Omnichannel order management allows retailers to leverage their entire inventory to make sure customers not only get the products they want, but get those products exactly when and where they want them. That leads to greater customer satisfaction and more revenue from return purchases down the road.
Omnichannel management is an effective strategy for your company. And while the process of setting it up might sound costly, it’s actually not difficult to keep costs down. If you’re worried about omnichannel order management and fulfillment getting expensive, don’t be! Here are a few simple ways you can reduce your IT costs.
Build on your existing systems
Before implementing your new omnichannel order fulfillment program, look at the processes you already have in place for receiving and fulfilling orders. You can integrate your new order management system (OMS) with your existing ecommerce platform to go to market quickly with new fulfillment capabilities. You’ll need to make sure your internal teams are ready to change. They will be key for the project success. You’ll save both time and money because you won’t be rebuilding your ecommerce website from scratch.
Choosing a flexible, API-first solution will let you easily connect your existing order management process and related systems. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel—with an API, you can generate applications by connecting your data and systems.
By leveraging the systems you already have in place, you’ll save valuable time and money. This way, you can launch in 90 days or less and begin using your new fulfillment program as soon as possible.
Implementing omnichannel order fulfillment shouldn’t be an enormous ground-up project. And by working smarter and using your existing platform instead of starting over, it won’t be.
Take advantage of scalability and flexibility
By using a cloud architecture and powerful API, you can enjoy both flexibility and scalability. An API-based platform is highly flexible and will integrate seamlessly with your existing commerce system as well as any third-party platforms (including extensions for payment processing, tax calculation, email delivery, marketing automation, and online testing and personalization). An API provides you with the flexibility to easily add new applications and grow your infrastructure with your business. And a cloud service provides the scalability you need, letting you scale your infrastructure up and down and only pay for what you use.
Highly configurable routing and workflows provide additional flexibility. They can be defined based on various factors, such as store inventory, location or region, shipping cost, hours of the day, and others to ensure that you can meet your customers’ expectations.
You can also manage detailed service level agreements (SLAs) to keep the fulfillment promise you’ve made to your customer. SLAs are contracts between a service provider and a customer. These agreements list deliverables and outline characteristics of the service such as quality and availability.
An API-based platform can accommodate the future needs of your company as it is able to integrate with new applications that come onto the market. With these flexible processes in place, you will be able to grow and adapt your business in response to future demand while making sure every order gets fulfilled effectively without having to undergo any costly re-platforming projects.
Reduce training time
Many companies waste valuable time training their employees to use new programs. And each year, the average retailer spends three percent of their payroll on employee training. That’s about US$840 spent for a store manager and US$560 for a full-time sales representative.
By selecting a product that’s user-friendly, you can cut down on the training time needed, allowing your employees to invest their time in more important tasks. If the app and workflow of your order management system is easy to understand, you’ll be able to train your employees on the system much more quickly—and you’ll be saving money as you go.
When onboarding is made easier, your project risk and time-to-market will be reduced, too. The longer you wait to put your product out there, the greater the competition will be. The faster you and your team learn to use a new order management system, the faster you can make it available to customers—and the more money you can make.
Omnichannel order management and fulfillment is a smart move for your business. Use these tips to cut down on costs as you get your order management system in place, and your business will end up pulling in more revenue than ever. Contact us to learn more about mobile store fulfillment.
