely on e-commerce to reach customers, but managing online and in-store sales, inventory and finances across separate systems can create operational challenges. Manual processes make it harder to maintain accurate stock records, manage orders and monitor profitability.
Rise SA Business Solutions has helped Bee Inspired, a South African family-owned business producing and selling natural honey and related products, streamline its operations through the integration of Shopify with Rise Business.
Fact sheet
Solution: Rise Business
Industry: Food manufacturing
Provider: Rise SA Business Solutions
User: Bee Inspired
Bee Inspired produces and packages honey from its own beehives and sells honey, gift sets and accessories through an online Shopify store and a physical retail store.
While Shopify provides a convenient way to receive online orders and access payment information, keeping online stock figures aligned with physical inventory requires additional effort. The business also needed better visibility into product costs and profitability, particularly when supplier prices changed. Monitoring packaging supplies, such as jars and branded labels, added to the workload.
“As I have a small business, I manage supplies such as jars and labels myself, ordering them for delivery to my home. Without a reliable overview of stock levels, I have to check and count everything manually. Sometimes, I don’t manage to replenish supplies in time,” explained Achmat Kazie, Founder of Bee Inspired.
Achmat Kazie with his family. (Photo credit from Bee Inspired website)
These challenges highlighted the need for a more integrated approach to order management, inventory control and financial information.
Rise SA Business Solutions implemented an integration between Shopify and Rise Business, its ERP solution built on the 1C platform.
The integration connects product, inventory, customer and order data between the systems, reducing manual data entry and bringing online and in-store sales into a common business management workflow.
Product descriptions, prices, variants, bar codes and images are synchronised from Rise Business to Shopify, alongside inventory balances. Rise Business serves as the primary source of product, pricing and stock information, reducing the need to update records separately in both systems.
Orders placed through Shopify are automatically imported into Rise Business with relevant product, discount and delivery details. The integration identifies previously imported orders to prevent duplication and supports updates to order statuses. Depending on the configured workflow, related processes such as stock reservation, payment registration and customer invoicing can also be automated.
The integration also supports Shopify point of sale (POS) transactions from Bee Inspired's physical store. Retail sales are transferred to Rise Business and recorded as cash register receipts, connecting online and in-store sales with the corresponding inventory records.
The implementation established a more structured approach to managing Bee Inspired sales and inventory.
Key outcomes include:
- Synchronised business data. Product information, prices and stock balances are managed in Rise Business and synchronised with Shopify.
- Improved inventory visibility. Centralised stock information helps identify discrepancies and monitor the availability of products and packaging materials.
- Unified sales management. Online orders and in-store POS transactions can be processed through the connected system.
- Reduced manual work. Automated data exchange minimises repetitive data entry and helps maintain consistent records across both platforms.
Shopify integration with Rise Business.
By connecting sales and inventory information, Bee Inspired has a more structured basis for reviewing product costs, assessing profitability and making informed business decisions.
“Small businesses need technology that helps them spend less time managing routine operations and more time developing their business. By connecting Shopify with Rise Business, we help bring sales and inventory information into a more structured workflow, giving business owners a clearer view of their operations,” said Ilia Shikhov, Founder of Rise SA Business Solutions.
The Bee Inspired project demonstrates how integrating e-commerce platforms with an ERP system can help small businesses move beyond disconnected records and manual processes. Connecting sales channels with inventory and business data provides greater operational visibility and creates a foundation for growth.
“Having our sales channels connected makes it easier to manage the business and keep important information organised. It gives us a better starting point for making decisions as we grow,” Kazie said.
Businesses looking to streamline e-commerce operations with Rise Business can contact the Rise SA team to discuss their requirements.