Direct 500 and O2 Mobile Integration

Posted on January 17, 2011 by dbrannan

“Order online and pickup at your nearest location in 30 minutes”

During the Christmas Season many retailers have offered shoppers an online experience with the option to pick up the items at their nearest retail store in 30 minutes.  This saves the shopper time and money. Today this is not only a retail shopping requirement, but also a business to business shopping requirement.  We are seeing more and more B2B estore requirements for multi warehouse shopping with pickup or internal delivery.  With Sage MAS 500 ERP, Direct 500 and O2 Mobile we can now fulfill this new business requirement.

Multi Warehouse

When a business has just one warehouse, then all of this becomes a pretty simple exercise of implementing an integrated solution of ecommerce and warehouse automation.   The bigger issue comes into play when a business has many warehouse locations. 

  1. The estore needs to present a single corporate brand and shopping experience.
  2. The customer needs to be assigned to a primary and possible secondary warehouse.
  3. The estore should present items and availability for the primary warehouse with the option to shop in other warehouses.
  4. Build business rules into the estore that will enforce shipping methods and freight calculations.  We obviously do not want to charge shipping if the customer is going to pick up the item.

Once these warehouse business rules are in place, then Direct 500 estore can process the shopping cart order.  The order may have lines from different warehouses.  Some items on the order may be for pick up and some items for shipping from a remote warehouse.  Sales tax may need to be calculated based on the warehouse as opposed to the shipping destination.

And of course – all of this needs to work on the estore and in the call center with a single set of business rules, no duplication of effort to setup and a single business solution.

O2 Mobile Integration

Once the customer has completed the shopping cart, Direct 500 creates the sales order in MAS 500.  The order is now available for picking on the mobile device.

 

Sales Order picking rules can be defined by shipping methods – pick up line items go immediately to picking and standard shipping methods can be placed into pick batches with other orders.

The combination of MAS 500 and O2 Mobile provide a wealth of options and workflows for the warehouse staff.

O2 Mobile Will Update the eStore

Since both Direct 500 and O2 Mobile are seamlessly integrated with MAS 500 ERP, the customer gets the benefit of integration back to the eStore.  Once O2 Mobile has picked the items for the sales order and the shipment record is created, the estore is automatically updated with status and shipment tracking. 

Based on setup and workflow options defined in MAS 500, the customer can also receive a text message or email notifying them that their order is available for pickup or allow them to track the shipment online.

To see a demonstration of this capability please visit our YouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11g7nhjqaJo�
http://www.youtube.com/user/Direct500LLC?feature=mhum

Posted in Call Center, Fulfillment, eStore | Leave a comment

Advanced Search Engine

Posted on December 6, 2010 by dbrannan

 

Direct 500 Provides Advanced Search Engine for MAS 500

Sage MAS 500 ERP offers a robust set of features for wholesale distribution businesses.   The Customer Service Rep (CSR) often knows every customer ID in the database.  However, in large call center organizations with tens of thousands of retail customers this is just not possible.  The CSR needs an advanced search engine that is fast and accurate to help them to identify existing customers and orders in the database.  Direct 500 offers the CSR a multi field search engine for MAS 500 sales order entry.  When a CSR is on the phone they have one of two tasks they must perform:  take a new order or answer a question about an existing order.

Advanced Customer Search

The Direct 500 customer search engine allows the CSR to use any combination of 5 fields to perform a customer search: postal code, contact name, company name, phone number and email address.  The example below displays the 3 customers that were found by entering a partial postal code and a partial last name.  The CSR can now do one of four processes all from the customer search engine screen:

  1. Confirm the customer name and select from the list to proceed to order entry
  2. Search for the contact name in any customer record
  3. Search for the Ship To Name in any customer record
  4. Add a new customer

 

These search engine options are very important to the call center staff.  Many times the CSR taking the call will not know if the person on the phone is an existing retail customer, business customer or new customer.  With Direct 500’s Advanced Customer Search we make the CSR’s job much easier.

 

Advanced Sales Order Search

The Direct 500 Sales Order Search engine allows the CSR to use one of three searches to find an existing order.  The standard sales order search provided by MAS 500, the search by the web confirmation number provided by the Direct 500 eStore or search for a drop ship sales order using the vendor information on the PO.  Each of these search engine options allows the CSR to find the transaction, display the order and service the customer’s request.  With Direct 500’s Advanced Sales Order Search we make the CSR’s job much easier.

At Direct 500 we are focused on the daily requirements of the CSR.  We have improved Sage MAS 500 ERP to improve the experience of the CSR staff.  We are also very aware of the challenges of maintaining a clean database of customers and contacts.  The easier we make the user experience with finding customers and orders the less likely we have duplicate customers in the database and this makes the life of all MAS 500 users much better.

Posted in Call Center, Customers, Sales Order Entry, Search Engine | Leave a comment

Bundled Pricing

Posted on November 9, 2010 by dbrannan

Direct 500 Provides Bundled Pricing for MAS 500

Sage MAS 500 ERP offers an extensive item pricing hierarchy for customers to select and implement.  You can build a price matrix by customer, customer address, national account, etc.  You can price items by warehouse, by item class, markup percentage, profit percentage and many more.  However, one major weakness is the inability to link quantity pricing across multiple items – bundled pricing. 

 Why use Bundled Pricing?

In today’s economy everyone is looking for ways to drive more business and more value to every transaction.  Encouraging customers to purchase multiple items is a very successful method to increase sales and increase profits.  But the last thing a business owner wants to do is place more manual processes on the customer service department.  Manual processes open up the opportunity for errors and poor customer service.  With Direct 500’s Bundled Pricing feature you can define a quantity pricing group with as many items as you need.  Direct 500 will price the items as they are selected based on the rules defined in the bundled pricing matrix.  This feature works automatically on both the sales order entry and the Direct 500 eStore.  One feature – two solutions.

 How it Works

Direct 500 provides a Bundled Price Code setup table, in this table you defined the price code and the list of items for Direct 500 to “bundle” together for quantity pricing. 

MAS 500 Bundled Price Code Maintenance

Bundled Price Code Maintenance

Direct 500 also provides a price sheet setup table with up to 10 quantity breaks per item.

Direct 500 Price Sheet

Direct 500 Price Sheet

The combination of these two tables allows Direct 500 to provide quantity pricing across multiple items.  And most importantly, since Direct 500 is an Order Management and eCommerce solution, this bundled pricing feature is now available in both Sales Order Entry and on the Direct 500 eStore.  One setup, two solutions and no customer service problems.

To see bundled pricing in action, along with up sell, cross sell, deals, promotions and coupons; visit the Direct 500 You Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Direct500LLC

Posted in Call Center, Items, Marketing, Pricing, Sales Order Entry, eStore | 2 Comments

YouTube Channel is Live!

Posted on October 22, 2010 by dbrannan

 Direct 500 Publishes YouTube Videos

Direct 500 recently started our YouTube Channel, Direct500LLC.  Our intention is to expand our efforts to educate our customers about the great capabilities of Direct 500.  YouTube allows customers to visit the site at their convenience and without registering with the publsiher.  When you want additional information about a topic or feature you are welcome to contact Direct 500 at any time.

Current Videos on YouTube

Currently we have overview demo videos about our product.  Direct 500 addresses 4 main areas for multi channel merchants: Call Centers, eStores, Fulfillment and Marketing Analysis.  We have published videos for each of these areas to demonstrate how Direct 500 enhances MAS 500 in order to solve the needs of businesses who sell through the internet and use call centers.

Future Videos

Furture videos for the site are going to focus more on educational and features of the product.  We want our customers to learn as much as they want about Direct 500’s features and how it can be used to solve their daily busienss challenges.  Scheduled videos: 

  • B2C eStore Shop as a Guest
  • Gift Certificates for eStores and Call Center
  • Holiday Calendars and Arrival Dates
  • Daily Specials on the eStore
  • Corporate Gift Giving  solution
  • Managing Shipping Charts
  • RFM Scores
  • Multi Field Customer Search
  • Review by Recipient
  • Multi-Level Source Codes
  • Up-Sell / Cross Sell
  • Deals
  • Bundled Pricing
  • Coupons
  • Promotions
  • Catalog Requests

Posted in Call Center, Fulfillment, Marketing, eStore | Leave a comment

Integrated B2C eStore

Posted on October 21, 2010 by dbrannan

B2C Shopping CartIntegrated B2C eStore

Direct 500 has now released the B2C eStore module for Sage MAS 500 ERP. 

This is the same solution offered with Direct 500 Enterprise, but now available as an independent, integrated B2C eStore module.  The Direct 500 solution is a great vertical solution for the multi-sales channel businesses.  However, sometimes the customer just wants an eStore that is integrated with MAS 500.  Now, for the first time, customers can buy the B2C eStore Module for MAS 500!!

Benefits

The B2C eStore Module for MAS 500 is fully integrated with Sage MAS 500 ERP. 

  • Uses the Item and Inventory Master files to populate the eStore with items, categories, images and pricing. 
  • Item descriptions and Meta tags are all managed within the MAS 500 user interface. 
  • The B2C eStore Module uses the MAS 500 customer databases and allows the user to maintain their own address book from the eStore.  
  • Most importantly – the B2C eStore provides real time integration with MAS 500 Sales Order Entry.  There are no importing or synchronization processes to be executed.

The B2C eStore Module supports the Sage MAS 500 Credit Card Module and Sage Payment Solutions.   Customers can now use the Sage MAS 500 Credit Card Module for sales order entry and eStore purchases.

The B2C eStore Module is an ASP.NET application and all HTML source code is provided to the customer.  This provides the customer with all of the tools they need to manage their website and control the image they project to their customer community.

Upgrade to Direct 500 Enterprise

Customers who choose to purchase the B2C eStore Module for MAS 500 have the peace of mind in knowing that they can upgrade to the full functioning Direct 500 solution at any time.  So as the customer’s needs change they can take advantage of the Multi Channel Merchant capabilities of Direct 500.

Posted in eStore | 1 Comment

Version 7.3

Posted on October 15, 2010 by admin

Direct 500
Direct 500 order management and eCommerce software for multi-sales channel businesses announces the release of Direct 500 for Sage MAS 500 ERP 7.30.

Direct 500 extends the functionality of Sage MAS 500 ERP with important features for organizations with multiple selling channels, call center management, order fulfillment, eCommerce integration and multi-channel marketing.  Tehse capabilities provide robust order management and processing, especially in business-to-business (B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) models.

Some of the latest features available in Direct 500 for Sage MAS 500 ERP 7.30 are:

Holiday Calendar ‐ allows customers to calculate arrival dates as opposed to ship dates ‐ a very important distinction for direct to consumer users. Large orders with multiple distinct ship-to addresses are easily handled since Direct 500 calculates the necessary ship date for each line based on the specified arrival date. Available on both the Direct 500 call center and eStore platforms.

Review by Recipient – allows users to review the order by each recipient address prior to check out and order completion. Changes can be made to an individual recipient or applied to all recipients. Available on both the Direct 500 call center and eStore platforms.�

Shopping as a Guest – a new B2C eStore feature, allows shoppers on the eStore to shop and checkout without having to pre‐register with the site.

Category Sorting ‐ sort options can now be defined within item categories to manage the presentation and priority of items on the eStore.

Enhanced Business Insights Explorer (BIE) Views ‐ for customers, items and sales orders to allow deeper analysis of source codes, promotions, deals, gift certificates, RFM scores and many other Direct 500 data elements using the tool set provided by Sage MAS 500 ERP.

QlikView BI Dashboard – a new marketing analysis toolset provides users with views of views of general ledger, customer, inventory, sales order and invoicing transactions. In addition to the provided Direct 500 and MAS 500 views, users can create new views of their own.

PA‐DSS certified MAS 500 7.30 Credit Card Processing module.

Plus all the great new functionality and improved performance of Sage MAS 500 ERP 7.30.

Posted in Call Center, Fulfillment, Marketing, eStore | Comments Off