Omnichannel is the new reality in which retailers need to operate to remain competitive. Nowadays, most medium to large retailers are selling their offerings online as well as in brick-and-mortar stores. Their biggest challenge is to offer customers a consistent experience regardless of the channel they’re using to connect with the brand.

“Today, customers want to order your merchandise however they want, whenever they want, and have it delivered wherever they want: in-store, by delivery to their home, business and more. This omnichannel marketplace, combined with changing trends, innumerable SKUs, varying return processes, and seasonal considerations – not to mention your razor-thin profit margins – are quickly changing how retailers approach warehouse operations.”

— HighJump

A Warehouse Management System (WMS) can help retailers with operationalizing and streamlining order fulfilment, inventory and shipping management. It allows for more accurate reporting, allowing managers to make better informed forecasting decisions.

In this article we discuss some of the key benefits a WMS can offer Retail companies of any size.

Fulfilment from multiple locations

Fulfilling orders from different sales channels is one of the most critical challenges the omnichannel faces. Knowing how much inventory you have and its location is key to fulfilling order quickly and accurately. A WMS will help with managing priorities, allocations and optimizing fulfilment strategies based on inventory position and customer-based rules.

Real-time inventory visibility and management

A WMS offers the ability to visualize, manage and report on inventory in real-time across all channels. Furthermore, it will allow you to maintain high inventory accuracy, optimize store replenishment, avoid over-stock and improve in-stock availability for popular items. It’s important to ensure the software supports all SKUs you need.

Shipping management

Your WMS will create automated shipping processes for customer delivery, domestic or international. Streamlining your shipping process avoids delivery inaccuracies and increases order turnaround speed, thus resulting in higher customer satisfaction. It can also dramatically minimize logistics costs.

ERP Integration

We cannot emphasize this enough: a WMS must be able to integrate with your current internal systems such as POS, order management and ERP. Manually entering stock and/or financial data from one system to the other allows more room for human error. Furthermore, data synchronization problems can lead to inventory inaccuracy. Therefore, when shopping around for a WMS, you should look for a company with proven expertise and a record of successful deployments.

Customisation and adaptability

No two businesses are the same. Your company is unique, so your WMS should rise above off-the-shelf basic functionality. When shopping for a solution, make sure you look for a system that cannot only fulfil all basic retail operational needs, but also be customised to satisfy your exclusive requirements.

iWMS – HighJump powered solutions

With the HighJump platform, iWMS Australasia can offer your business a tailored, configurable and scalable solution that will meet your exact business needs today and for years to come. Our solution is built to integrate with other supply chain technology (EDI systems, eCommerce storefronts, ERP systems, etc.) so your business always delivers positive customer experiences regardless of where they interact with the brand.