You work hard maintaining your business records in an accounting system. Now you can take what is normally a cost of doing business and leverage all that effort into a burgeoning profit center by interfacing it with your web-based storefront. RTS-Advantage's Web Commerce module, coupled with PDG Software's webstore building tools, puts your data to work for you.

Use the RTS-Advantage Web Commerce module as a two-way link between your accounting data and your webstore presence. Use this link to put your inventory on the web, complete with pricing structures, product categories, and stocking levels. (NOTE: Due to a limitation of the PDG database, item numbers cannot exceed 20 characters in length.) Create webstore customer accounts directly from your Accounts Receivable so your existing customer base can make their first visit to your webstore as a valued client, not an anonymous visitor. And when the orders come rolling in, don't waste your business profits on the time-consuming process of manual order entry--let Web Commerce do all the work, creating ready to ship complete orders in RTS-Advantage.

A Solution for Retail, Wholesale & Outside Sales

Web stores are often thought of as purely for retailers, but that's not the case. Wholesale customers would love to have the convenience of placing their orders on the web, too. With RTS-Advantage and PDG, they can see the customized pricing that applies to them. Let your customers browse for products that might be forgotten on a sales call or overlooked on an order form, and read specs and details about your items so they order exactly what they need, eliminating returns and support calls.

Route sales and show sales are another often overlooked opportunity. If your outside sales force is currently jotting orders down on paper, or stumbling through order entry procedures that have to be fixed later by your in-house personnel, give them a simple web-based interface that anyone can understand. Allow them to check stocking levels and place their orders right over the web. Put an end to scrawled orders, incomplete orders, and laborious data transfers from the field.

Total Data Security

Some accounting software web interfaces expose your live accounting data on the web. No need to explain how ridiculously dangerous that is! RTS-Advantage's Web Commerce module is a completely secure pipeline for your sensitive and valuable data. Your live A/R, Inventory and Order Entry data remain where they're safe - on your in-house system. The Web Commerce package exports all information, only what you allow, to a separate web-based database, that is in turn also secured from prying hackers. When it's time to import orders from your webstore, the data is completely and thoroughly tested by Web Commerce to make sure that you get valid orders, and only valid orders. Only when the import data is deemed to be completely clean and valid are the orders created in your Order Entry company.

A Web Store in Hours, Not Weeks or Months

The PDG web store engines allow you complete flexibility and creative control over your web store. With flexibility often comes complexity though. Not with PDG! PDG's simple web-based interface and free customizable 'skins' allow you to set up a fully functional and attractive, custom-looking web store in literally a matter of hours. Click here to take a look at the simple demo web store set up by one of our retailers. That store took only a few hours to set up from start to finish, and that included creating the products!

You can start out with a basic webstore, populated with your RTS-Advantage inventory, in hours. If and when you're ready to expand on the basic design you can have the experts at PDG do the customizations, or use a local web developer or your in-house staff. PDG's intuitive web store design capabilities are practically endless, and anyone with basic website building skills can turn your webstore into a real customer magnet.

And PDG's flexibility doesn't end at just look and feel. If you have unique requirements for the data that appears on the website, how the customer creates an order, or how the orders are recorded for passage to RTS-Advantage, it's no problem. Most every business has some unique needs, minor or major, and both PDG and the Roundtable Web Commerce module have been designed with that in mind.

Why PDG Is Your Perfect Partner

• PDG is a market leader in webstore development
• Knowledgeable and helpful support staff (U.S. based!)
• No monthly service charges for their web store solutions
• You can stay with your current web host or take advantage of their inexpensive hosting
• Turnkey solutions available for as little as $399 (though we do recommend the $995 Commerce package)
• Fully functional demo lets you build a complete working webstore before you buy anything
• Supports item numbers up to 20 characters in length
• Fast and flexible integration can even be used with your existing webstore if you already have one
• Simple point and click web-based site administration requires no programming
• Expert custom design services offered, or do any and all customizations in-house if you prefer
  
  

But I Already Have A Web Store...

If you already have a web store you've made a significant investment that you don't want to lose. On the other hand, you're losing money every day if you have data entry personnel manually adding items to your site and keying web orders into RTS-Advantage. No problem -- you don't have to lose your investment to take advantage of Web Commerce automation. PDG routinely adapts existing web stores to use their engine. Usually it's a simple process to make the conversion, and PDG (or your own developer) can effect the switch with little trouble. That's just how flexible PDG's engine is -- it can power your existing website, on your chosen web server, often with some relatively simple tweaking. Call PDG and discuss it with them -- they've got experts on staff who can analyze the conversion for you.

Sample Web Stores

Want to see a sample store? One of our retailers has created a very basic web store that took a few hours to create, including adding the items! It has only a few items, but you can visit that site to get a feel for what kind of results you can get with very little work.

To see examples of fully-functional web stores that use the PDG engine, visit their site for links to other businesses using the PDG engine.

What About Freight Charges?

PDG has the ability to calculate real time shipping charges for UPS, DHL and USPS. And this can go beyond mere freight calculation -- UPS, for instance, can integrate to the point that shipping documents are automatically generated and customers can track packages.

Automated shipping handling is so powerful you may even consider moving your in-house order entry to the web!

How Are Payments Processed?

PDG provides the flexibility to accept standard payment options as well as allowing you to accept company purchase orders for select customers or giving your customers the option to phone or fax in credit card data after placing an order. PDG supports a wide array of online payment authorization services; contact them directly to discuss which will work best for you.

As of this writing, we are confident that PDG and X-Charge will be able to work together; they do not currently have a partnership, but we've been assured separately by both X-Charge and PDG that PDG already supports a compatible format, so it's a simple matter of making all the necessary connections between PDG and X-Charge. Contact either X-Charge or PDG for a status on this integration.

Video Overviews

To view short video clips of the Web Commerce module click here.

Pricing

The suggested retail price of the Windows Web Commerce module is $895. Contact your dealer to order.