Notable.ca Young Entrepreneur: Michael Benadiba, CEO of OrderDynamics®

OrderDynamics Corporation CEO, Michael Benadiba was recently featured as the daily Notable.ca Young Entrepreneur. With over 1.5 million monthly visitors, Notable.ca connects young professional adults (YPs), forward-thinking visionaries and trend-setters, with noteworthy people, places, products, parties and events.

The interview takes a look at Michael’s career thus far as the CEO of OrderDynamics Corporation and President & CTO of MBC Managed IT Services. Michael’s involvement in the ecommerce industry spans well over a decade, from his first ecommerce website proposal straight out of high school to leading a rapidly growing enterprise.

Michael also reveals how his passion for problem solving and helping others led to establishing his own successful business MBC Managed IT Services and subsequently co-founding OrderDynamics.  On the subject of why the co-founders started OrderDynamics, Michael states: “We wanted to help retailers realize their online potential by developing intuitive software that solves real world challenges and removes barriers to success.”

In addition to discussing his flair for problem solving and love for digital commerce, Michael dishes on his favourite local haunt, interest in travelling and skydiving, and offers compelling advice to budding entrepreneurs and young professionals-alike.

Read the full length interview here

Bouclair Home to Launch Omni-Channel Commerce Experience with OrderDynamics

OrderDynamics®, Canada’s leading on-demand commerce platform provider, today announced Bouclair Home, a national retailer of home decor products and houseware accessories, will launch its ecommerce website using the OrderDynamics commerce platform. With the launch of the Bouclair.com eCommerce site, the Canadian retailer will provide improved levels of customer service and accelerate cross-channel sales growth through a new seamless Omni-Channel commerce strategy.

Bouclair, who operates 113 stores across Canada, needed a robust commerce solution to support their vision of centering operations around their customers by unifying the shopping experience across digital and physical storefronts. Bouclair selected OrderDynamics based on their impressive experience launching Omni-Channel commerce solutions for national brick and mortar retailers, in addition to the cutting edge retail order management capabilities within their cloud-based commerce platform.  According to “The Retail Order Management Imperative”, a global Omni-Channel study by Forrester Consulting commissioned by OrderDynamics in November 2013, 82% of retailers stated a retail order management system would play an important role in the execution of their Omni-Channel strategy.(1)

Bouclair’s partnership with OrderDynamics provides them with a suite of Omni-Channel retail tools, which will allow them to leverage their retail stores to support critical Omni-Channel commerce functionalities including:

• Buy online pickup in-store
• Inventory visibility across all retail channels and systems
• Return web purchases to any retail store
• A single customer profile that combines online and in-store purchase history
• Cross-channel loyalty payment options and more 

“I was impressed with OrderDynamics and their eCommerce solution. We have a big opportunity to generate incremental sales and I feel these guys can help us achieve our goal,” said Peter Goldberg, President and CEO at Bouclair.

In addition, Bouclair will be able to take advantage of the OrderDynamics retail store dashboards to support in-store pickup, leverage the integrated mobile commerce platform, and multi-language functionality to support French-Canadian customers. Upon its 2014 launch, the new Bouclair website will also include a custom blinds selector that will enable customers to customize the size of blinds.

“With 51% of retailers expected to roll out buy online pickup in-store fulfillment programs within the next two years (2) , we are excited to provide Bouclair a competitive advantage in 2014 by leveraging its national network of retail stores to offer an unmatched level of service to their customers,” said Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics. “It’s inspiring to see Bouclair’s commitment to Omni-Channel commerce and we look forward to helping them deliver a world class cross-channel shopping experience.”

About Bouclair Home
Bouclair Home is a national retail chain that offers coordinated and contemporary fashion for the home.  Our designers travel the world searching out the latest trends in style, colours and design. Bouclair Home is a lifestyle brand which brings exclusive fashion to the mass consumer at a value price. Bouclair Home is focused on Home, Fashion and Value.


1, 2 “The Retail Order Management Imperative”, Forrester Consulting, commissioned by OrderDynamics, November 2013

  

Happy Holidays from OrderDynamics!

OrderDynamics® is thrilled to recap on another eventful and progressive year, and extend our thanks to all of our valued clients, partners and vendors who made it possible. 2013 has been a year of new opportunities and exciting projects, in addition to our participation in conferences, panel discussions and speaking engagements, and new technology releases that we have become known for.  We are immensely grateful for the continued support we receive from our friends and colleagues.

Our Commitment to Helping Retailers Enter Omni-Channel Commerce

This year, we helped several Canadian retailers launch brand new Omni-Channel operations featuring cross-channel fulfillment, inventory and merchandising functionality including The Shoe Company and Eclipse.  JYSK.ca, a Danish brand of furniture and home décor, also integrated its existing eCommerce Platform with OrderDynamics Retail Order Management System. The integration allows JYSK to ship orders using store stock, and offer their customers the ability to pick up online orders in-store – a program that greatly extends their product offering given the nature of their product and large-sized packages that make traditional delivery costly and time-consuming. JYSK also leveraged the OrderDynamics Retail Order Management System to offer deeper product assortment and inventory redundancy via Endless Aisle functionality.

Henry’s Camera added a new convenience-focused service offering to its existing Omni-Channel operations called Reserve Online, Pickup In-Store. After launching in summer 2013, Henry’s quickly saw increased customer engagement online, along with increased store foot traffic.

Cutting-Edge Order Management Study with Forrester Research

In September, we commissioned a global study with Forrester Research, surveying retailers from Europe, Asia and North America to weigh the importance they place in retail order management systems, and their impact on driving Omni-Channel retail initiatives and cross-channel revenue growth.  The study, entitled the "The Retail Order Management Imperative", revealed compelling stats indicating that 82% of retailers surveyed believe that a retail Order Management System is essential in executing a successful Omni-Channel retail strategy. Additionally, cross-channel fulfillment programs, such as ship-from-store are the highest priority over other aspects of an Omni-Channel strategy, stating that these programs help extend the online assortment to include products typically not sellable online, reduce online cart abandonment associated with shipping time and costs, reduce store markdowns resulting from individual store stock availability with cross-channel inventory visibility, while in-store pickup helps increase store foot traffic, and provides the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell thereby boosting average order value. Omni-Channel retail has become such a priority, that almost a third of retailers surveyed have already implemented Omni-Channel fulfillment capabilities, and 39% have designated a C-level executive role for creating, implementing and managing Omni-Channel strategies. 

Click here to watch the replay of our live webinar on the findings of this study, “How a Retail Order Management System Accelerates Omni-Channel Growth,” featuring Principal Analyst of Forrester Research, Peter Sheldon.

Significant Growth for OrderDynamics

In June OrderDynamics was acquired by UK-based eCommera, a leader in Decision-Intelligent Commerce solution. The acquisition further strengthens OrderDynamics, providing a global infrastructure and experienced team with offices located in the UK, France, India, Bulgaria and the US. As one of the fastest growing providers of cloud-based commerce software and solutions globally, the addition of the OrderDynamics retail Order Management System to eCommera's portfolio enhances already compelling omni-channel and end-to-end commerce solutions. OrderDynamics and eCommera combined serve more than 70 brands and retailers across the world.

Click here to read more about the acquisition.

Thought Leadership and Participation at Leading Retail Events

 OrderDynamics had a busy year, exhibiting at many industry events and conferences including IRCE 2013, eTail Canada, The NRF BIG Show and Shop.org.  We also had opportunities throughout the year to host and moderate panel discussions with retail experts from Mountain Equipment Co-op, London Drugs, Aldo, FutureShop and Laura Canada. OrderDynamics also attended the NRF BIG Show in January, and Shop.org in September. 

In September, we also had the honour of presenting the Most Innovative Retailer Award as a sponsor of the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards, recognizing the cutting-edge strategies of successful Canadian Retailers.   In addition, we received this year several honourable mentions in various eCommerce and retail-related publications, and were recognized as an eTail Rising Star, indicating our growing reputation as industry experts.

Many Thanks!

It has truly been an exciting and eventful year, with impressive site launches, and existing OrderDynamics retailers continuing to outpace average industry stats at alarming rates on key shopping days including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We would like to once again thank our clients, partners and friends for their overwhelming support in 2013, and look forward to continued growth and learning in 2014. 

From the OrderDynamics Family to yours, Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year!

OrderDynamics Order Management Study with Forrester Research Featured in Global Publications

In November 2013, OrderDynamics® released the results of a global study with Forrester Research entitled “The Retail Order Management Imperative”. OrderDynamics commissioned the study in September, which surveyed 337 retailers in North America, Europe and Asia to assess the importance they place in a retail order management system, and its effects on implementing a successful omni-channel retail strategy.

The results of the Forrester Report were astonishing, sharing key statistics indicating that retailers believe order management technology underpins omni-channel retail initiatives, with cross-channel fulfillment programs being the most important aspect of an omni-channel strategy, and that many retailers are already allocating (or plan to) a C-level executive to manage these initiatives.

Since the report’s release, along with a Webinar on November 26 featuring Principle Analyst at Forrester Research, Peter Sheldon called “How A Retail Order Management System is the Key to Unlocking Your Omni-Channel Strategy”, the report has gained the attention of many publications around the world. France’s eCommerce Mag published a French recap of the report last week, pushing the study results toward a larger international demographic. The UK’s Banner Managed Communications and Retail Times both also published recaps of report, as did the US-based Retail TouchPoints. Major tenets of the report were included in Econsultancy’s (another UK publication) “10 Interesting Internet Marketing Stats We’ve Seen This Week”.

The most interesting of the media attention received was that found in the UK’s Marketing Week which went beyond summarizing the report findings, and included thought leadership on the real-world application of the retail order management imperative. Marketing Week’s Michael Barnett suggested that while retail order management systems create more cohesive and successful cross-channel fulfillment programs that drive increased levels of growth for the retailer, this is only one piece of the puzzle, and retailers must ensure that store fulfillment tactics provide the same convenience for consumers as it does for retailers. Mr. Barnett spoke with Michael Ross of OrderDynamics’ parent company, eCommera, who stated that store fulfillment tactics such as In-Store Pickup, Reserve Online and Ship from Store only work well if sufficient data systems are in place to ensure consumers always receive the most current and accurate information when ordering online, otherwise there could be disconnects in inventory information that can leave retailers unable to fulfill orders and customers unsatisfied.

It is interesting to see how the information from “The Retail Order Management Imperative” is being interpreted by retailers and retail experts. Omni-Channel commerce retail and cross-channel fulfillment  via a retail order management system help close the gap between tech-savvy consumers who are comfortable shopping online, and those who still need assurance as to the safety and ease of it by meeting the growing demands for convenience and rapid fulfillment through unifying cross-channel shopping experiences.  Retailers need to act quickly to implement cross-channel initiatives to keep up with evolving competitors and consumer expectations or risk falling behind those who can provide consumers with ideal shopping experiences that satisfy and excite them, ensuring repeat business and improved brand loyalty.

To download a copy of "The Retail Order Management Imperative", click here.

OrderDynamics Continues Commitment to Canada Supporting Dinner Honouring Prime Minister Stephen Harper

OrderDynamics®, Canada’s leading On-Demand eCommerce Platform and Order Management System, proudly sponsored and attended the Jewish National Fund of Toronto’s 65th Annual Negev Dinner on December 1, 2013, paying tribute to Canadian Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper.  The Jewish National Fund (JNF) was founded over 115 years ago to lead the creation of a Jewish state and thereby predating Israel by almost 50 years. JNF is the largest and longest-standing organization dedicated to the development of 100% of the country of Israel. 

OrderDynamics CEO, Michael Benadiba with Canada's First Lady, Laureen Harper, and Dr. Regan Tessis

As Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister, Mr. Harper has lead Canada in the global community to defend the rights and freedoms of all cultures and ethnicities and, in particular, educating against anti-semitism and related crimes such as the Holocaust. As such, the Jewish National Fund of Toronto has spearheaded the construction of The Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor & Education Centre in Israel, as part of the Hula Lake Nature and Bird Park, thanking Mr. Harper for his continued commitment to the Jewish community. OrderDynamics was honoured to be a part of this event supporting our country’s leader and the human rights of fellow Canadians and people all over the world.

JNF CEO, Josh Cooper

The Negev Dinner took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, welcoming respected members of the Jewish community, and major sponsers such as Bank of Montreal, Deloitte, Rogers, the Canadian Police Association, and many others. The evening’s events were emceed by the Hon. Jason Kenney and the Hon. John Baird, and included an elegant cocktail reception and dinner ceremony, along with addresses from Israeli Ambassador, Rafael Barak; CEO of JNF, Josh Cooper; Negev Dinner Chairs, the Hon. Linda Frum and Howard Sokolowski; and a special message from Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Harper also spoke on his gratitude and dedication to the Jewish community, announcing his tour of Israel this coming January, and provided the evening’s entertainment performing a live concert with his band for the dinner attendees.

Prime Minister, Stephen Harper and his band.

The JNF will put proceeds from the 2013 Negev Dinner toward the Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor and Education Centre Project. To learn more about the Project, the Jewish National Fund , and the Negev Dinner, visit www.Toronto.JNF.ca/negev2013

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OrderDynamics Unveils Global Research Uncovering the Key Role a Retail Order Management System Plays in Driving Omni-Channel Commerce Initiatives and Accelerated Cross-Channel Growth

OrderDynamics®, the leading provider of global order management and Omni-Channel solutions, today released the results of a new global retail study that identifies the role order management technology plays in accelerating cross-channel growth by supporting consumer oriented features such as buy online, pickup in-store, and fulfilling web orders from retail stores.

In a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of OrderDynamics, an eCommera company, Forrester Consulting surveyed 337 decision makers across North America, Europe and Asia with knowledge of their firms’ multi-channel fulfillment strategy. The research revealed that cross-channel fulfillment programs are the top Omni-Channel priorities among retailers. Despite the focus on fulfillment tactics, the newly released study, “The Retail Order Management Imperative,” found while only 49 percent of retailers currently use an order management system, many of these solutions are ill equipped to support complex cross-channel fulfillment offerings. Moreover, the study found that traditional order management systems typically cannot support the multiple facets of evolving Omni-Channel commerce initiatives. The study identifies several key findings including:

Cross-Channel Fulfillment Programs Trump Other Omni-Channel Initiatives
The study discovered that optimization of cross-channel fulfillment processes such as pickup in-store, ship-to-store and ship-from-store are being prioritized over other Omni-Channel tactics like single view of the customer and cross-channel loyalty programs. In-store pickup options provide retailers with greater in-store traffic and new opportunities for more cross-selling.

• 26 percent of retailers in the United States and 47 percent of retailers in Europe already have ship-from-store capabilities, while 10 percent and 18 percent respectively soon plan to enable this offering.
• 23 percent of retailers already have a buy-online, pickup-in-store program in place. Likewise, 20 percent have a reserve-only pickup-in-store program. According to the study results, these store pickup numbers are set to almost triple in the next 12 months.
• 63 percent of retailers surveyed indicated that gaining a competitive advantage over online pure-play retailers by leveraging their stores assets (inventory, shipping cost efficiencies and reduced delivery times) was a primary driver for investing in Omni-Channel initiatives. 
• Retailers already (or expect to) fulfill an average of 35 percent of online orders from their retail stores.

Order Management Technology Underpins Omni-Channel Initiatives 
The study also identifies the growing need for modern retail order management systems that can support complex fulfillment programs in addition to standard order automation features. The study states, “Some retailers have invested in traditional order management systems that are largely centered on order automation, many do not possess the technology to enable next generation fulfillment... As a result, an increasing number [of retailers] are investing in retail order management systems to provide not only a consolidated cross-channel view of inventory and order data, but also to support the orchestration of complex cross-channel sales and fulfillment scenarios.”

• 85 percent of retailers stated a retail order management system would play an important role in the execution of their Omni-Channel strategy.
• 75 percent of the retailers surveyed believe an order management system will reduce inventory costs and improve fulfillment efficiencies.
• 63 percent of retailers are considering SaaS-based order management systems to support their rapidly evolving Omni-Channel initiatives. 

Omni-Channel Initiatives have the attention of the C-Suite
The study reveals the importance C-level executives are placing on Omni-Channel commerce strategies. The study states, “… at many of the retailers we surveyed the CEO, CIO, COO and CMO are all taking an active role in defining their firm’s Omni-Channel strategy and prioritizing explicit programs that will serve to connect the cross channel purchase journey their customers now expect.” The successful implementation and execution of Omni-Channel commerce requires the input and ongoing collaboration between many departments and shouldn’t fall onto the sole responsibility of one individual.

• 39 percent of retailers have created a dedicated executive or c-level role to lead and coordinate Omni-Channel initiatives.
• 34 percent of retailers have their CEO leading Omni-Channel initiatives.
• 9 percent of retailers have already re-aligned their online and offline departments to become an Omni-Channel organization with a single P&L.

As part of the research in this study, Forrester Consulting completed in-depth surveys and interviews with retail executives to understand the full spectrum of challenges and considerations being put into order management and Omni-Channel initiatives. “The vast majority of our 2,000 stores are enabled for distribution. At the end of the day that is the big advantage we have – we can have the product same-day/within minutes – pure plays cannot match that. With ship-from-store and store distribution centers we can get the product to customers much faster,” said a Director & General Manager at a Major US Retail chain.

“Omni-Channel fulfillment represents a strategic advantage for many retailers by leveraging inventory across multiple locations, and streamlining fulfillment processes. These initiatives ultimately lead to reduced operational costs, and more importantly, an enhanced customer shopping experience. It's clear retailers recognize a retail order management system as a strategic solution for enabling next generation fulfillment tactics and gaining an advantage over direct competitors and nimble web-only retailers,” said Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics.

Learn more:

• To download the free global study, “The Retail Order Management Imperative”, click here
• Watch the Webinar Replay, “How A Retail Order Management System is The Key to Unlocking Your Omni-Channel Strategy”, with special guest Peter Sheldon, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc., click here.

Research Methodology
OrderDynamics commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a study into 337 decision makers representing retailers across North America, Europe and Asia to undercover the challenges retailers face when deploying Omni-Channel commerce strategies, top Omni-Channel initiatives and the benefits seen by implementing a retail order management system.

Webinar: How a Retail Order Management System Accelerates Omni-Channel Growth

In September 2013, OrderDynamics® commissioned Forrester Research for a global study on the effect of Retail Order Management Systems on Omni-Channel retail initiatives. The study, entitled The Retail Order Management Imperative, surveyed 337 mid- and large-retailers across 8 countries, seeking out the trends, challenges and obstacles in implementing a successful omni-channel retail strategy.  

The findings of this study indicate a sense of urgency to invest in omni-channel solutions to gain a competitive advantage, with nearly 40% of retailers having designated a C-level executive to align and manage integrated online and offline retail channels. Additionally, research findings show a large focus on cross-channel fulfillment programs as the highest priority omni-channel retail initiative, wherein retailers are already, or are expecting to, fulfill 35% of online orders from in-store stock with initiatives like ship-from-store, buy/reserve online and pickup in-store. Of the retailers currently employing these tactics, 41% indicated a boost in customer loyalty and 47% reported higher online revenue with buy online, pickup in-store and ship-from-store programs, respectively.

The key underpinning of the study’s results is the role order management technology plays in facilitating omni-channel retail initiatives. Currently, 49% of retailers surveyed use an order management system, however, traditional order management systems that are highly focused on online order processing lack the technical sophistication to create a unified cross-channel shopping experience; 85% of the survey sample assert that retail-specific order management solutions are the key to executing a successful and seamless omni-channel strategy.

Date: Tuesday, November 26
Time: 2-3pm EST
Presenters: Peter Sheldon, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, and Michael Turcsanyi, President of OrderDynamics

Click here to view a replay of the webinar.

eCommera’s DynamicAction to Bolster Holiday Profits for Calendars.com

eCommera, the decision-intelligent commerce company, today announced that the world’s largest calendar retailer, Calendars.com, has selected DynamicAction by eCommera to optimize their business and help drive profits this holiday season.

Calendars.com

While online retailers are typically strongly averse to technology implementations during the holiday shopping season to avoid possible site crashes or errors, Calendars.com made the bold move to employ the DynamicAction decision analytics software to support and grow this season’s sales. As DynamicAction is SaaS-based and does not affect site code, retailers can confidently invest in the low-maintenance platform while also efficiently allocating resources to other profit driving initiatives.

Calendars.com sees over 80% of their annual revenue during November through January, making this an opportune time to utilize decision analytics to make critical decisions to capture the most revenue possible during this period.  DynamicAction will allow Calendars.com to compile and analyze data from current marketing, sales and operational data to understand current customer behaviour and sales trends, as well as obtain detailed recommendations on product merchandising, inventory management, and fulfillment strategies based on customer expectations.

“We knew that DynamicAction is critical technology that can positively affect our holiday season,” said Paul Hoffman, CEO of Calendars.com. Mr. Hoffman credits the DynamicAction and Decision Science Practice Manager Solutions as acting like additional team members that make complex business decisions, allowing actual team members to confidently execute an effective retail action plan.

Read the official press release here.

Canadian Retail Shines at the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Dinner & Gala

On Wednesday night, Canada Post hosted the second annual Ecommerce Innovation Awards Dinner & Gala in Toronto. The event saw Gemini award winner James Duthie and his witty banter return to the ceremony for a second straight year.

This year's edition of the Ecommerce Innovation awards just about doubled the size of the inaugural Award show of 2012, with more than 600 ecommerce and retail enthusiasts attending the event. While the growth is significant, what truly stood out was the increase in attendee engagement. It was clear this event was heavily anticipated and slotted on many calendars months in advance.

Just as Canada Post went bigger with the 2013 Awards, so did OrderDynamics®. We were proud to be a Platinum sponsor of the 2013 Canada Post Ecommerce Innovation Awards and to associate ourselves with retail excellence in Canada. OrderDynamics President, Michael Turcsanyi, even presented the award for the Most Innovative Retailer category (a list of award winners can be found below). 

OrderDynamics President Michael Turcsanyi presenting the award for Most Innovative Retailer

The atmosphere throughout the night was electric and inspiring. Themes of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking repeatedly surfaced too. In many ways this event stood as a reflection of the Canadian retail industry and the evolution it has undergone in recent years. Nowhere was that more apparent than with Canada Post themselves. The long-time mail delivery company now calls itself a "parcel delivery company" and is completely entrenched into the ecommerce and omni-channel world – and subsequent omni-channel fulfillment expectations – we're all living in today.

The evolution doesn’t end there, though. Nimble and relatively new web-only retailers (like Jewlr and Snakes and Lattes) and longstanding national brick-and-mortar retailers (like Lowes and Hudson’s Bay) are increasingly participating in high profile events like this. We are no longer seeing the same few names as in years past – Canadian retailers of all sizes clearly recognize the importance of ecommerce and are giving it the focus it rightfully deserves.

Tanbir Grover and Martin Priest of Lowe's Canada accepting the Best Multi-Channel Retailer Award

Canada has long been seen as an ecommerce straggler, but the 2013 Award nominees suggest something different: while there is a lot of work to be done within Canada to meet the high expectations of Canadian shoppers, the gap is closing at a considerable pace. Ecommerce in Canada has quietly shifted to the forefront of retail strategies and we’re witnessing the integration and alignment of web and other retail channels.

It will be interesting to see how Canadian brick and mortar retailers respond to the growing surge of web-only retailers entering the Canadian market (both Canadian and US-based e-retailers who see Canada as a strategic opportunity). Recent data from Forrester Research and Canada Post suggest Canadian consumers prefer shopping in and/or using retail stores as part of their shopping experience. We expect Canadian retailers to continue building a tighter cross-channel experience to leverage its stores, staff, inventory and more through omni-channel strategies. See what web-only retailers do to steer around this preference will be fascinating.

OrderDynamics' Steven Berkovitz with Glenn Burton of Neatfreak and David McPherson of Henry's Camera

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the Awards show itself. It was a first-class event through and through. The event appropriately put the spotlight on cutting edge Canadian retailers who are pushing the retailing envelope in order to better service its customers. The amount of quality nominees and efforts that were on display suggest only great things are to come for this industry and ultimately for Canadian consumers. Hats off to Canada Post, all of the nominees and of course, the award winners on a fantastic evening and event! And speaking of award winners, here they are:

OrderDynamics' Michael Turcsanyi, Kevin Butler and Steven Berkovitz

Consumer Champion Award (fan voted)
Nail Polish Canada

Most Innovative Retailer (small), Presented by OrderDynamics
Ten Tree International

Most Innovative Retailer (large)
Jewlr

Best Multi-Channel Retailer (small)

Snakes and Lattes

Best Multi-Channel Retailer (large)

Lowes Canada

Best E-Tailer (small)
Build.ca

Best E-Tailer (large)
Well.ca

The 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Winners

Eclipse Stores Moves into Omni-Channel Commerce with OrderDynamics

OrderDynamics® would like to congratulate Eclipse Stores on the launch of their first online store and move into omni-channel commerce with the OrderDynamics On-Demand eCommerce Platform and Order Management Solutions.  The rapidly-growing women’s apparel brand operates 68 stores in Canada, and is able to expand its business beyond store logistics to create a truly national brand.

The new EclipseStores.com builds on the original site by now offering a full catalog of Eclipse merchandise. Utilizing OrderDynamics dynamic Product Merchandising applications, Eclipse offers customers the Shop This Outfit tool, which allows them to leverage product recommendations to create their perfect look. Additionally, shoppers can compile a Wish List of desired items and email to a friend, which is ideal for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Eclipse Stores' Shop This Outfit Feature

Eclipse’s online store also leverages OrderDynamics retail Order Management Solution to provide their customers with the most convenient fulfillment options.  Using OrderDynamics distributed inventory-based Shipping Centre Module, Eclipse fulfills many online orders from local stores where possible, in addition to their distribution warehouse, which helps to minimize shipping costs for customers while also letting shoppers in cities where Eclipse does not currently have store locations to experience the Eclipse brand.  OrderDynamics Canada Post Integration also enables Eclipse to provide customers with the flexibility of having their online order shipped to their home or at a Canada Post location of their choice.

Eclipse' Check Store Stock tool

Also leveraging the Omni-Channel retail capabilities of the OrderDynamics Platform, Eclipse is able to provide a seamless cross-channel shopping experience. Each product page is synched with OrderDynamics’ Inventory Management System which supports the Check In-store Stock tool, allowing customers to quickly find nearby locations with their favourite items. Eclipse goes a step further with their Google Maps-Integrated Store Locator Module, which lists all locations according to a customer-specified distance from their postal code.

Eclipse's Google Maps-Integrated Store Locator Module

 The new EclipseStores.com is a great example of a leading omni-channel retailer, providing exceptional customer service both on- and offline.

OrderDynamics to Present Most Innovative Retailer Award at the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards

September 9, 2013, Toronto, ON - OrderDynamics®, Canada’s leading On-Demand eCommerce and Order Management Solutions Provider, today announced their sponsorship of the Second Annual Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Dinner and Gala, to take place September 25, 2013 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto.

The Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards seek to recognize and honour Canadian retailers who leverage leading technologies to create bold, innovative eCommerce strategies that are reshaping the Canadian retail landscape. This year, OrderDynamics will be proudly presenting the Most Innovative Retailer Award , which reveres retailers who exhibit ingenuity in utilizing the technologies available in their eCommerce solution to provide customers with a unique and dynamic online shopping experience. The event will also recognize large and small businesses in the Best Multi-Channel Retailer and Best E-Tailer Categories, as well Consumer Champion Award based on Canadian consumer votes.

“eCommerce adoption in Canada has really taken off in the last year, and consumers are increasingly turning to eCommerce to make more informed decisions and to make shopping more convenient. The Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards is a great way to recognize and reward those retailers who are innovating the way they serve customers and ultimately drive quality experiences,” said Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics, and presenter of the Most Innovative Retailer Award. “We are honoured to present the Most Innovative Retailer Award and put the spotlight on leading Canadian retailers and encourage growth in Canadian online retail”.

Nominees for the Canada Post eCommerceInnovation Awards are based on applications submitted on behalf of retailers acknowledging their novel and ground-breaking use of their technology toolset. Canada Post will then select a list of finalists to be recognized during the Awards Dinner and Gala before presenting the Awards in each category. 

View our recap of the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Dinner and Gala here.

Airsoft Megastore Highlights OrderDynamics in TechTarget’s Order Management Systems Feature

TechTarget is an organization focused on highlighting key technologies and solutions providers. In their blog, TechTarget offers news, guidelines and resources to aid technology buyers in the process of selecting a technology vendor to serve their business.

A recent article, called “Best Practices for Buying an Order Management System” featured OrderDynamics® client, Airsoft Megastore. Mike Zhang, President and COO at Airsoft Megastore, discussed the process the retailer underwent when deciding to re-platform their site and selecting a vendor to do so with. Mr. Zhang stated the importance of basing vendor selections on current businesses objectives, and what you need from a technology provider in order to meet them. For Airsoft Megastore it was critical they partner with a hosted software vendor that had reliable and robust infrastructure and could accommodate large volumes of orders without downtime. He also stressed that OrderDynamics’ eCommerce and order management solutions allowed them to leverage software that could conform to the way their company worked, not the reverse, and that post-implementation training was the key to succeeding with a new vendor.

The article also included insights from Tyler Wilson of Panorama Consulting Solutions, and Gene Alvarez of Gartner Inc. Mr. Wilson shared his views on using an all-encompassing solution, such as OrderDynamics, to minimize redundancies and errors that can occur when having information feed through several systems, and that the capabilities of the solution should not only match current business processes, but also enable and facilitate future company goals. Mr. Alvarez spoke toward the need for a distributed order management system which enables faster order fulfillment and provides the ability to route orders through numerous distribution centers or warehouses. The nod towards distributed order management systems is also a reflection of the changing ecommerce landscape which has seen a growing demand for retail-oriented order management systems. 

To read the full article, click here.

Henry’s Camera Expands its Omni-Channel Commerce Strategy with Reserve Online Pickup In-Store Functionality with OrderDynamics eCommerce Platform and Retail Order Management System

July 25, 2013, TORONTO, ON – OrderDynamics®, Canada’s leading on-demand commerce platform provider, today announced Henry’s Camera, Canada’s largest independent retailer with over 100 years of experience in selling high-end cameras and photo imaging accessories, recently launched Reserve Online Pickup In-Store functionality through its website, Henrys.com.  With Reserve Online capabilities, Henry’s now offers its customers a variety of fulfillment options to support their growing omni-channel commerce strategy and operations.

Henry’s currently operates 33 stores across Canada, and manages several eCommerce websites through the OrderDynamics eCommercePlatform and Retail Order Management System including Henry’s Camera, a Henry’s Camera Mobile site, Headshots Rentals, and School of Imaging.

The Reserve Online Pickup In-store initiative utilizes OrderDynamics’ multi-location inventory management module, allowing customers to view product inventory at individual store levels. Henry’s customers are now able research products online and reserve that product at the most convenient location in a few simple steps. In addition, this tool is calibrated to automatically calculate local taxes and provide a complete order total, giving the customer an instant and transparent order summary. Customers are now able to maximize their shopping experience by engaging with Henry’s expert store associates and receive advice regarding warranties and maintenance when picking up their reserved products from the stores.

Henry’s staff can even view online and in-store purchasing history and behaviour profiles of its customers to help understand preferences or make appropriate upsell and cross-sell recommendations during the in-store pickup portion of the sale. In addition, Henry’s anticipates reduced shipping costs for its online customers who choose to take advantage of its new in-store pickup offering.

By expanding their Omni-Channel fulfillment efforts, Henry’s are well-positioned to further support their brick and mortar operations by driving additional store traffic, reducing return rates, leveraging in-store inventory, and increasing average sale values. Henry’s also sees its Reserve Online Pickup In-Store functionality as a line buster, as store associates can now help customers through the purchasing process more quickly as a result of pre-packing their desired products previously reserved from their website.

“Reserve In-Store represents our commitment to providing the most convenient and seamless omni-channel shopping experience possible for our customers. It also acts as a way for Henry’s to leverage inventory and expert staff at each of our retail stores,” said Ian Landy, President and CEO at Henry’s. “When customers come into our stores to buy an item they reserved online, they also have an opportunity to enjoy our in-store experience, large product inventory, and expert staff. This will lead to an even better shopping experience and ensure our customers get exactly what they want”.

Reserve Online Pickup In-store launched earlier this summer, and is already seeing high customer engagement with an average of 20 in-store reservations per day.

“Henry’s have always put their customers first and as a result, have heavily invested in their ecommerce operations to create an outstanding cross-channel shopping experience,” said Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics. “The Henry’s team have always been eCommerce innovators and their early success with new Reserve Online capabilities is another great step for them as they continue to align in-store and online experiences.”

OrderDynamics Recognized as one of eTail’s Rising Stars of 2013!

eTail, a premier online and multi-channel retail conference, announced yesterday the winners of its Rising Stars award for 2013. OrderDynamics® was selected among hundreds of nominees as a Rising Star in the Start Up and Service Technology categories.

Nominees for the Rising Star award are based on recommendations and testimonials of people within the retail community, and winners are selected by eTail based on those rated as first-class for value, performance and excellence in their service offering.

OrderDynamics credits its reception of the award to enhanced merchandising features in its eCommerce Frontend Solution, sophisticated order management and omni-channel fulfillment capabilities within its Retail Order Management Solution, as well as its value-add digital marketing tools and advanced third-party integration ecosystem.

Over the last year, OrderDynamics has made significant improvements to its eCommerce Platform and Retail Order Management Solution. In October, OrderDynamics announced its unprecedented integration with Canada Post, offering cutting-edge check out and fulfillment options as has never been seen before in Canada with Laura Canada, a national retailer. Later in December, OrderDynamics helped Latin American retailer, Inova.com.mx, re-launch its Spanish-language site, marking OrderDynamics’ first international endeavour using the Platform’s multi-language capabilities, and one of many other site launches over the course of the year. OrderDynamics’ significant experience in launching eCommerce and multi-channel offerings, as well as great thought-leadership based on years of attending high-profile retail and technology events, lead to their acquisition by UK eCommerce provider, eCommera in early 2013, paving the way for substantial growth opportunities in the joint eCommera-OrderDynamics product and service offering.

“We’re very excited to be receiving such a prestigious award. It’s an honour to have our solutions and services recognized within the retail community,” says Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics. “We are committed to providing our retailers with enhanced tools to service their customers, and maximize revenue and ultimately grow their business. OrderDynamics is passionate about innovation, making sure we’re constantly offering the newest technologies, and outstanding customer service. It’s great to know our retailers feel we are providing them the best solutions and customer experience.”

Canadian Women’s Apparel Retailer, Anna Bella Fashions, Launches with OrderDynamics!

OrderDynamics® would like to congratulate Canadian women’s fashion retailer, Anna Bella, on the launch of their first ever eCommerce shopping experience on the OrderDynamics On-Demand Commerce Platform.

Anna Bella brings with it 17 years of retail experience in offering high quality women’s casual and work apparel, evening wear and accessories to its first online store. They specialize in providing customers with local designer brands and stylish private labels in sizes 6 to 18, as well as petite variations. With the launch of their omni-channel offering, Anna Bella extends its retail operations from more than 20 stores in Ontario, Canada to delivering their signature shopping experience all across Canada.

The new AnnaBella.com Home Page

The new AnnaBella.ca displays a full catalog of Anna Bella fashions with features that enable simplified browsing such as a Guided Navigation, Shop by New Arrivals, and Shop by Top Sellers.  AnnaBella.com’s sophisticated product pages offer care instructions and recommended items to complete an outfit and help shoppers’ match items to their personal style, while the Shop by Comparison feature allows customers to compare up to 4 products at a time on one screen.

Anna Bella's Shop by Comparison feature

Anna Bella selected OrderDynamics while seeking an eCommerce platform that would allow them to provide the same quality of service online as they do in stores. The flexibility and scalability of the cloud-based platform, paired with extensive experience in launching online stores for the first time provided Anna Bella with the confidence to partner with a solution they knew would enable their sophisticated in-store experience to resonate online.

AnnaBella.com Product Page

Through OrderDynamics, AnnaBella.com offers advanced fulfillments options to effectively serve and retain their online customer base. With the OrderDynamics’ Endpoint Solution, they are able to efficiently pick and pack orders in-store as soon as they come in, and ship 90% of all orders the next business day. AnnaBella.com will leverage the support and expertise of OrderDynamics’ dedicated Account Managers to help them seamlessly transition into online and omni-channel operations, and learn how to fully apply the end-to-end solutions and third-party integrations within the platform to quickly grow their business.

“We’re very excited about the launch of the new AnnaBella.com, and the opportunity to help them expand their business online,” says Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics. “OrderDynamics’ experience and expertise helped us create a plan with Anna Bella to rapidly launch the site to meet their seasonal goals . The site has great functionality to help them build their online following, and they have access to excellent tools with the OrderDynamics Team that will help them continue to progress and grow”.

Recorders.com Launches Re-Designed Site with OrderDynamics

OrderDynamics® would like to congratulate Recorders.com on the release of their brand new ecommerce site design. Recorders.com – a leading supplier of digital voice recorders, transcription software and accessories – first migrated to the OrderDynamics On-Demand eCommerce Platform in 2011, and quickly saw vast improvements in traffic and revenue. Continued growth among  B2B and B2C web traffic drove the company to simplify its shopping experience with a slick new design to optimize conversions.

Recorders.com's new Home Page

The re-designed site features a sleek layout that seeks to help visitors to Recorders.com to better navigate amongst the extensive product offering. Visitors will be able to quickly access pertinent information via new quick-pick personalized content areas pertaining to popular products and brands, new media features, and industry trends and press. Recorders.com has also revamped its headers and footers with larger text to ensure visitors are easily able to locate direct links to what they are looking for.

Recorders.com Personalized Content Areas

“With the new design, we hope to improve customer experiences by making it easier for visitors to find and shop for exactly what they are looking for,” says Krish Michaels, CEO of Recorders.com. “We’ve always been a one-stop shop for digital recording devices, customer support and training, and we hope that by updating the site with new eCommerce best practices and features from the OrderDynamics platform, we can build on our reputation of a supportive retailer offering an exceptional online shopping experience.”

Recorder.com's Redesigned Footer

The Shoe Company Re-Launches on OrderDynamics!

OrderDynamics® would like to congratulate The Shoe Company on their re-launch of TheShoeCompany.com on the OrderDynamics On-Demand eCommerce Platform.

The popular Canadian shoe and apparel retailer based out of Toronto currently operates 65 retail outlets throughout Canada, and has offered trendy dress, casual and sport shoes and accessories to Canadians since 1992. The Shoe Company has established a resilient reputation of offering one of the widest selections of footwear, including comfort brands such as Clarks, Florsheim, and Ecco, as well as high-fashion brands like BCBG, Jessica Simpson, and Michael Kors, and is known for exceptional customer service.

The Brand New TheShoeCompany.com Home Page

Improved Site Search

TheShoeCompany.com seeks to mirror an excellent in-store shopping experience in their online store so as to boost consumer confidence in shopping online. The new site features a frontend redesign with simplified navigation via browse by Brand and Category options, as well as filtered search options based on size, width, price and colour. 

TheShoeCompany.com's Improved Search Navigation

Product pages showcase high-resolution images with product zoom for a realistic view of merchandise, and detailed product descriptions and promotional information (such as markdown rate) so shoppers are optimally educated in their purchase decisions. Pages are also enhanced with social sharing buttons, and shoppers can view You May Also Like, and read and offer Ratings and Reviews right on the product page.

TheShoeCompany.com's new Product Pages

Leading Fulfillment Capabilities

In addition to improved shopability, TheShoeCompany.com offers several value-add fulfillment features that contribute to a streamlined and satisfying shopping experience. With powerful OrderDynamics backend integrations, TheShoeCompany.com is able to keep the customer fully educated at every step of the fulfillment process, providing email notifications of order confirmation, and order shipped status. Orders can be fulfilled in-store, and multi-item orders are able to be partially shipped, providing unique tracking numbers for each package. Customers can opt to have their order(s) delivered right to their front door at standard shipping rates (or free shipping on orders over $70), or they can pick up items in-store for free.  TheShoeCompany.com has also coined its return policy as Easy Returns, allowing for refunds in-store or via UPS shipment, with reimbursement on shipping charges on damaged items.

Enhanced Store Locator

Supporting their move toward an omni-channel commerce model, TheShoeCompany.com has implemented an improved Store Locator. The new locator is integrated with Google Maps to search via postal code or province and city to display nearby store locations, address and hours of operation. This enhanced feature encourages unified cross-channel shopping, removing the separation between online and offline sales where a customer may view an item online but would prefer to try the shoe on in-store, and subsequently offers the flexibility to purchase either immediately in-store, or online when they’re ready.

TheShoeCompany.com Store Locator

Meltdown Snowboard Shop Launches with OrderDynamics!

The entire OrderDynamics team would like to congratulate Meltdown Snowboard Shop on the launch of their new eCommerce site on the OrderDynamics®  On-Demand Commerce Platform.

Meltdown Snowboard Shop, Canada’s fastest growing independent specialty snowboard shop, boasts an impressive selection of snowboards, accessories, and apparel from some of the world’s top brands including Burton, Volcom, Quiksilver, and more. The retailer, who has built a strong reputation around their product knowledge and outstanding customer service, has delivered an eCommerce website that will not only appeal to their customers, but will drive significant growth while leaving competitors trailing far behind. 

A glimpse of the gorgeous new Meltdown Snowboard Shop website

MeltdownOnline.com seamlessly extends the shopping experience found in their retail stores by featuring a modern, cutting edge design that will surely resonate with customers in existing markets, as well as consumers not yet familiar with the Meltdown brand. From a slick category dropdown box in the navigation bar, through to larger-than-normal hi-res images in category and product pages, the Meltdown Snowboard team’s attention to detail and passion for snowboarding (and its supporting lifestyle) is on full display. Meltdown’s new site flows well from page to page and is easy to navigate, thanks to clear call to actions and warm, vibrant colors.

MeltdownOnline.com's dropdown box in their navigation menu

The site consistently delivers on Meltdown’s customer service focus by offering subtle, but appropriate ways to search for products such as browsing by gender, brand, board type, and even skill level for boarding enthusiasts of any rank. The site also allows shoppers to compare products within category pages, in addition to information-rich product descriptions, customer ratings and reviews, and helpful product recommendations. Meltdown’s clear understanding of their audience is also evident throughout the site with social media integrations including Facebook and Twitter sharing buttons, plus lifestyle-centric and detailed product videos for specific brands and models.

A full view of MeltdownOnline.com's product pages with reviews and social media integration, and more

The backend of Meltdown’s new site upholds their omni-commerce vision by building tight integrations with their warehouse, ERP, and carrier Canada Post, which is important to note given the volume of orders they will get as a result of Meltdown offering free shipping across Canada.