STORIS

Benefits:

There aren't many ERP solutions for Furniture Retail that have ALL the solutions you need - from Inventory, POS to Accounting and in between. We're glad to know we don't have to try to integrate with additional software like accounting, etc.

Drawbacks:

Product suggestions from power users can sit for years before being implemented. One-off custom enhancements are expensive. Some parts are clunky and restrictive.

Benefits:

Really love exporting and importing data sets via Excel. This helped with mass catalog changes.

Drawbacks:

We are limited to certain search queries, SQL is not allowed.

In sum:

Very Easy to use on a day to day but it at times can be limiting.

Benefits:

I like the user interface. It is very clean. I also love the integration with Dispatch Track. Everyone in my company uses this program and absolutely loves it!

Drawbacks:

I hate that the program doesn't scale to 4k properly for me and customer service can be a bit busy at times. It's also a bit expensive which might be a turn-off but it is well worth the price!

Benefits:

The staff at Storis is very responsive and helpful. They make me desire to give Storis an outstanding review, but I'm just not quite there yet. Hoping that Storis overhauls their platform to make it more user friendly.

Drawbacks:

1. If you are an old school Microsoft platform person, you may enjoy the use of the software. In comparison to today's drag and drop, intuitive computing environment, the Storis software feels dated and clunky. Multitasking in Storis, or having multiple screens up at one time is almost non-existent, and to complete a task, or even offer a customer a simple refund, there is not always one simple process that allows the user to finish the task. 2. Storis charges for just about everything. Even to get to the detailed reports we desired, we had to purchase the EIS reporting module. It would seem to me that many of the features that Storis charges extra for should be integrated into the software itself at no extra charge.

In sum:

I hope to add more info to this review as I learn more; I'm reviewing ERP tools as a consultant and was using Capterra to identify tools to review. After being exposed to Storis I wanted to share my initial impressions -- which were stellar. The tool is very (very!) rich, yet small enough and flexible enough to leave the bigger tools in the dust. Its also specialized to a tight industry segment -- it speaks your language and you don't have to leave your day job to become an ERP guru. The training materials are vast and good; only scratched the surface. Their people have been extremely customer focused. As background, last year I evaluated ERPs for an entertainment industry client on the west coast and neither Netsuite nor MS Dynamics could touch this in terms of custom features, learning curve, or ROI (projected). But the Dynamics people were also very competent - its just that there tool isn't as focused along an industry vertical and requires more tuning to adopt. Which I'm learning is a common issue with ERP systems.

Benefits:

STORIS is simple to use and train. Has some ecomm integration capabilities. STORIS is always developing new functionality so upgrades are often available.

Drawbacks:

Not many advanced out of the box features, anything additional is added cost

In sum:

Good tool to use, easy to navigate. Could use some more ecomm capabilities

Benefits:

Variety of applications. I like the customer search features. The reports are very detailed and give me the ability to evaluate my business from different values.

Drawbacks:

Find it a bit awkward when trying to navigate from one site to another. I think that when scanning on point of sale it should have the last scanned item first not last. It would prevent errors in scanning.

Benefits:

Solid product. Storis is always working to keep the product updated and current. Storis has great support with fast response times.

Drawbacks:

This product has lots of features and settings. Getting used to everything takes time.

Benefits:

The only reason I used this software was because our company used it instead of any alternatives. It never worked as designed.

Drawbacks:

Everything. The scheduling portion was broken, it wouldn't give correct information when making inquiries on availability, it would just lock you out of orders at points.

In sum:

STORIS is a hot mess and I highly recommend using a different POS system.

Benefits:

It has a lot of checks and balances that doesn't allow the user to make mistakes. It also shows the designer custom options they may not be aware of to give their client the best design solution possible. Once you learn the drop-down abbreviations and become proficient you can quickly create a quote for your client. New employees never exposed to the system are able to pick it up quite rapidly as it is extremely user-friendly. Our administrator has the ability to quickly fix any errors we might have made. The reports it generates allow us to give real-time information to our clients. The ability to review clients past purchases when adding items to their home is very helpful and selecting new furniture that will compliment what they have purchased in the past!

Drawbacks:

There are times that the software is down. This can wreak havoc on our business. This may not be hey STORIS issue but rather an in-house Ethan Allen issue. We also recently moved locations. This required a new store code. The system was unable to blend the client base from the old store code to the new one requiring searching a customer's information in two different places. Not a significant hindrance.