Order fulfillment now defines what makes or breaks a good digital buying experience. Managing incoming orders personally is okay. However, it becomes more challenging when you start getting around 40 orders a day. Because manually keeping a record of the SKUs and quantities of each order is difficult. This is where order management software (OMS) plays an important role.

Global retail e-commerce sales reached over $6 trillion last year. Experts predict continued expansion, estimated to reach around $7.8 trillion by 2028. Source

Let’s define an order management system and discuss its benefits for your business.

Order Management System: What is it?

To put it simply, an order management system is online software that helps you manage your orders by synchronizing with your inventory. It allows you to automate the workflow, reducing manual work, and thus streamlining your order management process. Also, it helps speed up automation for service providers and collect all the data they have in a user-friendly interface. Cloud-based solutions have become indispensable and a new standard requirement if your business has ambition. Data accessible via spreadsheets is inadequate, outdated, and often more time-consuming and error-prone than employing a more modern, integrated solution such as MetaShip. MetaShip is a full package for businesses looking for cloud solutions, with the integration of Dynamics 365 Business Central it becomes more compatible in this competitive market.

How Does an Order Management System Work?

There is no one standard across the board, and each company has its way of doing fulfillment, which can differ depending on the customer, location, return method, and seller. But broadly speaking, they will all conform to a similar outline.

Example order-fulfilment process:

1. A company receives a sales order from a customer.
2. The order is then entered into the company’s system and the order process begins.
3. Customers will receive notification that their order has been accepted.
4. The order is shipped to the closest storage center/warehouse.
5. An employee will pick up the order.
6. The order is prepared for shipping with shipping labels.
7. The order is then shipped.
8. The customer is notified of the delivery being shipped.
9. The order completes its journey at the customer’s chosen delivery location.

Benefits of an Order Management System

OMS Software also known as order tracking software helps businesses manage orders from start to finish. It can help businesses fulfill orders more accurately and efficiently, and improve customer satisfaction. It is designed to make compliance as efficient, cost-effective, and automated as possible.

Benefits of an OMS

Inventory visibility: It offers insight into where inventory is located and how much of it is available. This assists the companies in avoiding stockouts and overstocking.

• Order Accuracy: Automation increases order fulfillment accuracy.
• Ensured Quicker Order Fulfillment: Businesses can deliver orders more quickly and accurately.
• Better Warehouse Operations: The warehouse operations could be made efficient and organized.
• Reduced Paperwork: The scope of paperwork can be reduced.
• Customized Reporting: Businesses can also build up customized reports and documents.
• Centralized Platform: Companies can integrate all their sales channels from one centralized platform.
• Better Customer Satisfaction: Automation helps you improve the accuracy of order fulfillment, which subsequently helps with high customer satisfaction.
• Enhanced Sales Process: An OMS facilitates all the phases in the sales process of a company.

However, an OMS can integrate with other business platforms, making it a central platform for order management, billing, and accounting. According to research conducted by an IDC, 50% of consumers trust that a retail brand’s sustainability record is an essential factor in picking with whom to do business. In 2025, e-commerce businesses are looking forward to everything related to their packaging and shipping to their manufacturing and warehousing facilities to calculate their emissions standards and identify opportunities to increase them.

The Main Sustainability Practices For e-Commerce Businesses Consist Of:

Eco-friendly packaging: The transition toward eco-friendly packaging by many companies utilizes biodegradable recyclable and reusable packaging to appeal to eco-conscious consumers.

Carbon-neutral shipping: Businesses neutralize shipping emissions through carbon offset programs that enable customers to select slower environmentally friendly delivery packages as part of their purchasing process.

Sustainable sourcing and production: Businesses are dedicating themselves to sustainable resource procurement and environmentally-conscious production while implementing fair labor policies that reduce energy usage throughout their entire supply chain.

Sustainability within e-commerce will have its day as an industry focus by 2025 because numerous commerce brands will start implementing green initiatives

eCommerce Order Management Challenges

Order management in e-commerce requires serious thinking to keep your business strong and sturdy online. When choosing an eCommerce order management solution keeping the below challenges in mind is very important:

Data Gaps and Inconsistencies:

As your eCommerce business expands across markets and channels, the risk of data gaps and discrepancies increases. We cannot allow mistakes and inconsistencies to arise due to human errors and unsteady logic that cause challenges, including order cancellation and a broken customer experience. Analytics tools for improved system performance and enhanced customer satisfaction, identifying and fixing these data gaps is essential to using analytics tools to improve system performance and customer satisfaction.

Syncing Wastage:

When users in different places access your order management system, effective communication is a must. Disruption of operational efficiency due to inaccurate bi-directional data syncing, especially product inventory, pricing, and discounts. Since slow or incorrect syncing can cause shipping and ordering errors, this can ultimately mean higher operational costs. This problem needs a full tech stack for bi-directional syncing. This guarantees the fidelity and timeliness of data communication.

Challenges with Bulk and Multi-Package Orders:

Bulk and multi-package orders are the lifeblood of business expansion, but not every order management system supports these orders without issues. Systems that neglect these intricacies may require manual intervention, causing headaches, particularly for refund policies. Whereas, MetaShip’s business central multi shipment, you can create multi packing of orders with a single shipment in bulk which helps to reduce, reducing errors, and ensure customer satisfaction.

Restricted Customisability:

Standardization benefits from order management systems come with limited customization options that adapt to individual company models and their customer requirements. The main difficulty emerges because these platforms do not provide enough customization options. Businesses must achieve harmony between their need for standard processes and individual customization requirements. Your business will benefit from opt-in customized changes implementing your model requirements when using systems that maintain a standard order management foundation.

Improper Integration with External Tools:

The success of current businesses in multi-channel distribution relies heavily on complete integration with business tools from external sources. Company operations and customer multi-channel support experience suffer when integration across systems remains incomplete or various components fail to work together properly. A solution to this challenge exists in selecting order management systems that combine naturally with external tools for delivering a unified Multi-channel experience.

Poor Service and Support:

Implementing an order management system would be impeded when staff performs subpar service and support administration roles. The integration process becomes especially demanding for enterprises because they must link their order management system to their existing CRM and ERP modules. Business profitability will suffer when functional order management software becomes unmanageable because of insufficient responsive technical support. The remedy for this challenge demands first choosing a solution with dependable service and support features.

Learn more about shipping management software in our blog.

How MetaShip Packing and Shipping Solution Help?

MetaShip simplifies shipping operations by integrating with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The shipment management solution MetaShip provides your organization with a complete package that simplifies operations, enhances precision and reduces expenses. The MetaShip solution enables business organizations to maximize shipping performance by incorporating advanced functionalities into their existing Dynamics 365 Business Central platform. Users should disregard the cumbersome manual data entry process and the complicated requirements of external software programs. MetaShip optimizes your operations through carrier support that includes UPS, FedEx, Purolator, and USPS and allows integration with it. Streamline your order management process with MetaShip today! – Schedule a Demo