A 2022 report by Shopify revealed that 51% of North American customers demand omnichannel shopping experiences.
Although this demand offers a unique opportunity, it also presents a challenge. 47% of retailers believe unifying business operations and data to create a seamless online experience will challenge their organization in the future.
A Magento order management system helps you overcome this challenge. It empowers you to consolidate sales channels and reduce administration costs.
This guide explores the basics of Magento order management systems and shares tips for choosing the best platform for your business.
Here’s what we cover:
- Order Management Systems Explained
- Benefits of Using a Magento Order Management System
- How To Choose a Magento Order Management System
- Best Magento Order Management Platforms: Top 3 Choices
- Final Thoughts: Best Magento Order Management Platforms
Order Management Systems Explained
An order management system is an all-in-one integration hub that simplifies managing sales, customer service, inventory, and orders across multiple channels. It unifies sales channels and lays the foundation for a seamless customer experience.
For instance, Adobe offers a collection of open source modules called the Magento Order Management System (OMS), which adds the following features to a Magento store:
- Distributed order management.
- Inventory sourcing.
- Store fulfillment.
- Integrations with customer service tools.
- Mobile point-of-sale (POS) system.
- Business intelligence features.
Magento OMS is the most well-known order management platform for Magento. But, there are other platforms you can use.
Before we discuss those platforms, let’s explore the benefits of Magento order management systems.
Benefits of Using a Magento Order Management System
Here’s how implementing a Magento order management system optimizes your processes and benefits your ecommerce business.
Access a Single Source of Truth
Order management systems merge data from nearly every process and system involved in the order lifecycle. They provide real-time insights into business processes and help identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
You don’t need to jump between applications or worry about inventory problems. You can access all the information you need to run and grow your online business from a single location.
Streamline Order Fulfillment and Returns Processing
Consolidating your business data with an order management system enables you to implement automation to streamline order fulfillment. You don’t need to worry about manual data entry and expensive human errors.
Additionally, automation also enables you to provide customers with real-time order updates. You can configure automated email notifications that update customers as their order status changes from received to processed, packed, dispatched, and delivered.
Improve Organizational Productivity
With centralized business data and automation, your employees will have more time to focus on tasks that help you further your business goals. That’s important because Asana’s 2022 survey reveals that workers lose 58% of their workday on menial tasks.
Automating repetitive tasks with a Magento order management system helps you improve organizational productivity and boost employee morale.
Offer a Seamless Omnichannel Experience
Order management systems simplify implementing a flawless omnichannel strategy and boost customer satisfaction. As a result, your customers can engage with your business from any channel they want.
For instance, they can place an order online and pick it up from your brick-and-mortar store. Similarly, they can also return orders purchased through your website by walking into your offline store.
How To Choose a Magento Order Management System
Order management is a fundamental part of the online shopping experience. It impacts everything from customer experience to profit margins and long-term business goals.
Here’s how you can choose the best Magento order management platform for your business.
Identify Your Business Needs
Before exploring order management systems, it’s important to understand your business needs.
Answer these questions to identify essential features:
- What is your business model?
- What does your order processing workflow look like?
- What applications will you be integrating with your OMS?
- Do you need multi-device compatibility?
Outline a Budget
Next, it’s time to outline a budget for your OMS implementation. Look beyond the cost of the order management system itself since it’s likely that not all systems will support the software your business relies on.
Consider things like integration costs and the costs of potential downtime, if any, that will add to the total implementation costs.
Compare Features
With a clear idea of the features you need and your budget, it’s time to compare your options. Start by listing your top choices and comparing each order management system based on its features and benefits to your business.
Look for features like:
- Customizable business rules.
- Inventory management features.
- In-built automation.
- Default integrations.
Check Support Options
By now, you’ll likely have your top two or three choices. The best way to shortlist which one’s right for your needs is to look at each vendor's support channels.
It’s likely that when you’re integrating the system with Magento 2, things will go wrong at some point. So, it helps to choose a service provider that offers support across multiple channels, such as chat and email, so you can access help when needed.
Best Magento Order Management Platforms: Top 3 Choices
Here are the best order management platforms you can use for Magento 2.
Magento Order Management by Magestore
Magento Order Management by Magestore offers a fully-integrated system for order fulfillment. It supports tracking orders across sales channels and warehouses and streamlines order processing with a customizable system that can adapt to suit your business needs.
Key Features:
- Advanced order fulfillment with barcode scanning technology support.
- In-store and curbside pickups.
- Supports dropship and order fulfillment.
- Real-time order updates.
Best Magento Order Management Platform for: Online retailers who need dropshipping functionality.
Pricing: Pricing available on request.
Order Management Suite by Amasty
The Order Management Suite by Amasty offers a unique set of features that enhance Magento’s default functionality. It supports custom order attributes, numbers, and statuses and lets you customize the ordering flow to gather customer information.
Key Features:
- Bulk order processing with mass actions.
- Magento orders grid customization.
- Custom order attributes, numbers, and statuses.
- Order segmentation and filtering.
Best Magento Order Management Platform for: Ecommerce retailers who want a little more than Magento’s basic functionality.
Pricing: Starts from $999 for the first year.
Order Management Extension for Magento 2 by Mageworx
Mageworx’s order management extension for Magento 2 offers useful order management features at a competitive price. It lets you edit orders, control staff access levels, and offers REST API support for seamless third-party integrations.
Key Features:
- Edit and delete orders.
- Bulk order actions.
- Magento 2 API support.
- External data synchronization using webhooks.
Best Magento Order Management Platform for: Merchants who need third-party integration support.
Pricing: Starts from $199 for the first year.
Final Thoughts: Best Magento Order Management Platforms
Integrating a Magento order management system with your online store empowers you to:
- Manage inventory, orders, and returns from a single dashboard.
- Address customer queries quickly.
- Access deeper insights into your business activities.
- Keep up with evolving customer expectations.
- Sell across multiple channels.
But it’s important to remember that adding Magento order management software to your store will increase the demands on your server. Make sure you’re using a reliable host that can scale to meet your growing business needs.
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