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- A post about post: do you know about the changes?
Royal Mail has recently made announcements that the current stamp format for postage is changing. A new, barcoded format is being introduced and the existing stamp format will no longer be valid after 31st January 2023. Why is Royal Mail making this change? As well as listing security as a big reason for the change, Royal Mail says the move will also make the stamps more modern as they will enable people to interact with multimedia features associated with their deliveries. These could include entertainment add-ons (such as the exclusive Shaun the Sheep videos currently available direct from the barcodes) as well as more practical help. See the Royal Mail site here for more info. Does it affect all stamps? No. Seasonal and certain special issue, limited-edition stamps are exempt and will continue to be valid so don’t require swapping out. Find out exactly which stamps need to be changed here . How to swap existing stamps for the new format Royal Mail has introduced a Stamp Swap-Out Scheme to help people exchange invalidated stamps for the new variety. Depending on how many you need to swap you can print the relevant form from the website and return stamps by post to complete the exchange. Find out all the details by visiting the Royal Mail information page . Before you go… We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t add a further message to this. While there are times that sending physical post is necessary or even preferable, it’s worth bearing in mind that issuing bulk communications such as invoices by physical post has a number of drawbacks. These include: Cost. Stamps don’t come cheap these days and if you’re sending a lot of post out, the costs will really rack up. And that’s before you add in envelopes, paper, print toner… Emailing can vastly reduce these costs over the course of a year. Environmental impact . Even if you’re using recycled materials and recycling as much as possible yourself, sending large amounts of post has a fairly hefty carbon footprint, from the materials used to the methods of delivery. While email is not without a carbon footprint itself, it is significantly smaller than physical post. Time. It takes far longer to print, fold, seal and post a letter or invoice than it does to email it, especially when emailing can be automated. Plus, an email can be delivered instantly, without waiting for the post to arrive. Security. Unless you are using recorded or tracked delivery for every letter, invoice or reminder you send, you have no way of knowing that your customer or supplier has actually received it. With email, you can digitally track every communication with much greater accuracy. Efficiency. Automating invoices , reminders or alerts from your ERP system to trigger email communications to customers and integrate responses, payments and other information back into the system creates a much richer information system, with instant access to up-to-the-minute status reports on any aspect of a customer or order. You can’t do that with a letter now, can you? Merchanter, our cloud-based ERP system for merchants , lets you digitise and in many cases automate your communications, as well as loads of other processes throughout your business, saving time, error and effort. Find out how much time you could save – why not try our free 30 day online demo system ?
- New features and updates for September 2022
Merchants’ needs change all the time, and with the market presenting so many tough challenges at present, it’s even more important that their systems can keep pace with those accelerating changes. We aim to provide the very best ERP system for merchant businesses and so we are constantly updating and improving Merchanter to give our customers access to the very latest version of the software, and the best features to work with. Here is a quick summary of just a few of the new or improved features rolling out with September’s Merchanter update. And remember, because it’s a cloud system, the updates roll out automatically, so they don’t cause a load of disruption to the working day. PO/Credit Note Permissions This function allows pre-authorised limits for Purchase Orders and Credit Notes to be set up for more junior staff members to save time at the point of processing and for senior staff members issuing approvals. Critically, it also allows for inter-branch transfers as well, and can even be used for shared users, identified by their unique PIN so everyone’s actions are recorded. Sales Management Improvements Price tracking: Order lines now include a letter code to denote how the price was derived. That means you can see at a glance whether it’s an automatic tabled price, quoted price, manually set, margin based and so on. You can also easily switch between different pricing, setting them by margin, manual input, value etc. It’s a useful way of keeping an eye on prices and ensuring you know exactly how and why each order line price has been set at that particular rate. Customer Records: From a customer's records, it’s now even easier to see the detail of every line per order, just by clicking to expand an order. It’s a really quick and easy way to check the details when you need to. Cash Drawer: This helpful little update has improved end-of-day cashing up. It’s split by senior and junior user to enable more junior members to complete the end-of-day report without having to approve it, thereby reducing delays in processing. Instead, discrepancies can be commented on with a simple note, and will be automatically flagged for approval by a more senior member of the team. That way, the cash drawer is instantly released to be traded in once again, and there is no danger that discrepancies will be overlooked or mistakenly approved by someone without the right authority to do so. Stock Enhancements: We’ve added the ability to buy, stock and trade just by weight of product. You can switch easily between kilos and tonnes and of course, there’s still the Unit Price option for pre-bagged materials. But this should make life a lot easier for those of you dealing with aggregates and other weight-based materials, whether you’re bagging it up yourself or trading it loose. We’ll be back next month with another round-up of the key updates we’ve made. In the meantime, if you have ideas for features or tweaks that would make your life easier, please get in touch! We’d love to hear from you. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features
- Looking ahead to 2023: what's in the pipeline?
In what has felt like the blink of an eye, 2022 is almost behind us – so what is 2023 looking like? In 2022, we added over 280 features to Merchanter; brought on board several new customers; and developed integrations with a broadening range of third party platforms and services. In 2023 we look forward to building on the foundations of continual improvement that we have been developing this year, focusing on some really important areas. It’s sure to be another busy year, and we have plenty in the pipeline. Without wanting to get too bogged down in the details of every planned development and feature (though rest assured there are plenty), our plans for 2023 fall broadly into two main areas, which we wanted to share with you. Customer success planning Yes, that means you! More focus on what keeps our customers happy is definitely on our agenda for the year ahead – and we would really appreciate your input on that. We like to think we are a responsive bunch so the more we know about what you need, the better able we will be to help you achieve your goals. We have invested in a new and improved system internally for handling helpdesk queries, and will continue to refine and improve those systems for you to benefit from, and we continue to develop our staff to provide you with expert, responsive service. And speaking of enhanced service, one of the big initiatives in this area that we’re excited to launch next year will be our Ten-25 Knowledge Base . Despite being simple to use, there’s a lot more to Merchanter than meets the eye. We understand that it’s impossible to get acquainted with every feature in the system when you’re starting out. Over time though, you’ll want to access more advanced features and functions to make sure you’re getting the best value from your system at all times. From customer feedback we know that a convenient, self-service option for training and help resources would be welcome. We are therefore putting lots of effort into building a comprehensive Knowledge Base . This will be a destination for system feature help, video tutorials and walk-throughs, which will be available for all users as part of our unlimited service package. We plan to launch it in the new year and will be adding to it continually over time. Finally, we are really excited to be launching the Merchanter Notification Centre in 2023. This will give you total control over all the system alerts and notifications that each user receives. That means you can be confident that all the key metrics and alerts you need to see are right in front of you, without being bombarded all day with irrelevant notifications. We think it’s going to be a real game-changer for users and we can’t wait to get it rolled out next year. Emerging technology hub capability 2023 will be the year of connectivity. We follow industry trends carefully and aim to stay a step ahead in the future-readiness of our software, to give our customers every available advantage. Cloud technology is a wonderful enabler. It represents a key shift in the way that people and businesses use technology – a system like Merchanter is able to sit at the centre of your business and link to the platforms and services you wish to add on to take your organisation forward, rather than being responsible for every function itself. It’s a huge step forward in terms of being future-ready and puts users in a strong position to take advantage of emerging technologies which can really benefit merchant business. It means you can choose the best-in-class solution for each business area, rather than shoe-horning everything into one massive, lumbering system. Agility and response-time are crucial in today’s volatile commercial landscape and the flexible, interoperable nature of a cloud system puts you in exactly the right place to take advantage of the new tools at your disposal. In 2022 we have set up some great integrations with major eCommerce and finance platforms, and plan to increase these capabilities further in 2023. We are also looking at advanced data migration and analytics integrations, as well as new routes to market like NearSt and SnapIt, to name a couple. Having the option to add on the right elements for your business will be hugely powerful. As always, if there area specific integrations you would like us to set up, we would be happy to investigate the feasibility and action where possible. Let’s work together 2023 looks set to be an exciting, if almost certainly challenging, year. With collaboration, communication and commitment, we know it can be enormously successful. We are so grateful to our customers for continuing to recommend our system to other industry colleagues. Thank you to all our customers and industry colleagues who have supported and championed Ten-25 and Merchanter over the last year – let’s see where we can go together next. Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features
- 8 reasons NOT to buy a new ERP system
We talk a lot about why you should invest in a digital ERP system. What we talk about less are the reasons why you might not. We know it's a big decision - we just happen to think it's worth it. So here are our 8 top reasons NOT to invest in a shiny new ERP system. 1) It’s really expensive There’s no getting away from it. Good ERP software, complete with implementation package, continual upgrade capability and full-time helpdesk support, does not come cheap. But would you want it to? Your business is pretty important, yes? It makes sense to invest in systems which can help it to thrive, and which can evolve alongside it. The time, experience and cost of designing, building, delivering and servicing complex ERP systems is immense, and so the cost is always going to be high. But the potential value of a great system to drive process efficiency, waste reduction and profitability is much greater. In fact, a good ERP system should be able to pay for itself in the value it brings to your business and even add value on top. So when you think about it, is it really that expensive? 2) It’s disruptive to implement Yes. Yes it is. Again, no getting away from it. Changing to a new system is never a walk in the park. HOWEVER. Firstly, NOT changing can be much more damaging in the long run, as you lose out on scalability and functionality which can really benefit your business and boost efficiencies and process improvements across the board. Secondly, choosing a cloud system means, on the whole, significantly less disruption than any legacy system could ever dream of. Everything from demo to training can be done remotely, and if your chosen system happens to be intuitively designed for easy use, your workforce can be up and running much faster than you might imagine. 3) I’m going to lose a lot of data moving systems Well yes, you might. It’s a possibility. Data migration can be painful, depending on the interoperability of the systems you’re switching between and the complexity of the information you’re carrying over. But when was the last time you audited all the information you hold? When did you last give it a good spring clean and make sure it’s all up to date? It might be a hassle, but actually migrating data can be a brilliant opportunity to give your information an overhaul and make sure it’s a) up to date, b) relevant and c) in a format that will be compatible with other systems, like your PIM or CRM system. So while you might "lose" some data along the way, it's likely only to be information that you are better off without. 4) My staff are going to hate me for this OK, so people don’t often like change, or the idea of it. If you’ve been using a particular system for years, it’s may seem easier to stick with it. And as we've said before, implementing a new system can be disruptive and involves work and learning. But "easier" isn’t necessarily what’s best for your business. Or, for that matter, for your people. How do you know what might work better, faster and more efficiently, if you don’t look around at what’s in the market? New digital systems like Merchanter are designed with ease of use front and centre. It’s not difficult to learn, and it makes every process, every day, simpler and easier for a more productive and enjoyable experience. So while you might get a bit of resistance up front, they’re going to thank you in the long run. 5) I don’t want to pay for a load of features I don’t need Of course you don’t. Why would you? Your business is unique, and has its own requirements. Some are small and just getting started while others have years of habit and experience of doing things in a certain way. Some are expanding, some are diversifying – but all of them need to make intelligent business decisions which ensure the future continuity of the business. Some ERP systems, like Merchanter, offer a range of user options so you can simply pick the features package each user will require. That means you’re not paying over the odds for features you don’t need or want. But it also means that as you grow, you can easily switch between user bands to enable more advanced functionality or new features to suit emerging parts of the business. 6) We’ve used the same supplier for years OK, this one is harder to get around and we hear you. We’ve worked with loads of our customers for a very long time and we would hate to see any of them jump ship and look elsewhere. That said, if it were the right decision for their business, we would of course understand. Relationships are extremely important, and if you work with a supplier you trust and respect, but aren’t happy with the software, why not talk to them about it? Modern system architecture often enables faster adaptation and addition of new features so it’s possible your current system can be upgraded to have the functionality you need. And sometimes the business decision will outweigh the relationship and you need to do what’s best for your people and your business. Whatever your situation, we urge you to choose a software supplier who you get on with, who takes the time to understand your business and who you see yourself having a good working relationship with. The software is really important, but so are the people and relationships involved, and we know these decisions aren’t always easy. 7) It doesn’t do EXACTLY what we need it to do This can be a deal breaker, for sure. Maybe you were looking for an end-to-end system, but the one you like doesn’t have an accounts package. Maybe you wanted a module for transport, or a particular function for supplier rebate management. Firstly, if you’re looking at a cloud-based system, talk to the supplier. Modern system architecture is far more flexible than with traditional systems, so it’s far more feasible to adapt and add functions and features than it used to be. Secondly, if the system has a good level of interoperability with third party apps and platforms, you don’t necessarily need it to do everything. Linking in with a specialist accounts package like Sage or Xero might be simpler (especially if you already use it!) and often it’s cheaper and quicker to simply link with a sector specialist than to design custom software features from scratch. So yes, it CAN be a deal-breaker. But it doesn’t have to be. 8) I don’t know which to choose – there’s a lot of choice out there There are lots of great digital ERP options out there for merchants like you. And, while we appreciate that it doesn’t make the decision any easier, that’s a great position to be in, as it means you can shop around and find both the software and supplier that suits you and your business best. If you register here , we’ll send you login details for our own Merchanter online demo system so you can have a play for yourself. The wealth of choice on offer can be bewildering but it’s a great position to be in. Don’t rely on habit – ask more from your IT supplier, and get the best software for you. Still not convinced? If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your trading or stock management system but for whatever reason, haven’t done so yet – it might be time to ask yourself what’s stopping you. There has never been a more urgent need for merchants to embrace the opportunities that digital ERP systems have to offer, and provide an upscaled level of productivity, service and profitability. So maybe it's finally time to say YES. If you'd like to try Merchanter completely free and with no obligation and no pesky sales people loitering in the background, just register here and we will send you login details for the online demo system.
- Coming soon: New "Catalogue" Smart Product Status Feature
Coming soon: smart new “catalogue” product status feature We’re excited to unveil a feature so new it’s not actually live yet! It’s still in testing and is due to roll out with system updates in the autumn, but we wanted to give you a heads up as we think it’s pretty great. (If we do say so ourselves) Introducing a new product status As a merchant, your product file is crucial. Keeping up to date with what products you sell is one thing – keeping up to date with what products you might sell, or have ever sold, is another thing entirely. We are introducing a new product status to help merchants manage their product portfolio more quickly and easily, both operationally and administratively. “Live” products are the items and materials you actively buy, stock and trade. “Catalogue” products are those which you may have sold in the past but which haven’t been actively traded for a certain period of time (and yes, you get to specify what the period of time is, to suit you) This means that day-to-day, you’re sorting through a smaller, more easily managed product list, speeding things up and simplifying everyday tasks. But you have the scope to broaden that list out to search all the products you might trade, or have traded in the past, all without cluttering up your everyday operations and searches. Effectively it’s an archiving system, but one which saves time and effort on a daily basis and – crucially – doesn’t need manual administration. Intelligent categorisation and system management The system will automatically be able to assign products as live or catalogue depending on how recently that product has been actively bought, stocked or traded in your business. So, the products in your yard or warehouse, the ones being bought and sold regularly, the ones you most commonly trade, are all identified as live products. You can set the parameters to say at what point a product will drop into catalogue. It might be 3 months, or a year, that’s up to you. But once you’ve set it up, the system manages it for you so you don’t have to worry about it. The product is still there, able to be accessed at any time, and once it is bought, stocked or sold again, it’s automatically back on the active, live list. Saving time and effort without compromising range If you have a product file of 20K products but only actively trade 5K of them, logically speaking it’s going to take you a lot longer to sort through those additional 15K lines when you don’t need to. Thanks to Merchanter’s intelligent product status categorisation, it will automatically show you the products which are, day-to-day, the most relevant, thereby saving you time and effort. The rest of the product portfolio is still right there, and if it does become active, it will go straight back into the “live” list without you needing to do anything. It’s a clever little change which we hope will be a big benefit to our customers. We’d love to know what you think of it once it’s rolled out later in the year, so please do let us know! Try the Merchanter Demo Pricing Features
- 4 numbers that could transform your sales strategy
When it comes to sales, it’s sometimes hard to know where to focus first. There are so many elements to think about, it’s not always easy to know the best way forward. Merchants are facing lots of challenges right now, like volatile pricing, uncertain availability, rising fuel and energy prices and even recruitment issues, it can feel like a minefield. So we thought it would be helpful to look at a really simple set of numbers that can transform your sales approach and create some brilliant quick wins. It’s worth noting that Merchanter has over 120 KPIs as standard, so there are plenty more features and tools which can help you boost sales, profitability and efficiency. Today, we’re looking at four very specific KPIs which, when used together, can practically write your sales and marketing plan for you. In later blogs we’ll dive into more of the system’s capabilities and help you get the most back from it. Customer analysis worth its weight in timber It’s deceptively simple, but these four numbers can tell you a great deal about what’s going on in your business and where you need to focus. New Customers Obvious, right? This is, quite simply, the number of new customers acquired in your specified time period. So far so easy. And right underneath it, this particular image says “no change.” So, you know that this number hasn’t increased. Once you start to use the system for a while and build up the information, you can then start to learn what your normal rate of acquisition is, and compare data over the last 30 days or six months, for example, to see where the trends and patterns are. Once you know that, you know whether you’re on track to hit targets and, crucially, whether there are gaps to fill. And if there are gaps, whether they’re perfectly normal or something to be a bit more concerned about. What’s the action? This metric lets you know at a glance whether you need to focus specifically on attracting new people. That might be through a marketing campaign, a sales promotion or perhaps even by using a new sales channel like NearSt, or using a marketplace platform. Whatever you choose, you have the information to hand that lets you know where to focus. Existing Customers You can immediately see whether this number is going up or down, so you know again where to focus your efforts. It’s much cheaper, generally speaking, to keep existing customers happy than have to go out searching for new ones, so it's a really important factor. What’s the action? If this number is rising steadily over time then great, though still make sure they’re happy, and look at whether you could upsell more to those customers to increase revenue. If the number’s dropping, then you need to act fast and work out why customers aren’t returning to buy from you. There could be a whole host of reasons but critically it puts you in control and lets you know where to turn your attention. Inactive Customers People who have bought from you before but who haven’t been back for a while (and you can set how long this period is yourself) are a rich opportunity for quick sales. Unless there’s a very good reason for them not coming back to you, there’s a good chance that by reminding them you exist, you could encourage them back again. You can also look at the increase / decrease to see which way the inactive customer moved – did they buy again, thereby becoming active again? Or did they slip into the dormant category, which might need more action from you? What’s the action? You might decide to run a promotion to entice these customers back again, or conduct some research to find out why they left. Either way, you have the information to know where to focus, and can then decide on the best way to go about winning them back again. And if there was a bad experience in the past, it’s much better to address and fix it than potentially let their bad press turn other prospective customers against you too! Dormant Customers These are customers who haven’t bought from you for a significant period of time. It might be that they simply no longer need your services but sometimes there’s more to the story. In this particular example, alarm bells would probably be ringing as that number is increasing. What’s the action? That’s up to you but you have a ready-made list of customers who have bought from you before. Like the inactive customers, there may well be some among them who could be tempted back with a good offer. But at least you have the information there at your fingertips to work with, and looking at the four numbers together can help you build a really clear picture of how your sales attraction and retention processes are working out. It literally pays to know your numbers Of course, not every system is the same so depending on the one you’re using, it might not be as easy to uncover these sorts of numbers. But the advantages of knowing them are potentially huge, helping you to focus sales and marketing opportunities on quicker wins rather than hoping your efforts land with the right audience. We will continue to look at sales tools within the system over the coming weeks. If you want to check out more of them for yourself, why not sign up for online demo access , which is free for 30 days, so you can see for yourself how much easier life would be with the information Merchanter provides. Over to you - what are the issues causing pressure for your sales team right now?
- One Year On
As we neared the end of 2017, we took a look back on what had happened in the year. In the summer, we welcomed a number of new customers to the Ten-25 family (some of you may even remember us writing about them in our newsletter - you can sign up here ) We caught up with them to see how they were getting on. If you have been using a system for a long time, it becomes second nature to you. All those little short cuts and tricks you have learned take time, so switching to a new system will always take a while to bed in. As Charlie Socofsky of Channel Timber commented: After doing things one way for 30 years, it has taken us a while to adapt. We’re getting there though, and we know the features of the system will be really beneficial. There’s a lot of potential there to do even more than we’re already doing, and we’re getting to grips with it all now. We know it isn’t always easy learning new ways of doing things, and we’re always available to provide ongoing help and advice for our customers. We pride ourselves on our service, and provide as much training and support as our customers need to get them up and running. Jarlath Blewett of AJ Ferguson said: The training up front was very useful; in fact there was so much information it was difficult to take it all in before being up and running with the system . He suggested that perhaps splitting training over time, allowing users to get to grips with the basics before following up with the more complex functions, might be useful, and this is certainly something we are happy to work on. The longer you use a system and the better you know it, the more you’re likely to get out of it. Charlie Socofsky said: The data available on the system is tremendously useful, and the more we use it and add to it, the more useful it becomes. We’re making real headway with it, which looks set to improve even more the longer we use it. Jarlath Blewett added: We’re confident this is the system for us – it’s absolutely right for our business, even if it takes a while to get really proficient with. There will always be little niggles with any new system, as it’s such as big change, but overall we are happy with it and I’m sure as we get to know it better, we’ll get even more value from the excellent reporting features. “Every business is different,” agrees Charlie. “We all have our own ways of doing things so it will take a while for any new system to be completely tailored. We needed a few adjustments up front which took time, but Ten-25 listened to all those needs and made the changes we requested. It speaks volumes that we hardly ever have to contact Ten-25 these days – but we know they’re there if we need them.” So, what should you be aware of if you’re thinking about taking on a new system? Be patient . Any new system is going to take a while to bed in, and even longer to become second nature. Think through your needs up front . If you think the system needs adapting to suit your business, ask us; chances are, we can tailor it to meet your needs. Consider splitting out the training . We can look at covering basic usage up front, and then follow up with more in-depth training later on, so you’re not overwhelmed. Take a long term view . Yes, our systems are user-friendly but old habits die hard, and it will take a few months for everyone in your business to get to grips fully with the workings of a new system. Talk to us . If you have any concerns at all, we’re always just a phone call or an email away, and will happily give you the support you need. Do you have any comments or advice to add? Please get in touch and let us know! And thank you to Jarlath and Charlie for their honest and helpful feedback.
- 10 ways a cloud ERP system can drive sustainability in your merchant business
Sustainability must remain at the top of the business agenda. We are facing enormous challenges in our future, with Covid-19 and Brexit dominating many headlines, but climate change needs consistent, sustained effort and we all need to do what we can. Business practices have moved on a long way in recent years, and the rise of cloud technology has expedited a number of efficiencies which can have significant impact on sustainability. If you are using an industry-specific, cloud based ERP system to control your merchant operations, here are just 10 of the ways your software can drive enhanced sustainability. 1. Use less paper A cloud system enables the simple transfer and recording of digital documents, even down to delivery notes and PoDs. Add in POs, invoicing, digital product certification and so on, and you can start to see how the quantities of paper being used across the business can quickly rack up. 2. Source responsibly Your software can help you to actively seek out the most responsible, sustainable sources of materials, whether that be FSC and PEFC certified timber or simple comparisons between steel sources and suitability . 3. Certification documenting Thanks to digital documentation and simpler filing, it’s never been easier to store, access and filter product certification , helping you to select responsible materials in the first place and ensure the audit trail is intact from supplier to end user. 4. Reduce waste This is a broad one (and we expand on it further below). But with more efficient stock management comes reduced wastage, as you manage overstocks more effectively and streamline processes. But there is also a reduction of administrative time and wasted resource on the running and documentation of the business, including paperwork, to reduce waste in many ways throughout the business. 5. Logistics efficiency Your ERP system can help you drive significant efficiencies in your logistics and supply chain. For one thing, having clear and holistic control over the movement of stock and orders can help you combine orders and reduce low-volume or inefficient deliveries, but you can also improve route-mapping efficiency to reduce mileage and time spent on the road. You can also improve turnaround time and avoid waste through enhanced management of orders going directly from supplier to customer, or back-to-back deliveries through your sites. 6. Workforce capability and flex A cloud ERP system enables more flexible and remote working, requiring fewer staff to be on site, fewer journeys being made for office time or meetings, and can facilitate a much more agile workforce with more efficient working practices. And the simpler it is to use, the more engaged and productive your workforce will be, improving productivity and helping every member of the team to develop faster and further than ever before. 7. Hardware Legacy systems often require cumbersome servers and hardware, which need regular updating, not to mention on-site servicing. A true cloud-based ERP system allows you to run your business on your smart device and is hosted in the cloud, negating the need for material-hungry specialist hardware and visits to the site for updates. 8. Re-deploy, re-use, re-cycle Using your ERP system to drive effective and accurate stock management has so many benefits for sustainability it requires more than one point in this list. Using various KPIs, such as stock turn, stock value, order frequency and so on, you can see very easily which products are driving your business forward and which are languishing in the yard, costing you more than they’re making. Identifying these culprits can present great opportunities for repositioning or re-using products in other ways; if you’re selling out of 2m lengths of timber but overflowing with 4m, there seems a simple solution. 9. Agility to reclassify and use “less than perfect” products Just as supermarkets have been on a drive to reduce waste and sell "wonky" fruit and veg, there are plenty of products that are damaged in transit or production which would normally be written off and wasted, but which retain functional use. Because your ERP system should give you the flexibility to create your own product lines, you can still use these where there is a functional need, perhaps at a lower price point or as an add-on for “behind-the-scenes” materials which don’t need to be beautiful to do their jobs. Split packs or make up your own – whatever you need to and however you want to do it, the flexibility is there at your fingertips to ensure you have the power to reduce waste significantly. 10. Boost profitability to stay in business As Lord Deben said at the BMF Annual Conference , sustainability is not just about climate change and environmentalism. It is also about educating your staff to help customers make more sustainable choices, and above all, staying in business. Economies need sustaining too and in the construction industry we have a collective responsibility to source responsibly and educate customers in sustainable practices – so the number one concern is staying in business to do those things. With an intelligent, cloud-based ERP system to help you operate your business more efficiently and use more data-driven decision-making, waste goes down and profits go up. You stay in business, employ good people, educate customers and have the platform to do more good. And that is a win-win if ever we’ve seen one. “This is a future we know we have to have. Climate change has shown us the path we need to be on. This is not an add-on, or an extra. It’s what you need to do, to be profitable and to safeguard your business. If you don’t, others will, and you will lose out. …To be a successful merchant, that’s where you need to go, and you’ll make the world a better place in the process.” - Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change
- New Feature – Electronic Document Scanning
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
- How do you know what you don't know?
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.
- How's your stock confidence today?
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.
- 5 ways to find the perfect match
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