I love the Order Management System. I was reminded of this today when a customer called looking for her order. She was mad. I was able to pull up a UPS tracking number in a matter of seconds, diffused a tense situation by telling her who signed for the delivery, and followed it up by sending her a coupon for a discount on her next order. The combination of order tracking, couponing, and customer management is superior to any other "shopping cart" system out there.

As for customer service, Nexternal is absolutely the most responsive e-commerce solutions company out there. Here, you actually get a knowledgeable Account Executive helping you with the complicated issues of using the system, teaching you how to drive the Ferrari of e-commerce systems. Careful going around that corner, Nexternal is a speedy machine.

They have, hands down, the best backend interface for retail processing that we had looked at - easily searchable, with solid reporting features and good batching tools (particularly in credit card processing). Probably the best function from a e-commerce manager standpoint is the ease of data exports - they provide several formats (excel, access, and text files) that can be linked to the searches you perform - so you can filter your data before exporting it. Additionally, you can post reports based off of search criteria, allowing you to selectively customize your report data.

On the front-end, Nexternal is very flexible. It allows relatively advanced HTML coding as well as multiple product images. The capacity to link related products was a great boon to us, and their search capability was another helpful factor in driving sales.

All in all Nexternal is a very robust system, with a wide variety of capabilities (many of which we haven't had a chance to implement). It's relatively intuitive and easy to use. We actually interviewed a wide range of providers for almost three years, and each time, Nexternal came up as the best possible solution in terms of cost, security, flexibility and power. All in all, in it's current version, I'd give Nexternal a 9 out of 10 points, and a 10/10 in terms of their long term investment potential - you just can't beat free upgrades and customer service in the web-services industry. This aspect alone probably saved us several thousand dollars.

The system is intuitive, simple and effective. We're very happy with it. The Tell-A-Friend application is excellent! We don't get much feedback about the storefront from customers, but when we do, it's always very positive. My interpretation is that people are very satisfied with the process - otherwise we'd be getting negative feedback; e.g. 'no news is good news.'

Order confirmation and shipping confirmation e-mails are professional looking and contribute to customers' comfort level and satisfaction with the purchase and the overall shopping experience. Again, this is a well thought-out, simple, and user-friendly shopping environment. Nexternal is providing a virtual storefront that complements and enhances our brand and identity as an ultra-premium winery.

Our Account Executive is the most capable and responsive account rep - from every vendor and industry - that I have ever worked with, period. He's quick to diagnose, research and/or resolve every issue I throw at him and his timely, professional response is greatly valued. He continues to be a great resource for improvements and new ideas in addition to solving problems or identifying potential solutions to them. He has contributed significantly to our success. And, notwithstanding the above comments, which are sincere, he's just a darn nice guy to work with; with equal parts of technical and interpersonal skill.

Nexternal provides one of, if not THE easiest and shopping carts for our customers. We constantly receive compliments on look, organization and ease of use of our online store. The Nexternal system provides users the tools and options necessary to create a well-organized, uncluttered online store. The checkout process must be easy, because we have never received a comment or complaint, or the inability of a customer to complete the checkout process on their own.

The ability to receive expert, timely help is paramount to utilizing the advanced features of the Nexternal OMS. I think of our Nexternal Account Executive as another member of our staff. Nexternal seems to be constantly working on software enhancements, and the knowledge of the account executives make swift implementation of the new features a breeze. Not every feature is designed or appropriate for every type of online business. It is so helpful, to be able to call and ask how a feature might apply to our business. We can then make an informed decision about whether we want to implement each new feature.

We are just completing our first full year on the Nexternal ecommerce system. Our sales have increased every month since we switched to Nexternal, and we are up over 68% compared to this month a year ago. Thank you Nexternal.

In the weeks leading up to the opening of our on-line store, I was in constant contact both via email and telephone with our Account Executive. She always, 100% of the time responded to each and every inquiry with a prompt and helpful solution to our inquiry, no matter how inane. In this age of voicemail, I rarely got her voice mail - she usually answered her phone. This still amazes me. It is such a comforting feeling to know that I do not have to maneuver through a maze of voice mail options to finally end up leaving a message for some person who may or may not call you back. It was great to know that I was going to reach her, or in the very rare instance I got her voicemail, I knew she would call me back right away. I also left a suggestion that would improve our way of doing business with the software engineer's support area and my idea was implemented - within the next month!