MarketDirect StoreFront

Best Web to Print Option Available

Kommentare: Our experience with EFIMarket Direct has been exceptional. Tech support team has always been very engaged on finding solutions to problems to every day problems. They have developed two custom reports which have been very helpful. And they are always on call when we upgrade (we're self hosted). It's one of the big reasons I recommend this software.

Vorteile:

The thing I like most about the software is that it is built for selling custom printed products. Any other run of the mill e-commerce option will not have any level of option needed for printers. (From simple things such as impressions, and page counts, to complicated things such as variable data and mailing lists) Also, other e-commerce print solutions do not allow you to customize products like MarketDirect StoreFront. We have previewed other options in the past and StoreFront is always the clear winner. From being able to have multiple cost sheets, easily building products and specs, options for layouts, and gathering data from queries and reports. Nothing else comes close.

Nachteile:

I wish we had easier options to change colors and headers/footers of the site layouts. Our University has a specific color pallet required for departmental sites; I have to do a lot of custom work just to change banner colors. Also, some layouts look a little outdated. For a site to be trusted by the user; it should have a more modern esthetic. Last but not least, I wish the product views would show bleed - and if the document doesn't fit the page selected it would be great if it showed an error and ask the user to pick a larger page size.

A very good software package that could be best in class with the right core adjustments

Kommentare: Overall I consider MDSF a really good product, with a lot of potential for truly being best in class. We have hitched our wagon to MDSF, although at the time it was mostly due to being integrated with other EFI products. From a strictly web-2-print system, there are others I've used that I prefer based on certain customer requests and features. From an personnel interaction standpoint, I have nothing but positive things to say about MDSF. The team is great and over the past 1-2 years, the direction of the product seems to be going in a really positive direction.

Vorteile:

The software package has been very stable for us, which is very important. Many features are in place that we enjoy using that do not require being purchased ala carte, so you don't feel like you're being nickeled and dimed. Over the past 1-2 years, several of the enhancements and upgrades have really gone in the right direction for small - medium sized businesses and solved holes in the EFI solutions model (i.e. MDSF Fulfillment, being able to add a customer to a product for filtering, the new UI experience). Support has always been great for the product when we have needed it, and professional services has always been great when needed.

Nachteile:

There are some foundational pieces which MDSF was built upon that are definitely showing their age. Having your profile address fields and the checkout shipping address fields tied to the same requirements checkbox doesn't make a ton of sense as the purposes of these fields are completely different in many cases. Another thing is only having 5 customizable fields for user profiles. Another is the tiers features are assigned to. For instance, the 5 customizable fields referenced above are setup on a global level (i.e. if one customer is required to have that field filled in, every customer is required to have that field filled in). Having billing and shipping options on a company level instead of a group level. (we've had several customers who want customer admins to be able to see all shipping addresses and edit the address, while an end-user can only change the company and contact name fields and not change the address or be able to see all the addresses. In addition, customer admins may be able to pay with PO’s whereas end users must pay using a credit card.) The overall ability to import and export things. Whether it's products, orders, address lists, users, etc. fully supported both ways. Some QOL features, such as being able to copy an existing storefront should be a fairly simple thing then adjust it for another customer (or to use as a backup) would be a welcome improvement.

MDSF Review

Kommentare: I inherited MDSF when I started at AHS, but have work extensively to correct issues from when it was set up and have a goal of a completely automated workflow from user order entry to order delivery. So far, MDSF has been able to help in achieving this on the order entry side. We have reworked all our products, over 2500 active, to be able to auto submit all static products and have them pushed directly to our Fiery based DFE equipment. In addition, we have used hot folders and Fiery DFE so we can submit all Ad Hoc products. We still have some stumbling blocks, but are pushing to have them fixed and currently have about 85% of our orders automated.

Vorteile:

Flexibility to create products. Ease of use for users. Comprehensive operator view. Have had a great Professional Services Consultant that has help train me and given direction to achieve our goals for web-to-print and integration.

Nachteile:

Lack of support for NCR, pads and certain booklets. Time consuming to set up. Need professional services to help with set up and that gets expensive. Many issues that have been encountered and reported to support are still issue. So far, Version 11 is a step backward. Too many issues, features either don't work or aren't available from previous versions.

Constructive Review of MarketDirect StoreFront

Vorteile:

What I like most is the visual processing data module where I'm able to customize products, such as postcards, business cards, etc. The platform also goes as far as allowing file attachment capabilities to support visual building tools.

Nachteile:

Least likeable feature is software updates may not complete successfully leading to functionality issues. Also, implementation of the software itself can be troublesome for new users as they do not have the knowledge to make it happen.

Works well

Kommentare: For the most part it's been great. Updates occur regularly and we see improvements.

Vorteile:

Setup and deployment was easy. Customizability was pretty good, and people on campus use it daily.

Nachteile:

It is advertised to integrate well with PrintSmith Vision, but we have issues with communication between both systems that requires employees to go in and fix tickets frequently. Price changes have to be added to both systems because one doesn't push to the other.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen: PressWise

Gründe für den Wechsel zu MarketDirect StoreFront: Integration with PrintSmith was the biggest selling point.