The overall shopping experience of your customers and the profitability of your ecommerce business are driven by an Order Management System on the backend. Customers need a seamless delivery and post-purchase experience. They want to receive their purchases on time and according to their schedule, which may include the same-day shipment or in-person pickup. Your customers expect to be aware of and receive information in real-time throughout their journey. Processing orders quickly and effectively, shop management can help you increase e-commerce sales, enter new markets, and improve point-of-order tracking. Having clear visibility into warehouse operations and less time spent on the back end of your organization can help you save time and money.
Features of Order Management System:
A typical OMS helps the order management process in five key areas:
- Channels of sales:
All points of sale, including online, in-store, and contact centres, provide information to the OMS, which collects and aggregates it. Some items also support several currencies and orders from various worldwide locations.
- Sales assistance:
Customers, staff, and the customer support team can access real-time product availability and information. Additionally, the OMS facilitates omnichannel customer exchanges and returns.
- Clientele database:
This contains contact information, activity, and orders placed by the consumer. This helps a service representative to identify highly profitable clients and take appropriate action.
- Integrating accounting:
No need to reenter information or transfer it through a different process because data from the OMS flows into your accounting system’s general ledger and subsidiary journals, such as accounts receivable and accounts payable.
- Inventory control:
The OMS incorporates inventory management algorithms that route orders to the proper warehouses and determine the best shipping alternatives, offering a consolidated inventory view that helps with controlling and tracking stock levels.
Factors to look at when selecting an order management system:
1. Quantify benchmarks early on in the OMS selection procedure:
It will create a corporate dashboard and key performance indicators for effectively reporting each function or department. So, you need to recognize the differences between analytics provided out of the box and those you must create on your own. Maintaining visibility over these indicators will guarantee they receive the necessary attention. It will help to establish KPIs that are shared between teams and among all stakeholders.
2. Select an OMS to assist you with your most important improvement areas:
OMS is called the complete order-to-delivery-to-payment cycle, including order taking, order exceptions, customer management, inventory management, and reverse logistics. Solutions may address some or all of these processes. Costs can be decreased by eliminating errors, cash flow can be increased by accelerating the entire process, and customer satisfaction can be raised by enhancing communication.
3. Reduce the number of times your team touches an order:
The cost of processing and fulfilling an order is lower overall if fewer touches are made to the order and the product itself. In retail shop, it has an efficient OMS controls exceptions and directs them to the appropriate party for handling. When touches aren’t minimized, errors and delays rise.
Final thoughts:
One of the things on your mind right now is choosing a new Order Management System. In order to move on to the next task, you want a quick fix to all your order management problems, but you must take your time with it. So, you need to take your time to make this choice is the best thing you can do for your company.