Should You Use Your eCommerce Platform as an OMS?

Isaiah Bollinger

Isaiah Bollinger

Many businesses use several different systems to manage or take orders. Often times this creates a major problem when a company starts taking orders online or takes a larger percentage of orders online. Some businesses end up using their eCommerce system as the order management system for all of their online orders and in some cases all of their orders as a business, including non-eCommerce orders.
Is it a good idea to use your eCommerce platform as an OMS? Well, that really depends. Depending on your size, budget, growth, the volume of orders, number of places orders are being placed, and many other factors may determine whether this makes sense or not.
In most cases, I would not suggest using an eCommerce system as an OMS and rather a dedicated OMS system like OrderLogix or an ERP system like Microsoft Dynamics to manage orders.
However, if your business is small and is less than a few million dollars in revenue, than using a system like WooCommerce, Magento, Shopify, or another popular eCommerce platform as an OMS might make sense. In the case of Shopify you could simply use Shopify as the eCommerce platform and their POS system for in-store sales so that all orders are connected.
Some things that may influence you to consider using your eCommerce website as an OMS:

  • Your small and don’t want to invest in both an OMS and eCommerce platform
  • All your orders are placed on your website
  • Your website serves as the main place for customers to view their order history
  • Your website is closely tied with your fulfillment and inventory

Some reasons you should not use your eCommerce website as an OMS

  • You fulfill orders from many different warehouses
  • You take orders from many different places: marketplaces, website, POS / in store, phone orders, etc…
  • Your orders go through a very complex fulfillment process such as a manufacturing process
  • You leverage inventory that is your own and also drop ship with other providers

If you have complex operations and your orders, inventory, and the overall process of fulfillment is very complex, you should probably look into an OMS system like Hublogix that can integrate with multiple warehouses or do what you need to do to manage complex order fulfillment.
Ultimately I would suggest not using your website as an OMS because you will likely be taking orders in many different ways as your company grows, and a platform like WooCommerce, Magento, or Shopify is not really an OMS system, even though they have some of that functionality. If you are small and want to keep things simple/cost effective, then go for it, but if you can afford it look for a system like some of the below that can easily integrate with your eCommerce platform.

Some order management systems to consider:

TradeGecko: TradeGecko is a great company that offers a modern SaaS platform for inventory and order management at a reasonable monthly cost.
Freestyle Solutions: Formerly a full blown ERP system, Freestyle Solutions is now a modern SaaS order management and ERP platform that can manage your business operations and orders.
Hublogix: Hublogix is an innovative Multi-warehouse fulfillment software as a service provider that can optimize the routing of your orders so that you are providing the fastest fulfillment possible.
Shipstation: Shipstation is mostly known for being an eCommerce fulfillment software but could be used as an OMS depending on your business operations.
Orderlogix: Orderlogix is an interesting OMS that offers call center integrations as well as subscription ordering capabilities. If you take on call center orders and subscriptions, it could be a great fit.
Bright Pearl: Bright Pearl is an OmniChannel retail management software that manages orders and can help retailers scale their operations at a reasonable monthly cost.
Netsuite: Netsuite is one of the leading ERP companies but can also act as an OMS. If you need a very good OMS and overall ERP system to manage your entire business, Netsuite could be the right choice. Definitely on the more expensive side but also a more powerful application than most OMS systems.
Monsoon Commerce: Monsoon Commerce is great for multi-channel sales on marketplaces, your eCommerce website, and more.

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