Dydacomp's Mail Order Manager Integrated Order and Fulfillment Software
Web Commerce Today, Issue 7, February 15, 1998
This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on marketing tools.
Existing businesses that go on the Internet usually have their accounting and fulfillment software systems in place. However, businesses considering setting up an online store ought to look at Mail Order Manager software from Dydacomp Development Corp., which integrates all of the complex the functions needed in a mail order type business -- and an online store:
M.O.M. is sold in modules. The main system for Windows includes: order entry, customer maintenance, form letters mail merge, inventory control, order processing and paperwork generation, accounts receivable, supplier maintenance, accounts payable, purchase order generation, profit/response analysis, and advertising and catalog reporting. This main system is available for DOS and Windows. A Windows system costs $1,795 for the first station, and $695 for each additional network station. Beyond thirteen stations, the price is $195 each.
The main system can be powerfully extended with a variety of optional add-on modules: automatic shipping calculations, electronic scale integration, telemarketing, credit card authorization, ZIP/state/town database, list management, order import/export, point of purchase, subscription management, multi-company controller, and custom report writing. These modules vary in price between $195 and $595 each.
The newest addition to the M.O.M. family of products (for those with Windows 3.0+ and the import/export module) is an integrated SiteLINK online store module. Many merchants will choose hosting on Dydacomp's server for $195 per month ($595 one time setup fee). It is based on Microsoft Active Server Page (ASP) technology and runs on an NT server with Internet Information Server 3.0+. Merchants can also purchase the software for $2,795 to run on their own server. Of course, with any new software product there are likely to be some early glitches (though we have not tested the product nor learned of any). The biggest advantage of M.O.M. with SiteLINK is the ease with which online merchants are able bring orders into their system for fulfillment, update products on their site using the product databases in M.O.M., and keep inventory in sync with online sales by periodic data uploads and downloads.
Merchants using other store software than SiteLINK can import data into M.O.M. using the sophisticated import/export module. Many store software packages allow orders to be downloaded in tab-delimited or comma-delimited formats. The merchant would have a programmer write a simple program to translate order files into M.O.M.'s 70-field import format. Then the data can be imported directly into M.O.M. for processing and fulfillment.
M.O.M. is designed for small to medium-size mail order operations. Larger companies will need to look at other products. However, several of our website clients have used M.O.M. in their businesses for years and swear by it.
More information is available on the Dydacomp website
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