Achieving a single view of demand, inventory and supply is one of the most vexing and problematic challenges for businesses. Order management systems provide a way to not only increase efficiency, improve fulfilment but improve the customer experience.
For example, it is no longer acceptable to your customers that your ecommerce store operates differently and provides a separate buying experience than a retail location. Delivering services such as buy online and pick up in-store has forced companies to incorporate new processes that support cross-channel inventory visibility and order fulfilment. Customer demand for a unified shopping experience has introduced new complexity in the supply chain that an order management system is purpose-built to handle.
An order management system should provide one centralized place to manage orders from all sales channels. Centralizing this in one system is critical to delivering a superior customer experience by providing order status, on-time deliveries and meeting customer expectations for buy, fulfil and return anywhere. The right solution gives you a foundation for consistent and seamless execution across all customer, financial, inventory and supply chain touch points that drives customer satisfaction, repeat business and long-term loyalty. Additionally, order management systems can improve sales visibility and reduce delays and back orders by giving you a single view of demand, inventory and supply.
An effective order management system lets you seamlessly orchestrate the fulfilment of products and services across virtually all your customer touch points. Without a centralized order management system, realizing a comprehensive view of demand, transactions and customers across all channels and fulfilment locations can be extremely difficult.
Order management equips you to think beyond the inventory on hand to focus on what's available to promise to your customers. It eliminates costly and rigid inventory segmentation across channels and business units with a single, real-time, consolidated view of inventory across the enterprise, from your suppliers and manufacturing facilities to your warehouse and stores.
With a unified view, you're able to realize the available-to-promise ideal of putting your entire inventory into a sellable position for any customer over any channel. You can build customer loyalty by delivering the fast, accurate and seamless experience that customers demand while improving your operational cost-efficiency.
Self-Service and Post-Sale Support
Providing cross-channel consistency and creating lasting relationships with your customers doesn't end when the product ships. Customers demand real-time information and support while an order is in transit and after a sale is complete. Order management software will provide accurate data your customers need for order status, and efficiently manage product returns and exchanges.
The ability to process any service or product failures after the order ships rounds out the trifecta of a true Any, Any, Any strategy (buy anywhere, fulfil from anywhere, return anywhere). Getting it right keeps customers returning and builds brand loyalty that over time will pay substantial dividends to your organization.
The benefits of an order management system are significant. Centralized order management offers greater efficiency in managing orders across the extended enterprise. It helps to lower buffer stock across the supply chain and enables faster and more efficient responsiveness to customer demands and marketplace changes. As epic changes continue to unfold across the commerce landscape, a centralized order management system is crucial to delivering a true customer-centric omnichannel experience.