Managing shipping, fulfillment, inventory, and everything else happening behind the scenes of the customer journey can be a challenge for retailers who have a small team with a limited budget. Regardless of the size of your business, order management can be a challenge, especially if you have an eCommerce platform that isn’t equipped with the capabilities needed to tackle complex eCommerce challenges.
Luckily, there is a solution for retailers looking to simplify their order management process. With an order management system (OMS), the entire lifecycle of a sale is automated, so it doesn’t require any extra resources from you or your team. If you have brick-and-mortar locations and need to manage inventory across multiple locations, these digital tools can significantly benefit retailers. Your eCommerce platform may already include an OMS, but if not, it may require an integration. There are many things an OMS can do for your business.
Synchronize Inventory Across Channels
With an OMS, order management and fulfillment all happen behind the scenes, which will result in more accurate inventory data. More accurate inventory data across channels will result in more accurate orders and reduced returns and cancellations due to products being unavailable.
Automate Returns Process
You will occasionally have to process returns, though an OMS can often automate this as well, and even provide the functionality for self-service returns where customers can initiate returns without the need for contacting a representative, reducing resource expenditure from your support team.
Compile Customer Data
An OMS can even function as a customer relationship management system, as it can gather customer information in one centralized location so you don’t have to navigate across platforms in order to learn more about your customers.
Automate Fulfillment and Shipping
As you can probably imagine, the main functionality of an OMS is the automation of fulfilling orders, including every step of the lifecycle of a sale, such as order tracking updates and communications, improving the customer experience and reducing shipping times.
Challenges
Though an OMS can benefit your business, there are a few challenges to consider if you’re thinking about taking the next step and integrating one into your site.
Control and Customization
Working with third-party vendors can be a challenge if their systems aren’t equipped to integrate with other components of your eCommerce site’s backend. When choosing an OMS provider, make sure to select one that can tackle complex orders, and is built for efficient communication across channels.
Upfront Costs
Integrating an OMS will help your business to grow if you can afford the initial investment. Each additional integration you add to your eCommerce site is another financial responsibility, which can add up quickly. You will also need a team that can handle the integration, if your team doesn’t already have the experience needed you may have to hire staff who do or contract an agency.
Scalability
Though automating complex tasks can result in more opportunities to expand your team, not all order management systems are created equally, and may not be prepared to tackle large quantities of complex orders. This means that you will have to find a more robust solution as your business grows, so it’s important to find an OMS that is built with scalability in mind.
How to Get Started
Once you’ve decided to integrate an OMS into your site, you will have to prepare your team and make sure your eCommerce platform allows you to integrate the system of your choice. This isn’t always easy, especially if your platform already has a built-in OMS or only allows you to integrate their proprietary OMS into your store.
If you’re not happy with the OMS your eCommerce platform offers, or you’re looking to integrate a new one and don’t know where to start, rather than contacting an agency for help you may want to consider if your eCommerce platform is the barrier to your business growth.
As your business grows, your needs will ultimately evolve, and you may require more customized solutions tailored to your unique needs, some of which might involve upgrading your eCommerce platform subscription or significant energy from your developers. Many eCommerce platforms are designed intentionally to prevent retailers from growing, as they will tack on monthly fees for every individual integration, resulting in an increased total cost of ownership. If your eCommerce platform is holding you back, but you don’t have the experience needed to tackle complex integrations on your own, our single-source platform marketAgility offers the scalability and control of a composable commerce platform, but with one set monthly fee. Whatever complex eCommerce integration you’re looking to add, our team of expert engineers and dedicated support specialists will work with you to reach your goals and watch your revenue grow.
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