As a business, you are constantly receiving orders from multiple platforms, processing those orders, and updating the inventory. But what if you could do everything using just one system?
That’s where order management systems come in. By definition, an omnichannel order management system is a software system designed to streamline the sales process. The order management process starts with the customer placing an order and ends when that order is delivered to the customer.
Omni-Channel Order Management System
An Omnichannel Order Management System (OMS) is a single software system that can process and manage orders, facilitate order fulfillment, and manage inventory across multiple channels.
Orders can be placed in-store or online, through a website or an app. These orders have different delivery preferences too – either in-store delivery or door delivery.
There are other processes involved between the two ends of the order management. This includes receiving an order, picking the order from the inventory, packing the order, and delivering it.
Enhance Your Customers’ Experience with Omni-Channel Ordering
Order management systems can have a huge impact when it comes to improving the customer experience.
By 2016, more than 89% of businesses competed mostly based on customer experience only. This is 36% more than four years ago.
As Katherine Barchetti, a renowned businesswoman, once said, “Make a customer, not a sale.”
An OMS gives customers access to your products from anywhere at any time. They can shop your products from a website, an app, or even in-store. Not only can your customers make easy purchases, but they can also make easy return requests.
Your customers can also access their order history and keep track of their purchases.
The ease with which customers can use the Starbucks rewards card is a great example of omni-channel experiences. At Starbucks, customers can get a free rewards card any time they make a purchase. They can also check their balance and reload the card using the app, website, or in-store, which is updated in real-time across all the channels.
Omni-channel loyalty programs enhance traditional loyalty programs by rewarding the customers for the purchases made from any channel. Businesses can also offer personalized promotional offers to their customers.
Loyalty programs are becoming popular in almost all businesses, retail, and restaurants, and it is about time that you consider the benefits of omnichannel loyalty programs for your business.
Another reason you should consider an omni-channel strategy for your business is that more customers now use multiple channels to shop. According to one study, omni-channel customers spend more on every transaction as compared to customers who shop from just one channel. This means increased sales for the business, which brings us to the benefits of omnichannel OMS for businesses.
How Omni-Channel Order Management Strengthens Retail
As mentioned earlier, omni-channel order management systems can streamline the sales process for your retail business. Here’s how:
- Improves Inventory Management: An omni-channel OMS updates the inventory across all platforms. Inventory updates have a direct impact on the other stages involved in the supply chain, such as order fulfillment. For instance, omni-channel OMS can decrease your shipping costs by automatically routing orders to the nearest profitable location.
- Saves time and labor: By optimizing the sales process of your retail business, omnichannel order management systems can reduce the manual work required to update the inventory and keep track of the orders. This improves the efficiency of your business while saving you the time and labor required to do so.
- Improves accuracy: Since the entire process is done through the software, the chances of errors are less likely. This is true for the various stages of the supply chain- inventory management, order fulfillment, and return and delivery.
- Improves sales: By automatically updating inventory visibility across the different platforms, an omnichannel OMS shows your customer what is in stock at all times. This provides benefits to your customer as well as your business by preventing stockouts.
Invest in the Right Omni-Channel Order Management Solution for Your Business
Omni-channel OMSs have many advantages, but how do you choose the right one for your business? Let’s consider the following:
Define your omni-channel OMS strategy and goals
By now, you know the many features of an omnichannel OMS. Start by deciding what features you need to meet your business goals. Consider how the integration of different processes such as marketing, sales, customer service, order processing, and others will benefit your business.
You should also consider how changes in your business will affect the functionality of the omnichannel OMS. For instance, how does an increase in customer size affect the working of the OMS? What would an expansion into other departments look like with an omnichannel OMS?
Data security and analysis
When you are looking at different omnichannel OMS, ask the providers about the security of the data. You want to ensure that the provider has measures to prevent data breaches.
Data analysis is an equally important feature of the omnichannel OMS. Advanced omnichannel OMS can provide detailed sales reports that can help you understand customer behavior as well as improve the customer experience.
Consider the costs
Ask your provider for all the costs associated with the many services that come with omnichannel OMS. Understand your subscription costs and additional incurring costs. You may want to consider advanced kiosk POS solutions or other digital solutions that can help you streamline multiple processes for your business needs.
Understand the difference between omnichannel and multi-channel
Don’t confuse omnichannel and multi-channel. Omnichannel digital solutions are customer-centric, meaning a customer can switch between channels and experience the same customer service. Multichannel on the other hand just means working on multiple channels that are not integrated. A multichannel strategy focuses on individual channels rather than integrating them all into one which is the case with an omnichannel strategy.
Understanding the difference between the two is crucial to make sure that you are investing in the right strategy that is aligned with your business goals. If you find that your customers are more active on one or two channels, a multichannel strategy might be the way to go for your business.
Conclusion
An OMS automates various processes for your business that can have positive financial implications, improve the efficiency of your business, and improve the shopping experience for the customer. GRUBBRR provides omni-channel order management system solutions for a wide range of businesses. Contact our sales team today to learn more.