October 2014 TECHNOLOGY ROUNDUP: ORDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS VENDOR ROUNDUP: OMS 2014 Multichannel Order Management Systems Roundup BY ERNIE SCHELL @ERNIESCHELL GPLUS.TO/ERNIESCHELL he big story this year is one of JDA applications). This provides a six- up and running for a couple of years (a corporate acquisitions. In the last year commitment for each version of the clothing company with a catalog, website, twelve months: product, along with a user group (called and multiple stores nationwide), and it is T a “SIG”), technology and compliance en- now aggressively seeking more U.S. multi- 1. NetSuite bought OrderMotion (and es- hancements, and user enhancements. JDA channel users. sentially positioned it as its primary so- has moved the Direct Commerce “services lution for the multichannel market) team” into the partner network to achieve Discovering a New 2. Ability Commerce bought Abison support from third parties Ability Com- Solution 3. Monsoon Commerce bought Stone merce and Snapshot Design, since they are I was pleased to discover “Agiliron” Edge better at focusing on a particular product (pronounced “agile iron”), a multichan- 4. Constellation Software Inc. bought set and more agile with smaller service nel OMS/fulfillment system that has been ComputerSolutions, the vendor of Or- engagements. Such outsourcing/partner- around for quite some time, but running derPower!, and placed it in its Friedman ing is typical for JDA and works to every- “below the radar” in some niche markets, Operating Group one’s advantage. The service staff can stay with a user base of over 450 companies 5. eCommera (founded in 2007) bought focused on one product and customers (15 of them have more than 50 users, of OrderDynamics, which now operates as have resources that are cheaper and more which 45% are B2B). Company founder a wholly owned subsidiary available than they would be if compet- Stan Roach has a remarkably in-depth un- 6. demandware (founded in 2004) bought ing with large-scale projects. The services derstanding of how order management, MainStreet Commerce and its Business- team supports more than 130-plus users, inventory management, fulfillment, and Flow solution in January. The two com- the third largest product user group with- customer database management work panies had about 20 users in common, in JDA. In addition, the company recently in all sales channels, and has configured so there was synergy and a good fit. hired Ecometry veteran Peter Hupp to join his system accordingly. It is SaaS-based, 7. Last but not least, JDA acquired Escalate the sales team, where he is bringing new ranging in cost from $49 to $199-plus per Retail (aka Ecometry) sales into the OMS space. We should also month. As always, whether this is a good note that JDA has added the Direct Com- fit for you depends on your requirements, All acquisitions were positioned as merce technology into its cloud offering, but it is certainly worth investigating if you strengthening the acquirer’s omnichannel with one large DC customer already in the are looking for a new solution. customer service and order management cloud. Other members of the user group and fulfillment capabilities. have expressed interest in a cloud version, This Year’s Round-Up as well. The functional Grades and Ranks in the The Continuing Saga of accompanying chart are based on the ven- “Ecometry” MNP in the US dors’ own input (with very rigid ground The continuing evolution of Escalate Finally, the third noteworthy transition rules), giving you a chance to see where Retail (aka Ecometry) is of special inter- is MNP, a UK-based OMS that established they believe their strengths lie. ■ est to long-time players in multichannel a U.S. office and has now appointed a full- commerce. The company was acquired time U.S. representative. In addition to a Ernie Schell, Director of Marketing Systems by JDA late last year, rebranded as JDA U.S.-based distribution center that is using Analysis, Ventnor, NJ, can be reached at 609- Direct Commerce, and is in its “main- its WMSActive product, it has a showcase 487-9340 or [email protected]. tain” product list (which applies to most site in Jacksonville, Florida, that has been 2 Part of: VENDOR ROUNDUP: OMS SYSTEMS/COMPANY INFORMATION ■■ ActiveSeries ERP (2008, v. 4) ■■ CIO Direct (2005, v. 4.0) ■■ CORESense On-Demand Retail MNP Media Inc. (1997), (PC: MNP Media), 501 Silverside Road, Suite 105, CIO Technologies, Inc. (1987), 351 S. Hitchcock Way, Suite B140, Santa Management Software (2000, v. 7.4) Wilmington DE 19809; Contact: Scott Karlo, 302-798-0700, scott.karlo@ Barbara, CA 93105; Contact: Gunnar Fredlund, 805-898-2444, gunnarf@ CORESense (1999), 125 High Rock Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866; mnp-media.com, mnp-media.com. OS: Microsoft; DB: MS/SQL, Oracle: ciotech.com, www.ciotech.com. OS: Windows, Linux, MPE; DB: MySQL, Contact: Chris Martin, 518-306-3043 ext. 3966, [email protected]; WS:.NET; ODBC: Y; ECDB: WebActive (.NET open source platform); EINT: Image; WS: Partial; ODBC: MySQL; ECDB: NA; EINT: 3DCart, Channel coresense.com. OS: Linux (via any browser); DB: MySQL, PostgreSQL; Hybris, Magento, Commerce Server, American Eagle plus 20 others; Advisor, Ultracart, 1ShoppingCart, Yahoo, Infomercial.TV, Zen Cart; ODBC: NA; WS: .NET; ECDB: CORESense; EINT: Magento; MAN: HarveySoft, MAN: Metapak, Endicia, GFS; CC: Paymentech, Shift 4, Verifone; ST: MAN: Integrated high volume manifest for USPS with presorting, UPS TrueShip, Malverne; CC: Authorize.net, PPI, CyberSource, PayPalPro, Avalara, Vertex; IAC: Sage, Pegasus, Platinum, Dynamics; OM: PSMActive WorldShip, FedEx, FedEx SmartPost, Express1, ABM, Endicia, Abol, DHL, Sage; ST: Internal rules; IAC: QuickBooks, Intaact, MAS, Peachtree, (global purchase supply management), WMSActive (dedicated direct LandMark, Ascent; CC: Authorize.net, Litle&Co, IC Verifi, Transfirst, Affiliate Marketing; OM: Multichannel and multi-brand support, supply WMS system), data analyzer (data mining and segmentation tool), .NET USAEAY, NetBilling; ST: U.S. and Canadian; IAC: Peachtree, QuickBooks; chain management, product catalog management (digital asset ecommerce connectivity, and storefront in-store tablet solutions for OM: Continuity; supply and other monthly programs with individual management), complex product management/configuration, pricing store pick up. A well-established solution, MNP has over 90 users in programs for each customer; offers codes with unique pricing, and promotions management, eBay Auction management, phone the UK and two in the United States. It is a robust end-to-end platform continuity and installment plans; membership programs; warranty order management, customer loyalty programs, gift certificates, serving a consumer-driven culture: scalable, fully integrated with and up sell for retail orders; fraud and credit filters; integrated value cards and coupons, customer-based pricing, in-house accounts, eBay, Amazon, and PayPal, processing domestic, international, and collections; managed and unmanaged drop ship; limited editions and electronic data interchange (EDI), order life cycle automation, Amazon online marketplace orders seamlessly from anywhere to anywhere consignment inventory; container receiving, cross dock, assembly. seller central integration, comparison shopping engines, search engine with support for complex user-definable promotions. Inventory is CIO is a completely web-based system designed for the third-party optimization. Users include SuperShoes, Windsor Vineyards, Honolulu allocated in real time and estimated dates of arrival are displayed fulfillment industry for companies such as Modern Media, World Trans Cookie, SPM Retail, and Island Trends. This system works across all for backordered items. There is support for handhelds in WMSactive Services, Fulex, Promofill, and WorldPackUSA, a full-service third- retail verticals except grocery and other perishables. New this year: using the latest Windows mobile-enabled hardware, such as Symbol/ party logistics company using CIO Direct for its direct-to-consumer Fulfillment By Amazon, SOAP-based API, mobile POS, responsive Intermec; click-and-collect for in-store pick up of web orders; and business from several fulfillment centers. CIO Direct offers a platform website design. integration with ChannelAdvisor and Chase Paymentech orbital to support both ecommerce and infomercials, allowing each client a gateway. You can ship to by line item, and warehouse backorders are setup of shopping carts, call centers, continuity and payment plans ■■ CWDirect (1994, v. 16.0) given priority in the backorder queue. All credit card transactions are while providing a standardized workflow for warehouse and customer MICROS-Retail (formerly CommercialWare) (1975), (PC: Micros Systems fully tokenized, putting PCI out of scope. Half of MNP’s 90-plus UK users service. The system can be set up for fulfillment only or for full service: Inc.), 1800 Park Drive, Westboro, MA 01581; Contact: Chris Sarne, 508- also have a significant U.S. presence. Isabella Oliver in the UK, for order taking, credit card processing, customer service and fulfillment. 655-7500, [email protected], micros-retail.com. OS: OS400; DB: instance, does half its business in exports to the United States. New this past year: DB2; ODBC: NA; WS: .NET, Java; ECDB: MICROS-Retail’s Fry OCP/OCX • Improved shipping functionality with 1) a single screen handling and eOneCommerce; EINT: MICROS-Retail Open Commerce Platform, ■■ Agiliron (2012, v. 7.5) USPS, Express1 and UPS 2) batch printing