E-commerce is a growing business and more and more consumers are choosing products and services from the web. Whether you already have an e-store or are planning to launch one, a well-functioning order management system is essential.
Choosing the right order management system (OMS) is an important business task. Depending on your customer profile and how you run your business, you need to choose from many alternatives.
Let’s first look at what an order management system is, and then let’s look at some tips to help you choose the right ordering system.
What is an order management system?
An order management system, also known as OMS, is a computer software system for entering and processing orders. Order management can also be done in MRP software solutions.
With an order management system, you can track your inventory, sales, orders, and fulfillment. The advantage is that you have the opportunity to organize all the orders received and facilitate their fulfillment. You combine inventory and order data in one place and integrate them with other systems.
Tips for choosing the right order management system
Here are some considerations to keep in mind when choosing the right order management system for your business.
- Type of product sold
- Quality of service of the order management system provider
- Time of implementation and daily use
- Integrate your order management system with other systems
- Sales channels
- Scalability
- Security
- Your budget
Let’s take a closer look at tips to help you make your long-term investment more effective.
1. Type of product sold
Think about the type of products you are selling. You can sell customized products that need integration into your production process. You can manage standard products integrated with your inventory. Your system should help improve inventory control and management. This is one of the main benefits of investing in your e-commerce company’s order management system solution.
If you are a retailer and offer your products directly to the end-user, you should have an order management system. You only need to have your website or point of sale through the seller.
Make sure you can enter inventory information automatically. It helps your employees, suppliers, and customers.
The changes can be applied immediately to any new orders, and they can also be applied to historical orders in your system.
2. Quality of service of the order management system provider
Find one that offers round-the-clock technical support. Most order management system solutions provide customer support. Make sure your service provider support works. Note that you may operate from other parts of the world, and your customer or order management service provider may have a different time zone.
3. Time of implementation and daily use
Choose an order management system that is easy to install and use. Transfers should be easy, as much automatic as possible. The software should be easy to install and use. Depending on the order management system service solution you choose, you use it either through a web browser or need to download software. Be sure to keep the information that was already in your database.
Once OMS is installed, the time will come when your team will use the software. Choose an intuitive and friendly order management system that doesn’t require tedious training.
Be sure to consider your team’s computer skills. Make sure they have computer skills and ease of handling new software. Also, keep in mind that your employees’ time in front of the software is a valuable resource. They need to add value to your business, instead of spending a long time with complex software.
Take advantage of what most software offers as free demos or tutorials. Don’t waste this opportunity during your choice, after all, it’s a time-consuming task.
Finally, consider that the system you choose must be accessible from a variety of devices. Your workgroup can access the system from a variety of locations, time zones, and devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, or personal computers. A cloud-based order management system is always a good alternative.
4. Integrate your order management system with other systems
Your order management system needs to be integrated with other management software, such as accounting or inventory. For the best providers, you can filter those that integrate with current or future solutions. Check if the order management system can be integrated with other necessary systems:
- Inventory management
- Production process
- suppliers and / or 3PL, such as courier partners
- Marketing (managing directories or ads)
- accounting systems
- Payment processing (credit cards, e-wallets, etc.)
- Order processing (invoicing, tagging, shipping, returning, etc.)
Or you can use a special solution, such as Manufacturing Resource Planning, to manage your production business processes.
5. Sales channels
Make sure the order management system you choose includes many sales channels for easy management.
You need to be able to program orders and see the status of orders with a simple click. Remember that handling bulk orders can save you time.
This is very useful if the software allows you to easily create order batches.
Consider sending automatic notifications to customers via email or SMS.
6. Scalability
Choose an order management system related to the growth of your business instead of obstacles. The order management system should allow you to easily add new stores, products, and users. You can create new roles, expand modules, add products, or copy existing stores. This process should be easy and fast.
7. Security
The security of your business is a critical element in preventing data theft and keeping your information confidential. Choose an order management system that includes security aspects of your order.
Choose software that is firmly present in the market and has updates to prevent the product from becoming a discontinued product.
8. Your budget
Consider that an order management system solution will bring long-term savings, so the initial investment is always worth it. Don’t get an order management system option that doesn’t meet your requests.
You don’t have to cover large investments. Today you have a myriad of good cloud-based systems. Subscription systems allow you to pay for monthly or annual subscriptions, depending on the number of users.
Consider with your team choosing the system that best suits your needs. Make a decision matrix that evaluates the top three important competitors and the critical factors you need to have.
