Changing E-Commerce Software Packages - Part 3: Selecting a New Provider

This is the next part in a short series of posts about the process of changing the core software I run my business on. Part 1 was about clearing down existing workload and the overview of the project, and Part 2 covered experting the data from the existing software package.

As before, it's mainly so help me document for myself what I've done, but done on Hive because it might help anyone else who is thinking of doing something similar.

Image by REDQUASAR from Pixabay

Overview

This is a stage of the project where I start at a high level, then get more granular with a second iteration.

The idea is to identify key basic requirements, and build up a list of as many possible software providers as I can find. I also identify a few characteristics which act as immediate "show-stoppers". Then I work through the list of candidates weeding out those who fail on key requirements or trip over a show stopper.

That leaves me (hopefully !) with a shortlist of just those software packages to investigate in more detail. So I look at the requirements I've identified, break them down into a detailed view, and work through the candidate packages to understand how and if they meet the detailed requirements.

At this granular level, I want to get an understanding of how they work, what is similar to how I do things now and what is going to be different. I want to get an impression of how the business will have to change to work with the new package.

Key Requirements

An outline of the basic requirements is;

• Needs smooth integrations with key sales channels; WooCommerce, eBay and Amazon. Fruugo is a "nice to have" but not essential.
• Needs to have an integration with Royal Mail (OBA and Tracked).
• An integration with DespatchLab (used with our courier aggregator for deliveries by DPD & Yodel) would be wonderful but is unlikely, so there needs to be an effective workaround.
• Must have the equivalent of Linnworks Rules Engine, or some other way to accurately configure shipping types by destination, weight and order value.
• Must synchronise orders and stock to all channels at least every 15 minutes.
• Must handle inventory management and be capable of generating Purchase Orders based on specified minimum stock levels
• Must be capable of working with our repricing software, or replacing it with an equivalent capability.
• Needs to cost the same or less than our current supplier (but if it includes replacement of the repricing software, that can be added to the budget).
• Needs a price structure that works for us. This includes recognising limitations of SKU or order numbers in price bands that fit our needs - some packages have limits of 5,000 or 10,000 SKU's at standard price bands.
• Should ideally be UK based or be able to communicate fluently in English (including support teams).
• Should allow us to correctly configure VAT (tax) in compliance with UK legislation.

While this looks like a lot, at this stage all I'm looking at finding out is whether the software can do these things. How they do them gets dealt with later.

Reviewing the Initial List of Possible Providers

Over a period of time, I've been quietly building up a list of software companies who make possible packages to fill our need. It's been a mix of searching online and monitoring chatter in business-specific social media channels.

With this long-list, there are a number of things which I've decided will immediately rule a candidate out. That includes not making pricing available, or having things like "contact us for a quote". If they won't show their pricing it means they price based on what they think you can afford or can negotiate with a salesman, which is a game I hate playing !

There are a couple of other things which, while not an instant fail, will put me off unless there is some other very good reason to like them. That includes things like;

• Having to sign up to a long contract without an adequate trial period.
• Taking a percentage of each order as commission as well as a flat fee.
• Having a large up-front setup fee.
• I'm also less interested in packages that focus too heavily on marketplaces to the exclusion of our website.

What I would add is that the software packages I rejected aren't bad, it's just that they are not a good fit for my requirements. Other businesses have different needs, and could very likely find that one of the providers I rejected is a perfect fit for their business model.

The Candidates

Some of the candidates I looked at included;

• Cloud Commerce Pro - No pricing shown. Instant fail.
• Expandly - interesting, but it looks like API access is only available at enterprise level. The killer was that shipping is via an API to Easypost; Expandly claims it's a free integration, but Easypost's own website contradicted that.
• Khaos Control - a triumph of fluff over substance. Looks slick, but it's impossible to work out how the order flow works or whether they integrate with Royal Mail. No pricing shown.
• Khoocommerce - appears to have changed to be an Amazon vendor-only package.
• Mintsoft - looks good, but expensive and everything seems to incur an extra charge. Death by salami slice !
• Orderwise - No pricing shown, and some of the reviews were pretty damning.
• Plentymarkets - Over-complex price structure; looks cheap at first glance, but every integration after the first adds another 19 EUR per month.
• Storefeeder - Quite expensive, reviews highlight that it can sometimes be slow. Part of Royal Mail, which is a concern.
• Tradebox - mainly seems to be a bridge between other packages, doesn't do shipping or inventory management.
• True Commerce - no prices shown. Very clearly aiming at enterprice level customers.
• Ombori Grid - primarily aimed at bricks & mortar retailers who just want a small online presence. But it looks really good, so one to watch for the future.
• Sellbrite - looks perfect, except for the fact it is totally US-focused. Shame !
• Channel Advisor - ferociously expensive, focused on marketplaces and international growth (exactly what we're not focused on !)
• Eseller Pro - was previously VOLO. Has a bad reputation for technical glitches.
• Seller Dynamics - almost made the shortlist. The only reason it didn't is because shipping all appears to go through them, so we'd lose our existing accounts with shipping suppliers and the discounts that go with them.

There were three that made the shortlist, so I looked into them in more detail;

• Baselinker - complrehensive but looks the most complex to integrate and fairly pricey.
  *Veeqo - currently free but has slightly limited functionality and (a big concern) is owned by Amazon. They claim the data on customers, sales, costs etc is segregated. They also say that access is unaffected if your Amazon account is suspended. Given Amazon's form in other areas I'm a little wary of trusting either of those promises !
• Selro - appears to tick all the boxes. The only potential issue is that they are a relatively new company and reviews indicate their support could be a bit hit-or-miss. But then Linnworks' support is poor, so I doubt it'll be worse !

There are two other options not on the shortlist, but still kept in mind.

One is staying with Linnworks (expensive and regularly frustrating, but avoids the opportunity cost of learning a new package, swapping known bugs for an exciting selection of unknown ones).

The other is to centralise everything on our WooCommerce website and use plugins for the various integrations and marketplaces. It's highly cost-effective, but risks having all our eggs in one basket. The admin panel is slow, which might be a pain point, and we may have to upgrade our server to handle the extra load.

This post has ended up far longer than I planned ! But I feel it's worth trying to explain some of the thought processes as well as the dry bullet points.

The conclusion I've reached is that Selro looks like the best option, so I'll do the 14 day free trial. The next post will cover how that goes....