For eCommerce SaaS providers, selecting an efficient method for accessing store data can make or break your business. Should you go with periodic polling or webhooks? In this article, we’ll explore the key factors to consider when deciding between these two options, including store load, resource costs, and system performance.
Planning Your eCommerce Integration Strategy
As a developer of eCommerce SaaS solutions, such as inventory management software, multi-channel systems, logistics platforms, or other solutions for retailers, you're likely familiar with the challenges of integrating your systems with various eCommerce platforms. One of your software’s most critical features is how it interacts with the store’s data. Whether through webhooks or periodic polling, your choice may determine the efficiency, performance, and scalability of your system.
Depending on the case, you will need to determine if your SaaS requires real-time updates or efficient batch data processing. Let us explore both methods, their strengths, and weaknesses. This will enable you to make more informed decisions while designing your system.
What Are Webhooks and When Are They Useful?
Webhooks offer an effective method for communication between different systems in real-time. Instead of waiting for one system to query another for updates, webhooks enable one system to push information to another automatically upon the occurrence of certain pre-defined events, like an order or inventory update.
Webhooks are ideal for use cases requiring instant data synchronization. However, maintaining them with heavy concurrent usage can be problematic.
How it works:
An event in the source system initiates the webhook trigger.
It sends data (payload) to a specified URL on the receiving system.
The target system processes this information immediately, ensuring real-time updates.
Use Case for Small to Medium Stores
Webhooks are ideal for small to medium-sized eCommerce stores experiencing low to moderate traffic. Here’s why:
- Immediate updates: Small stores tend to need fast responses to consumer actions like purchasing or restocking. Webhooks take care of these changes without constant checking.
- Efficiency: With fewer orders and less frequent data updates, webhooks prevent the need for repeated requests, making them more efficient for stores with low traffic volume.
- Cost-effective: With webhooks, there is no need to pay for API calls or polling since data is only sent during event-triggered data transfers. This helps in keeping operational costs low.
For example, an inventory management system can use webhooks to instantly update stock levels whenever a customer places an order. This ensures accuracy without overloading the system, making webhooks the most effective and scalable solution for smaller shops.
What Is Periodic Polling and When Is It Better?
Periodic polling is the process of regularly fetching data from an eCommerce platform at set intervals (such as every couple of minutes or hours) instead of waiting for real-time updates. This approach involves your system continuously checking for changes such as new orders or updated inventory.
How It Works:
- Your system sends a request to the eCommerce platform at scheduled intervals.
- The platform responds with the latest data, and your system processes it accordingly.
- This cycle repeats periodically, keeping the system accurate and up to date.
Use Case for Large Stores
For large eCommerce stores that handle a significant number of transactions and regularly update data, scheduled polling is usually the most beneficial. Here’s why:
Handling High Traffic: With thousands of orders and inventory changes taking place frequently, periodic polling helps you control and manage system load by allowing you to set intervals for data fetching. This avoids overwhelming the system with an excessive number of incoming webhooks.
Scalability: For larger stores, polling typically scales better because it can be set to look for updates at specific intervals, conserving both server resources and network bandwidth. This is advantageous when processing large datasets that do not need immediate synchronization.
Control and Reliability: For stores with complex product catalogs or high volumes of transactions, polling provides more control. You can adjust the frequency of requests based on the store’s needs and the type of data being processed, ensuring that the system stays responsive and reliable.
For example, a logistics system can check an eCommerce platform every half an hour to update shipment statuses and orders across various channels. This approach allows the system to remain current and up-to-date without overwhelming the system with continuous real-time alerts.
Key Factors in Choosing Between Webhooks and Periodic Polling
When deciding between webhooks and periodic polling, there are several key factors to consider, including store load, resource costs, and system performance.
In short, choose webhooks for smaller, high-priority events where real-time updates are needed, and opt for periodic polling when managing large volumes of data and needing more control over the frequency of updates.
How to Effectively Combine Webhooks and Periodic Polling for Maximum Results
To gain the benefits of each approach, you can combine webhooks and periodic polling into one hybrid integration method. This makes it possible to optimize performance and system load while keeping updates as seamless as possible based on your clients’ store requirements.
Hybrid Approach: Webhooks for Key Events and Polling for Updates
Webhooks for Critical Events: For events that require immediate action like order placement, payment confirmation, or customer signup, use webhooks. In these cases, accuracy in real-time processing is critical for an optimal outcome. Such a method enhances overall experience and eliminates user-facing delays.
Periodic Polling for Batch Updates: For processes like report generation or inventory updates where immediate action is not highly critical, periodic polling works best. Polling allows for fetching of larger datasets at specified intervals ensuring systematic operational efficiency without constant request overload.
Best Practices for Designing Flexible Systems
Dynamic Switching: Design your system to switch between methods based on current load. For example, during low traffic, prioritize webhooks for real-time updates, and during high traffic, switch to polling for less critical updates to avoid server strain.
Set Priorities for Events: It is important to establish which events need instant updates through webhooks and which ones can be addressed through periodic polling. This maintains critical workflows while streamlining system efficiency.
Monitoring and Scaling: Consistently evaluate how your system operates. Modify polling frequency or adjust webhook triggers based on the traffic load and data modification rate to ensure utmost efficiency.
A well-designed hybrid approach not only optimizes performance but also gives you the flexibility to adapt to different traffic patterns and changing business needs.
API2Cart: as a Unified API Integration Solution for eCommerce SaaS
In case you provide eCommerce SaaS and need to integrate with multiple eCommerce platforms and marketplace, then you can use API2Cart that can help you with that.
It provides a unified API to connect your software or app with 60+ shopping platforms and marketplaces such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Amazon and many other platforms. Using just one API connector you can get, add, update and sync store data like orders, products, customers, shipments, etc.
API2Cart also supports webhooks for main events that occur in stores. So, you can use API requests or webhooks based on your business needs.
Each API request can handle 100 to 250 elements (e.g., orders, products, etc.), depending on the complexity and type of data being fetched.
While 1 webhook = 1 element (e.g., a single order update or a product change).
This means that for every webhook, you only get one piece of data.
If you want to learn more about API2Cart functionality and how it can help you solve your business needs, just contact us. Or you can start a free 14-day trial to see how it works in action.
Top comments (3)
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