Blog Posts Improve Supply Chain Visibility with This Critical Tool
Supply chain visibility is a key area of focus for retailers and manufacturers in 2019, according to a survey by EyeforTransport and Quintiq, with about a third of respondents saying it is an immediate priority. An order management system (OMS) is an essential tool in the visibility tool box.
OMS Offers Birds-Eye View of Inventory and Order Management
Today, just 27.8 percent of companies say they have full visibility over inventory, the EyeforTransport/Quinitiq study shows. However, good visibility is critical in an omnichannel environment where inventory is often housed in multiple locations.
An OMS provides the ability to see inventory across an entire enterprise — warehouses, stores, vendors (for drop shipments), in transit and available to promise. This real-time visibility can improve inventory management and enable optimal order routing. An OMS facilitates choosing the fulfillment source that will provide the best possible service at the lowest possible cost for each order, a capability that is particularly valuable in this era of fast, free shipping. And if all order items are not in stock in one location, the system can help to identify alternatives such as shipping individual line items from different fulfillment sources.
A robust OMS can have a customer-facing impact as well. Today’s savvy shopper expects to find inventory information online and often feels a sense of urgency to purchase when supplies are dwindling. Customers also want to be able to track their orders and see when they will be delivered. In fact, a 2018 study by Navar shows that 83 percent of shoppers want updates about their purchases.
A sophisticated OMS allows companies to share detailed information with their customers – from online and in-store product availability to order status and shipment tracking. This can go a long way toward achieving the gold standard for customer experience.
Interested in learning more about how an OMS can enhance your omnichannel operations? Download our whitepaper.