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Order management

Operations11/27/2025Intermediate Level

Order management encompasses the entire process of receiving, tracking, and fulfilling customer orders, from placement to delivery and post-purchase support. It ensures efficient operations and customer satisfaction.

What is Order management? (Definition)

Order management refers to the systematic process of handling customer orders from the moment they are placed until they are successfully delivered and beyond. This comprehensive cycle includes order entry, inventory allocation, order fulfillment, shipping, and customer service. Effective order management integrates various business functions to streamline operations and ensure a smooth customer experience. The process typically involves an Order Management System (OMS) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that centralizes order data. These systems manage different order types, track their status in real-time, and coordinate with other departments like warehousing, logistics, and customer support. The goal is to process orders accurately and quickly, minimizing errors and delays.

Why Order management is Important for E-commerce

For e-commerce businesses, robust order management is fundamental to operational efficiency and customer retention. A streamlined order process directly impacts customer satisfaction, as prompt and accurate deliveries build trust and encourage repeat purchases. Poor order management leads to stockouts, shipping errors, and delayed deliveries, damaging brand reputation and increasing customer churn. Efficient order management also reduces operational costs by optimizing inventory levels, minimizing manual errors, and improving warehouse efficiency. It provides valuable data for forecasting demand, managing returns, and identifying bottlenecks in the supply chain. Businesses can scale their operations more effectively, handle peak seasons, and expand into new markets with a well-defined and automated order management strategy.

Examples of Order management

  • 1A customer places an order on an e-commerce website; the OMS automatically checks inventory, processes payment, and sends the order to the warehouse for picking.
  • 2An online fashion retailer uses an OMS to manage orders across its website, mobile app, and physical stores, ensuring inventory is accurately reflected in all channels.
  • 3During a sales event, the order management system handles a surge in orders, prioritizing express shipping requests and updating customers on delivery status via automated emails.
  • 4A B2B supplier uses order management to track complex custom orders, coordinating multiple production stages and delivery timelines with the client.

How WISEPIM Helps

  • Accurate Product Data to OMS: WISEPIM ensures all product information, including SKUs, descriptions, images, and pricing, is accurate and up-to-date before being fed to the OMS, preventing order discrepancies.
  • Consistent Product Information Across Channels: By centralizing product data, WISEPIM guarantees that product details displayed on the e-commerce storefront match the information used by the order management system, reducing returns due to misinformation.
  • Improved Product Data Quality for Returns: When a return occurs, WISEPIM provides the OMS with enriched product data, helping customer service agents quickly identify products and process returns or exchanges based on accurate specifications.
  • Faster Product Onboarding for Orderability: WISEPIM accelerates the process of enriching new product data, making products available for sale and order processing much faster once they are ready for market.

Common Mistakes with Order management

  • Relying on manual data entry across multiple systems, leading to errors, delays, and inconsistent order information.
  • Operating with disconnected systems (e.g., separate inventory, shipping, and CRM), which creates data silos and hinders a unified view of the customer and order.
  • Lacking real-time inventory visibility, resulting in overselling, backorders, and customer dissatisfaction due to unfulfilled expectations.
  • Neglecting to standardize fulfillment processes, causing inefficiencies, varying service levels, and higher operational costs.
  • Failing to integrate post-purchase customer service feedback into the order management process, missing opportunities for continuous improvement and proactive issue resolution.

Tips for Order management

  • Implement a dedicated Order Management System (OMS) to centralize order data, automate workflows, and provide a single source of truth for all orders.
  • Integrate your OMS with your PIM, ERP, WMS, and CRM systems to ensure seamless data flow, accurate inventory, and a comprehensive customer view.
  • Define and standardize clear, repeatable order fulfillment processes to minimize errors, improve efficiency, and maintain consistent service levels.
  • Leverage automation for routine tasks such as order status updates, shipping label generation, and basic customer inquiries to free up staff for complex issues.
  • Regularly analyze order data, fulfillment metrics, and customer feedback to identify bottlenecks, optimize processes, and enhance the overall customer experience.

Trends Surrounding Order management

  • AI-driven demand forecasting and inventory optimization for more accurate stock levels and proactive order fulfillment.
  • Increased automation of order routing, fraud detection, and returns processing to reduce manual effort and accelerate cycle times.
  • Emphasis on sustainable shipping options, optimized packaging, and localized fulfillment to meet growing consumer demand for eco-friendly practices.
  • Integration with headless commerce architectures, allowing for flexible fulfillment logic and seamless customer experiences across diverse touchpoints.
  • Predictive analytics for identifying potential order fulfillment issues before they impact the customer, enabling proactive problem resolution.

Tools for Order management

  • WISEPIM: Essential for managing rich product information that fuels accurate order processing, customer service interactions, and returns management, ensuring product data consistency across all channels.
  • Shopify Plus: Offers robust integrated order management capabilities for e-commerce businesses, including order tracking, fulfillment, and basic inventory management.
  • Magento (Adobe Commerce): Provides comprehensive order management features, allowing businesses to manage orders, shipments, returns, and customer accounts within its e-commerce platform.
  • NetSuite OMS: A cloud-based solution that offers advanced order and inventory management, global fulfillment, and financial integration for complex operations.
  • Brightpearl: A retail operating system that integrates OMS, PIM, WMS, and accounting functionalities, designed to streamline operations for growing retailers.

Related Terms

inventory-managementsupply-chain-managementproduct-information-managemententerprise-resource-planningfulfillmentproduct-data

Also Known As

Order fulfillment managementorder processingorder lifecycle management