Paper order forms and spreadsheets, or an order taking app?
A paper pad or a spreadsheet is how most businesses start taking orders, and for some it is all they need. Here is where they tend to go wrong, what an order taking app on a tablet does instead, and when paper is still the right answer.
Where paper goes wrong
Handwriting and mistyped codes
On paper or in a spreadsheet
A quantity that could be a 1 or a 7, a SKU copied wrong, a line nobody can read back at the office.
With Selenic Orders
Every line is picked from the catalogue, by search, category or scanning the barcode, so the code and description are always right.
The wrong price
On paper or in a spreadsheet
The rep quotes list price to a customer on a contract, or misses a quantity break, and the invoice argues with the order.
With Selenic Orders
Choose the customer and the tablet shows what they pay: their price list, quantity breaks, sale prices and promotions, worked out as the order is built.
Case sizes and minimums
On paper or in a spreadsheet
An order for 10 of something sold only in 12s, found out when it is picked.
With Selenic Orders
Minimum quantities and order multiples are kept as the rep adds each line, and the quantity is rounded to what can be sent.
Selling what is not there
On paper or in a spreadsheet
No way to know at the stand what is still in stock.
With Selenic Orders
Stock from the last sync is on the tablet, less what that tablet has already sold.
Credit and tax
On paper or in a spreadsheet
An account on stop takes another order, and the VAT is worked out later, by hand.
With Selenic Orders
Credit limits are checked before the order is placed, an account on hold is flagged, and tax is worked out line by line, including zero-rated exports.
Retyping at the office
On paper or in a spreadsheet
Every sheet typed again into the accounts system, days later, with a fresh chance of a mistake.
With Selenic Orders
Orders are sent as files your system reads, or as spreadsheets you open in Excel. Nothing is typed twice.
Lost or late sheets
On paper or in a spreadsheet
A pad left in the van, a sheet that never reaches the office, an order the customer swears they placed.
With Selenic Orders
Each order is saved on the tablet the moment it is placed, signed on the screen, and sent at the next sync, or straight away with Send Now.
When paper is fine
An app is not always worth it. Paper or a spreadsheet does the job for:
- A handful of products, with one price for everyone.
- A few orders a week, typed in by the person who took them.
- As a backup on the stand, for the moment a tablet runs flat.
If that is you, our free order form maker prints a tidy form with your products, codes and prices, pasted from a spreadsheet.
Moving off paper without an ERP
You do not need an accounts system behind it. Enter your products and customers by hand on the tablet, or bring in the spreadsheet you already keep, then print each order or collect them as spreadsheet files. Entering everything by hand takes it step by step.
Questions about moving off paper
Do we need an ERP or accounts system to stop using paper?
No. Products and customers can be entered by hand on the tablet, or brought in from a spreadsheet saved as CSV, and orders printed or collected as spreadsheet files.
Can we bring in the product list we already keep in a spreadsheet?
Yes. Put it under the columns in the sample products file, save it as CSV, and import it on the tablet. Products can be added or corrected on the tablet afterwards.
Can the customer still have a paper copy?
Yes. Open the order and choose Print Order to print it, or save it as a PDF to email.
Does it need a signal to take an order?
No. Everything a rep needs is on the tablet, so orders are taken with no signal and sent at the next sync.
Which tablets does it run on?
Android tablets. It is not available for iPad or iPhone.
Try it on a sample catalogue
Install the app and choose "Show me how it works" to take an order on a sample wholesaler's catalogue, before you enter anything of your own.