Recently we ordered some items from dabs.com for part of our IT upgrade at our business. Later we decided to purchase some equipment, prior to the despatch of our original order. However, dabs doesn’t allow you to add to an existing order. Instead you have to add items to your new basket, then find the original order and click a button labelled ‘add basket to order’. Which is non-intuitive. Furthermore, if you are buying a reconditioned item, it cannot under any circumstances be added to an existing order.

Amazon is similarly afflicted. You cannot add to an existing order, instead you have to complete an order then go through a convoluted merge process.

Now time for shameless promotion: One of the sites we’ve recently developed allows customers to create as many simultaneous orders as they like, sending each off for processing when they are ready. Prior to any order being packed, they can pick it up (with one click, and ‘boom!’ it’s the one they’re working with) and add to it, change quantities, delete items, update customisation etc. All with real-time stock control adjustments. Surely that’s a better way of working?