1. Can a sample or a price tag be scanned?
The consultant should identify the item in a second, by scanning or, if there is no code, by name.
Selection checklist
Showroom software: a selection checklist
Ten questions to put to any vendor before you choose showroom software: from the sample to the till, with the ERP system and the customer screen in between.
Showroom software should be judged not by the feature list in a brochure but by the path of a real order: a consultant stands next to the customer, the goods are in a warehouse, payment happens at the till, and accounting has to learn everything without anyone retyping. The checklist below helps you test any solution, ours or somebody else's, step by step. Mark each question "yes", "partly" or "no", and ask to see the answer in a demo, not on a slide. It works for any showroom management system.
The sample, the price and the stock (questions 1-3)
A distributor showroom sells by sample: the shelf does not hold all the goods. So the first questions are about what the consultant sees in front of the customer.
2. Are price and stock by warehouse visible?
A real answer to "do we have it?" includes what is in the showroom, in the central warehouse and in other warehouses, with no phone calls.
3. Is quantity entered in the right unit?
Tiles are counted in square metres, other items in pieces, some in packs. The software should work in the customer's unit rather than force them to calculate.
See how this looks in practice in selling by samples and stock by warehouse.
The customer and the order code (questions 4-5)
4. Is it easy to pick the customer, individual or company?
An individual: search by phone or name, create on the spot, or an order with no data. A company: search by name or fiscal code, with data from the ERP or a public registry, plus the invoice type. Details in individual or company customer.
5. Does the order get a short, unique, printed code?
A code with a barcode, printed on the spot on the showroom printer or a mobile one, is the bridge between the consultant and the till. See the pickup code.
The link to the ERP system (questions 6-7)
This is where time is lost most often: an order that must be keyed into the ERP a second time is a source of errors.
6. Does the order reach the ERP on its own?
Ask how the transfer works (web services or JSON), what happens when the ERP is unavailable (automatic retry) and whether an exchange log is kept.
7. Which working scenarios are supported?
Some companies take payment first and then send the order to the ERP; others send it to the ERP, assemble it and only then take payment. Good software covers both. The difference is explained in the article on payment modes.
For the integration itself, read no double entry into the ERP.
The till and payment (question 8)
8. Can the cashier work from the code alone?
They scan or type the code, items and prices load, payment is by cash, card or from an advance, a fiscal receipt is issued, and the payment status (amount, method, receipt data) goes back to the ERP. The checkout and payment page shows the flow.
The screen and the documents (questions 9-10)
9. Can the customer see their order?
A TV screen with the code, the name and the stage in colour spares customers from asking again at the till. Also check the "Order assembled" message, even with a sound. See the TV order board.
10. Are documents printed automatically, and can they be reprinted?
The warehouse gets a print task, and reprinting is logged. For an electronic invoice there is no print task.
How to check it in a demo
Ask for the full route
From scanning a sample to payment at the till and the status returning to the ERP.
Use your own cases
A company customer, an anonymous one, a quantity in packs, a warehouse out of stock.
Ask to see what does not work, too
How the software behaves when the ERP is switched off.
Check the equipment
The terminal, the printer, the scanner at the till. Recommendations are in recommended equipment.
Our module is described at wms.md/comenzi-showroom; request a demo and run it through this list.
Read next
Articles
How to organize sales by samples in a showroom
From the sample on the floor to the ERP order: what is scanned, what the consultant sees, where errors usually creep in and how to avoid them.
Read more →Terminal or tablet: what to choose for consultants
Built-in scanner, battery for a full shift, screen, ruggedness: what to choose for showroom consultants, a terminal, a tablet or a phone.
Read more →The order pickup code in a showroom
A short code printed next to the customer, scanned at the till and shown on the screen. The flow, the printer you need and how to reprint documents.
Read more →See the solution on your own order flow
A 30-minute conversation about your real showroom and warehouse processes, with no generic slides.