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.

SUBSCRIBE:

Get advice and best practices about eCommerce, multichannel, retail, and more, delivered right to your inbox, every Monday. Start your work week with us.

Sign up for Multichannel Insights!

SHARE:

RELATED ARTICLES

Join The Conversation

Sorry, the browser you are using is not currently supported. Disqus actively supports the following browsers:

Firefox

Chrome

Internet Explorer 11+

Safari

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

Learn more about nChannel!

We help any merchant sell any product through any channel.

Find out how .

BY TOPIC

Business Performance

Customer Experience Management

Market Expansion

Merchandising

Supply Chain Management

BY AUTHOR

Alex McEachern

Chris Brown

Emma Miller

Jake Rheude

James “Jimmie” Kissel

Jeff Grundey

Jillian Hufford

John Haselden

Liz Carpenter

Matt Osborn

Multichannel Insights Guest Author

nChannel Event

Renee Garner

Robert Rand

Ryan Lunka

Shilpa Marano

Steve Weber Company Price Order 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