Possible PAM enhancements?

Hi guys,

I hope this is okay to post in the forum.

PAM is a great tool for viewing the RMS/Nitrosell tables. I would like to suggest some future enhancements (in no particular order)

Profiles
The ability to save profiles (viewable attributes) globally so others can use the same profiles on another computer
The ability to save the order of column attributes
The ability to rename an attribute
Auto column width (to the widest needed for each column for the dataset or at least the viewable dataset)

Filters
The ability to save filters - again globally

Misc
The ability to use apply formula to one record
The ability to use apply formula for a number of records (just like the Paste for a number of rows feature)

Thanks for listening.

Bob

2 Likes

I especially like the idea of the ā€˜auto column widthā€™. It would save us a lot of time!

I agree PAM is fab.

For me if it remembered the column widths I had set rather than resetting after a commit - well that would be dreamy.

Hi Bob,

Thank you for your suggestions. My colleagues will likely address the majority of your points but Iā€™d like to speak to Applying Formulas (which should also include String Functions).

If we did create a ā€œfor ?ā€ option youā€™d still risk effecting more or less items and having to discard changes etc. For that reason the most efficient way to perform these functions is to create a filter and select Both (directions) when running the utility.

In the meantime, I hope this method saves you a little time.

Kind regards,
Mike

And how about a refresh so that when Iā€™m working in both RMS and PAM I donā€™t have to keep closing and reopening PAM to see new items etc.

The ability to export the visible page to another program like excel.

4 Likes

I agree with the export to Excel suggestion, or even a simple ā€œPrintā€ option would be great!

3 Likes

I have another suggestion related to the extended description / notes box on the RHS below the product image:
A spell checker and/or a larger font size so its easier to read and spot spelling and grammatical errors before publishing to the web. This would help my PAM users and improve quality of content.

3 Likes

Yes! The ability to change font size and a spell check!. Itā€™s a pain having to work in word and cutting and pasting everything.

How about allowing PAM to display/edit other RMS fields as well? If you made it work with all of the RMS item fields you could even market it to non Nitrosell users. Iā€™d love to be able to see alias, supplier reorder #, discounts, sale dates, sale price. PAM is a great tool for RMS but it could easily be an amazing, couldnā€™t live without it tool.

The inability to queue or trigger PAM changes at a specific time is the biggest limitation in my opinion and is a major drawback with the current setup.

1 Like

Thank you all for the feedback. As Iā€™m sure you know, new features are in strong demand (for every component of our software/service) and we have a constant flow of ideas, suggestions, and requests.

While it would be great if we could cater to all of them, itā€™s a balancing act and we try to prioritize issues based on demand and our own strategic objectives. To give you an idea, these are some of the current projects that are underway:

  • Amazon phase 3: simplified mappings interface, improved reporting, a more configurable feeder process;
  • eBay: we are currently in the early stages of implementing an eBay integration;
  • Design template project: the current design themes and templates are in need of improvement ā€“ we are in the process of modernising the mark-up, making it more responsive, including modern libraries by default (like bootstrap), and enhancing content management to be able to better configure menus, page content, etc.
  • Upgrade to the Universal version of Google Analytics;
  • Heading/title tag builder for SEO, which will work in a similar way to the SEO URLs configuration;
  • New point-of-sale platform integrations: Microsoft is phasing out support for RMS; we have just released new integrations to TheGeneralStore and Ospreyā€™s UnifyPOS; by the end of the year (at the latest) we hope to have integrations completed to Microsoftā€™s new platform, Retail Essentials, as well as Retail Pro.

In addition to those bigger projects, we also have a steady stream of tickets, bug fixes, customizations, new payment gateway integrations, etc. With a base of over 550 retailers, keeping on top of these day-to-day requests is quite resource-intensive.

On plus side, we have recently hired an additional three people on our support team, which should take pressure off the development team, freeing up resources to work on improvements.

In any case, we have taken note of your feedback and we will certainly consider it next time weā€™re giving PAM a major facelift.

Kind regards,

Donogh

Hi Donogh,

Thanks for that update. Hereā€™s another couple for the wish list.

How about the ability to not display department and category? When working in PAM real estate is precious and it would be nice to not have those taking up space. Yes, of course I can make them smaller but as was pointed out in an earlier request having to constantly resize columns is a pain and having two less to constantly resize would be awesome. And if for some reason those two have to be there at least make them sortable.

After the Ebay integration is done any thoughts to an Etsy integration? For my products it would be far better than either Amazon or Ebay. At some point I may have to move over to Magento to gain that functionality, but since they discontinued their affordable and supported product that day is far down the road.

Hi Jim,

We havenā€™t had any requests up until now for an Etsy integration. Integrations like this are large undertakings and weā€™re unlikely to pursue it unless we are sure it will appeal to a large percentage of our customer base.

Regards,
Donogh

Yes, ETSY is a niche market mainly for businesses in the arts & craft trade. Unfortunately for me itā€™s the #1 marketplace for my goods and without a relatively seamless integration itā€™s an impossible task.

We do have quite a few arts & crafts stores, Jim, so we wouldnā€™t rule it out. We can certainly look into it. I guess eBay is a more immediate priority.

Jim and Donogh - Weā€™re a new client, just launched our site today and have nothing but great things to say about our experience! Just adding my input that an Etsy integration would be wonderful. Weā€™ve looked at that format many times, but just canā€™t justify all the double-work that would be involved to sell on that channel without an integration option.

2 Likes

Thanks Julie, appreciate the feedback. Glad youā€™ve had a good experience and congrats on your go live!

Hi, do we have an ETA for the eBay integration? Iā€™ve been looking into to it and I feel totally lost in a attempting to get our eBay store updated with the product from our web store. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

1 Like

Hi Anthony,

Unfortunately customer interest in an eBay integration is running at about 10% - 20% of what our Amazon integration is achieving at the moment, and would require the same amount of development.

eBay is taking a back seat for now, and we may revisit it pending demand in 2016.

Regards,
Conor.

Thanks for getting back to me with that information! Thatā€™s too bad about the delay, but I appreciate the response!