In March 2017, we introduced a new add-on module to Ten-25 systems - Electronic Document Scanning (EDS). There are two versions of the EDS module available: an introductory version which can be used to scan in signed Proof of Delivery documents (Despatch Notes), and a more advanced version to read, extract data from and import all sorts of documents, including Test Certificates, Design Documents and Purchase Invoices. Working with most models of scanner, the software imports a batch of documents, allows the data to be verified by a user, and finally saved them as PDFs on your server.  Our UniTrade 360 users can also benefit from adding Notes against customers, suppliers and orders, with a handy direct link to the PDFs. These PDF documents can then be viewed, reprinted or emailed on from the Windows folders, or picked up by Task Centre to be automatically emailed or printed. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem, isn’t it? How do you know what information you’re missing, if you don’t know what information you need in the first place? We speak to merchants every day who are currently using financial platforms or manual (think Excel spreadsheets) processes to manage their stock and sales. And it’s working just fine. But what we often hear, once they’ve seen what a newer, cloud-based ERP system is capable of, is how much better it could be with the right tools. The right tools for the job Merchanting, much like retailing, relies on certain critical functions, but it's a lot more complex, in a number of ways. Firstly, merchants often deal with the trading of measured materials rather than simply unit-based items. So being able to handle stock using different metrics and variables like length, weight or volume can often be a lot more useful – and accurate – than dealing with single unit barcodes or similar. Secondly, where a retail transaction tends to be instantaneous, merchanting often needs to incorporate a more complex timeline. Sometimes that’s because of material availability, sometimes it’s because the customer doesn’t need the stock right away, sometimes it’s because a chosen material needs particular milling or finishing processes applied before delivery – and so on. But merchants need to be able to account for the timeline of a product or multi-product delivery, as well as the intricacies of the treatments required along the way. Basic stock-and-sell software can’t handle the complexities of merchanting in the way that industry-specific software can. Having the right software for your sector can save time, boost profits and actively improve both staff and customer experience. Measuring the things that pay to be measured If you’ve been using the same system for a long time, you may be unaware of what other systems are able to do. For Merchanter, we have developed a whole host of unique KPIs and metrics to help merchants measure, monitor and optimise the processes within their business operations. Take stock turn for example. Being able to see, at a glance, how regularly and profitably a particular stock line is purchased can build up an enormously valuable picture of the efficiency and profitability of your sales and replenishment tactics, giving you instant insights which you can apply in your stock profile and purchasing decisions. If stock takes are still causing you to have to close branches and lose out on trade, but are a necessary evil to keep on top of stock, then you might be glad to know that software like merchanter can help you. With metrics like Stock Confidence to highlight the areas that stock checks are most needed, you can save yourself huge amounts of time, stay on top of stock figures more accurately and instantly spot where the issues are without having to close. "Merchanter currently has over 120 KPIs built in as standard, with opportunities for further customisation." Price tracking is another one proving incredibly valuable for customers right now. Being able to monitor the rapidly fluctuating prices in the market, and set margin and credit controls within the system, means that your buyers and sales teams will always be trading profitably, without being bogged down in daily red tape. You can empower your team to work independently and make faster decisions safe in the knowledge your bottom line is fully protected. Customer insights can pay for themselves too. Most merchants know who their top customers are – but not so many know their fifth, or tenth, or fiftieth. While some customers may appear to be great for business, having the figures at hand to how how profitable the relationship really is can be invaluable, as some customers could actually be costing you money, while others could be upsold to or optimised in other ways. Merchanter currently has over 120 KPIs built in as standard, with opportunities for customisation if you need something different. We won’t list them all here, but just imagine what might be possible if you could shine a light into every area of your business and have that information at your fingertips more easily. The key point really is, information is power. And when you don’t know what you don’t know, you can’t make those critical decisions which elevate your business to the next level. Integrating with best-in-class solutions Traditionally, merchants have relied on monolithic, cumbersome trading systems which (technically) perform every task in the business. While at first glance that might sound handy, the unfortunate effect is actually that these systems are usually very slow to adapt to new requirements and are incredibly complex to learn and use. If the last few years have taught the world anything, it’s the importance of responsiveness. Being flexible is vital, and without a modern, cloud-system underpinning your operations, it’s rather like trying to turn an ocean-liner as opposed to a speedboat. Modern systems sit as an agile hub at the centre of your business, linking up with best-in-class solutions to help augment your service and operational processes. These might be financial platforms like Sage, Xero or Quickbooks; eCommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce; online selling services like NearSt or SnapIt, marketplaces like Plane & Simple or stock extension platforms like VirtualStock. Whatever the technology you’re looking to take advantage of, you need a back office system that’s able to integrate to keep you at the cutting edge of merchanting possibility and customer expectation. Reach YOUR goals with the right software Whether or not you’re looking to expand your business – and we know not everyone is – we’re yet to meet a merchant who wouldn’t want to improve efficiency and profitability. The right system, giving you the right information, can transform your operations, your profits, your service proposition and even your work-life balance. A hundred small process improvements can add up to huge improvements overall. Find out what YOU don’t know (yet!) If you’re curious about what you might be missing in your business, why not try out the online demo system for 30 days? We don’t do the “hard sell” so you’re free to play around with it as much as you like to see how it could work for you. Or if you prefer, you could book a discovery call or guided demo to get a detailed view of what the system is capable of.

Introducing a ground-breaking new metric to help merchants manage stock more confidently – and make life a whole lot easier in the process Never have merchants and supply chains been under so much pressure from so many different factors, from Covid-19 to Brexit to sustainability targets. Increasingly, merchants are choosing digital solutions to help make their operations more efficient, with ecommerce a natural progression which is becoming the common expectation for customers. But digital and ecommerce platforms demand a more sophisticated operational management system to keep pace with the front-end platform – digital foundations to make the whole thing run smoothly. A customer placing an order on your website is statistically far more likely to abandon their entire basket on the basis of one or two out-of-stocks and look elsewhere than someone in-branch would be. Customer loyalties online are more fickle, and demand a higher level of service and accuracy to fulfil those expectations. The better their experience, the more likely they are to return, and to write a positive review which feeds trust levels and reputation. The more often your availability and stock predictions are accurate, the more confidence and loyalty your customers will have in return. As more ERP and inventory management systems move into AI in areas like auto-ordering and auto-replenishment, so it becomes more important to have a really accurate picture of your stock levels and the erosion rates of your stockholding. Reluctance to trust digital intelligence is understandable, but again with confidence comes comfort, and the more confident you are in the metrics in your system, the simpler these new advances will be to implement. It is more important than ever for merchants to optimise their stock profile, focusing on service and availability as well as profitability and process efficiency. This requires unprecedented levels of accuracy to guide forecasting of potentially wildly fluctuating demand. We have therefore designed a ground-breaking new metric as part of our merchant ERP system Merchanter, which helps merchants achieve all of the above. And it’s called Stock Confidence. What is Stock Confidence? Stock Confidence is a percentage rating to help you see at a glance how likely it is that the stock figures your system is showing you are correct. Stock Confidence was conceived following many conversations with customers wanting perpetual inventory to be an easier and more accessible process. While most merchants would agree that having a constantly updated picture of your entire stockholding would be the ideal, it isn’t often achievable because of the sheer scale of the exercise – it’s just too time consuming. But what if your software could do it for you – and do it as accurately as if you were doing it yourself, but in a fraction of the time? Expressed as a percentage, Stock Confidence is a metric to gauge the accuracy of stockholding figures. It is a literal rating of confidence in the figures your system is showing you. For example, immediately after a stocktake when you have physically counted a particular stock line yourself, the Stock Confidence rating would be 100%. But over time, that confidence rating is whittled down due to a number of factors, such as trading, loss, damage, theft or error. What does Stock Confidence look like in action? Stock Confidence works across both your entire stockholding, and by individual product. If you have £2.5m of stock in your yard or warehouse with a total Stock Confidence rating of 95%, you have a very accurate picture of the value of your stockholding at any one time. But if that confidence level is only 50%, you can start to see the size of the valuation issue. On a more individual level, if a customer rings up and needs 50 fence panels, and you can see on the system you have 35 in the yard with a Stock Confidence levels of 90% and another 30 on order, you know you can process that order confidently and that customer will get their stock. If that Stock Confidence level was only 15%, you’d have to go and physically check what you actually have, or risk letting that customer down. Any decent ERP system, or stock and inventory management system, will be able to give you first level stock figures for what’s in stock and its value. But Stock Confidence is an innovative new development which adds real value to stock management, making perpetual inventory much easier and more accurate, focusing attention where it’s needed and pre-empting stock issues far earlier than might otherwise have been picked up. How is Stock Confidence calculated? The Stock Confidence metric uses a complex algorithm which incorporates numerous factors, including quantities from the last stocktake, the level of interim trade, accuracy at the last count, product type and durability, plus many more, to calculate an individual Stock Confidence rating for each product in your inventory. It is a feature unique to Merchanter, developed specifically for the system in response to feedback from merchant customers. It is an intelligent and responsive metric which gives unprecedented control over, and insight into, your stockholding. How does it help? Having an accurate picture of what stock you have where is vital for merchant success, and the more accurate and accessible that picture is, the better. Stock Confidence helps in a number of ways, including: - Accuracy . Stock Confidence gives unique accuracy on every line of stock in your inventory, giving you more control, flexibility and responsiveness in managing your stockholding, as well as better service for customers. - Easier stocktaking . By grouping products into groups by Stock Confidence level, stocktakes can always focus on the problem areas rather than wasting time and resource checking every line. - Time saving . There is a huge time-saving benefit here as you are not having to check every item of stock at every stocktake and you always have a clear picture of which stock lines are most at risk. - Profitability . Using the Stock Confidence metric in conjunction with the other measures in the system, such as Stock Turn, allows you to see very clearly which lines are the most profitable, and which need more focus. That way you can prioritise particular stock lines which you know sell faster and turn more profit, as well as enabling you to focus more helpfully on lines with more scope to improve. - Waste reduction . Knowing which product lines to focus on at any given moment will inevitably help reduce waste, and enables you to work your stock profile harder all year round. You can easily spot trends in lines where Stock Confidence is being eroded faster, and your workforce will waste less time in managing the process. - Smarter forecasting . The better your stock management system, the more accurate your forecasting can be. Using Stock Confidence alongside the other inventory management and stock prediction tools in Merchanter helps merchant to forecast more accurately and responsively, giving you better opportunities for supplier negotiation and appropriate replenishment at the right time. - Customer service. Stock Confidence gives an unrivalled level of accuracy with less drain on resource, essentially meaning you have better quality information with less effort required to get it. That means fewer out of stock scenarios, better order fulfilment, and happier customers. Focus on the products that need the most focus – not the ones that don’t Traditionally, stocktaking is time-consuming, stressful and disruptive to the business; otherwise known as a royal pain in the proverbial. There is also a relatively high margin for error, with pre-placed orders, despatches and deliveries often causing complications (as well as simple human mistakes). Stock Confidence makes it simpler and easier to focus on what needs focus. Products are grouped into four categories: Good , with a Stock Confidence rating of 70% or higher Warning , with a Stock Confidence rating of 45-70% Alert , with a Stock Confidence rating of 10-45% Critical , with a Stock Confidence rating of under 10% This makes it obvious which areas to look at first when conducting a stocktake, so you are always on top of the most critical stock levels and avoiding as many out of stocks as possible. Flexibility and control The user has total control over the classification parameters, so how you set them is up to you, and you can change them if they’re not working in the way you want them to be. You can therefore take into account all the variables and levers in your own business to determine where you feel each level should be set, based on things like how often stock is checked, stock turn metrics, order levels and so on. Stock Confidence is calculated automatically by the system so you don’t need to do anything to activate it, and it can be validated every time you complete a stock check so you can see for yourself how accurate it is. Stock Confidence feeds naturally into every area of the business, from more efficient processes and ordering systems to better customer service and less wasted resources. It is a genuine innovation and provides real added value for merchants, allowing unparalleled optimisation of stockholdings. It is a true example of technology as a tool, working hard to make merchants’ lives much easier and business better. Merchanter is available to try online for yourself via the free demo system and can be implemented 100% remotely.

The key to long-term happiness with your Merchant ERP system No, we’re not talking about finding a date – we’re talking about a relationship that could be much more long term: your ERP system! Are you currently using a financial platform like Sage, Xero or Quickbooks to run your business operations and finding it’s not quite enough for your needs? Are you still using manual systems and separate Excel documents or even paper filing systems to run your business? Are you using an ERP system but getting frustrated at its complexity, lack of responsiveness or inability to roll with change? We hear you. Looking for the perfect match when it comes to an order and stock management system can be a time consuming and tricky business. Choosing a new ERP system is expensive, and it can cause a lot of disruption to your business and staff. So it really pays to be sure about getting the right fit when you’re selecting. So without further ado, here are our 5 top tops for how to find the best ERP system for you. Do some stalking : Ask around – get recommendations from industry colleagues and trusted friends, read case studies etc. It really, really pays to do your homework. And if you've been off the market for a long time, you might be surprised at how much things have changed since you last looked around. Don’t commit until you’ve sampled the goods: Try the demo (assuming they have one) and really get to know how the system works before you decide to take things further. After all, it's not always love at first sight so it really does pay to know what you're getting into before you get too attached. Make sure they’re ready for a long-term commitment: Given the rate at which tech advances, it’s important to know you’re opting for a system that will still be capable of meeting your needs in 5-10 years’ time – it needs to be future-fit, not just ready for the here and now. That means it needs to be able to integrate with other platforms and services, be updated and maintained remotely, and have the capacity to grow alongside your business Choose a partner who really listens: Yes, the software itself is important but you’re going to have to work closely with the providers of whatever system you choose so make sure you get on with the suppliers. You need to really hear each other, and be able to have honest, constructive, healthy communication to help the relationship, and your business, flourish. Put your own needs first and really know what you want: It’s SO important that you properly understand your needs as a business before you select a system that’s right for it. Audit your processes*, analyse how your business works and then make sure you’re choosing a system that can fit with that and grow with you – not one that you have to accommodate at every turn. It should be adding value, not creating a load of extra work, We think you'll know when you find the right match. Choose something that feels simple to use but that has scope to grow, something that's intuitive and just gets how you do things. It's no easy task finding a system that can help you run your business even more effectively but when you get the right match, the sparks will really fly. If you’re thinking of looking around at new options, please consider trying our online demo system . You get a full 30 days to try the system out, using your own data, so you can get a really good flavour of what it can do. And don’t worry, if the time’s not right, no hard feelings. *If you’d like a hand, you might be interested to know that every new customer gets a full Business Process Review before every implementation to make sure each system is optimised and configured for every unique business. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

Every merchant business has its stockholding at its heart. The more able that merchant is to work stock harder, optimise its value and minimise its risk, ultimately the more successful that merchant will be. So how do you know how well your stock investment is working for you? Not all stock is created equal. To really understand how your stock is working, you need to use the measures in your software to help. Every metric that records what is happening in your business is useful. Having that information readily to hand is important, and knowing how to interpret that information to inform decision-making, drive efficiencies and improve processes within the business is absolutely essential. Currently there are over 110 KPIs as standard in the Merchanter system – which represents a huge amount of information. So to avoid information overwhelm, which can often lead to the “so what” factor, we’re here to help you ask the right questions of the information to get to the insights you really need. Stock Turn When it comes to stock management, certain KPIs really can add significant value to your business, in very real terms. Stock Turn is a great example of a metric which is pretty simple on the face of it, but which can transform your profitability, stockholding value and product sell-through strategy. While some figures are a standalone measure of a particular business process, Stock Turn can be more advanced, because it also relates to other factors and can show you how well your investment in stock is being translated into sales, as well as what your risk might be. Every product in your system has its own product page (see below), which shows a clear summary of that item’s performance and value contribution over time. It shows you how many have sold in a given time, how long it will take to sell through, and what the turnover and profits associated with that product are. It is therefore simple to use that information to plan ahead and, in many cases, add a huge amount to your bottom line. Having a thorough understanding of product performance through stock turn analysis can completely transform your profitability and even your sales strategy. A short case study about stock turn A customer recently contacted us to ask more about stock turn. He understood the principle of it at face value, but had never really had the time to get to grips with it beyond that. He knew already that the stock turn tile shows how many times that item of stock has been in a year. What he wasn’t so sure of was what to do with that information. So, we looked first at two very similar products: two slightly different lengths of the same type timber. Both had a similar value of stockholding, and achieved the same margin per product Product X had a stock turn of 1.2, while product Y had a stock turn of 47. It would take 300 days to turn the stock of product X, and it would achieve an annual gross margin total of just £250. Product Y, on the other hand, would take just over a week to turn the current stock, and over a year would achieve a gross margin of nearly £18K. Understanding the relative stock turn really underlined for that customer the comparative value of each stock line to his business. OK – so what do I do next? Having visibility of stock turn across the business allows you to determine your overall stock profile with confidence. All products will fall into one of four broad categories, which we have named Danger Stock, Review Stock, Earner Stock and Golden Stock. The grid below shows this more clearly. Once you know which category a given product falls into, you can assign the appropriate level of urgency and resource to addressing that opportunity, or the risk, as the case may be. It is important to recognise that every sector of the grid represents both opportunity and risk – what you do thereafter is up to you. It really is the stock equivalent of a SWOT analysis, so you can easily assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in your stockholding. You can then use that information to assess seasonal demand to help forecasting and ordering efficiencies, as well as potentially create new opportunities or demand by adjusting product characteristics, groupings or price. Danger Stock A product which falls into the Danger Stock category requires urgent attention. This is where stock has high investment value from you but very low stock turn; in other words, it’s costing you a lot to have it in stock but it isn’t generating much revenue or margin. It is wasting working capital and taking up space that could be better used for more valuable product. You may wish to look at why the stock is performing so badly, and ask yourself some questions, such as: Is there an obvious reason it isn’t selling through? For example, is it showing as out of stock on your website, or is it incorrectly signed, or hidden where no-one can find it? Is there a very similar product that is more popular? Why is that? Is there a strong seasonal factor affecting performance? Is the stock turn consistent across the year, or are there specific peaks and troughs? Can you generate greater sell through with a pricing discount or bundle deal? Could you improve signage or positioning to stimulate sales? Could the product be repurposed or broken down into component parts or other, more popular lengths to sell more? Review Stock Stock which comes under this category is typically low risk, but also fairly low value. It isn’t costing you much, so it’s not an immediate concern, but there could still be ways to do more with it. Products in this category generally are last on the list to address, although there are a couple of notable exceptions: If a large proportion of your stockholding falls into this category, it could warrant more focus as the sheer volumes involved could represent a significant increase in overall value with a bit more attention Could this stockholding be replaced by more valuable products which could enhance your overall stock profile? Is there an opportunity to run a promotion or bundle deal to get this stock moving through faster? Earner Stock On the face of it, Earner Stock is a great place to be. High stock turn on high value stock investment generally means plenty of revenue – business is booming. However, there will be a higher element of risk attached to stockholding in this quadrant and again, there are plenty of questions to consider: Is stock turn consistent across the year? If it is heavily seasonal you need to manage the inevitable drop-off when buying patterns change Could you increase efficiency by operating off a lower stockholding? What is the lead time for replenishment? Could there be even greater opportunity if you can get more stock in? Is pricing right? If you are selling through very large quantities, particularly if it’s risen very sharply, there could be an error in pricing so the price is too low, or you could be missing an opportunity for greater margin if you are selling significantly below the competition pricing Of course, deciding what action to take will always be down to you – you may have deliberately priced a particular product very low in order to drive footfall – but having the figures in front of you will help to mitigate risk through error, and will be invaluable when assessing replenishment and future opportunity. Golden Stock Golden Stock is a good place to be; it isn’t costing you a great deal in investment and it is selling through rapidly. High stock turn on low value investment stock is great for business – but there are always more opportunities to be had, so ask yourself: Could you extend your range of products of this type? What proportion of your stockholding falls into this category? How can you get more in there? Could pricing be adjusted to generate more margin? Even a tiny price increase in high volume items can make a significant different to overall revenue If you stocked even more of these products, would sales continue to rise? Are there economies of scale you could negotiate with suppliers to buy for a better price? So is there an optimum level of Stock Turn? The “right” level will depend on each product – but every product in your stockholding carries with it an inherent level of risk and opportunity. Ideally you need to align those factors to the optimum levels of greatest opportunity with lowest risk; and where risk is higher, just be sure that the value of the opportunity outweighs it. Of course, in some instances, it will be worth keeping some products in stock purely for the benefit of your stock profile. For example, you may stock ten different types of door handle or light fitting, even though you know only two of them ever sell. But equally, you know customers want to have a choice, so it’s probably worth keeping a few in stock of each range item purely for comparison – just make sure you only restock the items that are selling well! Manage the risk in line with the scale of the opportunity. What you do with the information is up to you, but having these metrics easily available to inform your decision making is incredibly valuable. But I stock hundreds of products – I don’t have time to check each one individually! Of course you don’t, and quite honestly, we wouldn’t expect you to! That’s why we’ve built in simple search and filter options so you can search by Stock Turn levels. For example, you could run a search for all products (or all products of a particular type – the search criteria are up to you) with a stock turn under 3, so you can have a quick look at lower turning stock. It’s really easy to then dig deeper into the detail to look at each product line in turn. As you can see from the product page below, every product in the system automatically records stock information so you can quickly see all the variables – the value, sell-through timeline and so on. How can my sales team use this information? Once you know which products are selling well, where the risks are, and which product lines need a bit of help, you can work with your sales team to encourage them to upsell the less popular stock, either by discounting, adding it to a bundle deal, or simply drawing more customers’ attention to it. You can also factor it into your product pricing and profit margin setting, so that if there is more opportunity, you’re not missing it. You could also try different signage or positioning of products for customer-facing areas, to see whether making a product line more prominent has any impact. It’s important to remember that Stock Turn is not just about pricing – it really feeds into service levels and business value, both in terms of investment and resource. Optimising the way in which your stock turns gives you a huge commercial advantage in the market, and will enhance your service levels with customers. Getting everyone into the habit of looking at stockholding against the Stock Turn grid and asking questions like ones listed above will benefit the wider business in numerous ways. The tools you need to run your business even better Every decision you make in your business is entirely up to you; the KPIs in Merchanter simply make information more easily available to you, giving you simpler access to the details you need to inform those decisions, as well as monitor their impact. You always have total flexibility, and the system is there to help you optimise every opportunity and spot risks further ahead. It therefore gives you a big competitive and commercial advantage and can help to significantly manage the impact of risk. Stock excellence is our second nature Merchanter is many things, and can help you control, measure and change any element of your business. But as it is specifically designed for merchant businesses, the area in which it can potentially make the biggest difference is in stock management. There are nearly always big opportunities hiding in the data within your ERP system, and potentially some big risks which you will benefit from identifying early. It is even possible to turn risks into opportunities, if you know the right questions to ask. With its comprehensive range of metrics and easy-to-use functionality, Merchanter offers unrivalled accuracy and useability for optimising your stockholding, so you can accurately assess the levels of investment and resource required in line with a particular opportunity. It allows you to be more confident in your stock control and optimisation, and so your workforce can consistently contribute to an ever-more efficient, service-focused and profitable business.

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 sales@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. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

You’ve booked that plush hotel for a two-week break in the tropics or around the Mediterranean. It’s cost you an arm and a leg, but the holiday rep was very convincing, and you’ve earned it. You arrive at the hotel; the building and grounds are beautiful and secluded. You check in, unpack, get a deckchair on the beach and… “Hiring for half a day or whole day?” asks the attendant. “That’ll be 10€ please”. Begrudgingly, as you have paid top dollar for the hotel and your own little slice of this beach, you part with the cash. In his other hand you see the drinks menu, alongside the snacks menu, and everything is in double digit euros. Evening comes, and every meal is at least 100€ a couple - and that’s without the cocktails. In the morning when you fancy trying out a windsurfer or canoe – well, make the most of it. You won’t be hiring one again. Within days you feel like you’ve walked up a dark alley and now you know you’re going to be mugged – or maybe you’re just a mug? You realise that your holiday is going to double in price from what you’d budgeted and there’s little you can do about it as the hotel is miles from anywhere. A slight bitterness settles in, a sense of buyer’s remorse. The holiday you deserve Enter, stage left, the all-inclusive holiday – a genuinely inclusive one with branded drinks, snacks, and access to water sports all bundled into the price. A holiday where you know the price upfront, and if you need or want a little bit more you merely need to ask. No preorder, no fee, no drama – bliss. Buying business software can be a similar experience (bear with us here). It’s easy to get drawn into the marketing and opt for the glossy and “too-good-to-be-true” package only to find that it actually is too good to be true, and not a package at all. Modules you would assume are included are not, initial training and implementation services were quoted but if you need extra help then that’s almost £1000 a day extra for the privilege. You want it hosted? That’s extra. Support? Extra. How about out-of-hours support (out of the suppliers’ hours, not your hours!)? Also extra. It’s not a surprise that many business systems (ERP) users experience a doubling in their original budgeted cost within a few years. And just like our secluded remote luxury hotel, you can’t go anywhere else because now the only feasible option is the original supplier’s option – welcome to the dark alley. The grass is greener… However, it doesn’t have to be this way and if you’re a fan of “knowing where you stand”, accurate budgets and the relaxed feeling that you get from a genuine all-inclusive holiday, then you’ll be pleased to know that software can be purchased in the same manner. Our preference is to provide our customers with an all-inclusive service and offering . One which is devoid of any “nasty little surprises” but still provides the very best in functionality and technology for our merchant customers. A price that includes the software, the hosting, the support, the installation and, in the unlikely event that you need some more training (as the system is designed from concept to be easy to use) just ask and we will provide – at no extra cost. Why do we do this? Well, if our clients are to retain their competitive edge then we don’t feel that they should be faced with the dilemma of extra costs to achieve it. Cost shouldn’t be a barrier to improving the efficiency in your business or the service you give to your customers. When your business does grow (and our customers grow by an average of over 19% compared to the industry average of 6%), and you have new members of staff, simply let us know and we’ll add an extra user to your plan at a low set price per month ( from £90 per additional user ) – no additional training costs, no surprise set up fees. And if you do need some bespoke development to suit your specific needs, or a round of in-person on-site training, we’ll quote everything upfront – so you'll never be caught off guard by an unexpected invoice. So take a break, take a “holiday” with Ten-25 . Relax, knowing exactly what to expect and at what price. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

Do you need a jack of all trades? If you’re building a house, do you employ one person to design it, dig the foundations, build the walls, fit the wiring, plumbing and heating, plaster it, decorate it and furnish it? Or, do you select a specialist provider with the more suitable skillset for each job that is needed? When you buy a new phone, do you use just the capabilities the phone comes with, or do you add and customise the apps that give you the best experience? It’s possible you’ll find one supplier who can provide total expertise in every area. But it’s more likely that you’ll need a range of suppliers working together to give you the best results. More likely that you'll install a range of apps that do the things YOU need them to do. That’s how we think of business software solutions. You want the best for your merchant business So do we. You want the best stock management and trading system ? That’s what we do, and brilliantly (if we do say so ourselves.) You want the best financial platforms? The best eCommerce solutions? Well, that’s what THEY do, and brilliantly. (And we’re pretty sure they’d agree.) We're not too proud to say that yes, sector-specific platforms often provide the best solution. You see, modern ERP doesn’t have to do it all. It’s not a lone wolf. Because one thing it does (brilliantly) is allow you to connect best-in-class solutions across every area of your business. Teamwork. Collaboration. Communication. But with software, not just people. End to end, comprehensive, self-contained systems are great. But that notion is becoming outdated, a legacy hangover from when systems were housed in clunky on-site servers and couldn’t exchange information with other systems easily. Merchants had to make do with whatever accounts programme came with the system, or use a totally separate one. Modern software system architecture is built on new principles and agile foundations that connect best-in-class solutions to give the best overall result. It enables specialist providers to supply specialist solutions, meaning that the end user (i.e. you) gets the most advanced and capable systems in existence. It also means it’s simple to add extras, depending on your specific business needs. You can customise elements that will really add value for your staff, suppliers or customers, but you can also opt for the more “off-the-shelf” solutions when budgets are stretched or time is of the essence. Evolution every day We have been providing trading and stock management software to merchants for 40 years, and we’ve learned a lot in that time. We continue to learn every day, and when we learn something new that will benefit our customers, we add it to our systems. That’s why we now offer a wider range of connectivity services to third party platforms than ever before. Because, as the old Abbey National advert used to say, life’s complicated enough. Connected Finance If you’re using Merchanter or UniTrade360, you can now connect with the following financial platforms: Xero; QuickBooks; Sage 50, Sage BCA, Sage X3, Sage200, Sage300, Sage500, Sage1000. If you're using a different cloud accounting platform and we haven’t listed it, just let us know – chances are we can link to that too. Connected eCommerce Choosing the right eCommerce platform that’s right for your product range and customers is vital. We work with a wide range of eCommerce solutions to ensure that whichever platform you choose, you can easily sync information with your ERP system . We are also talking to a range of PIM providers to ensure optimum compatibility in terms of product data transfer. As product data is a fast-evolving area, this will continue to change as time goes on, so again, please talk to us about integrating your PIM with your ERP system. Currently we have integrations with the following eCommerce providers, and are always looking to widen that proposition. If you are working with a different eCommerce provider and we haven’t listed it, please let us know, and we’ll see what we can do! eCommonSense; Shopify; WooCommerce; Amazon; eBay; Magento (Adobe Commerce) Connected Business Just as our software aims to connect all the parts of your business together, our integration strategy aims to complement that capability. Connected businesses offer better communication, better efficiency and ultimately, better service. What other platforms do you work with which would be helpful to integrate with your ERP? If you work with specific CRM, HR or any other platforms which you see potential in for integration, please let us know . Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

As we may have mentioned once or twice, Merchanter is packed with features to help every member of your workforce achieve more every day with less stress, in less time. But with over 110 KPIs in the system, it can be hard to keep track of them all. So we thought we’d start shouting about some of the new additions. (Plus, it never hurts to give our developers some airtime – we like to keep them happy) Remember, Merchanter is fully customisable, so you can personalise your dashboard according to your role and responsibility, making sure that you see the most useful, relevant tools and metrics and keep all the business-critical information you require close to hand. Industry-specific ERP software has a reputation for being complex and unwieldy but we make every effort to keep things simple and ensure every user has the clarity and control they need for optimum productivity and ease. Brand new KPIs for merchants and suppliers 1. Quotes expiring in the next 7 days Fairly self-evident, perhaps, but incredibly useful. This nifty little tool flags up which quotes are due to expire in the next week, so your sales team can chase up orders , re-quote if prices have changed, and keep an eye on customer behaviours without having to trawl through hundreds of emails. Given how volatile market pricing is at the moment, it’s definitely worth ensuring every quote has an expiry date clearly marked, so you don’t end up selling stock at a loss just because the market price has shot up since you last quoted it. 2. Cash sales paid but not supplied Catchy title, we know, but it’s such a useful thing to know. Not only will it help to give the logistics team a nudge that stock is due out , your customers will be much happier when they don’t have to wait too long for their orders. But the massive benefit of this feature is that it’s incredibly useful for keeping tabs on what stock is already accounted for, so paid-for stock is ring-fenced for collection or delivery, so won’t be allocated elsewhere in the interim. 3. Paused orders It happens all the time and they can be easy to forget about – but forget no longer, because the paused orders KPI is here to remind you of all those work-in-progress orders that have been put on hold. Whether the customer needs a nudge or you need to action the order from your end in another way, the prompt is there to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. We’ve also introduced special offer KPIs and a flag for products with negative stock to make sure attention is focused quickly and directly where it’s needed. Always have the latest version One of the great advantages of cloud software is that it gets updated remotely, meaning you’re never far away from the latest version of the system and all the new features that come with it. We are constantly adjusting the system for optimum performance, fixing the inevitable bugs that find their way into any software system, and adding new features. Sometimes these are little bonus features – and sometimes they’re real game-changers, adding unique functionality to set you even further apart from the competition. If you’re an existing customer, don’t forget to keep an eye on our Knowledge Base for the latest training guides and videos to help you get the most out of your system. If there is a feature you’d like to know more about, our doors are always open so please just drop us a line! We’re always building on our library of material for our knowledge base and your feedback really helps us to prioritise our workflow. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

Merchants: do you want to be better at sales? The pressure is on for merchants, with challenges like volatile materials pricing, availability issues and even recruitment shortages making every day a bit more uncertain. In an ideal world, you’ll be overrun by customers and your biggest issue will be how to process so many sales transactions. But in reality, the challenges are far more complex, especially with the rapidly shifting landscape of pricing and availability that merchants are currently working with. There’s more than one type of sales role in merchanting – some are more focused on managing existing customer transactions and upselling to them, while others are more concerned with making new customer sales and attracting new business. There is likely to be overlap with other departments like marketing, stock control, finance and logistics, so having the right information to hand is critical no matter which side of the farmer/hunter sales equation you’re on. So how can merchant sales people meet these challenges, and make more sales? 3 step sales process In any sales process there are, ultimately, three main phases: pre-sale, sale and post-sale. The ultimate aim of any sales person should be to make every part of those three stages as positive an experience as possible for the customer. Whether that’s about the price, the convenience, the speed of transaction or the service received at delivery, there are opportunities at every point for your business to impress your customers and make them more likely to return. What do you need to make a good sale? The right information – customer history and previous quotes; product detail and availability; certification and safety info where relevant; customer contact details and accurate knowledge of lead times and delivery options. The right stock – what do you have, where is it, and how fast can you get it? Having an accurate view of availability and lead times is absolutely critical for customer satisfaction and your information needs to be reliable. If you don’t have it and can’t get it, what could you offer instead? The right price – knowing what customers have paid for similar products before is helpful, but with today’s market volatility you need to know what constitutes a fair price without compromising too much margin for your business. The right relationship – if you have a proven track record with a customer, they’re far more likely to come back to you time after time. And how do you build that track record? Through reliable service, good communication and fair and honest dealing. It takes time to build but remembering to treat customers as people, to be polite, helpful and friendly, and to keep them updated with where you’re at will go a long way. The right business intelligence - One of the most important things that the sales information in a good ERP system can give you is a way to spot gaps and opportunities faster so you can focus your efforts in the right places. Knowing exactly how you're performing across a range of metrics helps guide the decision-making to drive new approaches, attract new customers, upsell to existing customers or inform pricing strategies and promotions - to name but a few. The right customers – that may sound counter-intuitive but not every sale is a good sale. If it’s losing your business money overall, either in terms of actual loss of margin or in terms of compound cost to serve thanks to difficult customers, repeated returns or continual late payment, then maybe more is not always better. Either way, it’s vital that you have the right information to hand to let you know which customers are good for business and which are a drain on your resources. What next? If repeat custom is your biggest revenue stream then sales managers need to be proactive in pushing for ways to encourage customers to buy again – and to buy more. Whether that’s reminding customers that a particular product they’ve bought before is on offer, or going the extra mile to suggest linked or complementary products to boost the initial sale, there are plenty of ways for a sales rep to add value throughout the process. Understanding how your stock is selling and how profitable it is can be enormously powerful in helping you to determine the offers you should be pushing, and your sales people are the ones who can help deliver those incremental sales so it’s vital to work together. The big point is - if you don't know what's happening in the business, you can't focus on the right things, and that means everyone's efforts end up being spread too thin, or are directed in the wrong places. What about eCommerce? If you’re selling online as well as in-branch, it may be tempting to think that sales will just handle themselves. While the challenges of selling online may differ in some ways to the more traditional, face-to-face sales approach, many of the underlying principles remain the same. Your eCommerce team needs to be just as aware of the principles of selling as your in-branch team, and the reliance on accurate information that can be accessed quickly is, if anything, even more important. All of it relies on excellent underlying infrastructure – and that means a top notch ERP system. So how does Merchanter help? When it comes to selling, confidence is key It’s all about confidence: the confidence your sales people have in the products, the numbers and the service, and the confidence your customers have in your business. And confidence can be created. Confidence requires proven reliability, relevant, regular communication and a mutually respectful relationship. The more a sales rep can trust the numbers in front of them on the system, the more confidently they will be able to handle customer questions and produce the relevant quotes. Merchanter helps build that confidence on both sides. Let’s take a closer look at some of the features of the system which help sales teams do their jobs better. Stock Confidence We have literally built a metric called Stock Confidence, which is an instant gauge of the accuracy of the stock levels on the system at any one time, meaning sales reps can have more confidence that what they’re selling is actually available. If stock confidence is low on the system, attention is immediately drawn to products where verification is needed so no false promises are made. In addition, features like Stock Turn help ensure the right products are kept in stock and more available. In general, the fact that the system is used by the whole workforce from yard to MD’s office ensures that information is accurate and up to date at all time. We’ve also built in some nifty catalogue features which enable access to the products you might sell, not just the ones you already do, meaning you can offer customers a wider choice at all times. Result: faster answers, better availability, greater reliability, smarter replenishment Convenient, flexible metrics It’s easier to quote and order products using the metrics your customer uses. You can easily switch between metric and imperial measurements but also you can do it by length, weight, volume, pack or unit, to keep things accurate and in line with customer expectations. Result: happier customers who are able to buy in the way they want to, and you keep on top of the figures quickly and easily Easier ordering and processing Add milling or processing instructions straight from the sales or purchase order, saving time, effort and room for error. Result : time-saving internally, fewer errors, more accurate fulfilment of orders, less waste Credit and margin controls Give sales people more freedom and flexibility to give the best deals with built-in credit and margin controls. Thanks to our advanced pricing options, you can set margin levels by customer but also build in exceptions in granular detail, down to category, sub-group or even product level. That means less red tape internally and a much slicker sales experience for your customers, as sales reps are empowered to make decisions then and there without needing approvals every time. And you still have the safety net of credit or margin limits so you know you’re always trading profitably. Result: remain profitable at all times; speed up negotiation and selling timelines; empower sales team Price tracking Being able to keep an eye on pricing is so important; and not just the prices a particular customer has been offered before. With market tracking, you can see the prices in the market too so you know whether your quotes are in line with the market, avoiding either over- or under-pricing stock despite wildly fluctuating market pricing. Result: Defensible, safe pricing at all times that stays in line with market expectations, with the flexibility to make exceptions where needed. Faster administration Automations throughout the system save huge amounts of administrative time. Auto-sending of quotes / estimates and invoices; reports; faster access to certification and customer notes; process automations and more. Integrated ERP systems ensure that the information held across the business is up to date and accurate so everyone has a real-time picture of stock and operational movements. Result: faster resolution to customer queries; better auditing of certification; massive time savings on standard admin processes; less room for human error. eCommerce Integration OK so this one isn’t strictly for an individual sales rep but it’s worth noting that because Merchanter is highly interoperable, we can link up your back office system with your front end eCommerce site, ensuring that the information your online customers have access to is up to date and accurate, and that online sales are recorded instantly on the system so that stock allocation can’t be duplicated accidentally. Result: Fewer errors, better stock control, better availability, more sales. Clear targets and progress The right information available more easily Customised dashboards on the system mean that every member of the team has the information they need at their fingertips to help them do their job more easily. In sales, for example, each rep will have clear targets visible with progress tracked so they can quickly see the opportunities and gaps. That means they can flag up issues sooner and know exactly where they stand; plus, clear visibility of targets with tracked progress is proven to drive performance and motivate teams when managed correctly. Critically, Merchanter gives you the numbers you need to help you know where to focus your efforts for the biggest impact. Merchanter is designed to help every member of your merchant business to do their job more easily. We design it to be easy to use so that every member of the team can be confident using it, which means better information on the system which helps it to help you drive better business across the board. GIVE IT A TRY: REGISTER FOR OUR ONLINE DEMO SYSTEM AND TRY FOR YOURSELF!

Recent figures published by the National Buying Group show commercial confidence from merchants, with many working on active expansion plans for 2022 and beyond. However, the market remains volatile and is rapidly shifting, and it can be hard to keep on top of the basics of purchasing, sales and stock management when the picture is constantly changing. Tools which help merchants track the changes around them and accurately measure and monitor their own performance, productivity and profitability will be incredibly helpful, and thanks to the intelligence and agility of modern software, your ERP system can offer a wealth of features to help merchants do exactly that. Tracking market price changes The rapidly fluctuating price of materials has been headline news over the last year. Being able to track and analyse the impact of cost price changes easily and fast represents a huge advantage for merchants. Within a product on Merchanter, there are three main cost prices that are recorded, which can be used for different purposes: Average Cost Price (ACP) This is a weighted average of the cost of the stock that has been brought into the depot. This is often the most accurate position of the cost of the product, relative to the stock that has been brought in or made. It is maintained automatically by purchasing, adjusting and milling in stock. When viewing a product record under the costs tab (see screenshot) in additional to the product average cost prices you can also see listed the average cost prices at all depots (quays) in the lefthand column. Last Cost Price (LCP) As the name would suggest, this is the last price that this product was ordered at. In the settings of the system, you can select whether the Average and Last cost prices are updated at the point of receipt or completion of a purchase. Standard Cost Price (SCP) This relatively new KPI feature is a management cost price, and you have control over how it can best work for each product. The Standard Cost Price can be either manually maintained, set by a senior user, or be an automatic calculation, based on another figure of your choosing. Below are the different calculation types: Average Cost Price Adjustment - setting a percentage difference from the ACP Last Cost Price Adjustment - setting a percentage difference from the LCP Base Price Adjustment - setting a percentage markdown from the base selling price Best Supplier Price Adjustment - setting a percentage difference from the lowest live supplier price Highest Cost Price Adjustment - setting a percentage difference from the highest cost out of the ACP, LCP and any live supplier prices The Stock valuation for each depot (and location) is calculated by the ACP, LCP and SCP, though the ACP valuation is often the one to use in the financials. When making sales the operator can be shown the cost and margin against any of the ACP, LCP or SCP, but the margin figures for the company will always be against the ACP cost. So why is it so useful? The Standard Cost Price is a useful KPI because it essentially enables you to see a warning level of cost fluctuations, while giving you the prompt to manage the conditions to best suit your business. It ensures you don’t undervalue products as they’re sold and gives you an instant sense check of how relevant and useful the ACP and LCP really are. This is just one of many tools within Merchanter than make it easier for merchants to make smarter decisions based on accurate, timely, meaningful data. These are just a few of the KPIs built into our digital ERP system Merchanter - at last count there were over 120 and the number is constantly increasing as we add new features and capabilities. Our aim is to help merchants have more control over their businesses and to be able to make smarter decisions faster every day. If you are curious about the ease of use, power and flexibility that Merchanter can offer your merchant business, why not try it out for yourself? We offer 30 days of free access to our online demo system – no obligation, no hard sell. *You can read the full NBG article on the Builders Merchants News website Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features

Today's blog is extra special because we're welcoming a new member to the team – and it's someone who might already be familiar to some of you... Dominic, our brand new Operations Director! Software development runs in Dom's blood. He practically grew up with Ten-25, being the youngest son of our founders, Baird and Sue. But his path took a fascinating turn – after studying physics at Oxford, he dove headfirst into the world of video game design (including the massive SimCity and Walking With Dinosaurs!). While undeniably fun, video games are all about pushing the boundaries of software – everything needs to be fast, intuitive, and  engaging. These aren't exactly words you'd traditionally associate with business software, but Dom wanted to change that. After leaving the gaming world, he set up his own software consultancy. For seven years, he transformed software across industries – from helping students ace their GCSEs to modernising building automation services. He even worked a stint with a couponing company in Denver, Colorado! Six years ago, our MD (and Dom's brother), Ian, brought Dom on board to help visualise the potential of Merchanter. What started as "a few graphs" quickly blossomed into core systems, and Dom found himself deeply invested in Merchanter's growth. Now, Dom's taking the leap and joining us full-time as Operations Director. We're thrilled to have him on board, and in his own words, he's pretty excited too! Here's what he had to say about his exciting new role: "I passionately believe that all software should be easy to understand, quick to learn and fun to use. Over the development of Merchanter, my role has evolved - from being an external contractor gently steering the project, through a designer specifying new systems, to a coder implementing new features, I have seen and influenced all aspects of the system.  I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved and see a great future as Merchanter continues to refine and improve, evolve new features, and reach new markets. It’s a journey I’m thrilled to be on, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!" We're so happy to have Dom officially on board! His unique blend of experience, passion for user experience, and deep understanding of Merchanter makes him a perfect fit for our team. Watch this space! Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features