[Feature Release] OrderEase B2B Order Management Technology 2021 Year in Review

2021 was a BIG year for OrderEase technology development.  There were significant advancements and technology releases in both the B2B order management software solution as you will read below, as well as within the Trade Show platform which you can review in a separate post here. 

In this feature release, year in review article, you will be able to review key release highlights, which are the most notable and impactful to your business.  Of course there was a lot more happening in the background, but that type of stuff was “non-visible” to you as a user…it was background development required to host and deliver the complex architecture we have built to serve your business.

Key B2B Order Management Solution Feature Releases:

Engagement

User Experience

Reporting

Don't forget to check out 2022:  A Look Into What’s to Come

ORDER MANAGEMENT Core Technology Enhancements

Engagement

Order Anything. Anywhere. Anytime.
ALL B2B Users: Sales APP is easier to use than ever.

The APP is a great tool for sales reps or retail staff to place orders with their suppliers. Get global coverage and order access 24/7. Click, tap or scan barcodes for quick order building. You can either login to OrderEase via the website portal or download the free OrderEase App for your mobile device. 

User Experience

OrderEase is now simpler and more intuitive. Spend less time. Get more done.

B2B BUYING and SELLING Users: Re-design for primary and secondary level pages 

The OrderEase platform is renowned for its ease of use when placing wholesale orders. The intuitive interface continues to evolve as we improve and add functionality, incorporating best practices and user feedback. This continuous improvement methodology has been applied to key landing pages within the primary and secondary levels of the platform. Element changes have been subtle - but provide big impact for all users:

1. Improvement to user efficiency. Your time is valuable.  We evolved our design to be more user-friendly, simple and intuitive

2. Improved system speed. We implemented  more powerful servers and programming with our user interface as part of our continuous improvement process to meet speed expectations.

3. Improved flexibility and function.  The updated design allows us to quickly integrate new functionality and improve the flexibility of existing functions.  

More fulfillment options.
B2B BUYING and SELLING Users: Now Offering Fulfillment Options by assigning “Fulfilled By”

OrderEase provides flexibility when it comes to catalog creation and sharing. Now we have even more with fulfillment options.

Scenario 1: Suppliers can create catalogs, share with their own sales reps.  Orders placed with these catalogs are directly fulfilled by the supplier. 

Scenario 2: Supplier creates a catalog, assigns “fulfilled by” to a distributor. Suppliers can create catalogs and share with a distributor and/or sales agency. 

In this instance, the catalog “lives” in the supplier account and the supplier controls the content of the catalog.  The catalog will be visible in the distributor / sales agent account for customers to place orders.  When an order is placed from this catalog, the order gets processed by the distributor, but the supplier has visibility to the orders that have been placed but these orders will not get pushed into the supplier system.

DROP SHIP: If catalogs indicate “fulfilled by” supplier, orders placed with these catalogs are directly fulfilled by the supplier.   This allows the distributor/agency to have visibility to sales from these catalogs, but orders placed do not get pushed into their system.

Scenario 3: Distributor or sales agent creates a catalog, assigns “fulfilled by” to a supplier.

In this instance, the catalog “lives” in the distributor account and the distributor controls the content of the catalog.  The catalog will be visible in the distributor / sales agent account for customers to place orders.  When an order is placed from this catalog, the order gets processed by the supplier (typically a drop ship situation), but the distributor / sales agent has visibility to the orders that have been placed but these orders will not get pushed into the distributor system.

Ordering made easier. 

B2B BUYING and SELLING Users:  Order History Rollover and Re-order Function

Retailers and sales reps are always pressed for time and need to have relevant information at their fingertips at critical points during the ordering process.  OrderEase makes ordering easier with 2 new functions:

1. Order History Mouse Rollover (BUYING and SELLING Users).  Order history is a convenient way for a buyer or sales rep to keep track of all current and past orders. Roll your mouse over the words “Order History” and see past order quantities, prices paid and date ordered. Better understand the order frequency and  amount of purchases. With the order history it becomes easy to track customers’ behavior, and the more you work with customers, the easier it will be to notice what routines they follow.
   
   
2. Re-order Function (BUYING and SELLING Users). This functionality makes a retailer buyer and sales rep’s time more efficient. Whether a previous order was a single item, or multiple items in one order, clicking the reorder icon corresponding to that order will create an order with the same items, saving time from navigating your customer’s digital catalog and adding these items to their order.  You have the option to keep the order exactly the same, add or remove items, or adjust quantities.
   
   

Down-to-the-minute promotional timing.

B2B SELLING Users: Assign to-the-minute timing for special pricing promotions 

A promotional pricing strategy is one of the best ways to generate quick demand for products. In most cases, a promotion is confined to a tight time frame, creating a sense of urgency. OrderEase has elevated the functionality of its promotional pricing so the time frame not only includes days, but can be listed down to the minutes.  This is especially useful for suppliers who can now pre-set door crasher style sales promotions.  

To make this feature more exciting to you, all you need to do is add the special pricing list to the applicable group(s) who receive the promotional pricing and set the start and expiry time.  Once the promotion is over, the system will automatically set back to the regular pricing you have set. 

Flexibility for promotions.

B2B SELLING Users: Quantity multiples with min/max purchase levels.

The OrderEase platform has tremendous flexibility when it comes to product promotions including the addition of minimum and maximum purchasing quantity levels - especially when dealing with multiples (eg BOGO). The new feature helps sellers ensure proper multiples are ordered, excess products purchasing is managed, and minimum product order requirements can be managed.  With this feature, you can ensure moving the right product, at the right volume with fair distribution amongst customers.

Update product info quicker. 

B2B SELLING Users: Enhanced product import functionality improves speed and ease of use when adding/editing products.   

We save sellers a lot of time in the ordering process by hosting digital catalogs within the OrderEase system.  Even though the catalogs are digital, we are aware that changes happen, often with many products at once. 

To improve the experience of managing these changes, we have  improved our import functionality making it simple and easy to execute. As well as improved importing, we have also added bulk editing capabilities for some key product features that often require mass updates. For example you can use all-inclusive GENERAL approach for a one swipe at all SKUs, or use additional fields for a more selective approach (eg. all products with Ecommerce focus like  Shopify). Further criteria allows suppliers to drill down further to make a wide range of changes.

Sample fields to narrow or widen bulk editing:

1. Sales channels (offer as dropship, dropship price, fulfillment method, etc).
2. Product assignments (category, family of product, feature levels, etc)
3. Product related (descriptions, features, specifications)
4. Pricing (net, MAP, MSRP, wholesale)
   

New options to show product availability.

B2B SELLING Users: Sales reps are able to toggle to see / hide out-of-stock items

Nobody wants to be out of stock.  Previously, there were 2 ways a catalog could be set up to show product availability:

1. OPTION 1: All products assigned to a catalog are shown to customers and sales reps, whether in stock or not.  An out of stock image appears along with the stock quantity of “0”.
   
2. OPTION 2: Only products assigned to a catalog that are in stock are visible to customers and sales reps.

With the new feature, if the catalog is set up with Option1 configuration, the sales rep now has the ability to toggle and hide the out of stock items.  This makes it easier for quick ordering of only stock items, but still allows the sales rep to see other products (even though out of stock) that are available to that customer.

Sell to your entire customer or prospect base easier.

B2B SELLING Users: Customize and export digital catalogs, barcode sheets 

Create custom catalogs (SKUs, custom prices, price groups, etc) and export. Easy to share. Save on printing. Export barcode sheets to make ordering/re-ordering easier and faster while using the OrderEase app.  Just build your order by scanning the required barcodes and add quantities. Also a great feature to use during in-person trade shows.

One account access expands to buyers AND sales reps.

B2B BUYING and SELLING Users: One login for multiple store locations

This continues with our core advantage “ONE Account. ONE Login. ALL Access”!  The initial OrderEase platform allowed a buyer to log into a single portal to access all suppliers on the platform.  We have taken that concept even further.  If you are a buyer user managing purchases for multiple business entities, you would have been able to select which location / business you are buying for.  Our next step took that same concept and extended it to sales reps. 

We recognize that there are many sales agents who rep multiple brands / suppliers, who may all be in the OrderEase ecosystem.  As a result, we needed to give these agents the ability to use one email address to log into all of the different accounts they sell for.   Now they no longer need to use different emails, different platforms, or try to remember all of the different logins or just trying to keep catalogs and orders straight.

With ONE OrderEase account, a sales rep or a B2B buyer can log into their portal and toggle between the different companies they represent. Easy!

Reporting

Sales analysis at your fingertips

B2B SELLING Users: New reporting feature includes products sold by customer by time frame.

OrderEase reporting already let’s sellers see live sales activities such as knowing who has ordered and drill downs to identify specific order details. Our new report feature called “Products Crossed with Customers” allows suppliers to see all products sold to all customers in a chosen time period - without the previous drill down.

Exporting this report provides data for an additional depth of analysis to identify sales velocity of products per customer.  This gives your sales team insights for opportunities to reach to other customers to create awareness about hot products. 

2022:  A Look Into What’s to Come

OrderEase is grateful to all its customers and the successes we have collectively enjoyed in 2021. It was another period that saw businesses deal with a constant state of change, and together, OrderEase was able to help its partners navigate forward.  With major engagement, user experience and reporting updates to our order management platform and all-in-one trade show platform, the OrderEase innovations continued to excel.  

We look forward to continuing this momentum in 2022. Our focus will continue to excel our core ordering technology along with driving into partnerships and integrations.

2022 upcoming features for Q1 / Q2:

1. Offline ordering with mobile sales app. Don’t let limited WiFi at retail locations or poor cellular connectivity in remote locations stop you from placing orders.  Now simply with this feature release, you will be able to build your order within the app which will auto-save and sync when WiFi becomes available. Order any time. Anywhere.
   
   
2. Knowledge center. This is a central repository of multiple types of media you need to host and share with your team or customers.  You can categorize and store sales and marketing materials, health and safety documents, product training information and more!   All the latest information, accessible in one location. Perfect for your internal team and even better for external partners and customers.
   
3. Enhanced shipping windows.  Refine your order and fulfillment workflow with new shipping date features.  Set  specific individual day(s) and time(s), cut-offs to place orders, or use recurring rules (i.e. Place orders every Tues by 2pm ET in order to receive shipment by Thurs 1pm ET).  By refining cut off dates/times, customers can improve order management and get better control over shipping flow.  Notification for emergency orders (ie orders placed after cut-off) or delays in fulfillment/alternative ship dates/times will also be available.

We pride ourselves in being progressive and innovative, which is a direct result of our customers and their dedication to working together with us.  Stay tuned for all of the new and exciting features we will be releasing throughout 2022!