How to Import Export Magento 2 Data with Firebear

Overview of the B2B Commerce

The B2B commerce is a result of the steady growth of the supply-and-demand relations. If the strategy is implemented correctly, there would be definite growth in your business, leading to a boost in your revenue. If the strategy is not implemented the right way, it would lead to a drop in your business success.

Magento 2 Data with Firebear

Magento 2 does not provide any support of B2B as such, therefore, one must rely on third-party helpers to help provide the best solutions for B2B on Magento 2’s platform. One such reliable platform is FireBear that provides its users with their dedicated support, to achieve the success they want.

Going the B2B Business Path with Magento 2

After Magento was acquired by Adobe, the Magento platform witnessed growth in the direction of the B2B pathway. This trend was noticed when the developers of Magento realized the shift in the trend of business towards B2B. For this reason, Magento provided its users with a free B2B extension in their version 2.3. With the addition of this new feature, the gateway of B2B was opened for the users of Magento Commerce and Magento Cloud editions. This was the most awaited upgrade of Magento 2 as this has saved countless number of users from going through the hassle of hiring third-party developers for B2B.

Key Features of the B2B Extenion

The B2B extension mostly helps in managing large company structures, assigning permissions for every account within a company, and in modifying the product display according to the client’s needs. It does not require any prior programming knowledge to be used and is easily configured by users who have some level of Magento 2 proficiency. The B2B extension also helps in attracting new business opportunities with the implementation of the following:

1. Company

The credentials of the representative and the company, the status within your store, company credit, and the payment methods available.

2. Company Roles

The company accounts with specific positions and the level of granted access to the store activities.

3. Quotes and Negotiable Quotes

This includes the products for placing orders and requests for discounts.

4. Requisition Lists

This is the default product list formed by the company representatives or upon their request.

5. Shared Catalogs

A personalized list of products available per company.

However, with the current set-up, mostly communication and user permission-restriction issues are addressed. It lacks a lot of features of the B2B-related fields.

Improved Import and Export and the B2B add-on with FireBear

FireBear is one of the leading data transfer tools in the market, that supports the B2B enhancement in the eCommerce world. They provide full control over B2B and B2C features in Magento 2, along with improved import and export of data for Magento 2. FireBear is well-known to provide trustable data channeling solutions with a user-friendly interface. With the new and improved extension, you can easily import and export Magento 2 data by arranging a healthy site environment through automatic or manual database updates. You can create a fully independent and personalized workflow with minimal involvement of the admin.

The improved import and export tool can become a tool for substantial business upgrades, in addition to the regular update routine. You do not have to worry about implementing various elements into your store as the improved Import and Export tool transfers everything into your Magento 2 store. There are additional third-party apps and services viable too that you can use for your Magento 2 store.

The B2B feature is a new add-on to the Improved Import and Export tool, making the entities exclusive for Magento 2 Commerce and Cloud manageable. With the add-on, you can set multi-account permissions, administrate company hierarchy, allow vendor-client communication, and be able to support individual offers during all the steps of a deal.

Moreover, if you plan to integrate a management software with your database, with the Improved Import and Export, you can allow a safe connection between any platform via the API. You can easily transport your data to any ERP or CRM system for an effective task distribution.

The Improved Import and Export functionality helps your store in numerous ways and is not just limited to the B2B activities. The extension helps in the following ways:

—Easy management of resources and workflow, with the help of the ERP and Magento 2 integration, from the production of goods to their distribution

—Control all the financial aspects of your business with the help of the integration of Magento 2 and the accounting software

—Carry out all HR and client-related activities, including marketing tasks, with the help of Magento 2 and the CRM integration

—Automation of various processes

—Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration

—Transfer of data between several eCommerce platforms, such as from WooCommerce to Magento 2

—Dropshipping with Magento 2

—Enrichment of content presentation with Magento 2 and PIM integration

Details of the Magento 2 Improved Import and Export

The Improved Import and Export extension makes use of the basic logic for configuring each import or export run. It includes settings of data transfer behavior, selection of an entity type and data source, mapping, and cron scheduling.

The import and export process is very thorough and helps to ensure that the whole process takes place without any glitches. The extension makes use of various components that help to achieve and conduct certain tasks. To be able to perform various functions, job details can be specified just once, and then the functions would be performed. The automatic job runs are executed by utilizing cron. It is the job of the daemon to detect any changes in the data for import and export on the fly and update the database accordingly.

The job configuration procedure requires a particular logic pattern for defining the job configuration procedure. During an import, all types of entities can be added to the import, with other options allowing updating, replacing, or deleting the existing data of a store.

The B2B entities that are only available for transfer within Magento 2 Commerce/Cloud and are available upon the installation of the extension, include the following:

—Company
—Company Roles
—Quotes and negotiable quotes
—Requisition lists
—Shared catalogs

The above-mentioned entities are not the only entities, there are other entities supported by the extension. There is diversity in the entities supported that work with the common features of Magento 2 Open Source and exclusively Magento 2 Commerce/Cloud features. These entities are:

1. Content
—Products
—Attributes
—Categories
—Stock Sources
—Stock Source Quantity

2. Customers
—Orders
—Customers
—Customer Addresses
—Reviews
—Newsletter Subscribers

3. Promotions
—Advanced Pricing
—Gift Cards
—Cart Price Rules
—Catalog Price Rules

4. Content Arrangement
—Page Hierarchy
—CMS Pages
—CMS Blocks
—URL Rewrites
—Search Terms
—Search Synonyms
—Widgets

Moreover, to allow a smooth data transfer, the Improved Import and Export allows data to be transferred via various data file formats. This built-in extension feature puts you at ease regarding data transfer between Magento 2 and other platforms, such as the ERP. These data sources and file formats include the following:

1. Import Source
—File upload
—FTP and SFTP
—REST and SOAP API
—URL
—Google Sheets
—Dropbox

2. File Format
—CSV
—XML
—XLSX
—ODS
—Json
—ZIP and TAR

Final Thoughts

The Improved Import and Export feature is a viable tool, for B2B solution, from FireBear. It provides you with all the required and essential features for a smooth Magento 2 data import and export. Finding the right platform for the Magento 2 import-export is extremely necessary to prevent any technical glitches and data losses from taking place. FireBear will provide you with their team of dedicated staff who would be glad to assist you during this process.

Shopify B2B app development company vs. Magento app for B2B: Which one is a cost-effective solution?

While Magento is an open-source platform, the development of B2B app for the platform does come at a high price. Magento is hyped as one of the most customized and flexible eCommerce web development platforms, however, it’s a complex platform that needs professional development services, which significantly increase the overall price for setting up an online store. Shopify on the other hand offers an intuitive platform with an easy drag and drop option for store development. Also, it’s easier and cost-effective to develop the Shopify B2B app, since there isn’t a whole technical aspect related to the development process.