Exciting Features Expected in Odoo 18: A Glimpse Into Future

Odoo, widely popular for its versatility, has taken the world of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software by storm. With its rich ecosystem of 16,000 ready-to-use, in-built custom apps, it has gained immense popularity, wide recognition, and an extensive user base. These in-built apps streamline various business operations, including sales, marketing, finance, human resources, manufacturing & inventory, website building, and many more.

Did you know that Odoo ERP is the 8th most popular in India and 14th most popular across the Internet in the open-source category? According to statistics, Odoo was used by 73,318 live websites across the world in November 2023.

Every year, Odoo releases a new version. Last year, it released Odoo 17 (the current version) with an improvised, more responsive user interface, enhanced security, increased performance, and more integrations. It is a significant upgrade to all its previous versions with multiple new features and improvements.

Recently, the CEO and founder of Odoo, Fabien Pinckaers, took to LinkedIn and shared an update about reviewing Odoo Website Builder’s UI. Also, he penned down a post asking the audience for any idea of a killing feature for Odoo 18. As a result, a large number of people shared their thoughts and feedback.

This blog explores a glimpse into Odoo 18’s expected features.

A Sneak Peek Into 10 Most Expected Odoo 18 Features 

1. Upgraded Marketing Module 

It is expected that Odoo 18 will have improved features in the marketing module to match the standards of MailChimp’s features. Here are some expected improvements:

• The integration of contacts and mailing contacts for seamless data use in email segmentation.
• Upgrade to the outgoing email server so that emails do not arrive in spam, i.e., reducing spam occurrences for outgoing emails.
• Simplified Marketing Automation setup, making it easy for novices or average users to set it up.
• Automatic linking of survey responses and event registrations to the relevant contact if the participant registers without logging in.
• No limit on the distribution of newsletters. 

2. Sales: Target Vs Achievement Report

Odoo 18 may incorporate a feature in the Sales module where users can set goals for a specific salesperson and then review a report on their actual monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc., sales activity.

In short, Odoo 18 may have a feature that generates reports on an individual salesperson’s target vs achievement. This feature significantly simplifies sales commission.

3. Improved Mobile Usability for CRM and Quotes 

Though creating quotes from the mobile has considerably improved in Odoo 17, there is room for improvement to be expected in Odoo 18. The following are some expected improvements:

• A quick and easy opportunity lookup feature for easy and seamless access.
• Limit fields on mobile view (contact details, notes, last communication or chatter) to achieve maximum optimization.
• A clear, straightforward interface for note-taking. Plus, a dictation option for hands-free input.
• A simplified quote-building process with a comprehensive guide.
• A shortcut for immediate quote sending and on-screen signing.

4. Non-Financial Reporting 

Non-financial reporting refers to disclosing information that is not based on financial figures or metrics. It primarily focuses on a company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. These ESG factors play a vital role in determining the company’s sustainability and ethical practices.

With non-financial reports, the company’s stakeholders, customers, and employees can gain insights into its environmental impact.

We can strongly expect Odoo 18 to have a feature for non-financial reporting, especially CO2 emissions reporting. It helps organizations actively manage CO2 emissions and meet their sustainability goals.

5. Website Builder’s UI 

This is the image Fabien Pinckaers shared on LinkedIn, asking the audience to vote for the preferred choice regarding Odoo Website Builder’s UI.

As you can see, it has three options:

• First: The current version
• Second: No icons with more structure
• Third: Only icons

Many Odoo users found Option 2 to be user-friendly, as it is more focused on structure and is text-based. Text labels leave no room for confusion and ensure intuitive navigation, especially for users who are new to Odoo.

Regarding Option 3, having only icons can be visually appealing but less accessible, requiring users to decipher icons. Additionally, if Option 3 is finalized, we can expect the Settings icon rather than the one used commonly as a filter icon.

6. Streamlined Activity Completion

We can contemplate the mass activity completion feature analogous to HubSpot in Odoo 18. This feature ensures seamless workflow, rapid task completion, no delays in activity completion, and improved user experience. The idea is to display the current activity on the top of the view. So, users can either skip or complete the activity without requiring to switch between tabs.

This feature benefits in the following ways:

• Multiple activities are completed in minutes.
• Tool hygiene is maintained, eliminating unnecessary steps to address activities.
• CRM and ERP remain updated.

7. Gantt Views Enhancement 

Another expected improvement in Odoo 18 is the enhancement of Gantt views. You can expect flexible zoom and scroll features in the Gantt view that notably improves user experience.

Odoo 18 may provide intuitive controls for users to zoom in and out at any level within the Gantt view. Plus, a flexible left-to-right scroll to navigate through different time periods would be the cherry on the cake. This customized view focused on specific time periods enhances precision and improves navigation.

These two features make Odoo’s Gantt view more user-centric and versatile.

8. Draft Document Validation

Odoo 18 is planning to introduce a visible indicator that displays the number of documents currently present in the draft stage. It will allow users to determine the number or volume of documents that require validation. This ensures the timely validation of documents and streamlines the fiduciary process.

9. Visa/Mastercard Statement Scanning

Another great addition to expect in Odoo 18 is the integration of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to scan Visa/Mastercard statements, extract information, and easily upload it into the accounting system. This drastically reduces the time required to enter statement details manually. Plus, it minimizes errors, which are more likely to occur with manual data entry.

10. ‘Save as Global’ for the Web Editor 

With the ‘Save as Global’ option on the web editor, you can save a configured custom block now and reuse it on other pages without making changes to all pages individually. When you save a block globally, the changes you make to one instance reflect across all pages wherever it is used. This eliminates the hassle of maintaining consistency manually.

Conclusion 

All these upcoming, expected features and improvements in Odoo 18 will undoubtedly lead to improved user experience, seamless navigation, enhanced mobile accessibility, and better workflow management. Well, this is not an exhaustive list of expected Odoo 18 features; we can expect many others that will ultimately boost productivity and streamline business processes.

Want to be the first one to avail of the benefits of Odoo 18 features? Make Kasolves your expert partner! Ksolves is an Odoo development company with a team of experienced Odoo specialists who understand client requirements and design tailored ERP systems. With a customized Odoo development process, we strive to cater to customer needs and deliver exceptional experiences.