HOW TO EVALUATE

e-COMMERCE SOFTWARE

Best Practices For SME’s

India’s Largest Directory of Business Software

KNOW YOUR NEEDS & STAY ORGANIZED

Evaluating software is perhaps the mostcritical component of the softwareselection process. This is where you see thesystems in action and realize what it cantruly accomplish for you. This requires anew level of organization and commitmentto the software selection process. Tocapitalize on these showings, we suggestyou adopt the following best practices forsoftware evaluation.

1. Keep your process reasonable byaccessing five or fewer softwaresystems. Beyond five, you won’t beable to go down deep enough into eachproduct. In short, you should have a“short list” of five or fewer products.

Checklist to Evaluate a Software

Evaluate five or fewer systems

Set a date for each demo

Get the right people involved

Know your key requirements

Stay in control of the process

2. For every software vendor, set adate and time to demo theirsoftware. Don’t try to demo thesystem the first time the softwaresalesperson calls. Plan the demos acouple of days or even a week ortwo out so you have room to getready.

3. Get the right individuals from yourorganization included. It's vital tohave associates from diverse partsof the organization included toevaluate the software modules thatthey will use.

4. Next, make sure you head intothese demos knowing yourprerequisites. Build a list of yourkey requirements, and then askthe sales people to demonstratethose capabilities. Otherwise, youmight end up watching salespeople show off cool featuresthat have nothing to do with yourrequirements.

5. Get organized and drive theprocess. This will ensure that yourdemo evaluation is significantlymore powerful.

KNOW YOUR NEEDS & STAY ORGANIZED

The best vendors are focused onhelping their prospects and customerssolve business challenges. Help thesepeople do their jobs by educating themon your software needs and selectionprocess.

The more the software vendors knowabout your needs, the better they canconvey how their software can offerassistance.

For example, if you highlight whichfunctional capabilities are mostimportant to your organization, thesoftware vendors can invest more timedemonstrating those capabilities intheir software.

Meanwhile, educating the sales repson your selection process will helpthem be more responsive. If theyknow what you need and when youneed it, they are in a better positionto deliver on-time and in-full.

Tell The Sales Rep:

How they will be evaluated

Your most critical requirements

Who they’re competing against

Your timing and process

What you want from the demo

EDUCATE VENDORS ON YOUR NEEDS & PROCESS

“Which software is the user-friendly?” thisis the most common question we hear atSoftware Suggest. That makes sense,since your success with a new softwaresystem is dependent on your ability toquickly adapt and start using the system.

The demonstration is your best chance toanswer that question for yourself.However, there is a real science tousability. You’ll want to consider the fiveease-of-use criteria we list at right.

As you watch the demos, keep track ofhow many screens are navigated toaccomplish a specific process. The fewerclicks and screens, the better. Again, keepan open mind about new ways of doingthings.

FOCUS ON USABILITY DURING THE DEMO

USABILITY CRITERIA

Are important features accessiblefrom anywhere without too manyclicks?

Do the field labels and otherapplication content speak thelanguage of your industry?

Are colors and visuals easy on theeyes and provide visual clues forintuitive navigation?

Is contextually appropriate helpavailable at important decisionpoints?

Do all screens share a commonorganization and styles to createfamiliarity for users?

FOCUS ON THESE e-COMMERCE FEATURES

Products Database

Store Customization

POS InvoicingOffer & Offer

Popup

Content Delivery Network

Social Login DIY StoreMulit

Currency

Secure Sockets Layer

(SSL)

Orders Management

Courier Tracking In-

Platform

Payment Gateway

External Apps & In-Built Features

Discounts & Coupons

Bulk Product Upload

Storage & Number of Products

Order Status / Tracking and

History

Inventory Management

Catalogue Management

Vendor Management

It’s important to use a scorecard to keep track of each demonstration. That wayyou can remember what you liked and disliked, and then compare all thesystems side-by-side when your demos are complete. You can build a tablesimilar to what we illustrate below. Then select the software which scores thehighest. Many people use Microsoft Excel for this.

KEEP TRACK OF THE RESULTS WITH A DEMO SCORECARD

Features Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D Vendor E

Product Database 3 4 4 5 5

Offer & Offer Popup 3 5 4 5 4

Social Login 3 2 3 3 5

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 1 3 2 2 2

Payment Gateway 2 1 2 3 4

If you evaluate your upcoming softwaredemonstrations using the five best practiceswe just shared, you’ll be ahead of 99% ofsoftware buyers.

Too often, buyers let the software salesperson drive the demo process, they fail toprepare for the demos and they don’t supportthe salesperson with the information he/sheneeds to do their job right.

Get organized before your demonstrationsand you’ll avoid costly software selectionmistakes.

SUMMARY

MORE HELPFUL RESOURCES:

Roadmap To Buy A SoftwareForYour Business [Infographic]

Best e-Commerce Management Software

7 Things to Remember whenselecting a Software

SoftwareSuggest is dedicated tohelping software buyers find the rightsoftware for their organization. Ourexpertise, in-depth research and easy-to-use website will make an efficientplatform for your business softwareneeds.

Getting a Free Consultation from us willjump start your software search, savingyou weeks of research. A 15- minutephone conversation will get you headedin the right direction and there is noobligation.

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