Order Orchestration: Seamless Fulfillment Across Channels

As businesses expand across multiple sales channels, cross-channel order orchestration becomes essential for seamless operations. Customers today demand flexibility at all touchpoints, whether it be online, in-store, or through marketplaces, they expect efficient order fulfillment and real-time visibility. However, fragmented processes and disconnected order management systems create bottlenecks, leading to delays, inventory issues, and poor customer experiences.

An optimized cross-channel order management system ensures that every order, regardless of source, is processed efficiently, minimizing delays and maximizing inventory accuracy. By integrating fulfillment strategies with real-time data, retailers can boost efficiency, cut costs, and enhance the customer experience. In this article, we’ll explore how businesses can leverage order orchestration to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced commerce landscape.

Receiving Orders

Let’s consider Sandra, who is looking for running shoes at a sportswear website. She finds a pair of light blue trainers she likes, adds it to her cart and proceeds to check out.

A Deloitte study revealed that 69% customers want various delivery/pick-up options. 56% customers also expected the product to reach them within 3 days.

Since the sportswear brand uses a highly configurable Order Management System, Sandra gets the option to buy online and get it delivered to her home, buy online and pick it up from a nearby store or buy in-store and get it delivered to her home etc. Based on her convenience, she chooses to get it delivered and since she’s happy with the estimated time of arrival, she makes a credit card payment, confirming the purchase. A Deloitte study revealed that 69% customers want such delivery/pick-up options. 56% customers also expected the product to reach them within 3 days.

OMS gives retailers a single view of all orders, including Sandra’s, coming in from each customer touch point such as their ecommerce website, marketplaces or offline stores etc. Retailers also get a single view of all inventory, across all departments, from sales, operations to support. This eliminates errors, reduces costs and makes fulfilment a breeze. The sportswear brand could now maximize their existing inventory, reduce turnaround time and markdowns, enabling a faster cash cycle. Visibility into payments and reconciliation also ensures the customer’s purchase intent before the product is shipped.

Getting Orders Ready

Once a customer places an order, the products chosen could be located either at a warehouse or at a physical store. Depending on the configured rules, the OMS automatically calculates the fastest or most cost-effective locations from where these products could be picked up to be delivered to the customer. By treating offline stores as mini-distribution centres, retailers could optimise their real-estate investments, and even do without warehouses in some cases.

According to Direct Marketing News, 46% consumers would stop doing business with a retailer if they were late at fulfilling an order. The sportswear brand’s OMS found the shoes Sandra wanted at an offline store near her home, allowing a faster delivery time which was important for Sandra. The retailer also managed to reduce shipping costs involved, most of which was passed on to the customer. High shipping costs can account for more than 50% cart abandonments according to comScore.

Delivering These Orders

Once the order has been placed and the optimal product pickup location is calculated, it’s time for the product to be delivered. With a single view of orders, Steve the store associate, could view Sandra’s order and pack the shoes ahead of time, keeping it ready to be shipped.

The Order Management System maps the best logistic partner available for fulfilment. Moreover, certain OMS come bundled with Logistics Management Software which helps with the optimal delivery routes from the first to the last mile, reducing costs and increasing speed.

Soon, Sandra’s shoes were picked up by Mark, the assigned delivery personnel, along with 2 other deliveries that were scheduled from the same store. With OMS, now Mark knew Sandra’s house was the closest to the store and left to deliver her package first.

Elevating Post Purchase Experience

Sandra was anxious about the delivery and called support to enquire if her order would arrive at the specified time. A single view of all orders and delivery details to all departments, from store associates to support staff, enables them all to help the customer better. As soon as she mentioned her order reference number, the support rep, Lauren, informed her that her shoes were out to be delivered. As soon as she hung up, Mark had reached Sandra with her order.

Despite delivering the perfect order, the customer may not like a product and decide to return it. In fact, return costs can account up to 40% of all goods in some industries according to Deloitte. Optimizing returns management through physical and online channels is a must for profitability. When Sandra tried her shoes on, she noticed that they were a touch too big for her, so she opts for a replacement in a smaller size from the website.

With OMS, mapping all returns, replacements and reconciliations becomes very easy for operations executives. Though the original store didn’t have the size Sandra wanted, a nearby warehouse did. OMS mapped the order to the warehouse where Mark again, picked up the shoes and delivered it to Sandra while collecting the shoes Sandra returned at the same time. Sandra’s new shoes fit her perfectly and she was now ready to hit the gym.

Does Delivering Perfection Make Business Sense?

In an era where ecommerce order fulfillment defines brand success, a strong cross-channel order management system is essential. Brands that effectively manage order orchestration across multiple channels can reduce inefficiencies, optimize inventory, and ensure customers receive their orders on time.

By investing in a robust order orchestration system, businesses can transform their fulfillment strategies, creating a frictionless, scalable, and data-driven process that adapts to consumer expectations. As retail order orchestration continues to evolve, companies that embrace innovation will set the benchmark for seamless, customer-centric commerce in 2025 and beyond.

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Kapil Raj has been writing about consumer behaviour, consumer businesses and technology in the fintech and IT space.