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Improvements to Your Online Catalogue and Ordering Experience

24 July 2024

We have recently made some improvements to the search functionality on our online catalogue. These were released over the course of a seven day period, and included:

  • Redesigning the search functionality to improve performance and prevent search timeouts.
  • Ability to search for MPCs containing a hyphen “-” which no longer causes the search to fail.
  • Exclusion of local catalogues from the search by default to reduce the time taken to process search queries and return results. Searches will only return results from local catalogues if the ‘local catalogue’ tick box is selected.
Screenshot highlighting include local products in our online catalogue

Our IT team has been monitoring the performance of the catalogue following these changes and has noticed a considerable improvement and a better user experience.

Previous update: 16 April 2024

We have recently released some further enhancements to our online catalogue to improve its functionality and the user experience. These cover two main areas:

Design changes to improve usability and accessibility

  • We have made changes to the colour contrasts and text size to improve the accessibility of the catalogue.
  • We have also standardised image buttons to improve visibility and look of the catalogue.

Before

Add to basket catalogue buttons before changes

After

Add to basket catalogue buttons before after changes
Clinician looking at online catalogue on a computer monitor

Product availability and ordering improvements

  • We have added a new link in the catalogue menu to enable signed in customers placing orders to see eDirect supplier minimum order values (MOV) information.
Screenshot highlighting minimum order value link in our online catalogue

Previous Update: 12 June 2023

On the evening of Friday 9 June 2023, we successfully released some further enhancements to our online catalogue to improve its functionality and the user experience. Improvements are in three main areas:

  • Product in stock / out of stock status
  • Signposting for customers when orders cannot be processed
  • Catalogue search.

Product in stock / out of stock status – we have made a change to improve the accuracy of stock statuses when placing orders.

Where a product is out of stock in your supplying depot and we have stock elsewhere in the network the product will no longer show as out of stock at the point of you placing your order.

Customers will need to be logged in to the online catalogue in order to see the stock status of products.

Signposting for customers – we have introduced consistency of the contact details when orders cannot be processed so customers know where to go for support. Customers will now be signposted as follows:

Low spend: Warning your order/s cannot be processed please contact NHS Supply Chain Finance Department: 0115 678 2046 or email credit.control@supplychain.nhs.uk
Moved trust: Warning your order/s cannot be processed please contact NHS Supply Chain Finance Telephone: 0115 678 2046 or email credit.control@supplychain.nhs.uk
Payment overdue: Warning your order/s cannot be processed please contact NHS Supply Chain Finance Telephone: 0115 678 2046 or email credit.control@supplychain.nhs.uk

Catalogue search – we have introduced new functionality which means you can now choose to exclude inactive products when searching. Earlier in the year we also introduced a procedure which removes products from the online catalogue if they have been inactive for over six months. This will improve the quality of the results returned when searching for products and also speed up the time it takes for the search results to be returned. Active products, including those available while stocks last and suspended products will continue to be displayed as before.

As part of this release the ‘Hide Masked Products’ from search option was removed. This was due to it not working correctly and it also impacting catalogue performance.

If you have any queries about any of these changes please contact your Customer Services Advisor.

Previous Update: 28 October 2022

Following feedback from customers on the user experience when performing searches on our Online Catalogue, as a temporary service improvement measure, we have identified an enhancement to the export functionality.

In order to reduce the amount of time you have to wait for an export to run, we are introducing a limit to the number of lines from your search return that will export to Excel. With effect from Friday 28 October 2022 you will only be able export to Excel if your search results are less than 250 lines. The rationale for this number being that the majority of searches provide a return of less than 250 lines.

Please note: when performing your search on the Online Catalogue, the search functionality will remain unchanged. Your search will still produce a full return of any matches to your search criteria. It is only the export to Excel function that will be limited if your search criteria returns results greater than 250 lines. In such instances refining your search will provide a reduced number of lines and may enable you to export the results if it produces 250 lines or less. Alternatively you can download our full catalogue in Excel format from the catalogue home page, which will allow you to interrogate a full data set.

Screenshot of the pop up message relating to our Online Catalogue export to Excel functionality

When using the ‘Export to Excel’ function please only press the button once. Multiple presses of the button by the user will lead to multiple queries running at the same time thereby slowing export performance time.

Should you have any queries regarding the change please contact your Customer Services Advisor.

Previous Update: 15 October 2021

On the evening of Thursday 14 October 2021, we successfully released further planned changes to our online catalogue to improve your user experience.

These changes relate to:

  • Searching for products
  • Placing an eDirect order.

Product searches – when using the search function, those products which are no longer available to order will now be displayed at the end of results page(s). This means you will be able to find and order available products quicker as these will be shown first.

The update doesn’t affect ‘Out of Stock’ products, it only affects items that show with the status:

  • This product is no longer available to order. There are no alternatives available.
  • This product is no longer available to order. Click here to view alternatives for this product.

Placing an eDirect order – the character limit for the Notes field at an individual product line level has been reduced from 160 characters to 150. The Header Notes field remains 100 characters.

Order screen for an eDirect product with the notes fields highlighted

We have made this change as part of our Core Tech Refresh (CTR) project to support the improvements we are making to our other eCommerce systems. See our Useful Links section for further information on our Service Improvements programme, including the CTR and eDirect projects.

If you have any questions about these latest changes to our online catalogue and ordering system please contact our Customer IT Helpdesk:

Client Services Helpdesk

cshelpdesk@supplychain.nhs.uk

0800 086 8670

Previous Update: 31 March 2021

A small but significant number of people have been searching for ‘operational keywords’ in recent weeks. These include:

  • ‘My Orders’
  • ‘Authorisation’
  • ‘Orders’
  • ‘Latest Orders’.

In February we updated the screenshot image on this page – it shows the changes you see after you have logged in.

The shortcuts to the section including ‘My Orders’ and previous ordering information are highlighted.

Previous Update: 22 February 2021

We have updated the image on this page that shows the changes you see after you have logged in, to highlight where the shortcuts to My Orders, Masking, My Details and Sign Out can be found. The description explaining this has also been amended.

Previous Update: 5 February 2021

The planned changes were implemented on Thursday evening. On individual product and product level pages, there is now a ‘breadcrumb trail’.

Online Catalogue - Screenshot

This has been added to make the navigation between pages easier.

Previous Update: 2 February 2021

We have completed last week’s developments and the latest changes are scheduled to be implemented by the end of this week.

  • The update that you should expect to see will be the addition of a ‘breadcrumb trail’ on pages at an individual product or product category level.

As soon as the release of this update is complete, we will provide a further notification here.

Previous Update: 27 January 2021

We’re currently working through a short list of feedback received from customers since these improvements were delivered.

  • Some developments to make navigation between pages at product and product category level easier are now complete and entering the final testing process.

As soon as we have our next confirmed release date we’ll add the information here. In the meantime, please continue to provide your feedback to:

Client Services Helpdesk

cshelpdesk@supplychain.nhs.uk

0800 086 8670

Previous Update: 25 January 2021

Over the course of the weekend of 23 January and 24 January 2021 we successfully completed the final testing phase of this project.

The new version of the Online Catalogue and Ordering system was released on Saturday – further information is shown by the screenshots and other details provided within this update.

Previous Update: 8 October 2020

In response to your feedback, we are making a number of enhancements to our Online Catalogue and Ordering System as part of our Service Improvements Programme.

These include:

  • Updated look
  • Better online search
  • Clearer visibility of product attributes
  • Improved basket functionality.

Find out more about these changes and the benefits to you on this page. See our Useful Links section for additional information on the Service Improvements Programme.

Updated Look

We’re updating the look of the Online Catalogue to reflect the rest of our website in line with our brand. This will give you a more joined up experience as you move between our website (where you are now) and our Online Catalogue. The main changes you’ll notice are:

Example of latest updates on our website pages

Menu bar (1)

This is being updated to match the menu headings used across the rest of our website and will take you through to our information website (where you are now).

Sign in (2)

The ‘sign in’ button is moving to the top right of the screen (on a desktop or laptop computer). It will be larger and more obvious too.

The sign-in box screen has been rebranded to match other login screens across our website. Pease continue to use your existing online catalogue login to place orders. We have also removed the Cookie Legal Disclaimer pop up box.

Second Screenshot Image - Online Catalogue

Navigation buttons (3)

We’re adding two new buttons to help you easily reach the Catalogue home page and Place an Order screen from whichever page you are on.

Your profile summary (4A and 4B)

(4A) Once you’ve signed into your Online Catalogue and Ordering account, you’ll still find details such as My Orders, Masking, Quick Links and Sign out at the top of the page. However these are now positioned above the search bar.

(4B) After you’ve signed into your Online Catalogue and Ordering account, you’ll now find details of your trust, requisition point and delivery day under the menu and navigation buttons.

Better Online Search

Improved search (5)

We’ve simplified search to give you better and more responsive results, for example you can now search for words and terms with hyphens, such as Manufacturer’s Product Codes (MPCs).

Clearer Visibility of Product Attributes

From talking to you we know that product attributes such as size are important to you especially when comparing products.

We’re amending the Product Comparison page so it shows the size attribute when this is included in the product description.

Improved Basket Functionality

We know that you would like to be able to add items to your shopping basket and when you come back later for them to still be there.

Our catalogue update will mean that your order will remain in your basket if you log out but did not save or check out your order.

Please be aware that for now this change will not be at an individual user account level, it works using cookies and browser experience so you will need to log back in at the same computer to recover your basket.

Further Information

These changes are part of a series of planned enhancements that we are making.

Each update is designed to improve your experience of using our Online Catalogue and Ordering system, based on your feedback and suggestions.

If you have any questions please contact:

Client Services Helpdesk

cshelpdesk@supplychain.nhs.uk

0800 086 8670