What Is Order Management Software for Retailers and Wholesalers?

Before you proceed into reading the best order management software reviews, you should also be knowledgeable of the system. Information systems are intricate and if you are not familiar with it, even your use of its features would not be maximized. The purpose of the software is to increase your business efficiency. In such case, using it without further knowledge of how it does its purpose specifically leads to waste of time and money.

Even order management software for small business is obscure enough for someone who is used to manual business operations. In order to start your review on how the application works, here is an excerpt of the essence of order management system software download for retailers and wholesalers:

Why Is Order Management So Important for Business?

One of the factors usually taken for granted by business owners is an effective order management system. Disregarding the solution by small businesses is acceptable. Nonetheless, when large enterprises are concerned, multifaceted management of orders may lead to losses than profit when not done properly.

Through the help of order management strategies, businesses could manage a steady influx of customer orders regardless of channels involved. Take note that big companies may accept orders via call, personal request, e-mails, or through an e-commerce platform. If you do not have an effective way of organizing orders, you may end up delaying delivery of products or services. Consequently, you will lose clients and sales.

According to Yankee Group Executive White Paper in February 2004, tying order management is vital to successful customer relationship management. The research shows that one of the critical links in retaining clients is the ineffective capture and management of orders. Although it is not the core competence of customer retention strategy, it influences the overall outturn of efforts.

There are many activities involved with the order management. It does not end with your ability to input customer orders. There are associated activities, such as determining whether to ship the products from a distribution center, warehouse, or directly from the supplier. In other words, effectual order arrangement affects the business decisions you make almost every day. When things are executed seamlessly, higher success rates could be obtained.

Delivery efficiency is an important stage of catering the customers’ wants and needs. Through an order management system, you would be able to deliver items to clients at an accurate time and date. The location would also be precise, giving you no worry on late arrivals of items.

Inventory is one of the most monitored areas of retail and wholesaling companies. Without an effective replenishment system, you would not be able to fill in orders. Thus, inventory management is also a part of the entirety of order arrangement. The order management itself will give you smart decision on where to obtain inventories, such as suppliers.

Saving time is what makes order management paramount in any retail activity. Obviously, if you have to focus on one order once in a while, you would likely waste a lot of time. What more if you would manually generate invoices, official receipts, purchase orders, as well as proof of receipt among others.

If your business is opting for growth globally, you need a standardized order management. The more you could prevent delays and errors, the better it is. You would not grow unless customers are satisfied with how you respond to their orders, whether it pertains to items or services.

All Order Management Features in One Software

Surprisingly, order management software online is available. In other words, automation is at your grasp regardless of the platform you use. Despite the long list of order management software options, there are major capabilities you have to look into.

One of the major features a software should provide for order management is a set of modules expediting workflows. There must be a simplified process wherein the order would move from the shopping cart to checking out. According to experts, a typical ordering process is a customer placing a request, and then a notification would be sent to your company. After seeing the order, the item concerned will be packaged and weighed alongside printed and created a shipping label. Lastly, the box would be prepared for the carrier.

The straightforward procedure given therefore shows that your workflow could be optimized when things are automated. If you worry about the printing of labels and such, then you may have forgotten that order management software often provides templates. You would simply tailor the labels using your business logo and information.

Management of customer accounts must also be present. By having this module, you no longer have to worry about identifying market targets. In other words, your order management system could integrate with your sales and marketing team’s system. From the records, they could search, export, display, and reference data for better decision-making.

The accounts would also give you the edge to keep in touch with your clients. Most customers prefer that they are being updated whenever their orders are still on its way to specified locations. There are order management systems available with automated and scheduled notifications to customers relative to the boxes’ location.

Inventory monitoring must also be available with the order management system. Identification and estimations of depletion dates will enable you to reorder supplies at the right time. By tracking the level of your stocks, you would no longer worry about accommodating your customers’ order.

The importance of automated inventory is not limited to ensuring stocks are replenished, but minimizing on-hand items. Excess storage is also a problem. Through the system, you could calculate minimum orders based on the current data and previous order history.

Integration capability must also be welcome in your software of choice. You cannot simply sell in one marketplace, particularly now that tons of e-commerce sites are available. By integrating with retail giants on the web, you could improve your market reach. If your operations are still less encompassing, this is your chance to build a brand for your retail company.

You should evaluate the software options available and determine which one will help increase your sales. There must be a comprehensive generation of sales reports so that your team could craft smarter decisions in selling products. From this module as well, you could draft promotions to be sent via different channels.

Shipping management is as complex as the acquirement of orders. The system must at least provide all the necessary features that create packing slips, generate labels, provide tracking numbers, and set multi-carrier shipment options.

Pricing management is a module that you may also need to ensure that your customers are priced appropriately. This is sensitive for some customers value offers, discounts, and additional fees.

Other than the standard pricing capabilities, order management system must allow multiple price breaks, markup options, and assignment of levels based on customers and channels. If you are selling globally, your prices must be set on specified currencies.

If you have tons of merchandises to update with regards to pricing, the software must give you the opportunity to lessen the hassle . It must be suitable for pricing updates in relation to rounding rules or real-time standards.

Is Order Management System Worth the Investment?

You would only determine the real essence of order management system once you have utilized it in your business. You have diverse options to consider, such as the following:

ShipStation. The order management system is designed perfectly for e-commerce businesses. It could easily connect with online selling platforms. It works with your favorite carriers minus the extra costs. The order software is available with mobile compatibility, which means it lets you manage, ship, track, and monitor orders regardless of where you are.

The software solution also guarantees discounted rates with the biggest global carriers. As a part of subscription with the e-commerce application, you could get discounts of up to 40 percent in retail prices.

Orderbot. The order management solution is integrated with inventory, purchasing, and accounting systems. It enables retailers and wholesalers manage their orders via the internet. As guaranteed, Orderbot will eliminate the tedious process of accepting orders. It prevents errors with the application of logical workflow. Furthermore, it eliminates a lot of steps for one click could lead to integrated automation.

The system is powered with inventory system in multiple locations. You could control pricing discounts by item or customer. You could also generate smart reports from the system for better decision-making.

SalesPresenter. The business tool is based on a tablet, which will provide you automated order management and sales support. It eliminates the need for printed catalogues and failure to meet critical order requirements. SalesPresenter could accommodate an extensive array of products. It could also give you updates on stocks, values, and customer accounts. The system stores everything in your own secured cloud for prevention of unauthorized access.

You could select from the three given information systems for the more effective ordering system. For an expanded selection, you may visit CrowdReviews.com and check out its top-rated and unbiased reviews of order management software for any business carrying out customer requests.