Order Type and Order Category

If you would like to further segment your orders, you can request to have the order type & order category feature to be activated (just reach out to us by emailing help@readytoview.com). Use this feature to differentiate your orders into categories (such as jewelry, men’s, etc.) and types (such as immediate, reorder, show, etc.).

 

Once you have the feature available to your showroom, establish your Order Categories and Order Types under “Setup Categories.”

order type1

 

Click “add record” to create new order categories/types.

order type

 

 

When adding an order, you’ll be able to assign an order category, and optionally, an order type.

NOTE:
Once this feature is activated, order category is mandatory while order type is not. If you only care to use one of these features, use order categories.

 

order type2

 

 

 

Once you enter your orders with order categories and/or order types, you can filter (or sort) your orders with these 2 new attributes.

order type3

 

 

You can also filter most report results by order type and order category. The following reports have this filtering ability:

  • Top Customers
  • Sales by Mfr/Customer
  • Sales by Customer/Mfr
  • Annual Sales by Month
  • Forecasting Analysis by Season
  • Open Orders.

 

 

order type4

Customizing Your Excel PO Import

The video below is a demo of how you can adjust the excel order import template to fit your showroom’s identity. Most importantly, it covers cell names in excel, their significance, and how you can move/edit/delete them to your liking.

This article is related to the Excel Order Import Add-On feature. More on this feature here.

https://youtu.be/OfyeltpUjPQ

Invoice Import Add-On

Showroom Exchange offers an optional feature that allows you to bulk-import invoices (your commission statements).
Ask your brands/mfrs to send your commission/shipment reports in an Excel sheets that includes the expected information, such as mfr po #, invoice #, amount shipped, date paid, etc.,
You can import this information all at once, eliminating data-entry.

Once the optional feature is activated, you can access it from the reports tab and by clicking “import/export options” to bulk import invoices.

 

invoice import

 

 

 

The next page is where you can both download a sample invoice import excel template file and submit the invoice import files for processing. To download the template file, click on the link “SR_Invoices” at the bottom of the page. To import a completed file or a .zip of completed Excel files, click browse, select the file, then click “submit” at the bottom of the page.

NOTE the section titled “Important:”, it contains important requirements necessary to properly import invoices.

 

invoice import2

 

 

 

Showroom Exchange will then process the invoices on the provided excel sheet.

1) The following page shows you how many records will AND won’t be imported (due to errors or missing info).
2) To see why records might not have been imported, click on the TXT or CSV links to download error logs.
3) Click proceed to save the successfully imported invoices

invoice import3

 

 

Import Excel Orders/POs Add-On

We’ve released a new add on that will allow showroom reps/users the ability to bulk import orders from excel sheets.

By entering your orders on an excel sheet, you not only save paper and make your business “greener,” but you can save time by not having to re-enter all of the information again into Showroom Exchange! Much like the Joor/NuOrder Import Module or the Invoice Import Module, you can import a large number of excel files at once, saving you time.

Once the feature is activated, go to the reports tab to import Excel Order Files

excel imports1

 

 

The following page is where you can select your Excel file or .zip file of multiple Excel files to import into Showroom Exchange.

 

A template of a PO Excel sheet is provided for your convenience, select the “Click Here” link to download the sample template file.

excel imports4

 

Below is the template Excel Order File that downloads when you click the link:
Excel Order Template

 

You can customize the Excel file for your showroom. you can change the logo, change the layout, etc.However ALL NAMED cells must also be included in your custom version. You can move these cells around, just make sure the name stays the same.

To be clear, the NAME of a cell is different than the value entered in the cell.

See the image below for a list of all of the cells with assigned names, as well as an example of a name in Excel.

excel imports9

 

 

 

Note: In the grid that contains the actual order, we use Excel mathematical equations to provide a unit total and an amount total to import into SE.

Once you have imported an excel file or a .zip file of Excel files, you will be taken to the page depicted below to verify your customer information and fill in any information that might have been missing from the Excel PO.

1) If the system is not recognizing a customer that is already an existing customer, select the “Assign” option to link the row to an existing customer.

2) “Map” means that this aspect of the customer has yet to be assigned. Click “Map” to select the correct value for the customer. If you try to save the customers and you see the warning “Please map customer data,” this suggests that there are still unassigned/missing values for the respective customer row.

3) Click “List Orders” to go to the next page

excel imports6

 

 

 

The order edit page is very similar to the previous page- here you can make edits, as well as add info that might not have been on the Excel PO, e.g.; rep, commission etc. Here too, you’ll find the “Map” option if something is missing on the excel order. If you can’t process the orders when you click “Import Orders,” look at the column on the far right to see an explanation as to why the order could not be imported. Make the edits to then properly save the orders.

excel imports 7

 

 

 

 

 

After clicking “Import Orders”, you’ll be taken to a confirmation page where you can see if your orders and customers were imported or not.

excel imports8

Order Scan Size Limitations

You’ll notice when uploading .zip file order scans, the size limitation warning as shown in the screenshot below. It states the maximum file-size of a single order scan should be no more than 1500 KB (or 1.5MB). And the maximum resolution should not exceed 1000 pixels x 1200 pixels.

order scan import size limitation

 

What should you do if your file size is too big?

There are many different programs (that help manipulate images in bulk) on the internet that allow you to reduce that size (both in size and resolution) of your large images.

We at Showroom Exchange use ACDSee (standard version): http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-18

ACDSee allows us to bulk reduce multiple images before uploading.
There are free options. here is 1 link.
NOTE: This is not an endorsement:

19 Best Free Bulk Image Converter

 

Order Scans

Showroom Exchange offers the ability to upload order scans as an optional feature.
Keep an electronic copy of the original order on file with the version you entered into Showroom Exchange to stay organized.

To upload order scans, click “maintain order scans” on the order tab.

order scans

 

Make sure all orders go by the file name “mfr^po#” (i.e. if the mfr code is ab, and the po# is 1234, the file name should be ab^1234).

To add order scans, you can 1) add just one at a time by clicking “add record,” 2) add several, about six, at the same time by clicking “add multiple records,” and 3) by uploading a .zip file by clicking “upload zip files.”

order scans1

 

Uploading order scans by .zip file is the most efficient way of uploading multiple order scans.

Once you have a group of orders you want to upload, highlight them all in windows explorer (or finder in mac os x) and convert them into a zip file. For Windows computers, right click the highlighted files, hover cursor over “send to,” and click “compressed zip.” More on Method 1 here: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Zip-File

For OS X, visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13964

The name of the zip file does not matter.

After clicking “upload zip files,” select the .zip file to upload. Showroom Exchange will add the order scans to the orders in the system. It will also tell you which files could not be uploaded (often because they haven’t been entered into Showroom Exchange yet).

You can also add order scans by clicking on the icon of a page with a green plus arrow (see below). Once an order scan is added, you can see the image by clicking on the icon of the sheet of paper. You can email the scan by clicking on the sheet of paper with the envelope icon over it.

order scans2

 

You can also add order scans when entering an order (see below).

order scans3

 

Seasons & Projections

We offer Seasons & Projections as optional features of Showroom Exchange.

With seasons, you can mark orders by season and season year. This allows you to track, search, and filter orders/customer order history by season.

Below are screenshots of adding an order, the orders tab, and the customer tab with seasons.

seasons6

seasons

seasons2

 

You may also automate the assignment of Seasons during order entry by defining rule-sets per mfr. e.g.; Assign any order entered for MfrX between 1/1/ANY_Year and 3/30/ANY_YEAR to Fall.

seasons5

 

The seasons feature also allows you to further analyze your data with two additional reports:
1) Forecasting Analysis by Season and
2) Season Comparison.

seasons4

 

Forecasting Analysis by Season

The seasons feature lets you make projections of your sales based on seasons. You can assign projected dollar values to customers as well as mfr’s (see below).

assign projection2 assign projection

 

 

 

You can then use the “Forecasting Analysis by Season” report to summarize your projections as well as compare them to your actual sales once orders have been entered (see below).

assign projection1

 

assign projection3

 

Season Comparison

In the Season Comparison Report, you can compare bookings by season and year, much like mfr yearly comparison and cust yearly comparison. Below, a sample report result:

seasons3

 

If you’re interested in activating the Seasons and Projections add-on to your showroom’s account, send us an email to help@readytoview.com and check out our pricing page for details:
https://www.showroomexchange.com/pricing.aspx

6 Benefits of Scanning Orders

Showroom Exchange’s order scanning add-on module (visual order management) allows you to scan and upload (in bulk) your orders (after order-entry).

What is it for?
Instead of leaving your desk to pull a physical copy of the order, use a single click to view the order as an image.

Usage scenario:
If a retailer contacts your showroom and mentions they did not order a style, your reps can view the original order and forward a copy to the retailer if necessary.

Is it right for our showroom?
1- How often should your reps leave their desk to pull an order (from the filing cabinet) but do not because they are too busy or it is too time consuming?
2- How often do your reps pull orders (from the filing cabinet) per day?
3- How often are your reps on the road and require access to the filing cabinet?
4- How do you share a single order copy between multiple locations? e.g.; bicoastal showrooms, home office and showroom
5- With an order image a click away, will your reps be more likely to look up orders?
6- How often does rep-A pull an order and forget to return it (or misplaces it) and rep-B cannot find the same order?

considering #2 from above:
It takes the average rep 2 to 3 minutes to lookup an order (assuming it was properly filed). This includes round trip (for a very small office) to the filing cabinet and re-filing of the order. 2 to 3 minutes does not include time to scan and email/fax, if necessary.
Repeated 3 to 5 times per day (for each rep), that’s approximately a 10 minute average per rep/day vs. 3 to 5 clicks (PLUS one-time scan effort).

Ultimately, it just boils down to time savings and productivity.

What it does not do:
eliminate the order entry process

What next?
– If feasible, measure the above for your own showroom and engage your reps for their feedback.
– Contact us to schedule time for a demo. tel: 213-438-0600 ext 2 or email help@readytoview.com

 

6 Benefits of Scanning Orders