How to Choose the Best Ordering Management System for Your Ecommerce Business

An ordering management system (OMS) is a software that helps you manage your online sales, orders, inventory, and fulfillment. It can streamline your order processing cycle, from receipt of order to delivery, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. An OMS is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

An ordering management system (OMS) is a software that helps you manage your online sales, orders, inventory, and fulfillment.

An OMS can provide you with many benefits, such as automating order fulfillment, reducing errors and delays, increasing visibility and control, and enhancing customer experience.

An OMS should have features and capabilities such as multi-channel management, inventory management, fulfillment management, payment management, and reporting and analytics.

To choose the best OMS for your ecommerce business, you need to consider factors such as your business size and complexity, budget and resources, integration needs, and customization needs.

To implement an OMS for your ecommerce business, you need to define your goals and requirements, research and compare different options, choose the best one, set up and configure it, integrate it with your other systems and tools, test and troubleshoot it, train your staff and customers on how to use it, launch and monitor it.

In this article, you will learn:

What are the benefits of using an OMS for your ecommerce business
What are the features and capabilities that an OMS should have
How to choose the best OMS for your ecommerce business based on your needs and budget

Benefits of Using an Ordering Management System

An OMS can help you improve your ecommerce operations in many ways, such as:

Automating order fulfillment: An OMS can integrate with your sales channels, inventory systems, shipping providers, and payment gateways to automate the order fulfillment process. It can also handle reverse logistics, such as returns and refunds, and provide tracking information to your customers.

Reducing errors and delays: An OMS can reduce the chances of human errors, such as misplacing orders, sending wrong products, or overstocking or understocking inventory. It can also help you avoid delays in order processing and delivery by optimizing your workflows and alerting you of any issues.

Increasing visibility and control: An OMS can give you a centralized dashboard to view and manage all your orders, inventory, and fulfillment across multiple channels. It can also provide you with real-time data and analytics to help you monitor your performance and make informed decisions.

Enhancing customer experience: An OMS can help you meet your customers’ expectations by offering them fast, accurate, and convenient delivery options. It can also improve your customer service by providing them with easy access to their order status, tracking information, and return policies.

Features and Capabilities of an Ordering Management System

An OMS should have the following features and capabilities to help you run your ecommerce business effectively:

Multi-channel management: An OMS should be able to sync your orders from different sales channels, such as your website, marketplaces, social media platforms, or physical stores. It should also be able to update your inventory levels across all channels to prevent overselling or underselling.

Inventory management: An OMS should be able to track your inventory levels by location, product type, variant, or SKU. It should also be able to manage your inventory replenishment, transfers, adjustments, and audits.

Fulfillment management: An OMS should be able to automate your fulfillment process by integrating with your shipping providers, warehouses, dropshippers, or third-party logistics (3PL) partners. It should also be able to handle complex shipping scenarios, such as split shipments, partial shipments, backorders, or international shipments.

Payment management: An OMS should be able to process your payments securely by integrating with your payment gateways or processors. It should also be able to handle different payment methods, such as credit cards, PayPal, or cash on delivery (COD).

Reporting and analytics: An OMS should be able to provide you with comprehensive reports and analytics on your orders, inventory, fulfillment, payments, and customers. It should also be able to generate insights and recommendations to help you optimize your operations and grow your business.

How to Choose the Best Ordering Management System for Your Ecommerce Business

There are many factors that you need to consider when choosing the best OMS for your ecommerce business, such as:

Your business size and complexity: You need to choose an OMS that can scale with your business growth and handle your order volume and complexity. For example, if you sell across multiple channels or countries, you need an OMS that can support multi-channel and multi-currency operations.

Your budget and resources: You need to choose an OMS that fits your budget and resources. For example, if you have a limited budget or technical expertise, you may prefer an OMS that is cloud-based or software as a service (SaaS), rather than one that is on-premises or requires installation or maintenance.

Your integration needs: You need to choose an OMS that can integrate seamlessly with your existing systems and tools, such as your ecommerce platform, accounting software, CRM software, or marketing software. This will help you avoid data silos and duplication of work.

Your customization needs: You need to choose an OMS that can adapt to your specific needs and preferences. For example, if you have unique workflows or requirements for your order processing or fulfillment, you may need an OMS that allows you to customize its features or functionality.

To help you compare different OMS options available in the market, you can use online resources such as Capterra, which provides reviews, ratings, features lists, pricing information, and free trials of various order management software.

TIP

An ordering management system can help you streamline your ecommerce operations, reduce errors and delays, increase visibility and control, and enhance customer experience.

Ordering Management System: A Global Perspective

Ordering management system (OMS) is a software solution that helps businesses manage their orders, inventory, and fulfillment processes. OMS can integrate with various platforms, such as e-commerce websites, marketplaces, payment gateways, and shipping providers, to streamline the order-to-delivery cycle. OMS can also provide analytics and insights on order performance, customer behavior, and market trends.

In this report, we will examine the global demand for OMS in different regions and industries, and how it has changed over time. We will also discuss the factors that influence the demand for OMS, and the challenges and opportunities that OMS providers face in the global market.

Global Demand for OMS

According to a report by Research and Markets, the global OMS market size was valued at USD 1.8 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2% from 2020 to 2027. The report attributes the growth of the OMS market to the increasing adoption of e-commerce, omnichannel retailing, and cloud-based solutions, as well as the rising need for automation, efficiency, and customer satisfaction in order fulfillment.

The report also segments the OMS market by region, industry, and deployment type. The following table summarizes the key findings of the report:

Region	Industry	Deployment Type	Market Share (%)	CAGR (%)
North America	Retail	Cloud	35.6	10.4
Europe	Manufacturing	On-premise	26.4	11.7
Asia-Pacific	Healthcare	Hybrid	20.3	12.9
Latin America	Food & Beverage	–	9.2	9.8
Middle East & Africa	Others	–	8.5	10.1

As the table shows, North America is the largest regional market for OMS, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. The retail industry is the dominant end-user of OMS, followed by manufacturing and healthcare. Cloud-based OMS is the most preferred deployment type, followed by on-premises and hybrid solutions.

FREQUENTLY QUESTIONS

Q: What is the difference between an OMS and an ERP?
A: An OMS is a software that focuses on managing your orders, inventory, and fulfillment. An ERP (enterprise resource planning) is a software that covers a broader range of business functions, such as accounting, finance, human resources, manufacturing, and marketing. An OMS can be a part of an ERP or a standalone system.

Q: What are some examples of popular OMS platforms?
A: Some examples of popular OMS platforms are Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, ChannelEngine, and IBM Order Management.

Q: How much does an OMS cost?
A: The cost of an OMS depends on various factors, such as the features, functionality, scalability, integration, customization, and support that you need. Some OMS platforms charge a monthly or annual subscription fee based on the number of orders, users, or channels that you have. Others may charge a one-time license fee or a percentage of your sales.

Q: How can I implement an OMS for my ecommerce business?
A: The implementation process of an OMS may vary depending on the platform that you choose and the complexity of your business. Generally, you need to follow these steps:

Define your goals and requirements for your OMS
Research and compare different OMS options
Choose the best OMS for your business
Set up and configure your OMS
Integrate your OMS with your other systems and tools
Test and troubleshoot your OMS
Train your staff and customers on how to use your OMS
Launch and monitor your OMS

Q: How can I measure the success of my OMS?
A: You can measure the success of your OMS by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:

Order accuracy: The percentage of orders that are processed correctly without errors or discrepancies
Order fulfillment time: The average time it takes to fulfill an order from receipt to delivery
Order fulfillment rate: The percentage of orders that are fulfilled on time and in full
Customer satisfaction: The level of satisfaction that your customers have with your order processing and delivery
Return rate: The percentage of orders that are returned by your customers
Inventory turnover: The number of times that your inventory is sold and replaced in a given period
Inventory carrying cost: The cost of holding and storing your inventory in a given period