Overall the building process can be quite easy after using the software for a while and learning what works with our product management system (PrintSmith). SmartCanvas has been quite hard to figure out with little guidance from EFI but is very promising. In general by its self MarketDirect Storefront is strong, but could use a lot of tweaking when talking to other modules. After a few years we have grown our ticket templates to a few hundred and have grown our products to a few thousand. Planning out your categories up front will be crucial for customers to be able to find what they are looking for.

I like all the different type of options when it comes to products, I appreciate the level of customization across the entire backend such as printing services, papers, products, design, etc.

Some services and specs, filled out by the customer, don't come across to our PrintSmith depending how you have that setup. We had to rebuild all ticket templates in PrintSmith (yes a second time) in order to link products up to ticket templates from our storefront. This was our workaround, some things still don't come across until recently, SIZE wouldn't come over from the storefront into PrintSmith, so I think there is room for improvement here. I like the idea of product overrides, but in the new version it is not working. This could also use some updating keeping ticket templeting to a minimum. Can't copy products that have overrides. Because of this alone, I typically have to create a new ticket template for every product, usually due to the paper. SmartCanvas is very promising, but comes with a large learning curve and even then I feel that a well thought-out guide would be very helpful. Fonts don't show up correctly in certain views and makes paragraph styled text boxes extremely hard to see how type will flow from the customer side. I will say the level of control with SmartCanvas is very nice locking fonts, colors, sizing or allowing the buyer to fully customize the product in anyway.

With the new system we are utilizing some of the features like business card templates where the client fills in their information and proofs it themselves before we even see it. Then its direct to print from there. Do no real work on our part is needed. We are able to do less work on the backend of things from an administrative standpoint and that takes a huge work load away from very few staff.

I love that the software integrates well with PrintSmith our printing and accounting software. The easy of using the different template options is a very simple process. Clients seem to find the navigation of the new site very user friendly and easy to use. The integration however was a very difficult item to over come. It was a very time consumer task to accomplish.

There are certainly features in the old system that would be nice to have in the new system - such as being able to drag and drop line items from one to reorganize things. It would also be very helpful if you were able to have more than 1 invoice open at a time to be able to create new orders based off multiple invoices by dragging and dropping into a new one. The integration with PrintSmith was not an easy thing - you basically had to recreate everything you had on PrintSmith again in MarketDirect StoreFront. We have spent years creating templates in PrintSmith and now having to basically recreate them again is crazy when before it was seamless. It’s also difficult that the pricing isn’t exactly the same from one platform to the other. Now we are forced to round up or down in MarketDirect instead of PrintSmiths pricing just automatically transferring.

My experience has been positive. While there are many improvements I think could be made, it's functional for my company and easy to know your way around it!

I like MDSF because it's easy to use. I believe anyone can easily work within it to create basic offerings for their company!

There are a lot of missing features that in today's day, I believe should be a part of the software. It is very hard to collect information from a client ordering products. The only way to do so is through accounting codes. This should be a priority to implement.

It has definitely impacted our workflow and efficiency in a very positive way. We are a large healthcare system with lots of form inour storefront. The ability of our users to see and interact with documents when ordering is a HUGE improvement over our old "blind" ordering system. Now that jobs flow autmatically into our PrintSmith Vision system, we no longer have to do the massive amount of data entry for billing that our old system required. This saves 10-15 hours per week on the admin side of things.

Fairly easy customization of look and feel. Plenty of built in UI templates for those that can't/won't play with code. Good user management controls. We haven't any any load handling issues even with almost 2000 products and 900 users. EFI support has been responsive and proficient. Good user support forums. It has integrated well with our PrintSmith Vision install.

Redundancy of some settings. The admin interface has lots of redundacy and is cluttered and inefficient. Batch product import or creation needs a LOT more work. No ability to batch publish items to categories. No ability to create snapshots or backups of settings to revert to in case of user error. Occasional random little glitches/changes (like sort order settings or other fine detail) that pop up occasional or following an upgrade. The inability to create a job template "on the fly" when creating a product that doesn't fit an existing template.

I've been working with MDSF for over 10 years and have seen quite a bit of improvements over the years. Now it really does seem to be an exciting time to be working with it, as they have made some changes to the administration interface that will drastically improve the usability. Somethings I have been wishing for, for a long time. There might be other products that do one of the things that MDSF does well, and maybe even better, but not all of the things that MDSF does combined. We are talking about one off items, variable items, finished goods, shipping, kits and integration with different MIS.

There is quite a bit of customization and security that can be done with the interface, even with multiple storefronts. I really like some of the new changes to the administration pages, which makes it much easier to manage all of the data we have in MDSF currently. Seems like EFI sees that their customers are using it for more products than they originally had planed. We started our over 10 years ago with maybe 50 products, and now we have almost 8,000 products being offered to about 120 different storefronts.

Tech support is hard to reach at times. Especially by phone. But at least when you do, the techs are quite knowledgeable. Calculating taxes is a problem if you are selling outside of your state. But there are add-on options for that.

Having this storefront has been highly beneficial to ColorMark. Many orders are received everyday with very little effort. With the automation built into the system, orders are take and sent directly to Rips for printing.

Straight forward setups. You can have a client online in very little time. Connects well with Pace for ease of job tickets and inventory control. As well as bi-directional communication with all the above as well as Process shipper.

In some cases we have stores that might have more than 1000 franchises that buy through the store front. When it is necessary to make changes and it needs to be done to many of the stores there is no easy way to address this problem. Opening up one customer at a time make a change and close, way to cumbersome when you compare that to either the universal importer or pace connection, where all changes can be made in under a few minutes. Additionally, the reporting is completely non-existent. After adding individuals to a site it would be nice to download all of the data to look for errors, missed data etc. No way to do that with this software. Can't even get to the Database to download from there.

There is no doubt the Market Direct Storefront is a huge time saver for us. BUT it has also opened up opportunities for clients around the world, where they wish to offer a "storefront" to their staff around the world, helping them maintain brand consistency. DSF was one of the main reasons for engaging with EFI.

The software really is end to end with full integration and automation. EFI are also very open, easy to work with and it feels like a true partnership. The solution they offer covers everything we want and need to run our business and there is a constant drive to improve, to listen to customers and work with you to ensure you are getting the most out of the product. I particularly like the integrations with our equipment and other systems, which aids automation and efficiency. And for us the connection with DSF is a real plus, enabling us to process regular orders and open up opportunities we wouldn't normally be able to fulfill.

it is a little unfair to comment on this as we are about to upgrade to the latest version, but its fair to say my biggest bug bear at present is the number of clicks. This is something I know has been addressed in the latest version. My only other grumble would be that the software can get "stuck" if you change a production method from say litho to digital within an estimate, it can sometimes take a few attempts for it to recognise the change.

We have not yet fully launched the system after having it for many years. It was purchased long before any of us that are here now began. It is my understanding that the system was launched and being used then it was learned that it was not a full MIS system. The organization then purchased another EFI product, PrintSmith to do the management functions for the shop that were desired and the integration between the 2 systems was difficult.

Unfortunately I am not yet conversant with the software. The previous employee set it all up and then left abruptly so I am not yet trained in it. It seems to work fine and I know many others that use it - however, as with most integrations, it doesn't work easily with other MIS systems such as PrintSmith Vision. We had to have programmers do things for us that it seems others would have encountered and would have been made part of the 'normal' programming of the software.

Ease of integration with other systems. Redundancy with information needed - mainly multiple price lists that have to be maintained and be consistent. For example, we must set pricing in PrintSmith, then convert the pricing structures for Digital Storefront in a way that matches - so that when a customer brings work through the on-line site, the pricing is consistent if they bring work direct to the shop and we use PrintSmith. So if we decide to update pricing in one system, we have to update it in multiple places which causes more work and more potential for errors.

Overall the usage of the MarketDirect Storefront platform is positive. We are able to easily receive orders and move them into production. We are also able to easily customize sites to fulfill different customer needs.

Overall the software is easy to use for both administrators and end users. For end users the sites are very easy to navigate and use. For administrators it is easy to customize site HTML and CSS if you have the skills, or it is easy to use the default templates if you do not. It is also easy to create and manage products, users, and user groups. We have several thousand products hosted on our sites. We are able to run our storefront job tickets into our MIS system with ease.

While the software is easy to use for basic tasks, there are issues with more high level functionality. Part of the issues we have, stem from some of the administrative menus being cluttered and confusing. There are also some settings that are only available as overall site settings, and are not customizable for individual companies. Batch uploads/changes of products needs work, as it is currently very basic and the products need further configuration after they are uploaded.

Still learning - we'll get there

Easy to use with inventory products - still learning

Some features are not working properly. Not being told this until you fight to make it work only to find out when you reach out to tech support that the feature is not working properly at the moment.

My overall experience with the software has been a good one, thank goodness. It has kept us up to date with new technology and has increased sales within the business.

With no knowledge of this type of software, I found the installation and setup straight forward and once learnt, it was easy to use and easy to customise to different requirements.

The only think I didn't like was that this is in US and I am in Australia. If something needs urgent attention I have to lodge an investigation and wait until the support team gets back to me, which is sometimes when I have left work for the day, which is the morning in US. In saying that, this didn't happen very often and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and the support team knew the urgency and were straight onto resolving the problem.

We had an old StoreFront type software that did not let us integrate our Production and Creative Departments, which led to delays and quality issues. When we changed to this new platform it allowed us to integrate all areas of our business which in turn created more opportunities and positive growth.

We love the ease of use and the ability to implement this software throughout our company. This product has opened up more doors as well as new doors of opportunity with our client and prospective client base. We have seen a positive growth in business with a small percentage of that growth credited to this product.

There is nothing we like least about this software.

The software resolve a lot of non-value waste such as logging in orders, tracking, notifying customers, and building a customer print job, pre-press.

The tracking feature is great, the ease of use for customers. The software built-in workflow and, customizations of products.

The amount of infrastructure, and planning it takes to implement the software. Although the business card feature is great, creating a good template takes a lot of time and computer knowledge. The lack of integrating the software with a shipping solution, and unnecessary third party involvement on the mass mailing side.

MDSF makes the daily workflow much easier. Inventory control is very easy with MDSF.

Market Direct Store Front's integration with EFI PrintSmith is very helpful on a daily basis. It allows customers to place orders and the orders come directly into Printsmith. It allows for easy creation of job tickets.

Two way talking with Printsmith would be helpful. It does on some things but not everything. If this could be worked out it would be a superior product in my opinion.

We have arrived at a satisfactory implementation of the system but it was very hard work to get there.

Ability to integrate with Fiery/Xerox. Ability to customise storefront appearance. Range of products and ability to customise them.

Unresponsiveness by EFI to suggestions for enhancement - some of which are long overdue. Difficulty of learning and implementing the system. It is not user-friendly.

Overall, great.

The EFI MarketDirect StoreFront has been essential to our location's operations. It's simple and intuitive, with extended functionality that streamlines our process; e.g. applying or changing statuses to multiple orders, editing order items after the order has been placed, etc.

One feature I would like to see (if not already implemented) is the ability to view the order's files/documents without opening the order ticket. A small preview thumbnail of the artwork next to the order's info in the "Line Items" list would help with efficiency.

great

i like how easy the program is to use and how it is very user friendly

On the accounting side I wish that the recurring invoice was set up to actually set up an invoice. The way it is now you are not saving anytime you might as well just not use that feature. Also on the AR side I wish that you did not have to create a credit memo to change an invoice from the same period.

Overall this is a great product and really like the evolution of the product.

I really like the ease of use for user and the administration side of the site is very user friendly.

We had difficulties with the integration of paper catalogs with the Xerox Versant 80 printer on the EFI rip.

Customer service and product support is very good. Techs are responsive and helpful.

Seamless integration with our MIS (EFI Pace) was a key consideration in our purchase. We like the ability to have variable designs with Smart Canvas as well as static print pieces and promotional products. The matrix capabilities have also enabled us to market clothing to our customers.

MSDF is a bit overwhelming to set up initially, but once key pieces are in place it is easy to duplicate for additional products or categories. I would still like to see higher resolution images be part of the package but it is my understanding that this is coming soon.

Overall experience has been amazing. We have gained new customers with the system being user friendly.

EFI Store Front is not only admin user friendly but also user friendly. All in one software. Teach support is very responsive to emails and phone calls. One call and the issue is resolved.

Only Con is not having a manual. There is an online but sometimes its not that details for visual learners.

We have several customers who will use this quite regularly and appreciate the ease of use. The amount of effort that goes into setting up a new customer though is a little exhausting. When we signed the contract for DSF, we were told it integrated very easily with PrintSmith, which we were already using. That was the big draw for us. After becoming familiar with DSF and how it works with PrintSmith, we do not believe that is the case at all.

The storefront is visually appealing and relatively easy to use from a client's perspective.

There are SO MANY STEPS when creating a product. From a ticket templates (many steps in itself just to create this) to the actual product to a template in Printsmith, it just seems like there should be a better way. There are so many small flaws that I find nearly every time I use DSF.

excellent support, specially [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]

Make our businesses faster and more correct

nothing special. everything was as we agreed

Lots of features. HTML customization really lets you dial in control on the look of pages.

I have encountered a lot of bugs along the way.

Efficient Customer Support

User Interface, Customer Support, Ease of use

Not as user friendly as the predecessor software OPS. Not able to link a custom logo to customer login. Not very effective Page access restrictions (some access must be granted to the Everyone Group in order to make the Storefront work)

It's not perfect by a long way! due to the limitation of the fiery RIP.

Nice looking frontend, customers find it easy to use.

Unable to print more than 1 job sheet at a time! would be nice to be able to batch print job sheets.