Orderwise Reviews 293

The team at Orderwise (Lucy S, Dave H, Jack M, Richard T) have been fantastic in delivering and supporting the set up of our new ERP system.

Explained very clearly and Niall was very polite and very patient as usual.

Customer for over 4 years.

We implemented OrderWise expecting it to support and improve how the business runs. In reality, it has been the opposite.

The support staff are always polite and try their best, but they are clearly restricted by internal rules that stop them from actually helping properly. It feels like they are there to manage tickets rather than solve problems, so you end up going round in circles on even simple issues.

Almost everything is chargeable, including things that should just be standard. Basic layout changes, invoice address handling and small adjustments all get pushed into custom development. Layouts never used to be chargeable, now they are, which says a lot about the direction things have gone.

Any development request, no matter how small, is treated the same and sits on a standard three month timeline. It does not matter if it is a tiny fix or a genuine operational issue, everything gets the same slow response which makes it impossible to move quickly as a business.

A good example is invoice addresses. It is not possible to easily change or apply a different invoice address when needed. Because of that, it is not even possible to create a simple proforma invoice on a generic customer account without workarounds. That is a fundamental function that should just work.

We also attempted to implement an external stock control solution and even had the developer from that company willing to work directly with OrderWise to get it right. OrderWise refused to engage. After around 15k spent, months of disruption and a complete failure, and tried to blame us for falure to correctly descibe the project!!!!! they eventually did speak to him and the issue was resolved. By that point the damage had already been done. There was no accountability, no urgency, and no partial refund offered for the cost, the disruption or the impact on the business. Just a flat refusal. The level of arrogance in how that was handled was honestly staggering.

There is also a consistent arrogance in how things are handled more generally. Problems are often pushed back with comments about what was or was not raised during implementation instead of just being fixed.

On top of that, the commercial side is very rigid. Support costs around 8k a year and you are still tied into strict notice periods. If you want to cancel support for modules you no longer use, you have to give three months notice BEFORE your renewal, which makes no sense when you are paying for something that is not being used.

In theory, OrderWise sounds like a great system. In reality, the simplest tasks become a total pain.

Another example is supplier orders. There is no proper way to manage and stay on top of them. You can run a basic report, but there is no real functionality to track progress, chase suppliers, add meaningful notes or manage communication. It should work more like the dispatch side where you can clearly see what is in, what is part delivered and what is still pending. Instead, it feels very basic and disconnected.

Overall, the system is overly complicated, inflexible and expensive to adapt. More importantly, the attitude towards customers when issues are raised is poor.

If it were possible to move away, it would be done. After spending tens of thousands of pounds, it feels like being stuck with it for the foreseeable future, which is a pretty bleak position to be in.

My advice would be to avoid at all costs.

Craig was very helpful with the Parcelforce merger, managed to get us up and running before the deadline of Parcelforce going offline, really appreciate this

5 years ago we paid over £25k for the orderwise package to help with stock management. This was the purchase price so we own the software package. Today we are been told that unless we renew the support package (circa £5k) we will no longer be able to get support in future. If a support package expires and you want to purchase the support package again it won't be possible without moving on to their new cloud based subscription software. So we paid £25k for a software package and now they want us to pay a subscription. Terrible company to deal with, and they'll charge you through the nose for any changes or help you need, stay away.

We used the Orderwise system for over seven years. In 2024, we attempted to cancel our support agreement, due to poor service with the view to more our business, only to discover that the contract terms had been changed the previous year from a one-year term to a three-year term without this being clearly communicated or properly highlighted. This led to a six-month dispute that was both exhausting and unnecessary.
Throughout that period, not a single UK director was willing to speak with me directly. Eventually, I was placed on a video call with a senior manager in Paris who’s dismissive and unempathetic approach reflected, in my view, a wider cultural issue within the organisation.
Over the years, we experienced numerous system issues that disrupted operations, at times leaving our business unable to function. What was most frustrating was that problems described as “complex” and requiring significant investigation were often resolved within minutes once escalated forcefully. That inconsistency speaks volumes.
On one occasion, following a software upgrade, the sales reporting function failed completely. We were told there was a bug and it would be fixed “when possible.” I explained that this prevented us from calculating and paying staff commission. The response suggested this was not their responsibility. Only after I personally escalated the matter to the CEO was it resolved within 48 hours.
While the software itself has some strengths, the larger issue is the culture and customer approach. Customer service has too often felt combative rather than collaborative. For the level of fees paid, the accountability and professionalism simply have not met expectations.
In 2025, we made the decision to move to a new software provider that is better aligned with our long-term strategy and built for the future growth of our business. The difference in approach has been significant.
If Orderwise / Forterro wish to retain customers, there needs to be a fundamental shift towards putting customers at the heart of the business. Small and medium-sized businesses should not be treated as captive revenue streams — today’s SME can become tomorrow’s major enterprise. Long-term relationships are built on partnership, not leverage.
Additionally, moving entirely to a cloud-only model may leave customers feeling locked in with limited flexibility. Businesses should consider carefully whether that structure suits their long-term interests before committing.
There are other providers in the market who genuinely value partnership and long-term growth. I would strongly encourage prospective customers to conduct thorough due diligence before signing any agreement.

I had a great experience working with Craig Askew from Orderwise/ Forterro. Craig was incredibly patient throughout the process and never rushed anything—he took the time to fully understand the requirements and made sure everything was done properly.

What really stood out was his dedication to getting the job done right, not just done. He stayed engaged, communicated clearly, and followed through until the outcome was exactly what was needed. It’s rare to work with someone so reliable and committed to quality. Highly recommended.

As Orderwise seems to have tried to remove my review from Google (which thankfully has now been reinstated), I am cross-posting it to other platforms so potential new users can be accurately informed before onboarding with the company.

Original review:

TLDR: Keep clear, not a healthy relationship.

A business relationship should be mutually beneficial; what the Orderwise relationship feels like is extortion.

We onboarded Orderwise in 2022 based on glowing reviews from a couple of suppliers.

Orderwise seemed like a great fit as it was an outright purchase, costing in excess of £130,000. We were informed that an ongoing support subscription would be necessary, which included quarterly updates to the platform, providing access to new features.

Deployment went well, with a few bumps in the road, which are to be expected on a package of this size that touches so many parts of the business.

Shortly after going live, we were made aware that a cloud version of Orderwise would become available and that Fortero had purchased Orderwise; however, this would not impact the existing packages that are outright owned.

Fast forward two years, and support costs began increasing. The quarterly release, which included support, was reduced to an annual release. At the same time, we had an ongoing issue with stock forecasting, which we have ultimately had to abandon as it has a bug, which, after several rounds of escalation, we were told would need development (at our cost). We were then ultimately told that it was work they would not be willing to take on, as they wanted to focus on their cloud platform, leaving us unable to forecast stock correctly (this was after they had tried to sell us training courses several times).

With support now exceeding £15,000 per annum, and approximately 70% of our tickets are for Orderwise bugs and the rest often being met with “you need to pay for development or training for that”, it is hard not to feel that the company does not intend to be a partner for a successful ongoing relationship, more an ever-greedy, more distant foe.

The latest debacle that has prompted me to write this review is a bespoke development ticket for automating the import of invoices. During the quotation process and while discussing the specifications of the integration, we and the software partner we wanted to integrate with had numerous questions about how Orderwise would receive the data in the optimal format. We provided a comprehensive list of fields that required manipulation. The answer came back that we would, in fact, have to specify the format, and that if we wanted to discuss it, there would be additional development costs. This, at the time, was challenged as Orderwise for obvious reasons, know what fields they require, as it is their platform, not ours. A few months later, at significant cost, development has been “completed” and there is an issue: one of the fields outlined is not being respected, and is importing our delivery costs with an incorrect nominal and tax code. We have been informed that to resolve this shortfall, we will need to incur additional costs, despite having provided all the necessary details.

As you can imagine, this leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, and could have all been avoided with a 5-minute phone call, which it feels was deliberately avoided at this point to entrap us into further development costs.

On the whole, Orderwise is an incredibly powerful piece of software, and the reason I did not give it a one-star rating is that it is genuinely useful. Some of the support staff are very helpful, but they are always cautious about what they say, fearing that they might commit themselves to something that the higher-ups want to make a chargeable item.

What would I do to improve the situation?
- Orderwise should view the customer as a customer, not a cash cow. We are all in business to make money, but, as stated at the outset, it should be a mutually beneficial relationship; it would not take much to turn this around.
- Provide support without defaulting to “you need to pay for that” or “go on this paid training course” We are already paying for support.

Would I recommend Orderwise at this point? Absolutely not, which is a shame.

UPDATE 26/02/26:
Orderwise have since agreed to fix the development, and we are currently testing it (it took six months).

Unfortunately, there are more storm clouds on the horizon. It seems customers are being told that on-premises solution support will be sunsetted with no concrete timeline.

Further to this, courier integrations look as though they may fail (should the courier upgrade it) if you do not move to the cloud.

We moved to OrderWise in 2021 from our previous CRM system. To start with the positives: when OrderWise works, it is a good and capable system. It integrates with marketplaces and can handle complex operations. That is the reason we originally invested heavily in it.

However, our experience with support and transparency has been extremely disappointing.

The Implementation

The system was sold to us very well. Our Zoom sales meetings were recorded, and we were assured of strong post-migration support. During the switchover, two OrderWise staff members were onsite for two days (Nelson and Huddersfield branches). At the end of the second day, there were still teething problems, and we were assured that for the next two weeks it would be “just like we are still here” and they would be at the end of the phone.

The following day, both staff members went on annual leave for two weeks. We were left with major operational issues and effectively no meaningful support. That period was extremely difficult for our business.

Functionality & “Add-Ons”

We later discovered that certain features we believed were included required additional paid plugins.

When challenged, we asked OrderWise to review the recorded sales calls. We were told the recordings had been deleted after 30 days.

We were originally led to believe that as the system developed and larger clients funded upgrades, those improvements would be rolled out as part of our package periodically. That has not been our experience. Any additional functionality has required additional payment.

Support Experience

Support is ticket-based only. You cannot easily speak to someone.

Responses often:

Take days to acknowledge.

Link to help pages rather than address the issue.

Ask repetitive questions, delaying resolution.

For a system that runs the backbone of a business (CRM, accounts, stock control, warehouse management), this level of support is not acceptable.

Hosting Migration Issues

When OrderWise increased hosting costs, we moved to a third-party cloud provider to reduce overhead.

OrderWise would not liaise directly with the new host and insisted on relaying everything through us. The process dragged on for days. Critical information was withheld or redirected to help documents.

We were forced to process orders manually for six days.

On day six, after escalating to a senior support member, the missing information was provided and the issue was resolved within 10 minutes.

That experience alone caused significant operational disruption.

Ongoing Costs vs Value

We currently pay approximately £8,500 per year for support.

Recently, our website stopped syncing stock. It took weeks to diagnose. The work was chargeable — and even then, there was no guarantee the fix would resolve the issue.

Support now largely feels like automated or templated responses.

Ironically, we have often found more practical solutions using ChatGPT than through paid OrderWise support.

Current Situation (ParcelForce API)

ParcelForce has updated their system. We have now been informed that because we are on OrderWise “on-prem,” the new ParcelForce API will only be available via OrderWise Web.

This effectively forces an upgrade to OrderWise Web — including hosting and support — at a cost of approximately £18,000 per year.

This ties customers into both their hosting and their support structure.

Conclusion

OrderWise is strong at sales and demonstrations.

But in our experience:

Post-sale support has been poor.

Communication lacks transparency.

Critical operational issues take too long to resolve.

Costs continue to increase.

Customers are being pushed toward higher-priced platforms to access essential integrations.

After 30 years in business, this has been one of the most frustrating support experiences we have encountered.

When it works, it’s good.
When it doesn’t, you’re largely on your own.

We recently migrated from Desktop to Cloud. We were very fortunate to get Lucy S as our infrasctructure consultant as she made the whole process very seemless with minimal downtime. She went the extra mile to assist us with some issues we had that weren't related to the migration. I've also delt with Vicky S, Senior Infrastructure Services, and Hannah R, 1st line Customer Support, both exceptional at their jobs and a pleasure to deal with.

Very informative. Gave us a sense of where we need to improve our own data integrity. As well as clear explanations of our next steps in the process.

Awful to deal with, very poor customer service and no interest in working with their existing customers.

We run Orderwise on-site on our own server.

We’ve been advised that support for the on-premise version is likely to end within the next 18–24 months, effectively forcing a move to the cloud product. For a business-critical ERP/WMS, that’s not a reasonable planning window.

Cost is also a major concern. We currently pay around £2.25k per month (£27k per year). When we asked for an indicative cloud price, we were told to budget approximately £4,500–£6,000 per month (£54k - £72k per year) a huge increase over our current costs!

On top of that, we were told the move would be a full migration project rather than a straightforward upgrade.

Given the short notice, significant cost uplift, and migration effort involved, we’re now looking at alternative software options.

Yazmin was extremely helpful in reviewing our support call

Our company is going through a period of re-organisation having been acquired by new owners a few months ago. Niall gave a 3 hour tailored demonstration of features and functions within a number of Orderwise modules to memebers of the project team aimed at answering questions that have arisen as we set out on a journey of consolidation

Orderwise Accounts training was clear, practical, and well paced. The trainer had excellent knowledge of the system and explained not just what to do, but why, which made it much easier to apply day to day. They were very patient with questions and went in-depth where needed without overcomplicating things. I am feeling far more confident about going live with the accounts module.

had great knowledge base. was very helpful with every quey we had and learned alot about orderwise to help us move forward in the business

Niall was easy to get along with & made the process more engaging than I expected. He listened to all the questions I had and gave clear & easy to follow advice. He helped me understand the modules with more detail and if I went off on a tangent about another aspect of Orderwise (based on what I was learning) he always brought it back to how I could implement that into the modules we were discussing.

As always Stephen was most helpful. He is competent and gets things done promptly.