The Evolution of Online Order Entry

THE EVOLUTION OF ONLINE ORDER ENTRY

Remember the days of the first fax machines? Opening the office door only to find a long roll of paper towel-like paper (better known as thermal fax paper) spread all over your floor? How about running out to buy the newest model because it offered an automatic paper cutter, or a few years later running out for the state of the art machine that used plain paper? Yes, it was only 25 years ago that we were introduced to the first form of online order entry enabling customers to place orders electronically rather than through a customer service representative.

The fax machine still exists but is quickly being replaced with a computerized version known as Online Order Entry and Online Order Tracking.

In the early days of courier customer service, customers wanting to track the progress of their deliveries telephoned a company representative for an update. Today, placing orders and receiving updates from American Expediting is as easy as clicking on our website: http://www.amexpediting.com/ordertracking.html .

Not only does this facilitate the placement of orders, it also allows our customers to get vital information on their orders in seconds. As a result, our customers can conduct their work more efficiently and effectively.

Recently, we added incredible features to our online service under the section entitled REPORTS. These value-added features take us to the next level of customer service, specifically:

*Order Summary – displays the order numbers, dates placed, names of callers, quantities, and

pickup, and delivery points.
*Order Charges – describes the type of job, including package weight, vehicle used, mileage, and

cost of each job.

*Delivery Manifest – contains name of assigned driver and special notes on the delivery, i.e. “ok

to leave on front porch.”
*Service Report – offers the expected time of delivery, actual time delivered, and the person

who signed for the delivery.
*Route Activity – details the individual stops within a specific route.
*View Invoices – duplicates the paper or electronic invoice for the job.

We’ve also added a higher level of security for your organization so that only employees with the correct passwords will have access to any or all of these specific reports. You may want to allow your accounting department access to your company invoices, but not your branch offices. With the ability to add up to 60 different Users to your company’s online account, you can also give your customers a unique sign-on to track the progress of their shipments.

While our customers in the medical field have been the first to adopt the online systems, we are quickly finding many new clients insisting on this feature including law offices, production facilities, print shops, office supply distributors and web retailers.

For those that have not yet adopted our quick and easy system, call us about it…we’ll be happy to set you up. Rest assured, we still accept telephone and fax orders although the rolls of paper-towel-like paper have been donated to the Smithsonian Institute for their archives.