Competitive Analysis

Overview of Major Substitute Systems 

Yaali is an “omnichannel order and inventory management software” that depicts itself as an “all-in-one Ecommerce solution” (Yaali Bizapp Inc, 2017). Yaali could be considered as form of Enterprise Resource Planning software for Ecommerce businesses because the software allows Ecommerce businesses to integrate various business functions into one system (Gallaugher, 2016). Yaali offers automated order management, centralized inventory control, reporting and analytics, purchase management, contact management, and a shipping management system. Yaali is integration-capable with the following sites: Amazon, Ebay, Shopify, BigCommerce, Quickbooks, USPS, Magento, Woo Commerce, FedEx, Ship Station, and Stamps.com (Yaali Bizapp Inc, 2017).

Order Management Dashboard

(Source:  https://yaali.io/order-management.html)

Zoho Inventory is “an advanced inventory and order management software that lets you centralize your inventory system and automate your business' entire order-to-cash process,” (“TradeGecko alternative,” 2017).  However, it also offers a CRM (customer relationship management), internal workplace, finance, project management, and HR suites as add-ons (“Online inventory management software,” 2017).  It emphasizes customization for every company’s unique workflow, allowing customers to develop custom fields for product details and forms such as sales orders, invoices, and bills.  A dashboard also allows the business to view the current status of inventory, along with sales data trends.  It also can be integrated with Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, Shopify, PayPal, UPS, FedEx, and DHL, along with 9+ payment integration options (“Pricing: Online inventory management,” 2017).

Zoho Inventory Management Interface

(Source: https://www.zoho.com/us/inventory/tour/)

Micros is an established retail POS (point of sale) system that provides services for kiosk size operations to entire stadiums. They proposition themselves as an adaptable, multi-functional system that has unique scalability options (Why Micros, 2017). Popular firms utilizing the Micros system include The New York Restaurant Association, ADP, and Paychex, among others.

 

Micros Interface for sales (Image source: https://threatpost.com/breach-forces-password-change-on-oracle-micros-pos-customers/119754/)

According to a 2014 Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) report, Oracle purchased Micros to capture more of the hospitality, restaurant, and retail market, recognizing the Micros advantage to food-based businesses (Rohm, 2014). With the integration of Oracle, Micros functions well for food-based businesses because of its ability to combine four different operational categories into one system. Like Cin 7, Micros can perform financial operations, supply chain management, POS services, and CRM. This chart from the TEC report breaks down the functions of Micros under Oracle.

(source: https://www3.technologyevaluation.com/research/article/micros-systems-bought-by-oracle-for-5-3-billion.html)

Companies	Cost	Value	Risk
Cin7	$299 subscription/month + $45/user/ month	Cin7 is an ERP system offering inventory management, Point of Sale (POS), warehouse management, B2B ecommerce, forecasting and reporting, third party logistics (3PL), and inbuilt direct EDI. Integrates with Xero, Quickbooks, Shopify, Magento, Amazon, and JOOR.	SaSS- data stored on Cloud, user does not own software or servers, employee error, phishing, network threat, malware incursion, “worms”, DDoS attacks, “black hat” hacking Cin7 outlines problem resolution plan in case of security breach on website.
Yaali	$79/month for up to 5 users	Yaali offers automated order management, centralized inventory control, reporting and analytics, purchase management, contact management, and a shipping management system. Compared to Cin7, Yaali is missing POS, warehouse management, specific B2B ecommerce, 3PL, and direct EDI. Yaali integrates with more inventory/financial management software than Cin7, but does not integrate with Xero, which Cin7 users widely state as one of the key reasons they use Cin7.	Risks are the same for Yaali as they are for Cin7. Yaali does not address security or offer problem resolution steps in case of security breach on their website.
Zoho Inventory	Offers three levels of plans, but the most popular is “Standard”: $79/month for up to 15 users They also offer a yearly subscription plan, with two months free.	Zoho Inventory simplifies inventory management through inventory control, warehouse management, multi-channel selling, order management and fulfillment, and reports.  Zoho’s broader applications mostly focus on organizing a more efficient and effective internal business, with limited apps focusing on a company’s customers.  It does have a sales and CRM suite, along with apps to help you provide customer service and a help desk to assist customers.  It appears to be missing POS, specific B2B ecommerce, and direct EDI. Zoho Inventory is just one app in the broader Zoho universe, and the company recommends to clients that their apps are used as opposed to competitors’.  It can integrate with a limited amount of financial management softwares, but not Xero.	Risks are the same for Zoho Inventory as they are for Cin7. While Zoho Inventory discusses their security practices in four realms (Physical Security; Network Security; People Processes and Redundancy and Business Continuity), it does not lay out a resolution plan in case of a security breach.  If you feel your company’s intellectual property has been mishandled or stolen by Zoho Inventory, they do provide a legal procedure to follow.
Micros	$700-$2000 per month. Micros sells tablets and installation, plus monthly fees for service support.	Micros is a POS system that has back end capabilities for CRM and ERM. The biggest value that Micros offers is scalability, as demonstrated by some of its larger accounts such as Hyatt at ADP. Micros differs from Cin 7 in that it is skewed more towards retail sales than B2B sales. However, it offers the same capabilities as Cin 7 and may be slightly better suited for a consumer facing business.	Micros is highly susceptible to security breaches because of its size and integration with cash registers. Micros advises customers to change their passwords and permissions regularly to mitigate the risk of an attack. However, they still happen as cited by a 2016 Computer Weekly report.

Evaluation
Baseline Metrics	Specific to Our Needs
Churn Rate: while it’s natural for customers to come and go, FE International recommends looking for a lower churn rate, with about 3-7% monthly being the average for smaller SaaS companies	Inventory Management: capability to not only manage inventory accurately, but the ability to grow management as inventory and business grows
Source Code Review: SaaS companies should have well-documented and tested code, which instills confidence in their ability to offer a reliable product and fix problems swiftly.	POS Capabilities: ability for customers to purchase and make sales virtually, ability to integrate with website, ability to track customer sales.
Customer Support: looking at average ticket times for responding to questions, customer satisfaction reviews, and ability to answer questions.	Increased CRM Capabilities: by aggregating sales data, useable data that team can deduce customer insights from.
	Flexible Pricing and Plans: having a system that can grow with our company will ensure we will not have to change ERP systems

Evaluation Comparison
Metrics	Cin7	Yaali	Zoho Inventory	Micros
Churn Rate	✔	✔	✔	✔
Source Code Review	✔	✘	✔	✘
Customer Support	✔	✔	✔	✘
Inventory Management	✔	✔	✔	✔
POS Capabilities	✔	✘	✘	✔
Increased CRM Capabilities	✔	✔	✔	✔
Flexible Pricing and Plans	✔	✘	✔	✔

Sources:

Gallaugher, J. (July, 2016). Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology, Vol.5. Flatworld.

Yaali. (2017). Yaali Bizapp Inc. Retrieved on November 19, 2017 from https://www.yaali.io/

Online inventory management software. (2017). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://www.zoho.com/inventory/

Micros Retail System Inc. (2017). Why Micros? Retrieved November 2017 from: http://www.microsnyc.com/Why-MICROS-Retail-Systems.

Pricing: Online inventory management. (2017). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.zoho.com/us/inventory/pricing/

Pricing: Your Inbound Platform for Growth. (2017) Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/crm

Rohm, T (2014). MICROS System Bought by Oracle for $5.3 Billion. Technology Evaluation Center. Retrieved November 2017 from: https://www3.technologyevaluation.com/research/article/micros-systems-bought-by-oracle-for-5-3-billion.html.

TradeGecko alternative. (2017). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.zoho.com/us/inventory/tradegecko-alternative/

Pitre, A. (2012, May 15). HubSpot Launches Brand New Email Software and Marketing Database. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hub/53/file-13189484-png/images/screenshots/email-compose-800.png