The question about whether or not your ecommerce store needs an order management system is an easy one to answer: yes. Once you’ve established that you would indeed benefit from implementing an OMS into your current business model, the next question is “which OMS should I use?”
There are tons to choose from, so you need to establish your business goals and find an OMS that aligns with those. Once you’ve find the proper one for you, the work doesn’t stop there. Next, it’s time to actually implement the OMS throughout your business. This can be difficult, especially if you are stuck in the past and not stellar with technology.
We are here to help you along the way. Follow these 4 tips for successfully implementing a new order management system into your ecommerce business.
Understand Your Environment
The first step in adding an OMS is to take stock of your current business and figure out where it stands with current technology. What is your current system capable of? What are its limitations? Are the current systems and softwares able to handle integrating a new OMS as they are now?
The main goal here is to identify weak areas that need improvement; make those improvements before you try implementing the new OMS. These weak areas could hinder how the OMS functions, so it is a good idea to determine what those weak areas are ahead of time.
Have Realistic Expectations
You can’t expect everything to be hunky dory as soon as you have the OMS installed and ready to go. There could be hitches in its functionality at first as you and your employees get used to how it works. According to OrderDynamics Corp, “you need to clearly define specific objectives for your OMS implementation. This will help ensure that expectations are met across the organization.”
Establish Dedicated Team Members for the OMS Implementation
No matter if you’ve partnered with an outside OMS integration team or you’re internally managing the project, you need to establish early on who is in charge of the process. These team members will be responsible for every aspect of the OMS integration process.
A huge barrier will be managing the changes that occur from implementation, so there needs to be someone providing support. This person (or people) will give the necessary support and feedback on how to use the new system as effectively as possible.
There should be extensive testing involved
Once everything is installed, each aspect of the new system needs to undergo an extensive testing phase. Tests should be performed to measure the functionality of the new system with features of your old system. Before you entirely abandon the old system, you should being doing lots of tests.
The testing phase is the ideal time to get your employees familiar with the OMS and how it works. While the training and testing period is taking place, you’ll still be able to utilize your old system just in case things don’t go your way the first time around.
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