Wow what a week! Snow and software changes were a double whammy of complications. 

As the snow melts, we wanted to share some more details about our software changes; why we have made the change and the thinking behind it. 

BUT before you sit down to read this riveting blog post – quick question – have you updated your payment details in your new online account? No? Please do this now. Details on how to, have been sent via email, or download the guide below. Or log in here and click Forgot password to log in for the first time. 

The Old System

We used to use a system called Boxmaster. It was a pioneer software system designed specifically for managing box schemes. Making the switch to this system meant moving away from manually entering data and big spreadsheets. It was a game changer that meant when the pandemic hit in 2020 we had the digital infrastructure to cope with a big uptick in customer numbers. 

It wasn’t a perfect system but it enabled us to do a lot of things and offered good order customisation for customers. The problem was that this system was a one-man-band. A very small team was running the software and supporting some big box schemes across the UK with lots of demands on their time. And unfortunately, the business became unsustainable and we were given notice that it would soon be discontinued and we needed to make a switch. 

The New System

Choosing the new system was challenging – there were a small number of options for quite a niche market. But in the end we chose Ooooby. 

What do we like:

• Ooooby uses a direct debit payment method rather than card transactions. These have lower fees associated with them and won’t be affected when you get an updated card.
• The interface is mobile friendly – you can easily log into your account on your phone and make changes.
• Ooooby have a team of software developers on the end of emails and phone calls and have been super helpful during this transition period.
• Ooooby are implementing a plan to be community owned. 

Changes to look out for:

Right now, there are some things we can’t do with the new system that we used to be able to do. However, we hope this won’t be the case for too much longer as Ooooby have got an overhaul of the customer dashboard coming up in the next few months. So we will be feeding back a list of features that we would like to add, such as:

• Customers being able to edit their own dislikes – currently to edit them you need to drop us an email.
• Increasing customisation of pauses so that you can pause specific items not just your whole order – currently to remove an item from your order you need to go in and remove it and then put it back on later. 

If you want to send any feedback about the new system and any key features you like or would like to see change, please email [email protected]