Retailers who utilize intelligent order management systems report a boost in their order fulfillment speeds of almost 30%. However, research by companies such as Gartner and Forrester highlights the fact that close to 70 percent of retail integration challenges impede it.
What is Smart Order Management? In theory, it's simple. In practice, it requires the coordination of orders across online stores, physical stores, marketplaces, mobile sites, and warehouses in the blink of an eye. That's the promise of intelligent order management, order management across omni-channel, and omni-channel OMS solutions: the integration and centralization of the complexities of order, fulfillment, and returns.
The promise is obvious: faster deliveries, fewer stock-outs, and therefore happier customers. However, the road is not always smooth. Many retailers have found that their order management system for retail can be a bit more complicated. Anyway, let’s discuss the top seven problems that often come up, as well as, more importantly, how ETP Unify OMS can transform them into competitive advantages.
Challenge 1: Omni-Channel Integration in Intelligent Order Management Software
The biggest obstacle here? Disconnected systems.
Your e-Commerce system runs independently of your Point of Sale system. Your warehouse system speaks a different language from your ERP system. The result is siloed data. Orders get lost in the cracks. Inventory counts are off.
For retailers, losing up to 15% in sales is a possibility through inventory mismatches. Reports indicate that 60% of retailers are fighting to synchronize their omni-channel OMS systems.
What this really means is delayed shipments, split orders, and unhappy customers.
The fix: ETP Unify OMS seamlessly integrates with ERP systems, platforms like Shopify, and in-store point of sale solutions. It centralizes real-time data, allowing true omni-channel order management.
Challenge 2: Real-Time Inventory Gaps in Smart Order Management
Static inventory is the silent killer of revenue.
If your smart order management platform doesn't update inventory instantly across channels, you are risking overselling online while the shelves sit empty in-store. Or worse, promising Buy Online Pick Up In Store orders that can't be fulfilled.
Returns can surge upward by 20% when inventory visibility fails. Yet, only a few, about 40%, of the intelligent order management systems offer genuine real-time tracking.
It's that gap that erodes customer trust.
The fix: ETP Unify OMS offers AI-powered visibility across warehouses, stores, and transit stock. Every sale, return, or transfer updates the inventory in real time to ensure accurate omni-channel OMS decisions and intelligent routing of fulfillment.
Challenge 3: Returns Handling in Omni-channel OMS for Retail
"Returns are no longer occasional. They're constant."
Customers expect to buy online and return in-store, or return marketplace orders via courier pickup. Order management solutions for traditional retail setups may not effectively address these cases.
Returns can account for up to 10-15% of total revenues. Omni-channel return rates are up by over 50% since the pandemic started. Processing them manually causes delays and errors.
The experience itself is just as important as the sale.
The fix: ETP Unify OMS automatically handles reverse logistics. Smart routing determines where goods go. Refund processes are automated. This makes intelligent order management completely smooth, even after a purchase is made.
Challenge 4: Scalability in Omni-Channel Order Management During Peak Sales
Black Friday. End-of-season sales. Flash promotions.
This is where many omni-channel OMS solutions fail. The solution slows down. Orders are queued. Customers drop their carts. Revenues decline by up to 25% in severe events.
More than half of existing smart order management software applications fail to scale beyond 10,000 orders a day.
That’s not built for modern retail.
The fix: ETP Unify OMS is a cloud-native solution with scale-out capacity. It dynamically predicts increases in demand surges and scales accordingly. Intelligent order management software is meant to grow with you, not hold you back.
Challenge 5: Security Risks in Order Management Systems for Retail
Retail data is often a primary target.
This means that, through the use of OMSC, consumer information, payments, and past orders are all linked across the systems. One weak point comprises them all. Data breaches in the retail sector have climbed in the last few years, with the General Data Protection Regulation potentially resulting in fines of a maximum of 4% of revenues.
Security isn’t an option; it’s a requirement
The fix : ETP Unify OMS has solutions such as enterprise-class encryption, role-based access control, and PCI compliance built in. Customer trust is as important as efficiency in the context of smart order management.
Challenge 6: Customization Limits in Intelligent Order Management
Fashion retailers deal with size and seasonal drops. Grocery retailers deal with perishable items. Electronics retailers deal with serial numbers and warranties.
However, there are many off-the-shelf "omni-channel" OMS packages available, and these often mandate standardized processes. As a result, retailers have had to put "workarounds" in place, which
Around 65% of the retailers say that they require significant customization of their order management system.
Flexibility is not a luxury: it is a matter of survival.
The fix: ETP Unify OMS provides a modular design and no-code configuration. This means retailers can adjust fulfillment rules and workflows without reengineering the solution. This is intelligent order management, built on your model.
Challenge 7: Implementation Costs of Smart Order Management Software
Even the best system will not work properly if there is a delay in its implementation.
Deployments of traditional smart order management software can take 6 to 12 months. Budgets are overspent. Change management is difficult. Nearly half of OMS projects result in overspending.
This again takes valuable ROI before the systems ever go live.
The solution: By deploying ETP Unify OMS, you can say goodbye to months of waiting for an order management solution. Moreover, our intuitive user interface reduces training time, and structured training ensures faster adoption. Omni-channel order management should–and can–start delivering value rapidly.
Conclusion
Smart retail order management promises speed, visibility, and efficiency. However, the reality of dealing with integration gaps, inventory blind spots, return complexities, limitations to scalability, security risks, challenges in customization, and high implementation costs can hold back progress.
Here's the good news: these aren't dead ends. They're solvable problems.
ETP Unify OMS lets retailers have intelligent order management software that unifies channels, secures data, scales during peaks, and adapts to unique retail models. That is how omni-channel order management becomes a growth engine and not an operational headache.
Retail is only getting more connected. The brands that win will be the ones that unify their orders, inventory, and customer experience in real time.
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