Introduction to Integrations and Connections

Let us begin by looking at the Fluent OMS platform followed by some common interfaces.

The Fluent OMS

The Fluent Order Management System is a platform that drives the fulfillment of orders. Its main modules like Product Availability, Distributed Order Management, Global Inventory, and Store Fulfillment functionalities are designed to be flexible in integrating with other APIs and Connectors. The Fluent OMS sits in the middle of the architecture and provides a realtime view of the Inventory to the Sales Channels, enabling integration with Warehouse Management Systems, Carrier services, ERPs, etc.

Integration Layers

It is important to note that all the integration payloads coming into and going out of the Fluent OMS need to follow a predefined structure. This is because the Fluent OMS is designed to accept and process payloads in a particular format only.

Similarly, third-party systems may follow a payload structure of their own. Hence, in order for Fluent OMS to communicate with third-party systems, they will need to transform their payload structure to a format that Fluent Order Management understands, and vice versa. 

The Integration Layer, which sits between the Fluent OMS and the third-party systems, carries out this transformation.

Next, we look at some common interfaces.

Common Interfaces

There are many interfaces that you may come across in your projects, below we talk about some of the more common ones and the information that's shared between them and the Fluent Order Management System.

Next, we look at the different methods these interfaces can integrate with the Fluent platform. 

1) APIs

We begin with the APIs. Fluent uses two types of APIs, one for platform-related activities and the other for the domain.

 2) OMX Workflow Framework

The OMX Workflow framework which is driving business logic inside the Fluent OMS receives information from external sources via Events and sends it out using Webhooks.

3) Batches

These are REST-based and are primarily used to send Inventory feeds into Fluent from an integration point of view. The same API is also used to create retailers.

4) And, finally Connectors.

Fluent Commerce also provides connectors to some common Enterprise e-commerce platforms including the Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Service Cloud, Adobe Commerce, and Commerce Tools.

Note: We'll look at all the different integration options mentioned here, in more detail later in this course.

Integrating with the Fluent Platform

Here's a list of Datasets, the Source, and the Formats they use to exchange information with the Fluent Platform. 

Now that we've seen the recommended format for which purpose/data set, let us look at how you can access these APIs.

Accessing the APIs

You can access the APIs using the following link: Host URL: https://<ACCOUNTID>.sandbox.api.fluentretail.com 

(Remove .sandbox if you don't want to work in the sandbox environment, and substitute <ACCOUNTID> with your Account ID.)

✔️ For REST - Platform Level APIs

Auth, Batch, Events, Workflows, Plugins, etc. You can access the information here:

• Authentication API
• Batch API
• Event API
• Workflow API
• Plugin API
• Deprecated REST API

✔️ For GraphQL - Domain Level APIs 

You can access the Schema here: GraphQL API