Customer portals for Dynamics 365 Business Central – what should you look out for?

Dynamics 365 Business Central is a strong ERP solution for small and medium-sized companies – but it is not a system your customers necessarily need to work in directly. If you want to give your B2B customers a good digital experience, a customer portal integrated with Business Central is the obvious solution.

But what should you look out for when you want to connect a customer portal with Business Central? Here you get the answers – and concrete advice on how to choose correctly.

Why combine a customer portal and Business Central?

Business Central already contains most of your business data: orders, invoices, prices, customers, stock and much more.

But your customers do not have access – and nor should they have it directly. A customer portal acts as a digital front end where customers can do the following themselves:

• Place and follow orders
• Retrieve invoices and packing slips
• See their own prices and discounts
• Find technical documents and order status

All of it pulled directly from Business Central – without your employees having to step in manually.

Read about: Dynamics 365 Business Central integration

1. Integration is not just a “feature” – it is the prerequisite

For a customer portal for Business Central to work well, it must be deeply integrated. That means the portal:

• Pulls product data, customer data and prices directly from the ERP
• Sends new orders back to Business Central automatically
• Synchronises invoices, status and delivery details

Avoid solutions that require manual export/import processes. The right integration saves time, minimises errors and makes sure your customers always see up-to-date information.

Read more about: Integration platform

2. Handling customer-specific prices and discounts

Business Central often contains advanced price structures: individual prices, campaigns, discounts, customer groups and so on.

A good customer portal must be able to read and display this data accurately and in real time. It is essential that the customer sees:

• Their net prices
• Any volume discounts
• Current campaigns

All of it directly from the ERP – not maintained manually.

3. Ease of use for both the customer and the sales department

The customer portal must be easy to use – not just for the customers, but also for your own sales people and support staff. Consider:

• Can the sales person quickly create an order for the customer?
• Can support find orders and invoices on behalf of the customer?
• Is there a clear view of back orders, delivery status and complaints?

A good portal acts as a shared window into your ERP – without everyone having to be a Business Central user.

Read also: How to choose the right customer portal solution for a wholesale business

4. Scalability and future-proofing

Many start out with few features – but need to scale:

• More markets or languages
• More brand portals or business units
• Extension with self-service, service or spare parts modules

Make sure the customer portal you choose for Business Central is flexible and modular, so you can keep building on the platform as your needs grow.

Read about: B2B self-service portal – create a better customer experience and an efficient business

How can Connectify help?

At Connectify we have extensive experience building customer portals integrated directly with Dynamics 365 Business Central. We understand both the ERP logic and the user’s needs – and build solutions that:

• Automate orders and customer service
• Show accurate ERP data in a user-friendly interface
• Support growth and complexity

You get one complete solution where everything is connected – without compromising on either the ERP structure or the customer experience.

Read more about B2B customer portals.