Are you adding an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system to your business (or maybe changing to another?). Here are 4 mistakes that can plague an ERP implementation, and tips to help stay focused for success. No Objectives / Management Support Unless you have the backing of management, you’ll be set up to fail from the start. Management must communicate the importance of this change, announce the key players involved, and the benefits the company will achieve once the move to a new system is complete. No Responsible Personnel / Schedule Planned If you don’t identify objectives and a list of ..read more

Remember when your business was new? Maybe you had a “grand opening” to boost sales and brand awareness, or maybe you had a successful social media campaign that attracted many new customers. Now you need to refresh your relationship with your customers so the fire doesn’t fizzle out. Here are 5 important tips to consider. Inventory – Don’t let it sit around to hold up cash flow and increase the possibility of stale products. Are your customers too familiar with your products. Can they find the same items for less at another store? Do they occasionally want to see something new? If a product i ..read more

Researching ERP software can be a daunting task. After all, you’re looking for a system to help run your business. It will impact your customer service, how you manage your warehouse, your bottom line, and even your customers. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid when shopping for your ERP system. Not knowing what you need – It’s important to know if the new system will improve your bottom line, how it can help increase and maintain customer satisfaction, if it can help attract new business, how you can use it to make your processes and personnel more efficient, and what resources it provides for futu ..read more

Have you ever read the stories about implementations gone wrong, or how a company upgraded an existing system without A) checking with anyone beforehand or B) telling everyone afterward? One example is that an upgrade is completed without informing everyone in the office until the next morning, when something isn’t working properly. Another example would be someone from a Marketing Department advertising that they’re running a promotion for a product, but perhaps the promotion wasn’t added to the ERP system, resulting in an emergency fire to put out. With clear communication, marketing would s ..read more

With the Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow states to collect sales tax from online retailers without a presence in their state, you might be asking “What’s next?” Will this apply to all businesses big and small, in all states, or will other states mimic South Dakota and only apply their sales tax to businesses with a minimum amount in sales or transactions? Are those thresholds per state, or for sales to all states? According to this Avalara article, it may take some time to find out. Avalara, the market-leading provider of sales tax and compliance automation services in the cloud, prov ..read more

Managing and keeping product information accurate and consistent for multiple customer bases, such as B2B and B2C, possibly in multiple countries, is a big challenge. You have to consider multiple price lists, shipping arrangements, inventory availability, follow up, how each customer type uses your website, and more. With the InOrder ERP system, you can successfully serve both business and retail customers with one brand on one website. Product Pricing Extended price breaking information and volume discounts are important to B2B customers, as are wholesale ordering and budgets, as well as spe ..read more

Loyalty Programs allow you to offer free or discounted items and other incentives to your loyal customers, in exchange for points they have earned by meeting certain qualifications of your loyalty programs. Here are 4 benefits of using loyalty programs: Give customers incentives to buy, generating income for your business Show appreciation for your customers. Encourage customers to return to your business. Improve customer engagement. Many shoppers enroll in memberships / loyalty programs, and check retailers on social media for details, coupons, and specials. You can offer points for a vari ..read more

Gift cards have been used for a long time, and for several good reasons: They’re convenient for customers and profitable for businesses. They provide privacy and flexibility, they get your brand in front of current customers, they attract new customers, and they can increase customer loyalty. Through traditional gift-giving, recipients may visit stores they might not otherwise visit. But gift cards are not just for gift-giving – they are evolving. Shoppers often buy gift cards for themselves for secure online shopping or to take advantage of discounts and rewards. And all shoppers with gift ca ..read more

The Ship Via functionality within InOrder ERP is a favorite with our customers because it maximizes profits by managing rates and fees to make sure shipping expenses are accurately recovered. Each shipping service is set up with rates, which can be conveniently uploaded from shippers (FedEx, UPS, USPS etc.)  Insurance charges may also be identified/imported, along with zones that represent the distance from your shipping location to the shipping destination, and postal code areas. Shipping with InOrder ERP is more than who ships your orders and what they charge. Here are highlights of ho ..read more

When you ship orders and don’t validate the shipping addresses, you risk delivery delays if an address is incorrect, the added cost of additional shipping expenses and operating costs to get it right, not to mention unhappy customers. If the product is perishable, you might even have to add the cost of replacement. For example – A business shipped perishable goods to a customer who provided an inaccurate shipping address. This, of course, delayed delivery of the order. Since the order was perishable, it did not arrive in good condition. The error was not the fault of the business; however ..read more