The challenges faced by merchants are always changing, so the tools you need to face those challenges with must be able to flex and grow to meet your needs.
As a cloud-based system, Merchanter has that capability and we are constantly working behind the scenes to add new features or improve existing ones, across all areas of the system from accounts to sales and stock management.
Here’s a round-up of just a few of the new system enhancements and features coming your way this October*.
Depot Groups Integration for Accounts
Financial integrations work really well for our customers and we’ve now added even more granularity to the integration capabilities.
Merchants who operate multiple branches or depots often use different accounting platforms or packages across their portfolio. So, we have added in the capability for depot level integration, enabling individual branches, or groups of branches or depots, to integrate with different providers.
The numbers are then reported back and can be consolidated at ledger level again so it’s easy to see whole-company performance, but with the granular depot-level integrations in place beneath it to provide the most accurate numbers.
Catalogue items
As reported previously, we have now added the Catalogue Item feature to the stock management capability of the system.
A simple tick box is included in the search bar so you can choose whether you want to search your live trading list of stock, or a much more complete list of potential products that you might want to trade. It’s proving particularly appealing for our plumbing merchant customers and kitchen and bathroom suppliers, as well as builders’ merchants and other merchants with particularly extensive product lists.
Catalogue items can account for up to about 75% of a merchant’s total stock list so being able to include or exclude them is really useful. If you need faster search and quick availability, excluding catalogue items speeds up the search and means you’re identifying active stock quickly and easily, while including them helps you to provide a broader stock profile to customers.
And before you worry that it will take too long to manage, don’t panic: it’s self-maintaining. Items will automatically be assigned as live or catalogue items based on your trading history, and you can set the timing parameters to suit you. Definitely a win win!
Mill Process Order Detail
We’ve made it easier than ever to make sure nothing gets missed on Mill Orders.
There are often two main elements to a Mill or Processing Order: cost-only elements, such as an add-on service or extra processing charge, and non-cost elements which are the actionable, process-driven parts of the order that tell everyone what needs to happen.
When producing a Mill Order, those actions will appear bigger and bolder so they’re almost impossible to miss, with the cost-only elements also clearly displayed but without the prominence of the actionable element.
That way, nothing gets missed off in terms of what’s being charged, but even more importantly, nothing gets missed in the processing of the material order and it’s just simpler for everyone concerned.
Sales rep allocation filter views*
Under the Marketing View it is now easier to filter customers and reps alike to check a) who is allocated to which account and b) identify any accounts which haven’t been assigned a specific rep.
So now it’s easier than ever to filter back customer results to check who their rep is and what other customers they look after, helping managers to see more easily how things are going in the business and who is managing what.
Secondly, it’s easier to make sure no customers are falling through the gaps, as you can search for customers without a sales rep assigned, and then assigned them.
Our aim is to provide our customers with software tools that make it easier and faster to perform those day-to-day tasks that can often take unnecessary time, or which can lead to errors. We are tackling every process one step at a time to help you buy, stock and sell more easily, every day.
It's important to us that our customers feel like they are using the best ERP system in the market - the best ERP system for a merchant facing the challenges of the modern marketplace. So:
What would YOU like to see in the system? We would love to get your feedback. Please email info@ten-25.co.uk with your ideas or suggestions. We will always consider every idea and, where possible, we try to make it happen.
*NB: the sales rep feature is still in testing and will be rolled out later in the year.
