From OMS to OMG: 3 Key Tips to Perfecting Order Management

According to Deloitte, 95% of consumers plan to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. While consumer appetite for in-store experiences is on the rise, online purchases remain popular, with Statista finding that approximately 15% of all US retail sales come through e-commerce channels. Today’s consumer wants to shop on their terms and retailers must remain agile to evolving demands. Whether online, in-store or a blend of both, shoppers need their orders to be fulfilled quickly and seamlessly – especially during an already stressful festive period.

In this blog, we’ve offered 3 tips for retailers to perfecting order management. Not only does this enable them to effectively capitalize on festive footfall, but it also helps to deliver seamless experiences and increasing customer satisfaction in the long-term.

Embrace Omnichannel

Perfecting the order management process requires to avoid the in-store rush and save time. Many customers shop online or take advantage of omnichannel offerings such as Buy Online, Pick up In-store (BOPIS), and Buy Online, Return In Store (BORIS) while shopping. Customers want their orders to be fulfilled quickly, accurately and seamlessly, and long waiting times or out-of-stock items only result in increased consumer frustration.

To minimize out-of-stock situations and reduce errors, retailers should be able to integrate their order management system (OMS) with wider retail technologies such as in-store point-of-sale (POS), eCommerce channels, and inventory management. By combining their OMS with inventory, retailers can better manage their stock, fulfill orders more efficiently, and create clear visibility for their customers, providing them with accurate expected fulfillment dates. Using the Teamwork Commerce OMS, retailers can automate fulfillment processes, driving speed, accuracy and efficiency.

Drive Automation

Manual order fulfillment comes with its challenges. On top of the labor cost of dedicating staff time to fulfilling orders, manual fulfillment is also prone to human error, which can lead to inaccurate deliveries – significantly hindering the customer experience. By automating fulfillment, retailers can streamline their processes and manage their orders more efficiently. This helps ensuring customer satisfaction, providing retailers with increased sales opportunities and improved customer loyalty in the long term.

Automated fulfillment can also drive wider operational efficiency. Streamlining key touchpoints such as inventory management, order processing and picking and packing, retailers can better utilize the time of their staff. With automated fulfilment processes in place, retailers can dedicate more labor resources to the shop floor, focusing on providing valuable customer experiences. The insights gathered from automated processes can also empower retailers to create more effective strategies and improve decision-making, equipped with real-time visibility of their supply chain.

Optimize Returns 

Returns are an undesirable, but inevitable part of retail. While high-quality shopping experiences are crucial for customer satisfaction, retailers must not overlook the importance of seamless return experiences, which can positively impact sales for retailers. In fact, research undertaken by Klarna suggests that an incredible 84% of shoppers would turn their back on a retailer as a result of a bad returns experience. Retailers who can manage their returns effectively open themselves to a significant competitive advantage.

To find the balance between providing easy returns and managing losses, retailers should leverage integrated returns management systems. Teamwork Commerce’s integrated Returns Manager helps retailers process returns more efficiently by automatically processing refunds back to the original card regardless of the sale channel. Additionally, retailers can include pre-approved return codes with shipping documents to allow customers to easily return or exchange items with minimal effort.

Embracing Order Management 

As we approach the end of the year, retailers will already be looking at their strategies 2024. Perfecting order management is crucial to thriving in both online and offline retail environments, and those who act now can set themselves up for a great start in the new year.

Looking to implement a connected solution to revamp order management? Get in touch here.