MarketDirect StoreFront Erfahrungen

Vorteile

I like all the different type of options when it comes to products, I appreciate the level of customization across the entire backend such as printing services, papers, products, design, etc.

Nachteile

Some services and specs, filled out by the customer, don't come across to our PrintSmith depending how you have that setup. We had to rebuild all ticket templates in PrintSmith (yes a second time) in order to link products up to ticket templates from our storefront. This was our workaround, some things still don't come across until recently, SIZE wouldn't come over from the storefront into PrintSmith, so I think there is room for improvement here. I like the idea of product overrides, but in the new version it is not working. This could also use some updating keeping ticket templeting to a minimum. Can't copy products that have overrides. Because of this alone, I typically have to create a new ticket template for every product, usually due to the paper. SmartCanvas is very promising, but comes with a large learning curve and even then I feel that a well thought-out guide would be very helpful. Fonts don't show up correctly in certain views and makes paragraph styled text boxes extremely hard to see how type will flow from the customer side. I will say the level of control with SmartCanvas is very nice locking fonts, colors, sizing or allowing the buyer to fully customize the product in anyway.

Vorteile

I love that the software integrates well with PrintSmith our printing and accounting software. The easy of using the different template options is a very simple process. Clients seem to find the navigation of the new site very user friendly and easy to use. The integration however was a very difficult item to over come. It was a very time consumer task to accomplish.

Nachteile

There are certainly features in the old system that would be nice to have in the new system - such as being able to drag and drop line items from one to reorganize things. It would also be very helpful if you were able to have more than 1 invoice open at a time to be able to create new orders based off multiple invoices by dragging and dropping into a new one. The integration with PrintSmith was not an easy thing - you basically had to recreate everything you had on PrintSmith again in MarketDirect StoreFront. We have spent years creating templates in PrintSmith and now having to basically recreate them again is crazy when before it was seamless. It’s also difficult that the pricing isn’t exactly the same from one platform to the other. Now we are forced to round up or down in MarketDirect instead of PrintSmiths pricing just automatically transferring.

Vorteile

I like MDSF because it's easy to use. I believe anyone can easily work within it to create basic offerings for their company!

Nachteile

There are a lot of missing features that in today's day, I believe should be a part of the software. It is very hard to collect information from a client ordering products. The only way to do so is through accounting codes. This should be a priority to implement.

Vorteile

Fairly easy customization of look and feel. Plenty of built in UI templates for those that can't/won't play with code. Good user management controls. We haven't any any load handling issues even with almost 2000 products and 900 users. EFI support has been responsive and proficient. Good user support forums. It has integrated well with our PrintSmith Vision install.

Nachteile

Redundancy of some settings. The admin interface has lots of redundacy and is cluttered and inefficient. Batch product import or creation needs a LOT more work. No ability to batch publish items to categories. No ability to create snapshots or backups of settings to revert to in case of user error. Occasional random little glitches/changes (like sort order settings or other fine detail) that pop up occasional or following an upgrade. The inability to create a job template "on the fly" when creating a product that doesn't fit an existing template.

Vorteile

There is quite a bit of customization and security that can be done with the interface, even with multiple storefronts.

I really like some of the new changes to the administration pages, which makes it much easier to manage all of the data we have in MDSF currently. Seems like EFI sees that their customers are using it for more products than they originally had planed. We started our over 10 years ago with maybe 50 products, and now we have almost 8,000 products being offered to about 120 different storefronts.

Nachteile

Tech support is hard to reach at times. Especially by phone. But at least when you do, the techs are quite knowledgeable.

Calculating taxes is a problem if you are selling outside of your state. But there are add-on options for that.

Vorteile

Straight forward setups. You can have a client online in very little time. Connects well with Pace for ease of job tickets and inventory control. As well as bi-directional communication with all the above as well as Process shipper.

Nachteile

In some cases we have stores that might have more than 1000 franchises that buy through the store front. When it is necessary to make changes and it needs to be done to many of the stores there is no easy way to address this problem. Opening up one customer at a time make a change and close, way to cumbersome when you compare that to either the universal importer or pace connection, where all changes can be made in under a few minutes. Additionally, the reporting is completely non-existent. After adding individuals to a site it would be nice to download all of the data to look for errors, missed data etc. No way to do that with this software. Can't even get to the Database to download from there.

Vorteile

The software really is end to end with full integration and automation. EFI are also very open, easy to work with and it feels like a true partnership.
The solution they offer covers everything we want and need to run our business and there is a constant drive to improve, to listen to customers and work with you to ensure you are getting the most out of the product. I particularly like the integrations with our equipment and other systems, which aids automation and efficiency. And for us the connection with DSF is a real plus, enabling us to process regular orders and open up opportunities we wouldn't normally be able to fulfill.

Nachteile

it is a little unfair to comment on this as we are about to upgrade to the latest version, but its fair to say my biggest bug bear at present is the number of clicks. This is something I know has been addressed in the latest version.
My only other grumble would be that the software can get "stuck" if you change a production method from say litho to digital within an estimate, it can sometimes take a few attempts for it to recognise the change.

Vorteile

Unfortunately I am not yet conversant with the software. The previous employee set it all up and then left abruptly so I am not yet trained in it. It seems to work fine and I know many others that use it - however, as with most integrations, it doesn't work easily with other MIS systems such as PrintSmith Vision. We had to have programmers do things for us that it seems others would have encountered and would have been made part of the 'normal' programming of the software.

Nachteile

Ease of integration with other systems. Redundancy with information needed - mainly multiple price lists that have to be maintained and be consistent. For example, we must set pricing in PrintSmith, then convert the pricing structures for Digital Storefront in a way that matches - so that when a customer brings work through the on-line site, the pricing is consistent if they bring work direct to the shop and we use PrintSmith. So if we decide to update pricing in one system, we have to update it in multiple places which causes more work and more potential for errors.

Vorteile

Overall the software is easy to use for both administrators and end users. For end users the sites are very easy to navigate and use. For administrators it is easy to customize site HTML and CSS if you have the skills, or it is easy to use the default templates if you do not. It is also easy to create and manage products, users, and user groups. We have several thousand products hosted on our sites. We are able to run our storefront job tickets into our MIS system with ease.

Nachteile

While the software is easy to use for basic tasks, there are issues with more high level functionality. Part of the issues we have, stem from some of the administrative menus being cluttered and confusing. There are also some settings that are only available as overall site settings, and are not customizable for individual companies. Batch uploads/changes of products needs work, as it is currently very basic and the products need further configuration after they are uploaded.

Vorteile

Easy to use with inventory products - still learning

Nachteile

Some features are not working properly. Not being told this until you fight to make it work only to find out when you reach out to tech support that the feature is not working properly at the moment.

Vorteile

With no knowledge of this type of software, I found the installation and setup straight forward and once learnt, it was easy to use and easy to customise to different requirements.

Nachteile

The only think I didn't like was that this is in US and I am in Australia. If something needs urgent attention I have to lodge an investigation and wait until the support team gets back to me, which is sometimes when I have left work for the day, which is the morning in US.
In saying that, this didn't happen very often and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and the support team knew the urgency and were straight onto resolving the problem.

Vorteile

We love the ease of use and the ability to implement this software throughout our company. This product has opened up more doors as well as new doors of opportunity with our client and prospective client base. We have seen a positive growth in business with a small percentage of that growth credited to this product.

Nachteile

There is nothing we like least about this software.

Vorteile

The tracking feature is great, the ease of use for customers. The software built-in workflow and, customizations of products.

Nachteile

The amount of infrastructure, and planning it takes to implement the software. Although the business card feature is great, creating a good template takes a lot of time and computer knowledge. The lack of integrating the software with a shipping solution, and unnecessary third party involvement on the mass mailing side.

Vorteile

Market Direct Store Front's integration with EFI PrintSmith is very helpful on a daily basis. It allows customers to place orders and the orders come directly into Printsmith. It allows for easy creation of job tickets.

Nachteile

Two way talking with Printsmith would be helpful. It does on some things but not everything. If this could be worked out it would be a superior product in my opinion.

Vorteile

Ability to integrate with Fiery/Xerox. Ability to customise storefront appearance. Range of products and ability to customise them.

Nachteile

Unresponsiveness by EFI to suggestions for enhancement - some of which are long overdue. Difficulty of learning and implementing the system. It is not user-friendly.

Vorteile

The EFI MarketDirect StoreFront has been essential to our location's operations. It's simple and intuitive, with extended functionality that streamlines our process; e.g. applying or changing statuses to multiple orders, editing order items after the order has been placed, etc.

Nachteile

One feature I would like to see (if not already implemented) is the ability to view the order's files/documents without opening the order ticket. A small preview thumbnail of the artwork next to the order's info in the "Line Items" list would help with efficiency.

Vorteile

i like how easy the program is to use and how it is very user friendly

Nachteile

On the accounting side I wish that the recurring invoice was set up to actually set up an invoice. The way it is now you are not saving anytime you might as well just not use that feature. Also on the AR side I wish that you did not have to create a credit memo to change an invoice from the same period.

Vorteile

I really like the ease of use for user and the administration side of the site is very user friendly.

Nachteile

We had difficulties with the integration of paper catalogs with the Xerox Versant 80 printer on the EFI rip.

Vorteile

Seamless integration with our MIS (EFI Pace) was a key consideration in our purchase. We like the ability to have variable designs with Smart Canvas as well as static print pieces and promotional products. The matrix capabilities have also enabled us to market clothing to our customers.

Nachteile

MSDF is a bit overwhelming to set up initially, but once key pieces are in place it is easy to duplicate for additional products or categories. I would still like to see higher resolution images be part of the package but it is my understanding that this is coming soon.

Vorteile

What attracted us to EFI MarketDirect StoreFront was the ability to create individual dashboards for each customer that we could customize to their products. We liked that it had the ecommerce functionality built in and that we could integrate with other internal systems. Our specific need for the software seemed to be one of the more complex uses for it and the EFI team has been really open and willing to push the envelope for what we need.

Nachteile

Again, with our need being more complex, the development time has taken a lot longer than expected. Some of the functionalities haven't been working correctly so certain sites have not been able to launch yet. (Specifically the Box Products)

Vorteile

The storefront is visually appealing and relatively easy to use from a client's perspective.

Nachteile

There are SO MANY STEPS when creating a product. From a ticket templates (many steps in itself just to create this) to the actual product to a template in Printsmith, it just seems like there should be a better way. There are so many small flaws that I find nearly every time I use DSF.

Vorteile

One of the best features of DSF is the way it scales for small and large customers. The system is easy to manage and handles print and kitting better than other storefront software. The Job tickets and files set up allow for automation through any type of system.

Nachteile

The inability to route a product to a specific plant or printer. The routing is currently user location based. Also, the inability to connect with other systems for two-way communication. Currently, we can only send information one way.

Vorteile

It is robust program with integration to other EFI products.

Nachteile

Overall implementation was tough and cumbersome.

Vorteile

User Interface, Customer Support, Ease of use

Nachteile

Not as user friendly as the predecessor software OPS. Not able to link a custom logo to customer login.
Not very effective Page access restrictions (some access must be granted to the Everyone Group in order to make the Storefront work)

Vorteile

Nice looking frontend, customers find it easy to use.

Nachteile

Unable to print more than 1 job sheet at a time! would be nice to be able to batch print job sheets.