Stone Edge Order Manager: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Stone Edge Order Manager?
A: The Stone Edge Order Manager is a complete “back end” system for managing the day-to-day operations of a small-to-medium sized retail business. It lets you combine orders from multiple Web sources, traditional phone and mail orders and walk-in customers, and manage them all in one powerful program. Flexible and affordable, it streamlines your business processes while increasing your efficiency and capacity, which leads to greater profitability and the growth of your business.

With the Order Manager, you get the ability to:

• Import orders directly from the most popular shopping carts
• Import orders from custom shopping cart systems (requires a custom script)
• Manually enter orders received via phone, fax, regular mail, or email
• Use a point-of-sale “virtual cash register” for orders from walk-in customers
• Process credit card payments
• Print invoices, packing slips, pick slips and shipping labels
• Manage your customers
• Track your inventory
• Send orders to drop shippers and fulfillment centers
• Send email messages to customers and suppliers
• Generate purchase orders, then print, email or fax them to your suppliers
• Generate and print standard and custom reports
• And much more!

Q: Is the Order Manager Web-based or PC-based?
A: The Order Manager is not Web-based. It runs on your local computer, and can be used over a Local Area Network (LAN) with multiple users sharing the same Order Manager data.

Q: How extensive is the integration between my shopping cart and the Order Manager?
A: The level of integration between the Order Manager and a particular shopping cart depends on the features and capabilities of the shopping cart system. If the Order Manager supports a shopping cart, it can obviously import orders from it. In addition, it may be able to import customers and products, synchronize inventory quantity-on-hand in real time, and send tracking and order status data back to the shopping cart. For more details, see the Cart Matrix at:

http://www.stoneedge.com/cartmatrix.htm

Q: How does the Order Manager handle credit card processing?
A: The Order Manager works with several popular payment gateways. It can process charges and credits, capture payments that were pre-authorized in a shopping cart, etc. Its "virtual credit card terminal" lets you authorize, capture, credit, and void payments whenever you are viewing an order. Payments can also be processed for point-of-sale, phone, mail and other non-Web orders.

The Order Manager supports the following credit card payment gateways:
• Authorize.net
• Echo
• PCCharge
• Protx
• Skipjack
• USA ePay
• Verisign PayFlow Pro
• Linkpoint / YourPay
• Quickbooks Merchant Services
• Cybersource

Q: Can I print UPS shipping labels?
A: Yes! The UPS WorldShip software that UPS provides can easily print shipping labels for orders in the Order Manager. You do not have to re-type any address information into WorldShip. You can also print UPS shipping labels directly from the Order Manager’s Pack & Ship screen without leaving the Order Manager. And the Order Manager can get the tracking data back from WorldShip and automatically send email messages to your customers with clickable tracking links!

Q: Can I print Fedex shipping labels?
A: Yes! The Fedex Ship Manager software that Federal Express provides can easily print shipping labels for orders in the Order Manager. You do not have to re-type any address information into Ship Manager. You can also print Fedex shipping labels directly from the Order Manager’s Pack & Ship screen without leaving the Order Manager. And the Order Manager can get the tracking data back from Ship Manager and automatically send email messages to your customers with clickable tracking links!

Q: How about Post Office shipping labels?
A: The Order Manager supports Endicia’s Dazzle program, which can print labels from within the Order Manager. And the Order Manager can get the tracking data back from Dazzle and automatically send email messages to your customers with clickable tracking links!

Q: What if I use a different shipping program?
A: The Order Manager can work with most shipping programs that support ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) connections. Programs can pull shipping data from the Order Manager and send tracking data back. The Order Manager can also export shipping information to any shipping software that can import comma or tab-delimited text files. If a shipping program can also export text files with tracking data, the Order Manager can import the tracking numbers and automatically send email messages to your customers with clickable tracking links.

Q: Can the Order Manager validate customer addresses?
A: Yes. All shipping and billing addresses can be automatically validated against a USPS address database and corrected if necessary! There is no additional charge for that service.

Q: How many customers, orders and inventory items can I store in the Order Manager?
A: There is no limit to the number of records the Order Manager can store. Some users have more than 80,000 inventory items and over 150,000 customers and orders. We suggest that you archive orders and inactive customers every so often to prevent your database from becoming too large and slowing down. Even after you archive records, you can still access the data if necessary. Higher volume stores should consider the Enterprise Version of the Stone Edge Order Manager, which uses Microsoft SQL Server for its data storage, and has virtually unlimited capacity.

Q: Can I import data stored in other programs?
A: Yes. The Order Manager includes tools for importing customers, products and suppliers from text files and other data sources. There are also options for importing tracking data from text files.

Q: Can I import data stored in custom shopping cart fields?
A: That depends on which shopping cart you are using. In most cases, the answer is “Yes”. Custom fields in the Order Manager can be configured to match the custom fields in your shopping cart.

Q: Can I export data out of the Order Manager?
A: Yes. Functions within the Order Manager make it easy to export product and customer data to text files, shipping data to shipping software, and accounting data to QuickBooks. The Order Manager’s data is also stored in industry standard formats (Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server), and only credit card data is encrypted, so you can access the data tables directly or via an ODBC connection.

Q: How does the Order Manager work with QuickBooks?
A: You can export daily summaries of sales, sales tax, shipping charges, cost-of-goods sold, credit card deposits and other information from the Order Manager to QuickBooks as often as you like. Detailed data such as individual customers, orders, products and purchase orders is stored in the Order Manager only.

Q: Can we track and manage requests for information by potential and current customers?
A: The Order Manager includes a Contact & Task Management feature that allows you to store notes in customer records. As you enter notes, you can assign tasks with due dates to yourself and other users, e.g. follow up on this sales lead. Users manage the tasks assigned to them from the Check Tasks screen. You can also create and print or email “quotes” for your customers, and a quote can easily be turned into an order when your customer is ready to buy.

Q: What about phone and mail orders?
A: No problem! Use the Order Manager’s “Manual Orders” screen to enter orders that arrive via phone, fax, mail, etc. The program makes it easy to look up existing customers so you don’t have to re-type their address information. There’s even a function to repeat their last order! Type in a Zipcode and the Order Manager will fill in the city and state for you. Click a button and it will validate the billing and shipping addresses against a USPS database!

Q: I have a “brick and mortar” retail store. Does the Order Manager have any features for me?
A: Of course! The Order Manager Plus POS version includes a “point of sale” (POS) system that can act as an electronic cash register. It supports a variety of POS hardware, including barcode scanners, cash drawers and credit card terminals. And your POS sales will be integrated into the same inventory management system as your other sales. If you use the Order Manager’s real-time inventory tracking features (only available with some shopping carts), items sold in your brick-and-mortar store will be deducted from the inventory in your Internet store(s) automatically right after the sales occur.

Q: I have 3 Web stores and a “brick and mortar” retail store. I also sell on Amazon and eBay. Can I use the Order Manager? Can it combine my point-of-sale and Web orders?
A: Absolutely! The Order Manager is multi-channel ready! It supports more shopping carts than any other order management system, plus other Internet sales channels including Amazon, eBay, Shop.com and Overstock.com. It also supports point-of-sale orders and traditional phone and mail orders. You can combine all of your orders from all of your sources into one system, where they can share the same inventory and make customer support, inventory management, report generation and accounting much easier. In addition, the Order Manager will retain your branding by using different company information in emails to your customers and on invoices and packing slips depending on the source of each order!

Q: What if the shopping cart I use is not supported?
A: Give us a call at 215-641-1837 and we may be able to help! We add support for several additional shopping cart systems every year. All it takes in most cases is a script to accept requests from the Order Manager and respond with properly formatted data. As the Order Manager has become more popular, many shopping cart companies are now willing to work with us to create that script. Even if you have a custom shopping cart, we can provide you with the information that your programmers will need to achieve full integration with the Stone Edge Order Manager!

Q: My company has special requirements. Can the Order Manager be customized?
A: Yes, it can! Unlike most commercial programs, the Stone Edge Order Manager is written in Microsoft Access and VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and delivered to you with open source code. The program includes “hooks” at appropriate points where custom functions can be called, and hidden buttons on some screens that can be turned on and used to call your custom functions. Standard Order Manager reports can be replaced with custom versions, and your own custom reports can be added to the program’s Report Menu for easy access. The Order Manager can even reload your custom modules, forms and reports when you install a new version of the program!

Q: Can I use the Order Manager over a network?
A: Yes, you can use the Order Manager on a Local Area Network (LAN). The Order Manager is installed on each workstation but the data is stored on one workstation or file server that can be accessed by the other workstations. Multiple users can work in the application simultaneously. The price of the program includes a license for use on up to 5 workstations. Additional licenses can be purchased separately for a small fee.

Q: I spend a lot of time on the road, away from my office. Can I use the Order Manager remotely?
A: We recommend a service called GoToMyPC (GoToMyPC.com) that lets you access your computer from any other computer on the Internet. It's fast, secure, and reasonably priced. Other remote desktop technologies can also be used.

Q: What programming language was used to write the Order Manager?
A: The Order Manager is written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) within Microsoft Access. It is compatible with Access 2000, 2002/XP, 2003 and 2007. It is an "open system"; experienced Access users can create their own reports and queries.

Q: What do I need to run the Order Manager?
A: The Order Manager requires one or more personal computers running Windows 98 or later, each with a copy of Microsoft Access installed. For shared access, a Windows-compatible network is required. (The Order Manager includes a license for use on up to 5 workstations.) A complete list of system requirements is available at:

http://www.stoneedge.com/OMSystemRequirements.htm.

Q: Can I use the Order Manager on a network if the workstations have different versions of MS Access?
A: Yes, you can.

Q: How is the software delivered to me?
A: The Order Manager is available for you to download almost immediately after your payment is received. When you purchase the Order Manager either online or by calling Stone Edge Technologies, you will receive an email from us with the information you need to download the program.

Q: How long does it take to set up the Order Manager? How hard is it to learn?
A: Installing the Order Manager is very easy, and should just take a few minutes. However, the Order Manager is a very large program with many features. Learning how to use it and getting everything configured the way you want it will take some time. Most users are ready to begin importing and processing orders within a few hours with the help of our Quick Start Guide. After that, the learning time depends on how many of the Order Manager’s features you plan to use. Our Express Setup Service ($300 for up to 3 hours of setup and training time) is a great way to get up and running with the Order Manager quickly.

Q: Where can I get more information about the Stone Edge Order Manager?
A: Stone Edge maintains an extensive, searchable Knowledge Base of information about setting up and using the Order Manager. You can find the Knowledge Base at www.StoneEdge.com/Help.

Q: Is a demo version of the Order Manager available?
A: The Order Manager is an open source code program, which makes it impractical to offer a traditional demo version. Instead, we offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so you can work with the program for up to 30 days, and return it for a full refund if you are not satisfied with it.

Q: Is Stone Edge a reliable company? Will they still be around years from now?
A: Stone Edge Technologies, Inc. was formed in all the way back in 1983. We began selling ecommerce software in 2000. Since then, nearly 2,000 small-to-medium sized merchants have chosen the Stone Edge Order Manager to help run their business. We are the ideal company to help you expand and streamline your business: big enough to ensure that we will be available when you need us, yet small enough to offer the kind of personal services and support that a company like yours wants and needs from your software suppliers!