
This is a guest post from the Flxpoint team. Flxpoint is an enterprise eCommerce operations platform that enables merchants and brands to unify and automate every aspect of their eCommerce operations, and scale without manual processes or custom development slowing down.
When asked about the biggest daily challenges they face, 43% of retailers ranked inventory management as number one. That being the case, a distributed order management system can effectively help businesses address this.
In this article, we’ll introduce what a distributed order management (DOM) system is, walk through the benefits of DOM, and the key characteristics you should consider when choosing one.
An OMS is a platform that lets you structure and automate purchasing and fulfillment processes not only for you, but also your customer. It streamlines your business so products can easily find their way to your buyers.
Given how complex and intricate eCommerce is today, your OMS should be multifaceted and have the ability to handle business processes such as:
With it, you should also be able to monitor everything from sales to fulfillment, plus glean insights that allow you to develop and measure key performance indicators (KPIs), which can aid in formulating strategies for your business.
DOM, meanwhile, is an approach that involves optimizing fulfillment so that you’re not only delivering customer orders in a timely manner, but also sustaining minimum expenses — a cost reduction that’s felt by you and your buyer.
This method works via a DOM system, which enhances your overall supply chain by automating aspects of your business operations such as:
Overall, DOM systems streamline your business without negatively affecting the customer experience, which is its most vital characteristic.
Here are the crucial benefits you can get from utilizing a DOM system.
Consumers nowadays want the ability to buy products from various channels. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of them shop through more than one, and 64%, meanwhile, move across devices to search for what they want and complete their purchase.
Also, according to a Shopify report, businesses that sell on multiple channels generate 190% more revenue than those who only rely on one. However, doing so can be very complex and a DOM system simplifies it in various ways.
Multi-channel selling isn’t easy, or possible, if you don’t have a system to track orders against inventory, especially if your channels share a pool of inventory. Supply chain executives, in fact, said that managing inventory across channels is their company’s third-biggest challenge.
With a DOM system, you can keep track of your inventory levels for each of your channels. That ability makes it easy to do the following:
A DOM system not only unifies your sales channels but also your supply chain. It even automates and handles order routing, splitting, and shipping, which streamlines fulfillment overall. Additionally, a DOM system can:
With all of these handled, your customers on each channel receive their purchases in as little time as possible.
With all the automation a DOM system can provide, you can eliminate repetitive tasks — like manual data entry — which are prone to human error. Also, automatically collecting, uploading, and syncing data into a system frees up time for high-value work.
In fact, according to a survey, almost 60% of workers estimate they could save six or more hours a week with automation. They could use that freed-up time for other priorities, like helping your business grow its revenue.
A DOM system offers you digital connectivity, which provides real-time updates and insights into your inventory, allowing you to see the full picture. It makes inventory management easier and lets you:
Another vital characteristic of this connectivity is the abundant data you’ll be able to tap into — and that carries over into the next benefit.
A DOM system’s end-to-end visibility and traceability can give you access to plentiful information, such as:
The plentiful information your DOM system provides also lets you see which of your channels perform best and the trends they have, allowing you to make data-driven strategies and decisions. You can make forecasts, then plan, purchase, and allocate inventory accordingly. From there, you can develop tactics for maximizing profitability and minimizing your costs.
Here are the key competencies you should look at before selecting a DOM system.
DOM systems are ultimately designed to bridge your different sales channels and inventory sources, which means connectivity is everything. Does the system integrate or work with the tools you use in your business?
Let’s say you have an eCommerce website and also utilize an ERP system. Your DOM system’s ability to connect with these two can reduce the need for any manual input and human errors, which can also eliminates any future issues.
Also, when selling through multiple channels and using various tools, your data will be coming from different sources. Proper integrations ensure that the data you gather from all these sources is not only correct, but also aligned.
Basically, a DOM system should meet your business needs. Here are some common questions you should ask when choosing a system: “How many orders and inventory locations can the DOM system keep track of?” or “What are the limitations of the software?”
If the answers don’t fit your requirements, it’s time to look elsewhere. To give you more specifics, however, here’s a quick breakdown of crucial features you should consider:
Overall, you should have access to data across inventory management and fulfillment so you can maximize profitability, minimize costs, and get orders to customers on time.
Providing up-to-date product information and availability to you and your customers is a must for every system. You need real-time updates, especially as you scale. Without that data, you face the risk of running into two key issues:
If you don’t have enough inventory, you won’t be able to serve both new and existing customers. Overselling and stockouts are such a huge problem, in fact, that they cost retailers $1 trillion every year.
Amazon FBA sellers, for instance, have to pay a monthly fee for inventory storage. This monthly expense accrues as you store more items. In addition, there are also long-term storage fees and overage fees that Amazon charges.
To see if the DOM system is easy to use, ask yourself the following questions:
If you can get a positive response to these three questions, then the DOM system you’re looking at is a superb choice. This means, if you have to train yourself and your team, all you’ll have to worry about is learning the system itself.
Your employees will no longer have to undergo training for learning manual processes and requirements, freeing up lots of time. And since your system automates these, it also effectively minimizes any chances for human errors.
When things go wrong, how easily does this tool help you detangle issues and troubleshoot? A system that enables you to handle such instances is vital for ensuring they don’t happen again. For example, are there any bottlenecks in your inventory management or fulfillment that led to your customer’s order arriving late? Your DOM system should allow you to pinpoint and address such issues.
Besides that, your system should be able to support omnichannel returns and exchanges — when they receive a damaged or wrong item, for instance — allowing you to offer a seamless customer experience.
A DOM system optimizes many aspects of your business operations. By doing so, it also reduces costs and maximizes your profitability without having a negative impact on the overall customer experience.
Just make sure that, before choosing a DOM system for your organization, you consider your business’s needs and see if the system fits these key criteria: