Acctivate is a real-time inventory management and high-volume, multi-channel order fulfillment solution for growing small to midsized distributors, manufacturers, and online retailers using QuickBooks.
$7,995
one-time fee
Volusion
Score 4.8 out of 10
N/A
Volusion is a cloud-based ecommerce solution from the company of the same name in Austin, TX. It features an intuitive dashboard, built-in marketing and promos, SEO, templates, and tools to customize look and appearance.
$29
per month
Pricing
Acctivate Inventory Management
Volusion
Editions & Modules
Starter
$9,995
one-time fee
Pro
$17,995
one-time fee
Enterprise
$28,995
one-time fee
Personal
$29
per month
Pro
$79
per month
Startup
$179
per month
Business
$299
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Acctivate Inventory Management
Volusion
Free Trial
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
$2,000 one-time fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
Onboarding pricing for each package:
- Starter: $2,000 Onboarding
- Pro: $3,000 Onboarding
- Enterprise: $4,000 Onboarding
Acctivate Onboarding consists of access to an Onboarding Specialist to assist with the setup and implementation of your Acctivate software for one QuickBooks company. Onboarding support will consist of phone conversations, email-based support, and any other activities related to setup and implementation. Acctivate Onboarding is delivered remotely. Onboarding is completed in 90 days.
Number of users that come with each package (additional users are $750/ea):
- Starter: 1 user
- Pro: 5 users
- Enterprise: 15 users
We selected Volusion originally because of the price point, but we had NO IDEA how much we would be spending in excess to actually get the functionality that was sold to us by their salesmen and women. We are switching to BigCommerce this spring.
Acctivate is best suited for very basic inventory needs. It syncs up well with Standalone Quickbooks and tracks physical inventory really well. I wouldn't recommend it if you need a complex suite for a larger business. Needs a lot of improvement. If you need a vendor, purchasing, PO system - I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Volusion is a good company if you're starting out. The problem is that, if you want more complexity out of the program, you're kind of stuck. Also the regular time out errors and slow downs can be very frustrating. Packages that miss overnight deadlines because your system stops working can cost you customers. In today's highly competitive market, that's just something that's hard to put up with. If you have a lower volume of business you might be able to work around these issues.
Templates are pre-built for a good end user experience. I've gone through the process of building custom sites as well as tweaking both free and paid templates that Volusion's design team provides.
Their support team didn't use to be as helpful, but in recent years have answered nearly all questions I've had. Their support section within the database provides detailed walkthrus as well.
Order processing is easy once you've been trained on the system. We got to a point where nearly the entire process was automated from initial purchase through shipping.
API calls use the previous call as a reference, even if you weren't the one we made the previous call. Can lead to data gaps, so you often have to set a manual date range to look back to make sure you aren't missing any data.
When you spend so much time with a product like this and not only have you witnessed its growth, but you almost feel like you are next those that make the decisions of building features a certain way, you can't help but want to stay and be a part of their continued growth. It's simply a great product. Can it improve? By all means! But it will only improve because of users and avid resellers like me.
You have to wait on hold for at least 45 minutes every call—the tech support person never knows the answer right away so they put you on 10 minute holds only to come back and say they're still looking for answers. The chat function could take days to get a response. Our "Dedicated Account Manager" never checks in or answers, nor are they ever in the office when we call. It's like they try to be as unavailable as possible until you forget why you even called in the first place. Insane.
It is best to use the built-in features and recommended services for the most turn-key experience (ie. Skipjack for payment processing so that it can all be done from the Volusion backend).
While k-eCommerce was very glamorous to us because it integrates with our main workflow, it just didn't have some of the marketing features that are so integral to the way we do business online. The set-up costs were also way too high. Volusion is so affordable and feature heavy, it makes it very difficult for any shopping cart provider to compete. You can find others who are competitively priced and have similar features, but they simply aren't as robust (at least for the way we use it)
Honestly, when you're in the dashboard, the UX is simply horrendous. I mean, everything that should be 1-2 clicks away is 4-6 clicks away, and each pages takes at least four seconds to load. You just find yourself wasting a lot of time waiting for things to load. This should be more simple.