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Omnichannel Order Management System Transformation

Order management systems (OMS) have evolved. Initially, e-commerce growth pushed retailers to invest in dedicated OMS, moving away from managing orders in traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. With a rise in the number of order capture channels and innovative fulfillment methods, retailers are adapting by using configurable, rules-based, best-of-breed order management systems.

These changes are leading to the emergence and growth of unified commerce platforms that are built on a loosely coupled microservices architecture, which provides the extensibility and agility that retailers today need to survive.

Evolution of Omnichannel Commerce

Non-Dedicated OMS (part of ERP)
Stage – Basic

Order Capture
- Single e-commerce front-end channel

Inventory Visibility
- Order acceptance w/o inventory validation
- Inventory visibility limited to DCs with mostly offline updates resulting in oversell and undersell

Order Sourcing
- No estimated delivery date before order placement
- Simplistic sourcing optimization (post order)

Order Orchestration
- Basic payment types
- Minimal order modification options
- Limited or no order lifecycle visibility

Fulfillment Options
- Ship to home

 

 

Dedicated Monolith OMS
Stage - Intermediate

Order Capture
- Multiple e-commerce channels

Inventory Visibility
- Cached inventory verification
- Network level (including stores) inventory visibility that’s near real-time and more accurate

Order Sourcing
- Static estimated ship date ranges
- Advanced sourcing optimization (post order)

Order Orchestration
- Multiple payment methods (CC, PayPal, loyalty points etc.)
- Time bound order modification options
- Order tracking


Fulfillment Options
- Ship to home, ROPIS

 

Unified Commerce Platform
Stage - Advanced

Order Capture
- Multiple e-commerce channels + marketplaces + partner websites + POS

Inventory Visibility
- Real-time inventory validation (Complex ATP logic)
- Inventory reservation across channels at the time of order capture minimizing the oversell and undersell

Order Sourcing
- Near accurate delivery date information (pre-purchase)
- AI/ML-driven smart sourcing (pre/post order)

Order Orchestration
- Flexible payment options – Apple Pay, Google Pay etc.
- Flexible order modification options
- Real-time order tracking

Fulfillment Options
- Ship to home, ship to store, BOPIS, ship from store, vendor drop ship (same-day fulfillment), BAFARA

 

Retailers are battling an erosion of loyal customer base as they are unable to keep up with the expectations while maintaining profitability. The problem is magnified due to competition from retail giants who are continuously innovating and improving of buying and order fulfillment experiences. Retailers also must deal with legacy technology infrastructure requiring continuous support and upgrades, putting a burden on OPEX and limiting the ability to roll out new programs and features quickly.

To address these challenges, retailers must holistically review and plug the capability gaps in their order fulfillment solutions and associated architecture.

Our approach to omnichannel fullfillment transformation

Publicis Sapient works with some of the top retailers in the world and collaborates with industry IT leaders. Through these experiences, we see leading retailers make sizeable investments in order management transformation to address modern commerce challenges.

Approaches to OMS Transformation

Foundational Transformation

  • Retailers running on dated architecture unable to keep pace with modern commerce demands

 

Package-driven cloud-based modernization

  • Leverage COTS products
  • Cloud migration / SaaS adoption

Incremental Transformation

  • Real-time inventory validation (Complex ATP logic)
  • Inventory reservation across channels at the time of order capture minimizing the oversell and undersell

 

Externalization of critical functions

  • Externalization of key functions through custom build or best-of-breed approach

Disruptive Transformation

  • Mature giants with growth plans exceeding the scalability of a traditional OMS
  • Willing to invest now in building capabilities for the future businesses

 

Externalization of critical functions

  • Build end-to-end custom functions
  • Innovate at own pace

Our client partnerships achieve accelerated growth

Our approach identifies unique client needs to deliver powerful solutions with measurable results:

  • One large Canadian American retail business group transformed its customer experience and reduced cost of ownership by moving from an on-premise to a cloud-based version of a leading off-the-shelf OMS for agility, extensibility, and speed to market.
  • One leading American specialty retailer of children’s apparel and accessories improved order conversion rates by implementing a custom EDD service loosely coupled with an off-the-shelf OMS for committing delivery dates in the customer’s pre-purchase journey.
  • One leading American home improvement retailer built a custom OMS on microservices architecture due to its unique business needs and shortcomings in its existing off-the-shelf system to scale up to meet future expansion plans.
  • One leading American sportswear company chose a leading off-the-shelf OMS to consolidate inventory availability and order orchestration processes across B2B and B2C channels, reducing over commits and OOS scenarios.
  • One Canadian multinational athletic apparel retailer improved order sourcing and inventory visibility in the customers’ pre-purchase journey through implementation of best of breed Inventory Promise and Availability microservices on existing off-the-shelf OMS.
  • One of the largest general merchandise retailers in the U.S. saw tremendous multi-channel commerce growth and expansion in loyal customer base when it migrated from its off-the-shelf system to a custom system built on a loosely coupled microservices architecture, leading to scale and flexibility.

Discover how to evolve and optimize your order management ecosystem. Contact us to learn more about how our supply chain capabilities can augment, accelerate and extend your digital transformation

Let's Connect

  • Satyendra Pal
    Vice President – Practice Lead, Supply Chain
    email
  • Mobariz Ahmed
    Associate Director, Product Management
    email

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