The Visual Horizons entry in the e-commerce software market is called ConsignPro, and it was designed especially for consignment and resale stores, whether they sell books, antiques, apparel, furniture, or anything else. The system includes features for POS, customer management, inventory management, retail accounting, and e-commerce.

The “main menu” page of the software acts as a dashboard giving users a snapshot view of all the different aspects of their store. The customer data it collects can be utilized for analytics as well as targeted mailings for promotions. By automating such tasks as merchandise maintenance, sales transactions, and shop headcounts, users can enjoy increased efficiency and cost reductions. With twenty-five built-in reports for tracking quarterly, monthly, and daily data about all facets of your store, you’ll always know what’s happening with your inventory, consignors, customers, sales figures, and revenues. The reports can also be customized to suit your needs. On the accounting side, ConsignPro integrates with both QuickBooks and Quicken, allowing users to export the data needed for those applications. The data is also backed up nightly and protected through log-on credentials.

Pros

Several users noted that they appreciate the flexibility in setting up a payment plan, and this especially true for people who are new to owning these types of businesses. In general, users note that the software’s handling of inventory management is excellent. When receiving support, users note that integration with TeamViewer is a real bonus. In fact, many users highlighted that support is quick, efficient, and friendly. Overall the software is rated by its users as very easy to use. Users who previously handled their store’s inventory and processes by hand note that the gains in efficiency are huge, which reduces costs and boosts profitability.

Cons

There are a number of aspects that users are frustrated with in ConsignPro. With only 25 built-in reports, many users want more, such as a report that easily shows the most profitable days of the week for a store. Others noted that being able to look up consignors by first name would be useful. One of the bigger frustrations has to do with making changes to a large sale. Removing items from a large sale seems to require re-doing the entire sale. Another user noted that it would be nice if the headings of the various fields could be customizable. Some noted that the procedures for both layaways and returns are unnecessarily complex, and that the tabulation of what is owed to a given consignor at the end of a period could be more streamlined. One user noted that it would be nice to be able to send mass emails to consignors from within the system, while another noted it would be great if the system automatically notified consignors of sales and what is owed to them. The biggest weakness for online retailers who do new items in addition to consignments is that the system isn’t set up to handle new items in multiple sizes or colors, and that only being able to post one photo per item is a big constraint.

Although users have noted a number of improvements and enhancements that could be made to this e-commerce software solution, ConsignPro clearly meets its customers’ needs.