As consumer buying behaviors shift, the lines between in-store and online shopping have blurred, with customers expecting a consistent experience across all interactions. Meeting these expectations requires an order management system (OMS), software that automates and streamlines the entire order process from creation to fulfillment.
Every retailer, whether operating in a single channel or across several channels, needs distributed order management to ensure they can meet customer expectations. Single-channel retailers need distributed order management to optimize inventory tracking and customer satisfaction. For multi-channel retailers, the need for an OMS becomes even more apparent. This is where inventory segmentation, strategic sourcing and fulfillment and a seamless omnichannel customer experience come into play. A distributed order management system streamlines all of these processes for a superior buying experience.
While merchants of all sizes (small, mid-market, enterprise) and types (B2B, B2C, DTC) use an OMS to ensure their order management process runs smoothly and efficiently, an OMS offers critical benefits for an organization operating in the mid-market arena to achieve success such as speed of delivery, low total cost of ownership and flexibility.
Leveraging Agile OMS Solutions
Leveraging the right enabling technology is critical. A key characteristic to look for in an OMS is rapid integration, which will speed up time-to-value and ROI and provide the requisite agility and scalability.
A robust selection process will help you select the OMS that best meets the needs, capabilities and future goals of your business. When navigating the selection process, many retailers need the support of a third-party consultant that has a deep understanding of the order management systems on the market and can guide them through a thorough planning process, request for proposals, vendor demos, analysis and selection.
enVista’s consultants have both technical and operational expertise and leverage a vendor-agnostic approach, ensuring you receive well-rounded selection advice that will guide you to the best solution for your business.
Understanding the Up-Front Investment of OMS
With a cloud native application, the working capital to stand up BOPIS and ship from store locations is relatively inexpensive. With an investment of only $1,500 or less for a laser printer shipping corrugate, case tape gun and dunnage, a store can be fully operational in hours, not days or weeks. Thus, for a 250-store chain with an average order value of $75 and 25 daily orders per location, the retailer is driving $468.75 per day in sales. In a time like this, what would a half million dollars mean to your business? While these systems require an initial investment in time and resources, it’s important to view it as an investment rather than a cost, as it has a net positive impact on business.
An order management software is critical for mid-market retailers to tie their commerce tools and customer experience together and enable speed of delivery and the flexibility to pivot quickly, while providing a low total cost of ownership.
Order management is more than a buzzword in commerce— it is the thread that unifies your commerce tools and joins your customer experience together. As consumer shopping patterns continue to evolve, OMS now offers mid-market retailers the capabilities and visibility they need to craft the best possible customer experience.
