Whiskers N Paws Eliminates Manual Data Entry and Saves 150 Hours Monthly with Ecommerce Automation

How a leading Hong Kong pet supplier seamlessly integrated a new ecommerce platform with complex back-end operations

Challenge

Whiskers N Paws needed an efficient way to replace custom-coded integrations and connect Shopify Plus, NetSuite, and other ERP systems

Whiskers N Paws is one of Hong Kong’s leading pet needs suppliers, with a growing online presence and stores selling high-quality pet food and pet supplies. Whiskers N Paws also provides a wide range of pet care services including grooming, pet adoption, and pet education workshops.

In order to boost its online sales capabilities, Whiskers N Paws decided to upgrade its custom-built ecommerce platform to the latest Shopify Online Store theme, – which leverages all of Shopify 2.0’s new features.

The key challenge for the company was finding the most efficient way to integrate the new Shopify Plus platform and its associated applications with their existing Oracle NetSuite ERP systems – with minimum disruptions and virtually no downtime.

“Since NetSuite is our single source of truth, we wanted everything to be stored on NetSuite, with seamless integration to our back-end processes,” says Hades Kong, Head of Solutions for Whiskers N Paws.

Their previous integration between Magento and NetSuite had been custom-built by the organization’s in-house developers, but they were not familiar with Shopify.

For efficiency, they opted to partner with a reputable and reliable third-party integrator with integration expertise across Shopify, Netsuite ERP, and a range of associated ecommerce applications. With growing website traffic and new customers and orders flowing in constantly, Whiskers N Paws also wanted a fast, DIY way of automating data across the two platforms, as well as with other applications their business was using, including:

• Warehouse Management System (WMS)
• Customer Database Platform (CDP)
• Various analytics platforms

“We knew the project would be a little more complex than just a simple plug and play
exercise,” says Kong. “We wanted to partner with a reputable integrator with an excellent track record and a reputation for support and customer service.”

Solution

Jitterbit’s low-code integration platform, Harmony, was “easy to implement,” “very stable,” and ticked all the boxes

Jitterbit’s integration solution for Whiskers N Paws, comprising a full suite of best-in-class products and services, connected all commerce touchpoints from Shopify’s front-end marketplace to the back-end ERP and finance systems; providing a single source of truth of customer data to deliver a personalized and frictionless commerce experience. It also reduced deployment time by using prebuilt connectors, making in-house implementation feasible and simple.

“Jitterbit saved us a lot of money and time because, without them, we would have had to hire specialists or another team of developers familiar with both NetSuite and Shopify to build a customized integration for us. It would have been hard to find such a company in Hong Kong, which means we would have needed to reach out to other countries, with all the extra expenses involved. This alone saved us HK$180,000 per year and perhaps two months of lost time. Jitterbit was definitely the right fit for us. Overall, it was easy to implement and is very stable. We’ve been very happy with it since day one,” says Kong.

For Whiskers N Paws, no extra costs and no extra staff were involved in the implementation, proving the simplicity and ease of Jitterbit’s solution.

“A member of our IT team took the integration on as a special project and he was able to quickly study and understand the set-up guides and documentation provided by Jitterbit. It took him less than two weeks, which represented a huge saving for us,” Kong explains. “Then he set up the basic integrations and connections himself, making sure that all the ecommerce transactions, inventory and customer data were properly synced into the ERP”.

“With Jitterbit, it all went very smoothly and only occasionally did developers have to shoot Jitterbit Support an email or engage in some live chat. They were very responsive. In fact the support we received was outstanding and they resolved any issues or problems very quickly and professionally,” says Kong.

Outcome

Whiskers N Paws saves 150 monthly hours, HK$180K, and 2 months of integration time

For Whiskers N Paws, the immediate benefit of its partnership with Jitterbit was the quick, hassle-free, and seamless integration of its new Shopify ecommerce site with their existing back-end processes, including inventory, order, delivery, and financials.

Whiskers N Paws has been able to save 150 hours per month by eliminating manual data entry, estimating a minimum 50% improvement in efficiencies and an 80% improvement in customer satisfaction.

The flexibility and scalability of Jitterbit’s integration platform also helped ensure workflows and efficiencies continued throughout the transition period and beyond.

“One great thing Jitterbit has done for Whiskers N Paws is help streamline our entire operation and set us up for further expansion in the years ahead. We are now looking at additional ecommerce websites and spheres of operation and we will go forward with Jitterbit to ensure smooth operations and a single source of data truth,” says Kong.
With Jitterbit, Whiskers N Paws has:

• Improved efficiencies by an estimated 50% minimum overall
• Connected Shopify Plus and NetSuite with other key ERP and business systems
• Eliminated errors and process bottlenecks with data integration
• Empowered customers with integrated self-service channels for handling orders, shipment, and payment, putting control in their hands through their preferred channels
• Built more brand awareness via an enhanced customer shopping experience
• Increased customer satisfaction by an estimated 80%
• Accelerated digital transformation and growth by enabling IT staff to add more applications to their tech stack simply and easily

“Jitterbit has really improved our business operations. It is a very, very stable integrator that performs well and doesn’t require a lot of technical people to do the initial setup or ongoing maintenance. Jitterbit would be a very valuable asset to any medium to large size company with multiple platforms in need of customized integration.”

– Hades Kong, Head of Solutions, Whiskers N Paws