How an Order Management System benefits modern retailers

Experts agree that a retailer’s success depends on its ability to efficiently manage orders and deliver a seamless shopping experience to customers. This is where an Order Management System (OMS) plays a pivotal role. An OMS is a powerful tool that can streamline operations, improve customer satisfaction and drive revenue growth for modern retailers. In this post, we’ll delve into the world of OMS and explore how it benefits retailers in the digital age.

What is an Order Management System (OMS)?

An Order Management System (OMS) is a centralised software solution enabling retailers to effectively manage and fulfil customer orders across various sales channels, including retail stores, e-commerce websites, mobile apps, social media and marketplaces. It stands as the backbone of a retailer’s omnichannel operations, orchestrating the entire order lifecycle from payment to delivery.

Key features of an OMS

1. Inventory visibility: An OMS provides real-time visibility into inventory levels across the entire supply chain, helping retailers optimise stock levels and prevent overstocking or stockouts. It allows brands to capture orders from multiple touchpoints while always sharing reliable information with customers.
2. Order orchestation: An OMS intelligently routes orders to the most suitable fulfilment location, whether it’s a warehouse, store, or third-party logistics provider, based on factors like proximity, stock availability and carbon footprint.
3. Order fulfilment: Retailers can efficiently pick, pack and ship orders, ensuring accurate and on-time deliveries.
4. Returns management: An OMS simplifies the returns process, enhancing the customer experience and facilitating efficient restocking.

Now, let’s dive into the numerous benefits an OMS brings to modern retailers.

The benefits of implementing an OMS

1. Enhanced order accuracy: With real-time inventory visibility and intelligent order orchestration, retailers can fulfil orders from the most reliable, efficient location, reducing the chances of errors in order picking, packing and shipping. This leads to happier customers and fewer returns due to mistakes.
2. Efficient stock management: Effective inventory management is a cornerstone of retail success. An OMS provides retailers with a consolidated view of their entire inventory, allowing them to allocate stock efficiently across channels, minimise overstocking or understocking, and reduce carrying costs. This not only saves money but also ensures that products are available when customers want to purchase them.
3. Seamless omnichannel operations: Consumers expect a seamless shopping experience across all channels. An OMS enables retailers to offer features such as ‘buy online, pick up in-store’ (BOPIS), Ship from Store and returns management. This creates a cohesive customer journey and fosters brand loyalty.
4. Faster order fulfilment: This is particularly critical to meet customer expectations. An OMS optimises the allocation of orders to various fulfilment centres, reducing the time it takes to get products into the hands of customers. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction.
5. Increased revenue & profitability: By improving order accuracy, inventory management and operational efficiency, an OMS can ultimately boost a retailer’s bottom line. Happy customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and recommend the brand to others, leading to increased sales and profitability.

Steps to implement OneStock’s OMS

1. Assess your current processes: The first crucial step in implementing an OMS is to assess your existing order management processes. Identify pain points, bottlenecks and areas where improvement is needed. This evaluation will serve as a foundation for designing a tailored OMS implementation strategy.
2. Define your objectives: Clearly define your goals and objectives for implementing an OMS. Are you looking to improve order accuracy? Optimise inventory management? Enhance your customer experience? Having well-defined objectives will guide the implementation process.
3. Choose the right OMS solution: Selecting the right OMS solution to meet your brand’s specific requirements will be critical to success. OneStock offers a feature-rich OMS that aligns with the needs of modern retailers. Ensure that the chosen OMS integrates seamlessly with your existing systems and supports the scalability required for your business. To help you make the right choice, download our RFP template.
4. Plan the implementation: Create a detailed implementation plan that outlines tasks, responsibilities, timelines and milestones. Consider factors such as data migration, staff training and system integration. A well-thought-out plan will help you stay on track and minimise disruptions during the transition.
5. Test & optimise: Before fully deploying the OMS, conduct thorough testing to identify and resolve any issues. Continuously monitor the system’s performance and gather feedback from your team to make necessary improvements. Then, go live!

Implementing an Order Management System (OMS) like OneStock is a strategic move for modern retailers aiming to excel in today’s competitive market. By streamlining order processing, optimising inventory management and enhancing the omnichannel experience for customers, OneStock’s OMS empowers retailers to thrive.

The success of OMS implementation lies in careful planning, thorough assessment and ongoing optimisation. With OneStock’s OMS, retailers can harness the power of cutting-edge technology to meet changing customer demands and drive business growth.

If you want to learn more about it, please contact us.