Key Takeaway - As your eCommerce sales and revenue streams increase, it becomes increasingly challenging to keep up with manual means of order processing for restaurant businesses and wholesale distribution companies. This is where a multichannel order management system can help.
Let’s say you run a sizeable wholesale distributorship business with several distribution warehouses spread across the country. You sell high-demand products and wholesale restaurant supplies to hundreds of restaurant businesses both online and offline.
As a measure to extend your services to dropshipping, you have, not only a brick-and-mortar store but also an eCommerce website. You also listed your business on a wholesale directory and B2B online marketplace.
Without the right platform, the business owner in this fiction story will have a hard time managing the multiple orders coming from all these channels. A multichannel order and inventory management platform will streamline your order processing and fulfillment operations across multiple channels.
Let’s find out more about how a multichannel order management system works.
What is Multichannel Order Management System?
A multichannel order management system is an eCommerce solution that manages orders across multiple selling channels real time. Multichannel order management solutions streamline channel inventory, order processing, shipping, pricing, warehouse management system, and many other processes.
Managing a multichannel business is difficult. It is, oftentimes, challenging to give the best omnichannel customer experience. However, a multichannel order management platform helps you to take control of the orders flowing through your multiple sales channels.
Multichannel order management solutions (MOMs) are business-to-business (B2B) applications created to assist B2B companies and wholesale distributors with their online sales. Business owners can use MOMs to deal with two main issues.
Orders from all channels are first combined into one physical inventory. Second, whenever prices change, they propagate the new pricing over all channels. Some multichannel order managers, MOMs, serve as comprehensive B2B eCommerce management systems, going beyond those fundamental requirements.
5 Benefits of Multichannel Order Management
Here are 5 reasons to invest in a multichannel order management system.
- Improved Customer Experience
Customers move seamlessly between different devices and platforms to search for high-demand products and purchase the items they want. A company supported by effective order management software is better positioned to accept and complete more customer orders and provide a better experience.
The benefits of switching to different sales channels for enhancing the customers’ experience are numerous:
- Customers can find your product using any device of their choice.
- More payment options are constantly made available to customers when using various channels.
- There are numerous shipping choices available for customers.
- Customers can effortlessly add your product(s) to an existing order on marketplace platforms.
- Streamlined Order Fulfillment
If you are used to only using one sales channel, switching to multichannel sales may feel overwhelming. A multichannel order management system automates multichannel order fulfillment based on your own business process flow.
When products are listed in several places without clear communication between platforms, the danger of stockouts, backorders, and confusion increases. Multichannel order management lowers these risks.
- Better Brand Marketing
Your brand will become resilient if you combine your multichannel sales approach with an effective marketing plan. Making sure that clients are exposed to your goods through various focused eCommerce marketing campaigns will provide them the chance to:
- Discover your brand.
- Get notifications about your products on a regular basis.
- Share online material with your loved ones.
- Purchase the goods they love.
- Higher Revenue
The potential to boost revenue is a clear benefit of multichannel eCommerce. Multichannel sales not only help to boost your wholesale CRM strategies, but it also increases your customer lifetime value.
Your target audience will have easy access to your products if you make them available on a range of platforms, including Amazon, eBay, your online store, social media, other eCommerce wholesale directories, and even brick-and-mortar stores. Customers can then select the platform that is most convenient for them to buy from.
- Better Competitive Advantage
Businesses with a strong multichannel sales strategy keep 89% of their customers on average, while businesses with a limited sales strategy only keep 33% of their consumers. You can create your unique selling proposition and stay ahead of the competition with a multichannel order management system.
Do some study on your competitors to learn which channels they are utilizing. If they have neglected a key sales channel, this may be your chance to increase your market share. On the other hand, if they are selling on websites where your company isn't present, you might want to put your products there.
6 Features of Multichannel Order Management Platform
- eCommerce Integrations
A multichannel order management system should be able to seamlessly integrate with all your sales channels. eCommerce integrations can also streamline your order management processes.
- Order Fulfillment
Automating the fulfillment of multichannel orders based on your own workflows should be possible with a multichannel order management system. For example, based on the order's channel of origin and delivery address, it should be possible to automatically select the fulfillment strategy or warehouse.
- Inventory Management
A multichannel order management system has great inventory management capabilities. You’ll be able to see all your inventory in one place through a centralized platform. You can save time by having fulfillment orders sent to warehouses with stock by using multichannel order management software with multilocation management capabilities.
- Integrated POS System
Multichannel order management systems feature a robust POS system that helps you reconcile your inventory and order management.
- Workflow Automation
Multichannel order management platforms also have workflow automation features. For a smooth omnichannel customer experience, you can control process automation across all of your various sales channels.
Workflow automation will be integrated into your order management software, reducing human error and accelerating order processing to ensure quick delivery and order accuracy to your clients.
- Reporting and Analytics
A multichannel order management system must feature simple yet capable reporting that can pull information from all of your sales channels and provide you with in-the-moment business insights. This will allow you to get a complete picture of how your business is performing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Multichannel Order Management
Here are a few frequently asked questions about multichannel order management systems.
Why is Order Management System Important?
From the time an order is received through delivery and customer service afterward, the order management system manages it all. Without an order management system, a company may find it difficult to handle the volume of orders it receives or to fulfill them correctly.
What is Multichannel Software?
Multichannel software is a system that streamlines and automates multichannel selling. Product listings are automated by multi-channel listing software, allowing you to create product information and descriptions in one location and then transmit those details to your markets.
What is Meant by Inventory Management?
Inventory management is the procedure of placing orders, storing them, using them, and then selling them. It also covers the handling, storing, and processing of raw materials, components, and final goods.
What is Omnichannel Order Management?
Omnichannel order management refers to a comprehensive approach that retailers and businesses use to seamlessly manage and fulfill customer orders across various sales channels, both online and offline. This strategy aims to provide a unified and consistent customer experience regardless of whether a customer places an order through a physical store, website, mobile app, social media, or any other channel.
What are the 4 Stages of Order Management?
The 4 stages of order management are:
- Order capture
- Order processing
- Order fulfillment
- Order delivery and returns
Get a MOM System
A strong multichannel sales strategy will boost revenue, brand recognition, competitive advantage, and customer satisfaction. Customers anticipate a flawless shopping experience from your company beginning with the time they click the button to finish their order. This is made possible by multichannel order management.