FEDERAL
COLLEGE OF FISHERIES AND MARINE
TECHNOLOGY
VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS
DEPARTMENT OF
MARITIME TRANSPORT AND
BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT
COURSE TITTLE:
ORDER MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (OMS)
TERM PAPER ON
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CRM)
PREPARED BY GROUP 09:
NGWU KINSLEY
OBADARE MARY FAYOKEMI
OBAREMI DESMOND
OBIAKOR PRECIOUS OGECHUKWU
LEVEL: HND I
LECTURER IN
CHARGE: MR. EHIME
INTRODUCTION
An order management system (OMS) is
an electronic system developed to execute securities orders in an efficient and
cost-effective manner. Brokers and dealers use order management systems when
filling orders for various types of securities and are able to track the
progress of each order throughout the system.
An OMS is also referred to as a
Trade Order Management System.
BREAKING
DOWN 'ORDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - OMS'
To execute a buy or sell order for
a security, an order has to be placed on a trading system. An order typically
contains information such as security identifier (e.g. ticker), order type
(buy, sell, or short), order size, order limit (e.g. market, limit, stop,
etc.), order instructions (e.g. day order, fill or kill , good-till-canceled,
etc.), order transmission (broker, ECN , ATC, etc.), etc.
An order management system (OMS) is
a software system that facilitates and manages the execution of trade orders
through the FIX protocol. FIX, or Financial Information exchange, protocol is
an electronic communications protocol used to communicate international
real-time exchange of information related to the trillions of dollars of
securities transactions and markets. However, communicating transactions can
also be done through the use of a custom application programming interface
(API). The FIX protocol links hedge funds and investment firms to hundreds of
counterparties around the world using the OMS.
The OMS can be used on both the
buy-side and sell-side to allow firms manage the lifecycle of their trades, and
automate and streamline investments across their portfolios. Typically, only
exchange members can connect directly to an exchange, which means that a
sell-side OMS usually has exchange connectivity, whereas buy-side an OMS is
concerned with connecting to sell-side firms. When an order is executed on the
sell-side, the sell-side OMS must then update its state and send an execution
report to the order's originating firm. An OMS should also allow firms to
access information on orders entered into the system, including detail on all
open orders and on previously completed orders. The Order Management System
supports portfolio management by translating intended asset allocation actions
into marketable orders for the buy-side.
Some order management systems offer
real time trading solutions which allows the user to watch market prices and
execute orders in multiple exchanges and markets instantaneously by real time
price streaming. Some of the benefits that firms can achieve from an order management
system include managing orders, allocations and executions across asset classes
from a single platform; automating pre-, intra- and post-trade compliance
checks; tracking and reporting on the full lifecycle of a firm’s orders; etc.
OMS are an important development in
the securities industry because of the significant cost savings they provide to
investment firms. Many versions of OMSs have been developed by various firms
looking to capitalize on the increased spending made on these systems.
Having talked about sales order
management software with a wide range of wholesale brands and their sales
teams, we’ve been able to gain a good sense of the questions that we get most
often from people either being introduced to or considering the tool for their
business.
In this post, we want to clearly
address those questions. If you’re not sure what sales order management
technology is, or how it will help your wholesale business succeed, find out
what you need to know below:
Sales
Order Management Software FAQs
1. What is sales order management
software?
At the most basic level, sales
order management (SOM) software allows brands to write and fulfill orders more
easily and efficiently. It’s a comprehensive order management solution that
includes mobile order writing, web order management, B2B ecommerce, and the
ability to integrate with your back office systems (typically, your ERP).
Brands who choose to adopt sales
order management software are typically replacing a manual pen and paper order
writing process or transitioning from a failed internal solution that has
become too unwieldy to manage. The star of SOM software is the mobile order
writing app, which allows sales reps to place orders at field appointments and
trade shows.
The app typically includes the ability
to showcase products using a digital catalog interface, detailed product
information (including descriptions and images), the brand’s customer list, and
customer order history. Preferably, it also gives you access to the inventory
levels of each of your products, so that reps can sell more intelligently.
The web portion of sales order
management software is an interface for a customer service team to receive,
modify and confirm orders that were written in the field. It’s also the place
where brands set up the software, make product and customer edits, and even
write orders on the web.
Ideally, your sales order
management solution also includes a B2B ecommerce component that allows your
retailers to log in at their convenience, view your product line, and place
orders any time.
2.
How is Sales Order Management different from ERPs and CRMs?
Because SOM involves your order and
customer data, we often get questions on how it differs from ERP and CRM
software. CRM, or Customer Relationship Management software, is a system for
managing a company’s current and future interactions with customers. It’s a
robust system that’s optimized for pipeline management, data aggregation across
large sets of contacts, and reporting and oversight.
Sales force is the most popular
CRM. While you can upload access and update your customer information in SOM
software, it is definitely not a CRM. While CRM offers great utility, it’s
missing one of (if not the most) critical offering of an SOM system – order
writing functionality. While some companies attempt to use their CRM to write
sales orders, these workarounds consistently come up short.
An ERP, or Enterprise Resource
Planning system, is a collection of hard facts about financial or inventory
events. It’s what a brand runs its business on. While there is a fairly good
chance a wholesale brand doesn’t use a CRM, there’s a very slim chance that
they’re not using an ERP. ERPs range from smaller systems like QuickBooks to
complex beasts like SAP and Oracle. An invoice is to the ERP as a sales order
is to SOM.
While an invoice is a hard fact, a
sales order hasn’t happened yet. It’s a conversation about a transaction
between your business and a customer; it can change in any number of ways
before it becomes an invoice. Only then does your ERP enter the picture. To
summarize, we have a concept we call “The Three Orders” that describes the
differences between these systems at a very fundamental level. Order number
one, yesterday’s order, is served by the ERP market. It’s a representation of
past business. Order two, represented by CRMs, is tomorrow’s order – a
prediction of what a customer-specific order will probably look like based on
the data you synthesize from your CRM. Order three, represented by SOM, is
today’s order – the order you’re writing right now.
3.
How will sales order management software impact my business?
The impact of sales order
management will of course depend on your current sales process, the adoption of
the technology across your sales team, and your level of integration.
Regardless, almost all businesses will see major operational and revenue growth
impacts after implementation:
INCREASE
IN SALES ORDERS WRITTEN
Because order writing is much
faster with sales order management software, field reps are able to visit more
customers in a day. In a trade show environment, reps can handle a higher
volume of customers without losing opportunities based on queuing.
Faster
order processing and fulfillment.
Because sales order management
software involves an instantaneous sync of orders from sales reps in the field
directly to their office, order confirmation, processing and fulfillment can be
immediate. This is a major contrast to previous methods of manual order writing
that rely on email, fax, or in person delivery, and are often illegible.
Reduction in order processing
costs. Whether it’s cutting out the costs and overhead related to manual order
writing (catalog and sample production, paper order forms, shipping costs,
etc.) or man hours related to order reentry, brands see big operational cost
savings after adopting SOM software.
Increase
in customer retention.
Retailers prefer to do business
with brands with a faster, more efficient and modern selling process. SOM also
arms reps with customer intelligence and reporting that elevates their status
in the eyes of the retailer, where they value the rep not just as a vendor, but
as a business partner.
If you have more specific questions
about sales order management, check out the other posts on the Handshake Blog,
where we talk more specifically about the use cases of SOM software, as well
technology’s expanding role in the wholesale industry.
The
Best Order Management Systems
According to Monsoon Commerce, if
you’re processing more than 10 orders a day – you should be using an order
management system. While you probably don’t need a full-fledged ERP system like
NetSuite yet, there are systems created for small to medium sized businesses.
This blog post will compare and
contrast the best order management systems for your business. The order
management systems we looked at are:
·
Ordoro
·
CrazyVendor
·
TradeGecko
·
Newgistics
·
Freestyle Solutions (formerly Dydacomp)
How
to Choose an Order Management System
When looking into order management
systems, it can be difficult to decipher what is actually important to you.
Many companies have a long list of features. You have to determine which of
those features are important and which are “filler” features.
These are the areas you should pay
attention to when choosing your order management system:
Price
: The lowest tier pricing plan available.
Order
Amount : The amount of orders you can process a month.
Users:
The amount of users you can have on the system.
Support:
The support plan for each organization.
Shipping:
Whether or not the system has a shipping solution.
Inventory:
Whether or not the system has an inventory management solution. Comparison of
the Top 5 Order Management Systems
The
Best Order Management System for You Ordoro
https://www.ordoro.com
Ordoro is first and foremost a
shipping app. They can also sync your inventory across all your sales channels
so you don’t oversell. Adding advanced order management capabilities like this
gives sellers all the tools they need in one place.
Retailers can process orders as
they are placed by customers. Ordoro automatically dispatches orders to your
suppliers or draws from on-hand inventory. You then can generate and print
shipping labels. All that’s left for you to do is to pack and ship.
The main drawback to Ordoro is that
they limit the amount of orders allotted to you. If you’re a seller currently
processing less than 500 orders a month, Ordoro is a good choice for you.
CrazyVendor
http://www.crazyvendor.com
CrazyVendor allows you to
significantly cut down your time spent laboring over order management. Their
web-based service lets you manage your online orders in one place. You’ll be
able to synchronize your stock levels. You can then customize and print your
shipping labels for orders.
Other retailers also seem to like
CrazyVendor. Users on both Capterra and Trust Pilot are very pleased with this
order management system.
CrazyVendor is the only
organization on this list that gives you unlimited users at any pricing tier.
Unfortunately, the amount of orders you can process is limited. CrazyVedor is a
great order management system for an organization who needs multiple users and
isn’t getting a substantial amount of orders yet.
TradeGecko
http://www.tradegecko.com
TradeGecko’s origin story is very
similar to other companies you see in this market; someone in retail got sick
of doing things the hard way and decided to do something about it. They offer
both inventory and order management from a centralized location for all of your
sales channels. You’ll also be able to automate and control your order fulfillment
process.
TradeGecko is the most robust
platform for companies seeking inventory and order management. Unfortunately,
they do not offer automatic shipping solutions. You’ll have to integrate
TradeGecko with ShipStation, who does shipping.
Some new features also include a
B2B eCommerce platform and TradeGecko for Sales mobile app. Sellers can now
branch out into wholesaling with customized eCommerce storefronts. Their iOS
sales tool is a great tool for sales team members at trade shows when meeting
customers
The best part of TradeGecko is that
they offer unlimited orders. Beware though, one of their sales representatives
did state that their system would slow down with an excessive amount of orders.
So, that’s something you need to specifically ask about when considering
TradeGecko.
Newgistics
http://www.newgistics.com
Newgistics provides online order
fulfillment and returns services. Recently though, they entered into a
technology-selling agreements with Manhattan Associates, Inc, a well-known provider
of order management technology. This relationships establishes Newgistics as a
one-stop eCommerce solution for online retailers.
With Newgisitcs, sellers can manage
their inventory and orders across all their sales channels. You’ll have
visibility into your inventory across your company. Retailers can also source
orders from distribution center, stores, or drop-ship vendors. Newgistics then
provides its robust fulfillment and logistics expertise.
If you’re looking for an end-to-end
solution, Newgistics might be for you.
Freestyle
Solutions
http://www.freestylesolutions.com
As of March 2015, Dydacomp, a web
based inventory and order management system, is now called Freestyle Solutions.
The corporate name change is to reference the business’s commitment to its
cloud-based eCommerce platform. Freestyle Solutions integrates with your
webstore, marketplaces, and shipping platforms. They help multichannel sellers
automate their order fulfillment process.
Online retailers can manage their
inventory and orders in one place and streamline their order processing. You
can sync your stock levels across your channels. Sellers then can integrate the
shipping process, with both shipment tracking and drop ship capabilities.
Additionally, Freestyle Solutions
also offers business intelligence, customer management and accounting
capabilities. Users can take advantage of Freestyle Solutions’s system without
being charged by number of users, channels, or SKUs.
If you’re a growing online
retailer, this could be a good choice for you.
(If you’re looking for an
on-premise option, you can still check out their Multichannel Order Management,
or M.O.M solution associated with Dydacomp.)
What
to do next
Choosing an order management system
is the first step in simplifying your retail processes. This list of systems
can help you narrow and focus your research on solutions that can work for your
business. Stop spending time manually handling the entire order process.
Instead center your business on your customers’ experiences.
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Vshah
2 years ago
Nice job to gather all
companies....I am checking internet and found a company name with
Orderhive.....I think you have to add it....This company have mention very good
things, you should go through its website, check its features and list at your
next blog or here.
This is my personal opinion....
Thank you!
Vishant Shah
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Amount Users
Ordoro $25/mo 500 1
CrazyVendor $39/mo 100 Unlimited
TradeGecko $79/mo Unlimited 2
Newgistics N/A N/A N/A
Freestyle Solutions $99/mo
Unlimited 1