Major software updates are the norm now. While we look forward to upgrades in our smartphone operating systems, entrepreneurs in the e-commerce industry look forward to ecommerce platforms updates. A platform that frequently updates its features can truly last in the industry.

And one such platform is Odoo. In our post, we are going to explore Odoo’s most awaited update: Odoo 13.

Last year, we saw Odoo 12; it came with a host of updates and new features. To mention a few:

• Multiple Display Responsive
• Smoother Onboarding process: Odoobot
• Interactive Dashboard
• Ready Out of the box
• Easy Odoo Customization
• Variety of Payment and Shipping options

Of course, the software industry being as competitive as it is, when coupled with the e-commerce industry, a platform wouldn’t last without at least a yearly overhaul of new and exciting features.

The next Odoo update, Odoo 13 is not too far off in the future. Odoo is set to announce this update at their Odoo Experience event that is to happen in October. It is an event that goes on for 2-3 days where they launch the new and improved functionalities. Additionally, It becomes a hands-on experience for Odoo developers that attend the event.

Let’s see what Odoo users are expecting from the coming Odoo 13 update:

Accountant as a Service:

With upgraded accounting features introduced in Odoo 12, they managed to centralize your business operations. You won’t have to transfer data from Odoo to your accounting software. And with the Odoo 13, they are bringing the exclusive “Accountant as a Service” using which you will be provided with a competent accountant who is well-versed with Odoo software. This means you will be able to get an accountant’s services who is well versed with the Odoo software.

Integration with the Internet of Things:

The Internet of Things is a concept that came in when the internet expanded beyond our mobile phones and tablets. It is in everything now. Therefore, it seems like the perfect next step for Odoo to be compatible with IoT devices. This gives way to the possibility of integrating inventory management tools, that are IoT enabled right in your Odoo backend!

Stock Management:

If your Odoo store is equipped to work with sensors, you could potentially plug in sensors in your shelves at your warehouse which updates & notifies you when the stock dips. This can also be useful in hybrid stores. Hybrid stores are IIoT enabled physical stores which don’t require constant staff attention. Customers can browse and buy items in a physical store, but the products get added to their virtual store account. The concept is new but it might pick up the pace with smooth IoT compatibility with ecommerce platforms.

In-App Purchases:

In the upcoming Odoo update, one of the most awaited features is of in-app purchase. The users will now be able to purchase services right from your Odoo store. Odoo will act as a medium between the service provider and the client. To make the process smoother, the payment will also be deducted from their Odoo account.

Maintenance:

With IoT enabled machines, you can monitor them using IoT enabled devices. You will be notified as soon as they require any sort of attention or maintenance. This way you can reduce the downtime and only inspect the machines when required.

Odoo 13 is sweetening the deal by making all the old features better with the addition of these new ones. What will remain to see is how the entrepreneurs who use Odoo adopt these features & leverage their functionality.

Considering that e-commerce businesses are global, it would also be interesting to see how Odoo optimizes these high data consuming features for markets that don’t have high-speed internet. The world, after all, is not all developed, but people all over the world tend to buy and sell things.

For a platform that mainly boasts of its themes, apps and customization capacity, Odoo has indeed come a long way in realizing its customers’ needs.

If you are an entrepreneur who uses Odoo for their online store, make sure to upgrade when the new version is available for smoother functionality as well as newer features.

If you have any questions regarding Odoo development or Odoo customizations, you can contact us here, or comment with your question on this post. We will try to reply to you to the best of our abilities.

The move to the internet happened years ago. We have come a long way from performing simple tasks like sending electronic email to having complex e-commerce stores for everything that we could possibly need.

Electronic stores range from small niche stores to large ones that sell everything. It is a market that is ever expanding. If you are looking to get into the e-commerce business, there is always space. However, that does not mean that it doesn’t require effort. You have to take a lot of crucial steps before you can have an online store up and running.

Once you decide what products you want to sell, how much product customization you want to offer, your business strategy and your team, the last & very important task left to do: the actual building of that store. And building an online store is no easy task. First, you have to figure out what platform you want to build your e-commerce store on, and there are plenty of great options for that, like Magento, Odoo, Shopify, and WooCommerce. You have to figure out your needs and compare them with the features these platforms are offering and then based on the comparison you will need to select one.

Out of all of these, Odoo is easily one of the best. But why is it the best? What makes it stand out? Well, here are a few things:

• Customizable for various devices:

First things first: the ease of an e-commerce store is that your customers can log on from any and all devices they have. For this, it is important that the user experience remains consistent on all devices of various screen sizes. With Odoo, that is possible. So, your customer can switch over to a tablet from a laptop, or a smartphone and they will see the same store, with the same functionality. A good user interface is what keeps the customer coming back to a particular web store.

• Theme store:

The theme of your store is an important part of the user interface. A hard to navigate or a web page which is hard on eyes is off-putting. Odoo has a palette of themes for you to choose from. A good theme will help lead your customers to browse your store more often, look at products in more detail than just the initial page and spending more time on the store. A user interface that highlights your product is a user interface worth investing in. Moreover, there are many Odoo customization companies which can create personalized Odoo themes, plugins or extensions, and more for your Odoo e-store.

• An assortment of apps:

Odoo apps make for great add-ons to your online store. There are apps that you can add to enhance your store, like an invoice template or an app that helps you with search engine optimization, or even one that gives you additional templates for the sales order. These plugins or extensions help you get the most out from your Odoo platform.

• Product Customization:

No matter what products you are selling, if you wish to give various options in it of size or color or material etc. you can easily do that with an Odoo based store. It is a great way to retain your customers and decrease cart abandonment. Customers will have choices and catering to those choices will go a long way for your store.

• Conversion tools:

Odoo has a bunch of tools that help convert the customer’s visit, to sale. Depending on what someone puts in their cart or is frequently looking at, Odoo enables you to offer coupon codes or send email reminders. It also helps you upsell or cross-sell a product, which means it offers accessories or complementary products to the ones that a customer puts in the cart.

• Payment options:

Odoo gives you multiple payment options for your web store. You can enable the ones you want. When you provide your customers with multiple ways to pay, they are likely to end up buying the product because of the convenience factor alone.

• Shipping options:
• With Odoo, you get a lot of shipping options. Connect your store with the ones you want, to ship your product easier. When people see popular shipping partners on a store, they tend to trust that store more with handling the product they order. Therefore, the more options your store has, the more customers you will have coming back to your store.

So, there you have it! Now, these were the benefits of using the Odoo platform for your store. But that’s not the end of your e-commerce journey. The bigger task again is to use that platform to actually build the store and then to add the necessary extensions in order to create streamlined business processes. However, what makes this slightly better is that you can outsource this. You don’t have to suddenly become a developer to get this done. Find the right Odoo development company and give them this task. Just like that, your e-commerce store will be ready!

Have any questions regarding Odoo or any E-commerce platform? Feel free to comment with your question and we will try to answer the same to the best of our knowledge.