Over time, ecommerce businesses have discovered just how difficult it is to fulfill all of the responsibilities of their business on their own. Many company leaders have decided to work with an ecommerce partner that can provide helpful software to streamline their organizational process.
To ensure every step of the online experience is managed efficiently, ecommerce businesses are integrating their obligations into an order management system. In fact, 250 percent more retailers plan to transition to a single OMS by 2018, according to a report from Boston Retail Partners.
SFG has four reasons ecommerce businesses should implement an OMS:
1. Trouble keeping track of inventory
Customers rely on accurate product descriptions and stock volume information when making a purchase online. To complete a transaction only to have an item go on backorder can be extremely frustrating to a consumer. If ecommerce businesses find themselves frequently struggling to keep inventory numbers straight or have trouble forecasting popular products and reordering periods, it’s time to introduce an OMS.
An order management system can help ecommerce businesses with inventory management.This solution can manage orders via multiple platforms, tell employees where to locate certain items during the processing stage and alert business leaders when it’s time to reorder high-selling products. Furthermore, an OMS yields important analytical data that can highlight peak engagement times for clients and showcase buying patterns of frequent customers. By adding this type of system to their operations, ecommerce businesses could make sure their consumers always have updated inventory information, resulting in increased shopper satisfaction, according to Practical Ecommerce.
2. Providing customer service
Ecommerce businesses are always looking for ways to improve their consumers’ shopping experiences. Implementing an OMS gives organizations customer service options as well as access to customer data to improve their customer service, particularly if the OMS provides online chat, call recording, and IVR.
A flexible OMS can also send automated email responses and incorporate survey information, thus enhancing the 360-degree view of the customer and providing a seamless customer service experience.
“Late or inaccurate deliveries can result in reduced customer satisfaction.”
3. Late deliveries are a problem
Convenience is a large factor in people’s decision to shop online. Customers know they can complete an order from the comfort of their own home and have the package delivered to the destination of their choice. Yet, ecommerce businesses sometimes struggle with the distribution and shipping aspect of their enterprise.
There are many causes for late or incorrect deliveries, whether it’s inventory management issues or faults during the processing portion of the transaction. Whatever the concern, an OMS can help. According to a study from Software Advice, 45 percent of online retailers said pairing with a shipping service has a significant impact on ensuring timely delivery. An OMS can not only create shipping labels for orders, but ensure the slip itself is sent to the fulfillment center for processing. From there, the solution can ensure the correct items are placed in the package and that the shipment is sent out as quickly as possible to the customer.
4. Customers worry about payment processing
So, a consumer finally decides to pull the trigger and purchase the items in his or her cart. That’s excellent news for an ecommerce business, unless the customer is concerned about the safety of their sensitive information. It’s not uncommon for clients to get to the payment processing page of checkout only to wonder what level of security the ecommerce organization has in effect. This level of concern can result in high rates of shopping cart abandonment and low customer satisfaction.
To ensure the payment processing element of a transaction goes smoothly and to guarantee data protection, ecommerce businesses need to become PCI compliant. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards offers ecommerce businesses a 12-step plan of actionable guidelines to implement for customer safety. In addition to adhering to these rules, companies should also display their level of compliance so customers are aware they’re in safe hands.
Ecommerce businesses struggling to handle the daily obligations of their operation have the option to work with a third-party OMS provider. For the reasons listed above – and many others – SFG is the best choice. SFG offers ecommerce businesses an OMS that provides order management, payment processing, distribution and shipment, customer service, and inventory management. By implementing SFG’s OMS, ecommerce businesses will be able to improve their customer engagement and satisfaction.
