ERP vs WMS: Systems Comparison & Examples for E-commerce

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The Indian e-commerce market was valued at $111 billion in 2024 and is expected to cross $200 billion by 2027.‍

This means that a brand has great potential for success. Like you, Priya, a founder of a skincare brand, celebrated her first 10000 orders six months ago.

But today, while sitting in her warehouse, she was getting a lot of calls from customers who were angry because they received the wrong products. And she is in a dilemma: how did this mistake happen? Later on, she found that it was a part of the mistake in his warehouse management.

But just because this case is for Priya, the answer is "NO." Many brands face related problems because they still rely on manual warehouse management.

Thus, the concepts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Warehouse Management System (WMS) emerged. With the growth in the business sector, brands need better systems to manage their inventory, orders, and customer experiences.

In this blog, we will learn about ERP and WMS Systems, the key differences between them, and why they matter for an Indian e-commerce brand.

What Is an Enterprise Resource Planning System?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is a unified system that connects all your business's operations and departments in one place. It collects and handles data and information related to finance, accounts, sales, purchases, and inventory. In short, it is like your business's brain, where every piece of information lives.

Key Functions of ERP Systems

• Financial Management: ERP systems help to track money flow, billing, and all other accounting parts of the business.
• Sales Management: It helps to manage and record orders, sales, and returns.
• Purchase Management: ERP helps you track your purchasing and supplier management.
• Sales Management: It helps to manage and record orders, sales, and returns.
• Inventory Control: It helps in basic stock tracking and management across locations.

This is how an ERP System could benefit you. As an Indian E-Commerce Brand, ERP can help you manage your sales across different platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and your website. It can also automate billing, including GST, and give real-time updates.

The popular ERP systems for Indian brands include SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho Books, and Tally ERP..

What Is a Warehouse Management System(WMS)?

A warehouse management system (WMS) is software that helps manage the daily warehouse operations of a business. 

Basically, it is like a powerful individual who handles all the operations of the warehouse from the time the goods enter the warehouse until the time the goods leave for the customers.

According to a report, the Indian warehouse management market size is expected to grow by USD 3.13 billion from 2024-2028. See, how can a WMS be beneficial for your brand?

Let us understand with the help of an example.

Let's say there is a person called Rahul who runs a protein powder business. He started with 50 orders per day and now has 500 orders per day.

His sales have increased, but he still has the same manpower. Here's what their typical day looked like:

8 AM: Rahul's warehouse manager, Suresh, arrives to find yesterday's orders still not packed because they couldn't locate half the products.

10 AM: A customer calls angry because they received vanilla protein powder instead of chocolate. Suresh realises they have no system to track which batch went where.

2 PM: The team discovers they've been showing "in stock" on Amazon for a product that ran out three days ago.

6PM: Suresh is manually counting inventory to update the website, knowing he'll probably make mistakes because he's exhausted.

So, the chaos that was discussed above is the same thing that the WMS prevents. 

According to the MHI Annual Industry Report, manual warehouse processes often require two weeks of training, compared to just 20 minutes with automation.

Key Functions of WMS

The primary thing that WMS does is quickly process the upcoming inventory and update the stock levels.

• It tells the warehouse management team where to place the product.
• It helps to create the shortest routes for your warehouse staff
• WMS ensures the right products go to the right customers
• Also, helps in coordinating with shipping partners for efficient dispatch of the products

So, that's how a Warehouse Management system could be a great option to be integrated into your business. But always remember, warehouse operations are just one piece of logistics management.

Here are some of the popular WMS examples: Zoho Inventory, Unicommerce, Pragma, and SAP Extended Warehouse Management.

Thus, from the above example that was discussed, if Suresh has a WMS System integrated, then:

• He can quickly scan the barcode and instantly see that the order was picked from the batch number and shipped via Delhivery.
• He can accurately count the inventory without depending on manual methods.
• He can automatically update inventory across all channels.
• He can count for specific products based on movement patterns.

What is The Difference Between ERP and WMS Systems - Key Points Explained

The major difference between ERP and WMS is that the former focuses on the broader concepts of the business, covering all fields of operations, whereas a WMS only focuses on the part of warehousing operations, but in a detailed way.

An ERP is a system that works for the warehousing department a little, but WMS sees everything in real-time, from inventory to picking, packaging, and shipping the goods.

While both systems have core differences, both ERP and WMS systems are an important part of the supply chain management and can benefit a business a lot in handling tasks efficiently.

Why Integrating ERP and WMS Is Powerful?

When your ERP and WMS work together, magic happens for your brand:

• Perfect Inventory Control: Your WMS tells your ERP exactly what's in stock, preventing overselling on marketplaces and helping you plan purchases better.
• Faster Customer Service: When a customer asks about their order, your team can see everything - from order status in ERP to exact warehouse location in WMS.
• Better Cash Flow: Real-time inventory data helps you avoid tying up money in slow-moving stock while preventing stockouts of bestsellers.

Apart from this, real-life data is good for knowing why WMS and ERP are important. The brands that are using WMS have seen:

• 97% increase in productivity through optimised picking routes
• 50% reduction in labour requirements through better task management
• Order fulfilment time cut from 8 days to 2 days.
• Significant improvement in inventory accuracy

How Does It Work?

Here's how integration helps your daily operations:

• Customer places an order → ERP records it.
• ERP sends the order to WMS → warehouse processes it.
• WMS updates ERP → customer sees status updates.

Pragma's RTO Suite lets ERP and WMS work together. Orders are sent to WMS from ERP, and shipping updates return to ERP. This reduced order delays by 40% and improved COD order success rates.

How to Choose the Right System Between ERP and WMS?

Although both the ERP and WMS systems are important for the business, choosing the right one that suits your needs is necessary. To choose between the two, you should look for the following aspects:

• The first thing you should know is to understand your industry. Whether you deal in warehousing or with the daily departmental operations.
• Define the size of your business; a small business may require only WMS to handle inventory, whereas a larger business requires handling all staff efficiently with ERP.
• Know your organisational requirement and then decide.
• Consider your long-term goals.
• Always work according to your strengths and weaknesses.

Pros and Cons of ERP and WMS Systems

Understand more with the help of an example:

Let's say you run a jewellery brand where you process 30-50 orders daily. Your business size is small, and your main challenge is managing finances and customer relationships across various platforms. In this case, when you don't have anything to do with a warehouse, WMS will not help you. You must need an ERP system to handle all this stuff.

Let us now have a look at a table that will help you to understand things better.

ERP vs WMS vs Both – When to Use Which System?

How To Implement ERP + WMS Systems- Steps for Integration

1. Define Your Goals

Before investing time and money, get clear on why you're integrating these systems. Is it to reduce stock errors or speed up delivery? Make a list of this.

2. Select the Right ERP and WMS Systems

Not all ERPs and WMS platforms work well together. Choose software that's flexible, easy to connect to, and performs well for your business.

3. Always check the flow of data

Make sure that both systems can integrate the data into each other.

4. Prepare & Clean Your Data

If your product codes, customer IDs, or stock levels are messy, integration will only spread the mistakes faster. You should prepare your data properly.

5. Set Up the Systems

Once your data is ready, connect ERP and WMS through APIs, integration tools, or connectors. 

6. First Test on Small Scale

Run a few test orders to see if stock levels, order details, and invoices move correctly.

7. Train Your Team

A system is only as good as the people using it. Train your staff — sales and finance teams on ERP, warehouse teams on WMS.

8. Launch the Systems

When you have checked everything, the last step is to launch both systems, monitor consistently, and make changes if needed.

The Benefits of WMS and ERP Integration

• Keeps all data in one place.
• Reduces errors.
• Speeds up order processing.
• Saves costs.
• Helps make better decisions.
• Improves customer satisfaction.
• Supports business growth.

What Things Should You Avoid While Integrating ERP and WMS Systems?

• Not setting clear goals before implementation.
• Using poor or unclean data during migration.
• Skipping proper employee training.
• Over-customising the system unnecessarily.
• Ignoring integration and system testing.
• Underestimating time, cost, and resources.
• Choosing the wrong vendor or partner.
  

Case Study: Nykaa—A Real Success with ERP + WMS

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Nykaa is a renowned cosmetic and fashion brand with over 165 stores. They handle a huge variety of products every day.

But due to this, they faced challenges to keep track of stock, fulfil orders accurately from many locations, and manage both online and offline stores efficiently.

To solve this, Nykaa combines both ERP and WMS features. This gave Nykaa a unified, real-time view of inventory and demand across every store and warehouse.

Results

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Some Popular ERP and WMS Systems Examples for Indian E-Commerce

1. SAP S/4HANA + SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)

Complete ERP plus advanced WMS, used by BMW and Nestlé.

2. Oracle NetSuite ERP 

Cloud ERP with strong warehouse & inventory management features, used by Shaw Industries.

3. Zoho Inventory + Zoho Books

Good for small businesses needing stock + finance.

4. Pragma

With Pragma, you don't need separate tools; it brings warehouse, order, and return management together for smooth operations.

5. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

Offers ERP + WMS modules for inventory, logistics, and finance.

To Wrap Up: Are ERP and WMS Systems Worthy for Your Business? 

So, at last, we will say that as a brand owner, you didn't start your business to make an operational manager. Your business is to build a relationship with your customers, grow, and increase your sales.

Thus, you should opt for ERP and WMS systems, which can manage everything efficiently. And, yes, the choice between two is not always either-or. You have to go for both ERP and WMS when it comes to scale without proportionally increasing operational headaches.

So, the answer is yes, ERP and WMS are worth it for your business.

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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions On RTO vs RVP in E-commerce: Key Differences)

1. What are ERP and WMS?

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a comprehensive system integrating core business functions—like finance, HR, procurement, inventory, and sales—into a unified platform
• WMS (Warehouse Management System) is specialised software focused solely on warehouse operations: inventory tracking, storage optimisation, picking, packing, and shipment coordination

2. What is the fundamental difference between ERP and WMS?

• ERP offers broad visibility across the entire organisation—covering departments like finance, sales, HR, and supply chain
• WMS zeroes in on warehouse efficiency, with advanced features like bin-level inventory, wave picking, labour management, and space utilisation that ERPs typically lack

3. Why might an ERP’s built-in WMS fall short?

Reddit insights reflect real-world caution:

“The WMS functionality in most ERP systems is pretty mid… having a full-featured WMS system with data interchange into the ERP system is better than using the ERP system for WMS.”

4. When is it better to use a WMS instead of—or alongside—an ERP?

• Choose a WMS if your challenges lie in warehouse inefficiencies—inaccurate stock, slow order fulfilment, or poor space utilisation
• Opt for an ERP when you need enterprise-wide integration—covering finance, HR, CRM, and supply chains
• Many businesses integrate both: ERP for broad coordination, WMS for operational depth

5. What factors should influence your choice?

• Scope of need: Are warehouse operations the core bottleneck or is organisational alignment more critical?
• Implementation timelines & costs: WMS typically deploys faster and cheaper; ERP implementations are broader and costlier
• Integration needs: How well can the solution plug into existing tech—e-commerce platforms, shipping systems, accounting tools?
• Long-term ROI: ERP may yield greater strategic returns over time; WMS delivers quick operational payoffs
• Vendor support & future goals: Consider scalability, cloud vs on-premise options, vendor ecosystem

6. Are there real use-cases or testimonials guiding this choice?

• A Reddit user shares their mid-sized D2C setup (20 people, 4,000 SKUs):

“Brightpearl’s WMS lacked depth… switched to Peoplevox WMS, but integration was troublesome.”

• Others highlight the need for fully integrated systems—WMS built into the same ecosystem as the ERP—for smoother operations and better usability

7. Can small or mid-size businesses benefit from WMS?

Absolutely. Modern WMS solutions are modular and scalable, allowing smaller businesses to start small and grow. Benefits like improved order accuracy, faster fulfilment, and better space utilisation are attainable without enterprise-grade complexity.

8. Should businesses always combine ERP and WMS?

• Integrated ERP + WMS offers the best of both worlds: macro-level coordination with micro-level warehouse optimisation
• It adds cost and complexity, so weigh this against benefits: data accuracy, efficiency gains, and strategic visibility