Best Order Management Software

Order management starts from the time an order is received. It runs through various order processing stages, including picking, packing, and shipping, ending when the customer gets the ordered product. It may also continue with return processing if the customer requests a return. Thus, it covers controlling all operational processes involved in fulfilling an order and extends to customer and vendor management. It manages the data, operations, and people attached to the order.

Order Management Software is a suite of automated tools designed to control the entire order management and fulfillment process. It provides a range of features to assist in effective order management in all stages, like receiving, processing, tracking, shipping, and customer communication.

The software provides a single platform for collaboration across different departments, integration with the accounting system, control over the order lifecycle, vendor/customer interaction management, and updating stock/warehouse data. An order tracking system based on software provides business intelligence tools that use previously collected order data to generate better insights for decision-making.

Research and surveys confirm that businesses have realized the importance of efficient order management for growth and profitability. Reports indicate that the global multichannel order management market will grow to USD 2.44 billion by 2023.

Managing many orders as a business grows can be challenging due to data volume, miscommunication, manual errors, delays, and customer complaints. Addressing the growing number of orders efficiently is crucial to automating and streamlining the order management process and providing excellent customer service.

The key to achieving business success is to keep customers satisfied. To achieve this, it is essential to maintain timely and transparent communication throughout the entire order lifecycle and later during the return or refund process. This helps to earn and keep the trust of customers. Implementing order tracking solutions can assist businesses in offering better customer support, improving customer interaction, and providing them with updated information more efficiently. The same applies to business vendors as well. By leveraging order management tools, businesses can ultimately result in satisfied customers and vendors.

Order management systems can simplify the entire order lifecycle and operations for businesses. Here are some key benefits of using top order management software for your small business.

• Centralized order management
  An OMS system offers a comprehensive view of the order lifecycle, managing multiple order management processes using a single platform. It facilitates easy accessibility, sharing, and data updates among various departments and stakeholders.
   
• Enhanced accuracy through automation
  Automating order management through software reduces human error, improving accuracy and cutting losses.
   
• Real-time information access and updates
  The order management system enables real-time access and updates of all order-related information, facilitating quicker updates from anywhere, reducing the overall order processing time, and improving team management and coordination.
   
• Seamless order tracking
  An eCommerce order management system allows seamless order tracking and improved coordination resulting from real-time updates and quicker access to information. All relevant departments can share order data and status through the common software platform and perform better.
   
• Time and cost-saving
  The software for order management offers various tools to automate the order process and help save time and effort at all organizational levels, and time is money. In the long run, it thus results in significant cost savings and a rise in business profits.
   
• Increased efficiency and productivity
  Order management solutions are software tools that enable businesses to manage their orders and inventory more efficiently by removing location and time constraints. This means that businesses can receive and manage orders from anywhere, at any time, which can significantly improve process efficiency and team productivity. As a result, companies can focus on growth and expansion without worrying about order management challenges.
   
• Privacy and data security
  Order management allows access controls to assign and limit data access to specific and relevant authorized personnel. It ensures that the business data and customer information are safe, and nobody can alter these without permission.
   
• Forecasting for better planning
  Leveraging ML and AI, OMS accurately forecasts sales based on prior order data, facilitating better order planning and inventory management.
   
• Improved customer service and happy customers
  Implementing order fulfillment software improves customer service and transparency by giving better visibility over order data and status updates. This leads to increased satisfaction and trust in the company due to improved communication with customers.

OMS system offers various tools for efficient order management. While every OMS application provides different features, the core features you must look for while choosing the best order management systems for your business are as follows.

• Order entry
  When an order is received and added to the software, the system generates a unique order ID to help search and update all order-related information easily.
   
• Order fulfillment
  Order fulfillment is the process of ensuring successful delivery to the customer. It involves picking, packing, shipping, record-keeping, and status updates. Order fulfillment software streamlines this process for efficiency and effectiveness.
   
• Order tracking
  Each department must finish its tasks on time to avoid delays in order processing. Businesses can ensure efficiency throughout the order lifecycle using order tracker software with real-time updates and quick status access features. With these tools, business managers and staff can ensure that orders are processed efficiently at every step of the order lifecycle.
   
• Catalog management
  If created manually, catalogs consume significant time, money, and resources. An order tracker system helps businesses design and manage digital catalogs that include all the product information the company needs to record and share with the customers, vendors, etc.
   
• Backorder management
  Backorders are orders that cannot be fulfilled immediately due to stock limitations. Online order management software provides alerts for timely stock deficits, streamlines order fulfillment, and facilitates better planning.
   
• Recurring orders
  Automation makes it possible to manage recurring orders without hassles. Sales order systems can control and process recurrent or repetitive orders with the least human intervention by automatically sending reminders and updates to all the relevant departments.
   
• Returns and refunds management
  If customers are dissatisfied with their order, they expect a hassle-free return process and a quick refund. A B2B order software simplifies this process by allowing easy return requests and automated refunds on the same platform, which helps build customer trust.
   
• Inventory and warehouse management
  The order management process is incomplete without stock and warehouse management. Thus, order tracking software typically includes tools to control inventoryand warehouse.
   
• Shipping management
  When an order is ready, it needs to be packed and sent. The order tracking software is a central platform for recording, tracking, and updating all the shipping information. The customer support department gets a one-point solution to answer all order and shipping-related queries through order management solutions.
   
• Payments and accounting management
  Sales order management systems offer easy payment through multiple gateway integration. Accounting integration enables automatic updates of transaction records in the accounting system and reduces work for the accounts department.
   
• Customer management
  Customer relationship management is a crucial feature of order software. It enables businesses to maintain a customer database and provide excellent customer support, leading to business growth and happy customers.
   
• Vendor management
  Order management apps should provide various vendor management tools such as generating purchase orders, payment processing, communication, and documentation. The software should also enable automated order requests when the stock gets exhausted.
   
• Data analytics and reporting for better decision-making
  Businesses can gain insights and forecast demand using powerful business intelligence tools from order management solutions.

Selecting the right order management system for your business can be challenging. Use this checklist to ensure you are on the right track.

• Feasibility for your business
  Before buying the software, analyze what type of order management system your company needs and whether you need the basic plan (less priced) or higher. You must make sure that it costs well within your budget. Besides, it is feasible for your business if its deployment's profitability or Return on Investment (ROI) outweighs its cost. 
   
• Suitability for your industry
  To make the right choice, confirm the suitability of a particular order management software for your industry and business through verified reviews, and ratings from other customers.
   
• Deployment type
  Analyze whether your business requires an on-premise solution with one-time costs or a SaaS-based software with monthly fees hosted on third-party servers.
   
• Features
  Order management offers a different set of features. Before purchasing, ensuring that the solution you opt for provides all the necessary tools to manage your business’s order management process is vital.
   
• Integrations
  The software should allow for seamless integration with existing and third-party systems, such as internal accounting and Amazon eCommerce portals.
   
• Customizability and scalability
  The software must allow customization to your specific business needs and support scalability for business growth.
   
• User training and customer support
  The order management software vendor must provide user training designed to suit your business staff's needs. It must also offer prompt customer support as needed. You can confirm this by directly discussing it with the vendor and through online reviews and feedback.
   
• Vendor experience and reviews
  Choosing the right vendor is just as important as selecting the appropriate software. Compare different vendors based on their services and experience in the software market. Also, confirm the vendor’s expertise through feedback from other customers, one or more companies in the same industry as yours.
   
• Additional costs to consider
  Carefully analyze other costs involved in order management software implementation, including training, maintenance, and hand hardware costs. 
   
• Request a Demo
  Ask the vendor to perform a software demo for your relevant staff (target users) or use the free trial version (if available) to understand what exactly you will get.

The pricing of order management systems varies a lot based on numerous parameters. Here are the factors that significantly influence the cost: 

• Features it offers
• Deployment type
• Number of orders
• Number of users
• Customization

Many free order management solutions are available for users who need simple order management solutions without affecting their business budget. Some software vendors offer freemium or free versions of the top order management systems (for example, open-source order management tool Hydra OMS) that cover the basic features. They offer feature-rich packages in paid plans.

The paid packages of order management systems start for as low as $9 per month, for example, Shipstation and Dolibarr. You can get numerous reliable top-rated order management software packages for less than $99 per month; for instance, Orderhive costs $45 per month. Zoho Inventory, EMERGE App, and QuickBooks Commerce Founder package all cost just $39 per month. Some popular higher-priced order management systems include Ordant, which costs $295 per month, and Unleashed, which costs $259 per month (for up to 3 users).

Though the top order management software vendors are mostly transparent about pricing, you must check and confirm with them the hidden costs for installation, additional integrations, customer support, etc., if any.

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GoodFirms has compiled a list of the top order management system software by carefully analyzing their features and prices. We understand your business needs and offer a variety of filters to help you sort and shortlist order management solutions based on prominent features, pricing models, deployment type, devices supported, business size and more. With this list of the best-rated order management software for businesses curated by GoodFirms, you can select the right solution to take your business to new heights.