5 reasons why retailers need an OMS

Retailers often struggle with fragmented order processing systems, leading to inefficiencies, errors, and delays in order fulfillment. Managing orders from multiple sales channels separately can result in disjointed workflows, making it challenging to track orders and ensure timely delivery.

An OMS streamlines order processing by consolidating orders from various sales channels (online, in-store, mobile, etc.) into a single platform. This gives you control and ensures consistency and efficiency in managing orders, reducing errors and improving overall customer satisfaction.

Integrating online and offline sales channels can be complex and costly for retailers. Without a unified system, retailers may face difficulties in synchronizing inventory levels, managing product information across channels, and providing consistent customer experiences. Lack of integration can also lead to discrepancies in pricing, promotions, and product availability, causing confusion and frustration for customers.

With an OMS, retailers can seamlessly integrate their online and offline sales channels, offering customers a cohesive shopping experience across all touchpoints. This enhances convenience for customers and drives sales, by enabling features such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), reserve online, pickup in-store (ROPIS), and ship from store, to mention a few examples.

Retailers often face challenges in delivering personalized and efficient customer service due to fragmented customer data and order history. Without a centralized system, customer service representatives may struggle to access relevant information quickly, resulting in longer response times and subpar service quality. Inconsistent communication channels and disjointed workflows can also lead to customer frustration and dissatisfaction.

OMS centralizes customer data and order history, empowering customer service representatives to provide proactive personalized and efficient support to shoppers. With access to comprehensive information, agents can address inquiries, resolve issues, and facilitate returns or exchanges more effectively, leading to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

As retailers grow and expand their operations, legacy systems may lack the scalability and flexibility to support increasing order volumes and evolving business needs. Customizations and integrations with existing systems can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, limiting retailers' ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and customer demands. Without a flexible and scalable OMS solution, retailers risk falling behind competitors and missing out on growth opportunities.

An OMS is the perfect piece of the puzzle in a composable tech stack. As retailers grow and expand their operations, an OMS offers scalability to accommodate increasing order volumes and additional sales channels. Moreover, OMS platforms are often customizable and integrate with other business systems, allowing retailers to adapt to evolving market trends and business needs seamlessly.

Inaccurate inventory management is a common pain point for retailers, resulting in stockouts, overstocking, and lost sales opportunities. Manual inventory tracking methods are prone to errors and may not provide real-time visibility into inventory levels across multiple locations. Without a centralized inventory management system, retailers struggle to optimize inventory allocation, leading to increased carrying costs and operational inefficiencies.

OMS provides real-time visibility into inventory levels across all locations, including stores and warehouses. This allows retailers to optimize inventory allocation, prevent stockouts, and fulfill orders more accurately and promptly. By maintaining accurate inventory data, retailers can minimize overstocking and reduce holding costs.