Although the modes of retail have changed drastically over the years, the concept remains the same – the sale and purchase of goods or services from a business to an end-user. What once used to be chains of physical stores and multitudes of storehouses to provide for each of them is now steadily becoming online mega-stores, websites and apps. Transactions are happening at a much faster rate than they used to, as new markets keep being discovered. But a basic tenet of sales stands the test of time and technology: better order management results in better sales. Here we give you a few good reasons why you should drop everything else and start making your order management better.

How Better Order Management

Leads to Better Sales

1. It Helps You Deal with the Growing Number of Sales Channels

It is imperative that adding new sales channels in your arsenal means that your business is growing steadily. But new sales channels come with their own set of problems. New sales channels mean integrating them to the existing inventory, making sure that the warehouse is stocked to provide for the new customers, managing shipping through new sources and territories, etc. Having a multi-channel order management system goes a long way in integrating and managing your new sales channels. Even when your business grows to an extent that you are seriously contemplating a dedicated website or even a mobile site, an order management system will be your best friend while adding new sales channels.

2. It Drastically Reduces Errors in Shipping, Packing and Inventory

A growing business also means a growing amount of paperwork. Invoices need to be printed, shipping labels need to be organised and correct orders need to reach the customer in time. For a small sales channel or two, this can probably be done manually. But this will take you only a small way. After that, you need automated assistance to curb confusion, manual errors and oversights. An order management system automatically prints your correct invoices, takes care of shipping labels and updates and tracks inventory till the end of an individual sale process.

3. It Helps Avoid Overstocking and Under-stocking

A delicate balance connects a warehouse to the sales channel. A healthy warehouse is a ‘well oiled’ warehouse where products keep moving and getting replaced. Mistakes in inventory management lead to understocking and overstocking – case one where there is demand for the product but it is out of stock in the warehouse, and two where the product is eating up space in the warehouse but is unable to move because of lack of demand. Avoiding both cases requires stringent planning and foresight. With the data that is recorded with an order management system, the job of strategizing a bulk sales cycle becomes much more clinical and efficient, thus avoiding under-stocking and overstocking.

4. It Reduces Staffing Costs

Better order management, and employing an order management system reduces staffing costs. This is quite easy to understand – since an order management system is the virtual brain of your business, it takes care of various areas of operation like reception and recording or orders, transitioning them to the warehouse, updating and tracking inventory, managing customers through automated emails, printing shipping labels and invoices, etc. This means that instead of employing individuals or teams to handle these jobs, you can rely on a trusted order management system.

5. It is the Key to Customer Satisfaction

Like we said in the introduction, however evolved the modes of retail are than before, the key to success still remains customer satisfaction. Better order management results in a tight ship, where every order is taken care of with due diligence. A customer is kept informed of the status of his/her order throughout processing, and is never kept in the dark. Since the internal systems and links between the inventory and sales channels is strong, unpleasant situations like back ordering and out-of-stock don’t arise and the customer can be sure that their order reaches them in time. Result, the customer is satisfied.

To know more about better order management and other queries, get in touch with Browntape. We are India’s leading e-retail solution providers, and we are always happy to help.