Hi,
We are an international e-commerce retailer/brand, with a small (5%) wholesale operation.
Sales in the UK where we are based are only 30% and turnover is £17m.
We currently use Access Dimensions (Lite) and are thinking of moving packages when we relaunch our website. Access doesn't integrate well for e-commerce.
Could anyone suggest packaged that are good for the following.
(1) E-Commerce integration (Hybris would be the platform)
(2) Multi-Currency
(3)Multi-Company
(4)Well integrated with Excel.
Thanks
Matt
Replies (10)
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Some thoughts
Current situation/On Premise Software - I assume the reason (or one of them) Access is not good for eCommerce is because you ultimately have to have a content management system in between the software and the website for SEO, extended descriptions, related products and pictures; so you end up keeping data in multiple places. If this is the case then you will find that to be the case with most traditional mid sized, on premise ERP systems such as Access, Exchequer, Sage 200 and SAP B1. If your wish is for on premise then I am afraid you will have to live with this fact as the product data they hold is mainly for sales/stock purposes and not for online SEO/eCommerce purposes.
The upside to these kind of systems is they are designed for your size of company, work well with multi company set ups, most handle Mutli Currency well and will provide you with the accounting and reporting you need. I have direct experience of IRIS Exchequer working with eCommerce businesses and it works well, but in every case there is a CMS in between. It is virtually live in terms of stock levels, customer details and order receipt and once received the orders benefit from a very good distribution system.
Some details here: http://www.cornerstone-mis.com/accounting-software/iris-exchequer/iris-e...
Web/SaaS/Cloud solutions - Being web based there are obviously a number of benefits to integrating with web shops and eCommerce solutions (same platforms/languages) and many have been set up to specifically meet this need e.g. www.brightpearl.co.uk. However, the potential downside to these is the quality of the back office functions for a larger business. Multi currency and multi company, in my experience, are rarely well catered for and show signs of immaturity or box ticking i.e. we can do it...but.
Also many are designed for small-medium online businesses and I question whether you would be happy putting a £17m turnover business onto some of the main players if you are growing rapidly. Excel reporting in any greater detail than simply getting data 'spat out' in a .xls file, will leave you wanting.
Netsuite is probably the most mature of the web based offerings and will address some of the back office issues I have mentioned above. I have however, heard concerns about price for this, although I cannot say I have direct experience to support that view and I also dont know how much you want to spend, so it may be irrelevant.
Summary - Sorry there is no killer recommendation here but from my experience of the market I am not sure there is one - right now. I think you may find a system that is good for eCommerce but leaves you wanting on back office or vice versa. I would suggest that if you want good back office functions then go with a mature on premise solution and suffer the CMS issue; but if web is driving your business then choose a good ecommerce/stock management only solution and maybe consider integrating it to a strong core financials product that meets your business management needs. Otherwise, wait a while as the web based market is developing rapidly and the landscape may be very different in 12 months or so.
We provide requirements based search and selection for business management systems and would be happy to talk to you in more detail if you wanted to run a basic RFI style search of the market. www.recenseo.co.uk
Accounting Package
Hello Matt
Some good answers here and ones that may satisfy your requirement, though as the software developer says, there are a number of questions that need answering initially, though I see that Hybris has an Order Management module which you may well be using.
A Cloud solution is likely to be more suited to an Ecommerce package for logical reasons although the Hybris site does not make it entirely clear whether their On Demand offering is standard or an option.
Regarding NetSuite, it has integration, Multi-Currency, Multi-Company (with consolidation which can allow Head Office to see reporting in local and H.O. currency) and as regards Excel exporting takes formulae, though the need for exporting is obviated by the extensive reporting which includes some Excel type calculations on rows & columns.
In addition, in response to your posted question of 26th May, NetSuite has VAT reporting for a large number of countries and the on screen reports match that of the relevant countries.
If I sound a little biased, I apologise and confess that we are a NetSuite partner, so naturally ask that if you would like to know more please contact me.
Best
Nigel Morris
Greentree Software
Hi Matt,
Please take a look at www.greentree.com. We provide a full suite of business software and can cover all of the requirements that you have listed. Our product suite is fully integrated, all developed by ourselves, so there are no 3rd party add-on's to worry about.
Feel free to make contact if you would like any further information.
Regards,
Harry Mowat
Pegasus Opera 3
Hi Matt
Pegasus Opera 3 will do exactly what you require. The product is specifically written for ease of integration with other products including web shops. If standard links aren't suitable, they can easily be bespoked to match your requirements. Integration between Opera 3 & Excel is also second to none, using the Pegasus XRL product.
Feel free to take a look at our web site - www.ama-it.com & give us a call.
Regards
Alastair
Pegasus Opera
I haven't used Pegasus Opera 3 but when I used Pegasus Opera 2, each new report in XRL (ie for exporting to Excel) had to be written by the software provider - with an obvious financial/time cost.
Pegasus Opera
Hi Alf
It's certainly not the case for our customers who received excellent XRL training as part of the installation.
Regards
Alastair
Interprise Suite
Interprise Suite is simply a beautiful system.
It will cover your 4 key requirements easily.
(1) E-Commerce integration (Hybris would be the platform)
(2) Multi-Currency
(3) Multi-Company
(4) Well integrated with Excel.
Not only that but it also has fully integrated CRM and eCommerce. It runs on MSSQL2008R2 and uses Smart Client technology so multiple Locations and Remote users is not an issue.
At £600 a user this is a cost effective solution.
It has functionality beyond Sage 200, Opera, SAP B1 out of the box.
It does require a proper implementation so expect to spend £4k+. Training is minimal as the system is very intuitive.
PM me if you would like more info.
Regards
Clelland