What Is an Order Management System (OMS)?
Explore the essentials of an Order Management System, its benefits, and challenges. Enhance your understanding and streamline your operations—read more now!
For many consumer brands — whether selling wholesale, direct to consumer through Shopify, or via marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart — order management often begins with a flood of emails, PDF purchase orders, multiple marketplace dashboards, and manual spreadsheets.
Manual fulfillment process wastes time, introduces risk, and increases errors. Mistakes slip through. Orders ship late or with wrong items. Inventory counts are off. Customers get frustrated and may take their business elsewhere. A dedicated order management system (OMS) addresses these issues and creates order management clarity.
Why Modern Businesses Need an OMS
Customer expectations have changed dramatically. Buyers want fast, accurate and transparent service. Whether a wholesale buyer is ordering pallets or a consumer orders a single product online, they want to track their order status and receive items on time.
Many businesses still depend on manual order management processes. Teams jump between retailer portals, marketplace order screens and internal documents. Someone calls the warehouse to check stock. Another person updates spreadsheets with tracking numbers. Customer service fields messages from buyers asking when their orders will ship. Sometimes sticky notes or text messages serve as urgent reminders. This leads to:
Human errors in entering orders
Shipping delays caused by poor communication
Lost sales due to missed invoice
Wasted time contacting customer service for updates
Frustrated teams spending more time managing orders than growing the business
A reliable OMS removes these pain points. It helps fulfill customer orders more efficiently, boosts satisfaction, and encourages repeat purchases.
The Order Management Process Step-by-Step
Understanding the OMS workflow helps clarify its benefits. Let's walk through the process from order placement to delivery and beyond.
1. Accept Orders from Multiple Channels
Today’s customers expect to buy wherever they prefer. They might order through your Shopifystore, Amazon marketplace, distributor portal, or send a PDF purchase order by email.
An OMS captures all these orders automatically and consolidates them into one dashboard. This eliminates manual retyping or copy-pasting order details.
For example, a cosmetics company sells multichannel through Shopify, on Amazon and wholesale via distributor portals. Before using an OMS, their team manually entered orders from each source, leading to delays and errors. Now all orders import automatically into one system.
2. Validate and Process Orders
Once orders are captured, the OMS performs checks including:
Inventory availability
Correct pricing
Complete shipping details
Duplicate orders
These validations prevent mistakes like shipping incorrect items or incomplete orders.
Without an OMS, these steps happen manually, increasing the chance of errors and slowing fulfillment.
3. Manage Inventory Across Locations
Accurate inventory tracking is essential. The OMS monitors stock levels across multiple warehouses, distribution centers, third party logistics providers, and retail stores.
This prevents overselling and enables better production and purchasing decisions.
For example, a sports gear brand has warehouses in three states and sells online and wholesale. Their OMS prevents a customer in California from ordering a product shown as in stock on their website when the nearest warehouse is out.
4. Route Orders for Fulfillment
The OMS decides the best fulfillment location based on:
Closest warehouse to the customer
Inventory availability
Priority or expedited orders
Shipping costs
This optimizes delivery speed and cost.
For instance, a pet supplies company routes orders from the East Coast to a nearby warehouse to reduce shipping time and expense, while orders to the West Coast are fulfilled by a different facility.
5. Coordinate the Fulfillment Process
After routing, the OMS generates packing slips, pick lists, and shipping labels automatically. It can send orders directly to third party logistics providers and update order status in real time.
This keeps customer service teams informed and reduces buyer inquiries.
6. Generate Invoices and Sync with Accounting
The OMS creates accurate invoices and syncs them with accounting systems like QuickBooks or Xero.
This speeds up billing, prevents errors, and keeps customer records up to date.
7. Manage Post-Purchase Processes
Returns, exchanges, and refunds are part of order management too. A robust OMS simplifies reverse logistics, updates inventory accordingly, and manages customer refunds or replacements.
For example, a home goods brand uses their OMS to track returned items and restock or discard them as needed without manual intervention.
Challenges Without an OMS
Managing orders manually often means:
Multiple, disconnected spreadsheets tracking different parts of the process
Inventory counts that never quite add up
Entering orders manually from emails and PDFs
Shipping delays caused by miscommunication
Fulfillment mistakes from unclear order details
Extra work for customer service answering status requests
These problems frustrate customers, increase costs, and limit growth opportunities.
OMS for All Sales Channels
Modern OMS solutions support many sales channels. They create a central hub to:
Aggregate orders from e-commerce, marketplaces, wholesale, and offline sales
Keep inventory synced across locations
Route orders efficiently to lower shipping costs
Provide accurate order status and details to customers
Whether you sell on Amazon and Shopify, have a physical store with in-store pickup or distribute through retail partners, an OMS ties everything together.
For example, a beverage brand selling direct to consumer on Shopify, wholesale on Faire, and marketplace sales on Amazon reduced order processing time by 75 percent after switching to an OMS. All orders flowed into one dashboard, inventory updated instantly, and invoices went out automatically.
Choosing the Right OMS
When evaluating systems, consider:
Easy setup that does not require heavy IT support
Support for multiple channels including offline orders
Real-time inventory visibility
Distributed order management with smart routing
Integrations with ERP, accounting, CRM, and warehouse systems
Customer communication tools
Reverse logistics and returns support
The right OMS reduces manual work, human error, and helps meet customer expectations consistently.
OMS and Your Supply Chain
An OMS sits at the center of your supply chain. It connects sales data and product information, manages orders from all channels, and provides insights for better decisions.
It influences:
Production planning based on demand
Stock replenishment for warehouses
Coordination with distribution centers and 3PLs
Accurate sales reporting by channel and customer segment
The Impact on Customer Experience
Efficient order management improves customer experiences. Buyers receive correct shipments on time and get proactive updates without needing to call.
Invoices match orders perfectly.
This builds loyalty, strengthens relationships, and supports long-term growth.
How Buddy Helps You Manage Orders Across Channels
Buddy is an AI-powered order operations platform designed for lean consumer brands selling across multiple channels.
It captures orders from Shopify, email, PDFs, EDI and other marketplace and distributor portals. Orders process automatically and route to the correct fulfillment center — your warehouse, a 3PL or brick and mortar store.
Buddy features:
Accept orders from any channel without manual entry
Sync inventory levels across locations and platforms
Route orders based on stock location
Track order status in real time
Generate clean invoices and sync to accounting
Keep your customer database accurate and updated
For example, a personal care brand using Shopify for direct sales, Amazon for marketplace, and distributors and direct store distribution (DSD) for wholesale reduced order processing time by 75% after switching to Buddy.
Final Thoughts
Order management is the backbone of your business. Managing orders manually means spending more time fixing problems than driving growth.
A modern OMS streamlines everything — from order entry to fulfillment, invoicing, and returns. It improves customer satisfaction and reduces costs.
Whether you sell wholesale, online, or across many channels, the right OMS provides a single source of truth for orders, inventory, and fulfillment.
Replacing manual processes with automation is the first step toward efficiency, happier customers, and a stronger bottom line.
FAQ
1. What is an order management system (OMS) and how does it work?
Learn how an OMS automates order processing from multiple sales channels, manages inventory, routes fulfillment, and handles invoicing and returns to streamline your entire order lifecycle.
2. Why do modern businesses need an order management system?
Discover how an OMS reduces manual errors, prevents overselling, speeds up shipping, and improves customer satisfaction for brands selling on Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and wholesale channels.
3. How does an OMS help manage inventory across multiple warehouses and sales channels?
Understand how order management software keeps real-time inventory synced across locations to avoid stockouts, overselling, and delays.
4. What are the key features to look for when choosing an order management system?
Explore important OMS features like multi-channel order capture, smart order routing, integration with accounting and CRM, real-time tracking, and returns management.
5. How can using an OMS improve customer experience and boost business growth?
See how automating order workflows leads to accurate shipments, faster delivery, proactive order updates, and repeat buyers, ultimately strengthening customer loyalty and scaling your brand.
