How to evaluate van sales and SFA software properly
Most demos run on office Wi-Fi with clean demo data. These are the eight things that actually predict whether a rollout succeeds — worth asking of every vendor you shortlist, including us.
Genuine offline capability
Most demos run on office Wi-Fi. Field routes do not. Ask to complete a full customer visit with the device in flight mode, then sync — and ask specifically which operations still require a connection, because every vendor has some.
DigiTS: Every customer-facing transaction — invoicing, delivery, returns, collection — completes with no connection, then syncs conflict-safely. Warehouse stock movements reconcile against live quantities and so run connected at the depot; we state that plainly rather than claiming a blanket offline mode.
Breadth on one master data set
Separate products for sales, ordering, delivery and merchandising mean separate customer masters and reconciliation between them.
DigiTS: Ten modules — SFA, B2B, Inventory, Dynamic Dispatch, Planning & Forecasting, Last Mile Delivery, Merchandising, Customer Connect, Field Service and Warranty & Claims — share one set of customers, SKUs, pricing and promotions.
ERP integration depth and latency
Overnight batch integration means head office is always a day behind. Ask specifically what posts in real time versus on a schedule.
DigiTS: Bidirectional integration with SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Odoo, Sage, Infor and Tally. Transactions post in near real time rather than overnight batch.
Promotion and pricing engine
Trade schemes are where generic systems break. Test your three most complicated live promotions during evaluation, not after signing.
DigiTS: Volume, value, slab, bundle and free-goods schemes calculated at invoice time, applied identically across field, telesales and the B2B portal.
Multi-language and RTL support
A translated interface is not the same as a properly realigned one. Have a rep who works in the target language, not a manager, run the demo — and check printed documents, not just screens.
DigiTS: Multi-language throughout, with full LTR and RTL layout support and document printing that follows the user's language. Set per user, so mixed teams share one back office.
Returns and reverse logistics control
Returns quietly consume distribution margin. Ask how policy is enforced on the device, not just recorded afterwards.
DigiTS: Return policy configurable by SKU, category and quantity, with open, restricted and scheduled modes and end-to-end warehouse tracking.
Implementation timeline and who delivers it
Ask whether the people in the room implement, or whether it is handed to a partner after signature. Ask for a reference at your scale.
DigiTS: Regional implementation team, phased rollout starting with a pilot depot before scaling nationally.
Total cost of ownership
Licence cost is rarely the largest line. Ask about devices, printers, integration, change requests, support tiers and annual uplift.
DigiTS: Costed per deployment. DigiTS will quote licence, implementation, integration and support separately so the comparison is like for like.
Ten modules on one customer master
The practical argument for platform breadth is not a longer feature list — it is that ordering, field sales, stock and delivery stop disagreeing with each other.
We would rather lose a deal early than late
This market has capable products in it, some of them long established. We are not going to pretend otherwise to win a deal. What we will do is tell you plainly where DigiTS is a strong fit — platform breadth on shared master data, genuine offline resilience, and regional implementation — and where it is not.
If your requirement sits outside what we lead on, you will hear that in the first call rather than the fourth.
Put us on the shortlist
Bring your hardest route, your most complex promotion and your worst connectivity blackspot to the demo. That is the session that tells you something.
Or email sales@digitsrtm.com