Honest comparison
When chat and spreadsheets stop being enough
Chat is fine for a very small operation. A single outlet that orders from three suppliers, placed by the owner, with no approvals and no reporting needs, does not need a system. Forcing a structured workflow onto that business would add a step without removing any work.
The trouble starts when the number of people and stores grows. A franchisee sends a list on WhatsApp, a second store emails a slightly different one, and head office builds a spreadsheet from both. Each channel has its own version of the truth, and the person fulfilling the order is the one who has to work out which version is current. The same problem shows up when a manager wants to see what has been approved this week, or when a store asks why a delivery is late.
| Method | Where the order lives | Approval | Status tracking | Reports for head office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A chat thread, mixed in with other messages | A reply in the thread, or a verbal yes | Asked about in messages | Re-keyed by hand, if at all | |
| An inbox, and often a spreadsheet attached to it | A reply, which can be missed or forwarded | Found by searching the inbox | Compiled manually from attachments | |
| Spreadsheet | A shared file, with a version for each store | Often not recorded, or recorded in a column | A column someone has to keep up to date | Depends on how carefully the file is kept |
| ordr.broker | One order per purchase, built from one catalogue | Built into the order: auto-approval for store approvers, Pending approval for everyone else | Statuses from Draft to Delivered, visible to the store in real time | Order reports filtered by store, status and date |
How to move over
Four steps from chat to a workflow
Moving does not have to happen all at once. Most businesses keep the chat for conversation and move the orders themselves into the workflow, one store at a time.
Publish one catalogue
Head office publishes a single product catalogue with categories, SKUs, net prices, any discount percentage, units of measure and an in-stock or out-of-stock flag. Once it is the only list, stores stop comparing their own copies against each other.
Let stores build drafts
Each store builds its order from the catalogue as a private draft. A draft can be saved and finished later, so an order no longer depends on someone remembering what they meant to send in a message.
Keep approvals on the order
Staff with approval rights in the store approve their own orders automatically. Other orders wait in Pending approval. A request for changes sends the order back to draft, so the changes stay on the same order rather than in a new message.
Track and report from one place
Head office triages and fulfils orders, updating each status as it goes. Stores receive notifications by email, in-app or by mobile push, and head office can filter orders by store, status and date.
What changes
The same orders, with a record attached
Nothing about the basic act of ordering needs to change for a store manager who is used to sending a list. They still choose what they need. What changes is that the list becomes an order with a status, and that the status is visible to everyone who needs it. Approvals stop being a reply that has to be found later, and head office stops being the only place where the state of an order is held.
Discount codes are a useful example. Head office can issue single-use discount codes to a store, as a percentage or a fixed amount, optionally for specific products. In a chat, a discount is a sentence that the other side has to remember. In the workflow, the code is issued to a specific store and can be limited to particular products.
Invoice references can be added to orders, so the paperwork for a delivery sits with the order it relates to rather than in a separate email. The mobile app and web dashboard both work from the same orders, and the interface is available in English and Greek.
Who it is for
Businesses with head office and their own stores
ordr.broker is built for head office and its stores or franchisees. It suits a franchisor that sets the range for its outlets, a retail group with a central team that fulfils for its branches, or any business where some people order and other people approve or fulfil. If you run a single outlet and the owner places every order, a simple chat may be all you need. If you are paying someone to chase the status of orders each week, a workflow is probably overdue.
Each business gets its own branded workspace with its logo and colours. Access is set by role, deciding who can order, approve and manage, and invitations are sent by email.
For the approval side in more detail, read about the order approval workflow. If you are weighing up a wider ordering system for a franchise network, see franchise ordering software, or go back to the ordr.broker home page.
Frequently asked questions
Is WhatsApp ordering ever the right choice?
Yes, for a very small operation. A single shop with a handful of suppliers, where one person places every order and nobody needs to approve it, can run perfectly well on a chat thread. The case for a structured workflow starts when several stores order, when orders need approval, or when head office has to fulfil and report on them.
Why not keep ordering in a shared spreadsheet?
A shared spreadsheet shows what was listed, but not what was approved, who approved it or where the order is now. Two people editing the same file can overwrite each other, and the file has no status for an order that has been sent, accepted or delivered.
Do approvals still happen when orders are structured?
Yes. Staff with approval rights in a store have their own orders approved automatically. Everyone else submits into Pending approval, and head office can send an order back to draft with a request for changes. The approval step is part of the order itself, not a message that has to be found later.
What do stores see when they have ordered?
Every status change is shown to the store in real time, from Accepted and Processing through In transit to Delivered. Stores do not have to message head office to ask where an order is, and head office does not have to answer the same question for each store.