What are the differences between the two. What does one do that the other doesn't?
Thanks
Steve

Good question. Since I have never used Order Motion, I can't give you a direct comparison of features. But I can tell you some of the broad differences, and then I will check back here to answer any specific questions you might have.

Order Motion is a Web-based system. The program and the data reside on Order Motion's servers. That gives you the advantage of access from anywhere on the Web, but you lose some control over and direct access to your data.

The Stone Edge Order Manager is PC-based. You install the program on individual computers, which can then share a common data file on a file server. The data is in Microsoft Access files (or SQL Server with our Enterprise Version), and you have complete access to it if you need to write custom applications for it or link it to other systems. The program is also an open Microsoft Access application, with hooks for linking in custom code if you need it.

Order Motion tends to be considerably more expensive than the Order Manager. They charge per transaction, so as your business grows, so will the cost of Order Motion. They do not post their pricing on their Website. Ours can be found at: http://www.stoneedge.com/ompricing.htm

In all fairness, Order Motion does appear to have capabilities that the Stone Edge Order Manager does not have, such as campaign management and internationalization features.

Stone Edge specializes in supporting small merchants. Most of our users ship 10 to 500 orders per day, although some have grown to as much as 2,000 orders per day. We are an 8-person company that is supporting over 1,000 merchants. We try to be the kind of company that small merchants appreciate dealing with. My participation here and in other users forums and my phone number at the bottom of this post, are examples of that. Order Motion seems to target somewhat larger companies.

Two questions I have after reviewing Order Motion's Website this morning:

Does Order Motion include a Point-of-Sale system? The Order Manager does, and I would be concerned about using a Web-based POS system: what happens if you lose your Internet connection?

And can Order Motion do real-time inventory synchronization with MonsterCommerce? They list it for other shopping carts they support, but not for MC. The Stone Edge Order Manager does include that.

I hope this information is helpful, and will be glad to answer any questions about Stone Edge Technologies or the Order Manager.

Mr. Stone,

My understanding is that if we wish to run our web stores and a retail operation from a single inventory, we would need to purchase the order manager plus the POS system. I see pricing for these two items that includes a shopping cart. If you already have your shopping cart, what is the bill for just the order manager and POS system.

Also you said in a recent post that the POS system is not that powerful yet, but that a new version is coming out soon. When can the update be expected?

Thanks!

The POS feature is included with the Order Manager. There is no extra cost for using it. The package prices that you may have been looking at include POS hardware and other options that are not required, especially if you already have your POS equipment. Also, Stone Edge does not sell shopping carts.

The base price of the Order Manager is $995, which includes a license for up to 5 workstations at one location. Most merchants start at $1,250, which includes a year of support and program updates. Updates would include our new POS system, which should go to beta testing next month (February, 06) and general release the following month. We have other products and services, but that is all that is required. There are no per-transaction or per-store charges, so those fees would let you use the Order Manager with any number of MonsterCommerce stores.

Mr. Stone, would the $1250 set up include an ability to link one store, two stores, and a third internet store run by a competing solution (a solution you suppot)? Or is there an add on to make the system work with more than one type of shopping cart?

By the way, your pricing is way below Order Motion's!

The Order Manager comes with a license to use it with one type of store (such as MonsterCommerce). That also includes point-of-sale and other non-Web orders. To add a license for another type of Web store (Amazon, eBay, Shop.com or one of the other shopping carts we support) there is a $300 one-time fee per store type. Once you have a license for a store type, you can use it with any number of those stores. So your example (POS, 2 MC stores, plus one other store) would require one extra $300 license.

Mr. Stone,

Is it true that you are working on a Paypal gateway integration? This would be very useful to some clients, especially those of us that are looking at your software.

Thanks,

We have not started that yet, but it is on our "to do" list for next month.

BTW - You guys are making me feel old with that "Mr. Stone" stuff! No need to be so formal.

As for mechanics, this is how I take it works (and please correct me if I'm wrong).

We begin by downloading our Commerce inventory, using data port, into your order management.

The POS system somehow taps into that very same inventory, using the same product numbers that we use on our store.

When we sell something in the retail store, it gets subtracted from "order manager inventory." When a Commerce order gets downloaded or order manager inventory's stock counts are reduced accordingly.

Order manager tells to lower inventory counts for the purchased items when we make a retail sale.

That's pretty close. We do not need Data Port, because our interface script (which MonsterCommerce has installed for us) has its own function to download your product data to the Order Manager. Otherwise, it works the way you described. It also updates the inventory in MC when you receive fresh stock, deal with returns and exchanges, take phone orders, etc.

Thanks! I'm almost sold on this product, Barney! Can nonprogramming, non-IT but otherwise smart folk make this solution work?

Absolutely. But then I am biased. Maybe some of our users will comment on their experience with the Order Manager.

Robert

You will probably not have a problem. I've seen you tackle tougher MC issues here than you will have with OM.

OM runs in Microsoft Access so you will need a copy of that also.