Utilizing Effective Order Management to Minimize Returns

Businesses need order management software now more than ever to navigate the complexities of today’s retail landscape. With omnichannel sales, global supply chains, and high customer expectations, retailers must have a centralized system to manage orders, inventory, and fulfillment across all channels.

In a highly competitive retail environment, effective order management is critical for reducing returns. In 2022, approximately 16.5% of retail purchases in the United States were returned. Retailers must take action to improve customer satisfaction and reduce returns. This can be done by streamlining order processing, optimizing inventory management, and providing accurate tracking and delivery updates.

A Retailer’s Secret Weapon for Reducing Returns and Boosting Profits

Order Management Systems (OMS) can be an effective tool for reducing returned products in the retail industry. Here are some of the ways an Order Management System can help reduce returns, as well as the features and applications that make this possible, such as:

Order Processing

Incorrect or incomplete orders are a common cause of returns. OMS can help to reduce this by ensuring that customer orders are processed correctly, with the correct products, quantities, and shipping details. This can be accomplished through features such as real-time inventory management, automated order processing, and shipping carrier integrations. Furthermore, it empowers omnichannel buyers who use services such as Buy Online, Pick up In-Store (BOPIS) by increasing efficiency throughout the buyer journey and, as a result, driving revenue for retailers.

Inventory Management

Out-of-stock items or incorrect inventory levels are prevalent reasons for returns. By providing real-time visibility into inventory levels across all channels and locations, OMS can help prevent this. This allows retailers to avoid overselling, prevent stockouts, and fulfill orders more efficiently.

Analytics and Reporting

OMS can assist retailers in identifying trends, improving processes, and making data-driven decisions by providing valuable insights into order and return data. Retailers can pinpoint opportunities to reduce returns and improve the customer journey by analyzing factors such as return reasons, product categories, and customer behavior.

Customer Communication

OMS can assist retailers in personalizing the user experience for each customer. Communicating clearly and promptly with customers is beneficial. It can reduce customers returns by giving accurate order status updates, shipping notifications, and delivery tracking information. An Order Management System can automate these communications, providing customers with a consistent and transparent experience throughout the order fulfillment process.

Returns Management

When returns do occur, OMS can assist retailers in the order management process effectively. Features such as automated returns processing, customer self-service portals, and integrations with shipping carriers can help to streamline the returns process, saving time and money.

OMS can provide retailers with a competitive advantage by helping to reduce returns and boost profits. By streamlining order processing, providing real-time inventory management, offering valuable analytics, and reporting, enhancing customer communication, and facilitating returns management, OMS improves the overall customer experience while increasing operational efficiency.

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, retailers who invest in OMS will be better positioned to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Transforming Retail Operations

Teamwork Commerce’s OMS is a cloud-based solution that can be accessed directly through a web browser, requiring minimal installation, and allowing seamless access from any device. The platform synchronizes order data across channels, enabling a unified view of all commerce from all locations, platforms, or channels.

The Order Management System is the foundation of the Teamwork Commerce solution, with industry-leading features and functionality that enable customers to have flexible, engaging, and seamless shopping experiences. Teamwork’s OMS provides a comprehensive set of functionality and automation for dynamically setting buffer stock, configuring fulfillment logic based on various factors, and adjusting stock levels based on warehouse statuses.

Order management is central to retail. As brands increasingly rely on flexible fulfillment, legacy fulfillment systems are incapable of meeting the growing consumer demand for fulfillment and convenience at the point of sale. With an effective OMS, orders can be fulfilled at the most convenient location for the customer.

Teamwork Commerce can simplify fulfillment and provide access directly from the point of sale with integrations into third-party logistics and key strategic partnerships across the industry, keeping order management accessible, convenient, and visible — ensuring the same experience in-store and online.