Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for lighting stores.
A checklist built from how lighting stores work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Catalogue by specification
- Lighting schedule to quotation
- Display and warehouse stock
- Project order and phased delivery
- Warranty and returns log
- Architect and contractor commission
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For store owners
- For counter staff
- For the project desk
- For warehouse and dispatch
- For purchase staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Project quotations still open, won or lost, by architect and contractor
- Schedule lines matched and unmatched for each project
- Stock by specification across display, warehouse and project reservations
- Import orders by brand with promised and actual arrival
- Deliveries made and pending by project and room
- Warranty returns by brand, batch and project
- Commission earned and released, by architect and contractor
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Messaging channels
- Barcode and label printer
- Payment gateway
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it read an architect’s schedule?
- How does it avoid mixing colour temperatures?
- Can a showroom piece be kept off the sellable count?
- Does it handle orders placed with overseas brands?
- Can we deliver a project in phases?
- How do warranty claims work?
- Can I pay architects a share of each project?
- Will it connect to my accounting package?
- What will it cost?
- How soon can the counter and project desk work from it?
- What does the store need to have ready?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The wrong colour temperature reaches site
- Project quotes take too long
- Partial deliveries lose track
- Warranty returns are untraceable
Prefer to talk it through? See the lighting stores page.