Order management solutions are playing an increasingly vital role in shaping the customer experience both before and after purchase, across B2B and B2C sectors. Modern consumers expect seamless, transparent interactions, which depend on real-time data, such as accurate delivery timelines and up-to-date product availability.
The constant evolution of customer needs and the pressure to minimize costs and drive operational efficiencies require companies to adopt modern OMS solutions. There are several steps you can take to start the evaluation process, such as reviewing analyst reports like the Forrester Order Management System Landscape, Q3 2024 overview (Kibo was listed among Notable Vendors in the overview!).
Our Take on Evaluating Order Management Systems
We’re seeing B2B and B2C companies gradually moving away from legacy solutions that are monolithic in nature to modern order management systems with a MACH architecture. Legacy solutions with a monolithic architecture, which either implies intensive costs for customization, or the need for a complete replacement, further increases cost and timelines.
Microservices and modular architecture allow enterprises to roll out capability enhancements in a phased manner without having to rip and replace existing solutions, ensuring a faster time-to-market. For example, suppose a retailer wants to enable fulfillment from stores to support increased online demand. In that case, they’d benefit from a solution offering a packaged capability such as Ship From Store. This can be integrated with the current landscape using APIs.
What to Look For in a Vendor
An effective and efficient order management system can transform customer experience, reduce supply chain costs, and be deployed quickly and easily managed by business users. Below are some of the critical criteria businesses should look for in a vendor.
- Inventory Management: Provides global inventory visibility, manages safety stock across locations, integrates inventory data with ecommerce site search results, and enables future available to promise.
- Intelligent and Extensible Order Routing: Ability to allocate inventory optimally from across the supply chain to fulfill an order, manage split shipment’ to fulfill an order from multiple locations in the supply chain, and support customer returns across channels.
- Multiple Fulfillment Options: Supports last mile delivery, BOPIS, curbside pick-up, ship-from-store, and drop shipping.
- Customer Service Empowerment: Enables customer service representatives to capture, track, and adjust orders.
- Flexible Schedule: Supports changes in delivery dates by customers for products, gifts, and value-added services.
As the role of order management systems continues to expand, it’s essential for businesses to evaluate their current solutions and consider the benefits of modern, flexible architectures. With customer demands rapidly evolving, having an OMS that enhances both operational efficiency and customer experience is no longer optional—it’s crucial.
If you think it’s time to upgrade your OMS, check out our comprehensive OMS buyer’s guide to help you through every step of the process.
