iPaaS stands for Integration Platform as a Service. It is a cloud-based platform that connects different business systems — your ecommerce store, ERP, payment provider, warehouse, and other tools — so data flows automatically between them without manual exports, imports, or custom-built connectors.
What iPaaS does
When you sell on Shopify and use Fortnox for accounting, those two systems don't talk to each other by default. Someone has to move the data — exporting orders, importing them into Fortnox, updating stock manually, and reconciling payouts from Klarna or Stripe. That manual work is what iPaaS eliminates.
An iPaaS platform sits between your systems and handles:
- Data transfer — moving orders, invoices, stock levels, customer records, and product data between systems automatically
- Data translation — converting the format and field names one system uses into the format another expects
- Error handling — detecting when a sync fails, retrying automatically, and notifying you with enough detail to act on it
- Monitoring — giving you visibility into every transaction so you can see what moved, when, and what failed
iPaaS vs plugin vs custom-built
There are three common ways to connect business systems, and they are not equivalent:
A plugin connects two specific systems at a basic level. It's quick to set up but typically handles only straightforward cases — it may not support OSS VAT mapping, credit notes linked to original invoices, or Klarna payout reconciliation. When something goes wrong, visibility is limited.
A custom-built integration gives you full control but requires ongoing developer maintenance. Every update to Shopify or Fortnox risks breaking the connection, and the initial build cost is significant.
An iPaaS platform like Junipeer is built for business users. You configure flows, field mapping, and rules in a visual interface. It handles the complexity — OSS VAT per EU country, B2B pricing rules, payout reconciliation, multi-warehouse stock — without custom development. And when something goes wrong, you get per-transaction logs.
When you need iPaaS
Not every ecommerce business needs an iPaaS platform from day one. A plugin may be sufficient at low order volumes with simple requirements. But as volume grows or requirements get more complex — selling to multiple EU countries with OSS obligations, running B2B alongside B2C, using multiple webshops or warehouses — an iPaaS platform becomes the practical choice.
Next steps
What is ERP? | Integration platform for ecommerce | All integrations