Vili’s Bakery: “The customer interface is perfect, really”

Vili’s is an established business. What were the challenges you were facing just before you started using Ordermentum?

About four years ago, we had put in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This is basically a system that can schedule all of your production and manage all your accounts. Some places use separate systems to do both. We have a system that can do all of it - but it’s always evolving.

Just before Ordermentum, we were probably putting about 1000 orders a day into our system, which was pretty cumbersome. That was all manual, but our system at the time didn't give us the option to automate.

What convinced you to start using Ordermentum? What was that transition like?

We were looking for a solution for our customers to place orders through a portal, which the ERP system didn’t have.

We were initially going to build a webstore that would supposedly integrate seamlessly with our ERP system. We were told we’d be able to have multiple pricing for customers and start and end dates on promotions.

Unfortunately, we hit roadblock after roadblock as to why it wasn't working. So we figured out it wasn’t the solution, and about that time one of our other customers was pushing us for an online ordering system.

What we wanted from Ordermentum to do was to reflect the price that we have in our system and grab the order, and upload the information to match our ERP.

So we worked with the support team to ensure that Ordermentum data could be funneled into a shareable data file that mimicked the data files that are handled by our middleware company. This is what allows us to transfer data back and forth between us and our customers.

What has changed from the better since using Ordermentum?

From a customer's perspective, the platform is really easy to use. It's just exactly as you'd expect it to be. It's got the features that we need.

For example, the standing order features are great because we have standing orders in our ERP system, but in the past our customers would have to ring us to change their standing order. Now the onus is on the customer to change their order.

When we have to adjust delivery schedules, it’s so easy. Every wholesaler finds changing delivery schedules a bit of a nightmare, because you need to communicate that back to your customer. But with Ordermentum, we just lock out the day and say, hey, we're not delivering that day. And then they can only place their order for the day that we have open. It saves that communication piece because when you're dealing with such a diverse range of customers, it’s very difficult to communicate a change like that easily and effectively.

Are most of your customers on Ordermentum?

Yes, it’s our preferred way. We still have some shop owners that aren’t comfortable with tech. For example, some elderly people running shops just struggle, but sometimes there's somebody else in the business like a sibling or an employee that can navigate that space.

What are your favourite features?

The ease with which customers can place their orders and that we can import that sales data, and that’s what we needed originally.

The schedules are really great and how we’re able to manage that. The pricing, the visibility groups, all those things mean if you were to try and build what Ordermentum has, you’d just be so far out of pocket. I couldn't imagine what that would cost to build. Whereas this is just a per order transaction. The cost of importing an order via an app is a lot less than somebody manually answering a call and taking an order.

And as far as the customer interface goes, it's perfect really. I don't think you can do much better for the customer.

How has Ordermentum made it easier to deal with your customers?

It really puts the onus back on them, especially when they’ve made mistakes. They might ring up and say “hey, I ordered this, and you gave me that.” But we just need to direct them back to the app and they can see the order history.

It makes it a lot easier, especially if there are multiple people in the business who order. They might share passwords or have separate users on the account, but at least they can see the order history.

And of course, having that hard-cut off has also been great, because people used to call at all hours!

How much time has Ordermentum saved the business per week?

Comfortably 40 hours per week. It actually means less head-count, but if you’re not embracing this sort of technology, then you’re missing out on a competitive advantage.

How have you found the customer support?

When I was dealing with customer support, I found them to be fantastic. They're really good if something was a little bit too technical,

What would you say to another supplier considering using ordermentum?

I already got to Riviera Bakery on to Ordermentum, which is an endorsement! We’ve got a pretty close relationship with them because they’re a bread bakery, so a similar customer base but not a competitor.

The more suppliers there are on Ordermentum, the better, because it builds the credibility of the platform. When customers or venues have multiple suppliers on the platform, it just means there’s less friction for them in terms of ordering, and you don’t need to educate them.

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