Top 9 Order Management Integrations
May 1, 2017 by The Bridge Solutions Group Team
The true power of a distributed order management application comes from the integration of information across multiple channels. While the Sales Order might be the central focus, just as important are inventory visibility, and integration with external services such as tax solutions and credit card processing services.
Below is a list of the 9 most common order management integrations:
- eCommerce Application – Captures online orders from customers. Order management can be used to display inventory availability and shipment status for online orders.
Vendors include: IBM Digital Commerce/Websphere, Magento Commerce, SAP Hybris - ERP/Financial Master – Captures updates to inventory and sales affecting company finances.
Vendors include: SAP, Infor, Epicor - Payment Gateway – Processes credit card transactions.
Vendors include: Cybersource, Chase Paymentech - Warehouse Management System (WMS) – Manages the inventory and process in the warehouse.
Vendors include: JDA, Manhattan Associates, Softeon - Taxation Service – Calculates tax based on the ship to address and final value of the product after discounts.
Vendors include: Avalara - Point of Sales (POS) / Store Application – Manages inventory and payments for cash and carry orders at a store, and allows the order management system to provide in-store inventory availability to online customers, and enable multi-channel returns.
Vendors Include: NCR, Toshiba - Product Information Management (PIM) / Item Master – While most order management systems have their own catalog, as do ERP systems, the PIM provides a more robust item master that can include additional images, video, and other digital content which can be associated with increased conversion rates.
Vendors include: Enterworks - Email Management – While most OMS applications include the capability to email order creation and shipment status information to the customer, most business leverage their existing email tool for this activity to ensure a consistent branded experience.
Vendors include: IBM Watson Campaign Automation, Salesforce Pardot, Oracle Eloqua, Marketo - Parcel Adaptor – Estimate the shipping costs for an order and routes the order to the appropriate carrier so businesses can provide accurate shipping charges to the customer or fulfill using the cheapest delivery method to contain costs.
Vendors include: ProShip, Pitney Bowes Sendsuite, Centiro
There are certainly more Distributed Order Management System integrations, but these are the ones that we see as core. Once you’ve defined your integrations, how do you integrate optimally?
Optimal Integration Considerations
How you integrate depends on many factors, but you may want to consider the following:
- Will my integration vendors ever change? If so, you may want to consider using an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) for ease of long term integration management.
- Which system should be my item master?
- How often should different systems update each other (batch, trickle feeds, etc.)?
If you’re not sure of the best order management integration strategy for your business, we’d be happy to conduct an Order Management Integration Assessment. Simply complete the form below.
Filed under: Blog, Omnichannel, Supply Chain
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