Context and Challenge
HFN is a large retailer with several custom systems built to support their daily operations. These systems helped them manage products, process orders, and work with suppliers. However, as their business grew, HFN needed to connect their internal tools with external services.
The goal was not to replace their existing systems but to extend them by integrating with third-party solutions. These integrations would help automate more tasks and improve the shopping experience for their customers.
Before the integration project launch, HFN was dealing with several challenges:
- Manual processes and low automation: Many tasks were still done manually. For example, managers had to check payments, stock updates, and delivery information by switching between different tools. This took time and led to mistakes.
- High development costs: Building every feature from scratch in the custom systems was more expensive and time-consuming than integrating these features using third-party tools. In the case of HFN, system integrations offered a faster and more cost-effective way to solve specific business needs.
- Data silos: Information was stored in separate systems that didn’t always communicate with each other. This made it hard to get a complete picture of stock levels, payments, and orders.
- Lack of real-time data updates: Without system integrations, HFN couldn’t always access up-to-date information. Managers had to rely on outdated data or refresh it manually.
- Inconsistent data formats: Each system used different data formats, which caused issues when trying to share or combine data. This affected planning, reporting, and day-to-day operations.
To overcome these issues, HFN needed to perform system integrations with WMSs, an ERP system, and a reliable payment solution provider.
Client’s Objectives
HFN partnered with Forbytes to integrate their internal systems with trusted third-party services. The goals were clear:
- Integrate Svea as a payment provider across HFN’s e-commerce websites to offer flexible payment options like cards, invoices, and deferred payments, among others.
- Connect HFN’s admin system to Microsoft Dynamics NAV to sync order, product, and payment data for better planning and reporting.
- Integrate custom Warehouse Management Systems for each of their three main warehouses to manage stock levels, deliveries, and product locations in real time.
HFN wanted these integrations to be secure, fast, and scalable — and to ease daily work for their managers.
How We Approached the Project
Forbytes planned out and executed each integration step by step. The integration plan was as follows:
1. Payment Integration with Svea
Svea is a popular payment service provider in the Nordics. The integration with this payment service lets customers check out using different payment options. Once an order is placed on the site, the user is redirected to Svea to complete payment.
- We set up secure data flow from HFN’s site to Svea via API.
- Svea creates invoices and handles payments on their side, which means HFN doesn’t need to store vast volumes of sensitive data.
- Every day, we sync payment status updates from Svea. When an order is marked “paid,” it’s automatically updated in the admin system and prepared for shipping.
2. ERP Integration with Microsoft Dynamics NAV
We connected HFN’s admin system with Microsoft Dynamics NAV using the SOAP protocol.
- This integration ensures accurate and real-time syncing of product, stock, payment, and order data.
- Different types of data come from different sources. For example, product details come from HFN’s PIM system, while payment data comes from Svea. All data is automatically formatted and consolidated to be readable for the ERP system.
- We ensured secure authentication and role-based access for all connected services.
- Forbytes also set up endpoints to sync warehouse data with the ERP and HFN’s admin system. This provides a complete and up-to-date view of product movement, inventory, and operations.
WMS integration
HFN manages three large warehouses and uses custom systems for each.
- We built API-based integrations between their admin system and WMS.
- Order data flows from the admin panel to WMS.
- In return, WMS sends stock updates, delivery statuses, and packaging info back to HFN’s systems.
These integrations made order processing smoother, deliveries faster, and warehouse operations more transparent.
Solution Overview
Our integrations helped HFN improve operations in several areas:
Payment System integration (Svea)
- Supports multiple payment options
- Orders sync once per day with updated payment status
- Payments are handled by Svea, reducing HFN’s workload and data storage requirements
ERP integration (Microsoft Dynamics NAV)
- Secure data exchange between systems
- Syncs product, order, and stock data in real time
- Helps with finance, supply chain, and stock planning
WMS integration
- Real-time tracking of stock movements and product locations
- Smooth communication between warehouses and the admin system
- Helps optimize packaging and order delivery flow
In addition to these integrations, our team also set up automated stock data retrieval from HFN’s vendors. We made it flexible so HFN could receive vendor stock data in various ways — either by connecting to vendor APIs, pulling files from the vendor’s FTP servers, or letting vendors upload stock files to HFN’s own FTP server.
We built support for different file formats including CSV, XLS, and XML. To make the system even more adaptable, our engineers enabled field mapping so HFN managers could choose which columns to use when importing data. This helped keep vendor stock levels accurate and always up to date.
Detailed Execution Timeline
The integration project followed a structured path:
- Requirements gathering and system analysis
- Data format mapping across systems
- Choosing integration methods (API, SOAP, others)
- Data flow planning (one-way or two-way)
- Integration development
- Testing and optimization
- Ongoing support and maintenance
The project lasted several months and involved backend developers and data engineering teams working in sprints.
Results and Impact
Qualitative results:
Payment system
- Fully integrated with Svea
- Users can choose from several payment methods
- HFN receives payment status daily and updates order flows automatically
- Secure and reliable — no sensitive data stored on HFN’s side
ERP integration
- Fast and secure connection to Microsoft Dynamics NAV
- Accurate product, payment, and stock data syncing
- Supports smart planning and daily operations across departments
WMS integration
- Real-time warehouse updates
- Managers can track packages, shipments, and stock in one place
- Better coordination between the admin team and warehouse staff
Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned
Success factors:
- System integration experience: Our engineers know how to connect complex systems in a way that keeps data secure, clean, and always up to date. This helped us solve problems faster and avoid delays.
- Deep knowledge of HFN’s internal systems: We had already worked with HFN before, so we deeply understood their tools, workflows, and business goals. This information was very helpful at the project planning stage.
- Close collaboration with third-party providers: We worked closely with both the HFN team and the teams behind external systems like Svea and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Regular communication helped us quickly solve questions and stay aligned with the client’s expectations.
- Proven e-commerce track record: Because of our long history working with e-commerce clients, we were able to suggest smart solutions and best practices to make the integration more efficient and reliable.
Challenges overcome:
- Segmenting payment data for different stores and sales channels: HFN has multiple online stores and physical locations. Managers needed to see only the orders for their store — not for the entire company. So, we made sure that each store could only access their own data, while HFN could still view all payments in one place.
- Handling multiple data formats and syncing them across systems: Each system used by HFN has different data formats and structures. We had to unify these formats and make sure all data matched. This was important for syncing order details, stock levels, and delivery statuses across systems.
- Managing large data flows without delays or data duplication: HFN’s systems handle a lot of data every day — from thousands of orders, products, and customer records. We made sure our integrations could process large amounts of data without delays, data duplications, or errors.
- Ensuring safe, secure, and scalable integrations for long-term use: We added secure authorization, role-based access, and reliable sync logic. This protects HFN’s data and ensures that the system can grow as the business expands.
- Working without full documentation on the third party’s side: Some of the external systems, like Microsoft Dynamics NAV, had limited documentation — especially for custom solutions. Our team studied the data flows, tested endpoints, and figured out how the systems worked. This helped us build accurate integrations even without full technical guides.
All in all, these efforts helped HFN overcome technical barriers and get a smooth, reliable, and future-ready integration setup.
