Choosing the Right Solution in 2024

Summary

01 Order management systems (OMS) for enterprise businesses boast advanced features that simplify inventory and order management.

02 A user-friendly interface, support for refunds and returns, optimized inventory visibility and controls, robust backorder and preorders capabilities, and support for omnichannel fulfillment are must-have features of a modern OMS.

03 5 must-know order management systems for enterprise retail include fabric OMS, IBM Sterling, Kibo Commerce, Manhattan Associates, and Fluent Commerce.

Introduction

Unless you spend your time living and breathing enterprise-level software-as-a-service (SaaS), it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what sets some order management systems (OMS) apart from other OMS solutions. Everything we’ve come to expect from SaaS vendors—great UX infused with clever features and critical functionality—is generally table stakes in the SaaS industry today.

Yet peel back the layers of a few given solutions and you’ll quickly find that feature sets vary widely across the board. While some companies offer some of the latest and most powerful capabilities out-of-the-box, others lack core functions that most modern enterprise businesses require.

To help you cut through the noise, we’ll go over some of the must-have features to look for when evaluating OMS software for your business. We’ll also highlight some of the most powerful OMS software solutions for enterprise retailers today.

6 Essential Order Management Features for 2024

An order management system (OMS) is a software solution that centralizes and streamlines order processing, inventory management, and order fulfillment. A distributed order management (DOM) system goes one step further and enhances order routing and allocation by intelligently managing orders across multiple locations and channels. When evaluating OMS software vendors, here are some key features to look for.

1. Order management

OMS software needs a user-friendly interface to track and manage customer orders. Retailers often require the ability to update shipping dates or modify orders pre-shipment. The system should offer simple tools for swift updates or integrate with third-party customer service apps for order adjustments.

2. Refunds and returns support

Retailers often struggle with reverse logistics, but an OMS solution can streamline returns and refunds for efficiency. For instance, offering instant refunds enhances customer satisfaction by automating the return process. Clearly defined business rules for handling returns and refunds are vital for successful reverse logistics. An OMS should offer an easy way to establish returns policies for customers to adhere to.

3. Inventory visibility

Every e-commerce business needs real-time stock information. An OMS should provide a clear view of on-shelf, in-transit, and on-order inventory globally, spanning distribution centers, stores, and suppliers. A distributed order management (DOM) system categorizes inventory by proximity, store availability, or channel-specific availability.

Available-to-promise (ATP) inventory is known as the projected amount of inventory a business has in stock that’s ready to sell and is not allocated for existing customer orders. An inventory availability storefront API can be used to show the exact amount of ATP inventory that’s available for customers to buy. A bulk export function is vital for inventory synchronization between systems. Retailers should schedule regular exports for streamlined processes and easy import history access. The "True Up" feature in an OMS enhances inventory accuracy by updating data from bulk import groups.

4. Inventory controls

Inventory controls maintain balance in inventory management. In addition to categorization and organization, a modern OMS helps create custom attributes, define safety and low stock levels, and configure distinct inventory position tags (e.g. on-hand, backorder available and reserved).

Moreover, the OMS enables companies to segment inventory and set aggregation rules by location, network, or channel. Businesses can define aggregation rules, create inventory subgroups, exclude products or categories by brand or region, and configure logic based on fulfillment methods (e.g. direct shipping vs. BOPIS).

5. Backorders and preorders processing

Avoiding stockouts is crucial for businesses. Backorders enable customers to order temporarily out-of-stock items. OMS solutions with backorder capabilities help capture sales and retain customers who'd otherwise abandon transactions.

Pre-order features are also valuable. Allowing customers to preorder aids in demand forecasting and inventory planning for upcoming product launches. Pre-orders can generate anticipation for new product releases.

6. Omnichannel fulfillment capabilities

For omnichannel retail, a DOM system is crucial to handle complex order fulfillment. Modern businesses aim to offer flexible fulfillment choices to customers, necessitating OMS support for various methods like same-day delivery, BOPIS, ship-from-store, ship-to-store, and direct-to-consumer (D2C).

An OMS that offers the ability to stand up and update Order Fulfillment Logic (OFL) is important for reducing delayed orders and shipping costs. Inventory segmentation configures tags to assign inventory to specific customer segments like subscribers, new customers, or VIPs. Also, prioritizing picking locations from the closest facility in stock or by rank can increase fulfillment speed and efficiency. Finally, an inventory reservation feature can help track virtual inventory quantities for specific demands.

Additional OMS Software Features to Look For

The e-commerce tech stack streamlines sales, marketing, customer service, order fulfillment, returns, and payment processing. Thus, it's crucial for an OMS to seamlessly integrate with your warehouse management system (WMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, customer service (CS) app, accounting, and other modern tech components.

Enterprise Systems

Some companies use an ERP for order fulfillment and other functions, but it's not a standalone OMS substitute. A dedicated OMS addresses challenging order management aspects.

Complexity in Supply Chain Management

Complex supply chains are becoming the norm. Between rising customer expectations for faster lead times, expanded products and services, and tailored experiences, enterprise brands are being pushed to support more unique orders across the retail supply chain. Today, managing supply chains requires more collaboration with partners, improved inventory management with suppliers, and greater visibility and control of every part of the supply chain.

Enterprise OMS software can tackle many of these issues. For example, today's OMS solutions can integrate with multiple warehouses, route orders to optimal warehouse locations for fast deliveries, allow retailers to offer in-store pickups at brick-and-mortar locations, and more.

Multichannel Order Processing

It is also important to consider sales channels and how OMS software can help manage order processing. Each channel requires its own processes and connects with backend systems differently. If omnichannel selling is an integral part of a business, retailers can benefit from an OMS that will provide stronger, more robust APIs to connect different sales channels.

Automation

In order to optimize workflows and eliminate manual processes, businesses need to embrace automation. The workflows of an OMS can automate order fulfillment processes to improve efficiency and minimize errors. From receiving, to processing, to picking, packing, and shipping, manual spreadsheets should become a thing of the past with modern OMS software.

fabric OMS is an Enterprise-Ready Order Management System

fabric OMS is a powerful, API-first, cloud-native, and modular application that’s purpose-built for enterprise retailers. OMS Inventory and order management simplified, one system to manage orders, inventory, and fulfillment.