Omnichannel Order Management: The Key to Seamless Retail at Scale

The retail reality is becoming complex, with shoppers expecting to buy, receive, and even return products anywhere and anytime with zero friction. One unified experience, no matter the channel.

Only omnichannel order management solutions can enable this seamless journey and fulfill the modern customer’s expectations. As the operational backbone of modern retail, it connects inventory, orders, and fulfillment across every channel so that your customers get what they want, when, and where they want it.

In Q1 of 2025, e-commerce sales reached $300.2 billion, representing 16.2% of total retail sales. With online and offline sales so tightly intertwined, you can no longer treat them as separate.

In this article, we’ll review how omnichannel order management solutions can support seamless fulfillment, enhance customer experience, and create a scalable foundation for the growth of your retail business.

What is omnichannel order management?

Omnichannel order management is a centralized system that manages customer orders in real time across every sales channel—e-commerce websites, marketplaces, retail stores, and even social commerce apps.

Instead of juggling siloed tools, an omnichannel OMS gives you a centralized source to access all order data, inventory visibility, fulfilment workflows, and customer communication.

Here’s what it looks like:

• Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS): Shoppers can order online through any platform of their preference and collect their purchases at a nearby store.
• Social commerce order: Someone checks out via TikTok or Instagram, and the item is shipped to them from the closest store to reduce delivery time and costs.
• Marketplace return: A return from Amazon (or any other integrated platform) is seamlessly processed, restocked, and made available in your unified inventory system.

This unified approach enables connected commerce, where customers don’t see channels, only a single brand experience. Everything feels seamless whether online, in-store, or mobile because the OMS orchestrates it behind the scenes (and screens).

Research from Auburn University’s RFID Lab shows that traditional inventory accuracy in retail averages just 55–65%, meaning customers often face stockouts or incorrect availability. A real-time, omnichannel OMS closes that gap, ensuring you can deliver on promises without friction.

Why retailers need an omnichannel order management solution

Retail businesses today are under enormous pressure to deliver faster, cheaper, and more convenient shopping experiences. Some of the most urgent challenges include:

• Rising customer expectations: Shoppers now expect same-day or next-day delivery, clear order visibility, and flexible return options.
• Fragmented systems: Many retailers still manage orders across disconnected platforms and manual processes that slow fulfillment.
• Inaccurate inventory: When stock data isn’t updated in real time across stores, warehouses, and marketplaces, your customers encounter unnecessary out-of-stock errors, resulting in missed sales opportunities. 
• Scaling to new channels and geographies: Expanding into new markets, social platforms, or regional stores is difficult when each channel requires separate fulfillment workflows.
• High return volumes: In 2023, U.S. consumers returned about $743 billion in merchandise, which represents 14.5% of total retail sales. Online purchase returns reached 17.6%, higher than brick-and-mortar returns.

Source: National Retail Federation

A comprehensive omnichannel OMS can solve these problems by shifting you from siloed operations to a connected, agile fulfillment model. With one central platform orchestrating orders and inventory in real time, you can reduce costly inefficiencies, improve customer satisfaction, and scale confidently into new channels.

For instance, a centralized OMS, such as fabric, can help you enable store-based fulfillment like BOPIS and ship-from-store, reduce split shipments, and provide a consistent experience across digital, social, and physical channels.

Core capabilities of an effective omnichannel order management system

A strong omnichannel OMS comprises features designed to make retail seamless across every channel. Here are some core capabilities you should look for:

• Centralized order visibility: Provides a single, real-time dashboard for every order across e-commerce websites, stores, marketplaces, and social channels. Your teams no longer waste time reconciling siloed reports.
• Intelligent order routing: Uses configuration and automated rules to select the fastest or most cost-effective fulfillment point, whether that’s a store, DC, or third-party partner. 
• Real-time inventory sync: Maintains accurate stock levels across distribution centers, stores, 3PLs, and marketplaces. This reduces overselling and ensures customers always see the correct availability.
• Multi-location fulfillment support: Powers ship-from-store, BOPIS, curbside pickup, dropshipping, and more—all from a unified platform.
• Returns and exchanges management: Streamlines reverse logistics, ensuring items can be returned at any channel and quickly restocked, reducing losses.
• Customer communication tools: Enables branded order tracking, proactive alerts, and service integrations so your customers feel informed every step of the way.
• Analytics and reporting: Delivers actionable insights to optimize fulfillment strategies, reduce split shipments, and improve overall efficiency.

A modern OMS should also seamlessly integrate with WMS, POS, and other core retail systems, eliminating the need for complex workarounds. This kind of composable, API-first integration is crucial for scaling your business without unnecessary interruptions.

Ask yourself: Are your current systems built for today’s retail complexity, or are they holding you back with yesterday’s limitations? If your answer is the latter, you should consider upgrading your OMS.

How omnichannel OMS makes retail seamless for customers

An omnichannel order management system creates a better customer experience and seamlessly scales your business. Here’s how it directly improves the shopping journey: 

• Faster delivery through localized fulfillment: Orders can be routed from the nearest store or distribution center, reducing transit times and shipping costs.
• Real-time inventory accuracy: Your customers see exactly what’s in stock, reducing the frustration of cancelled or delayed orders.
• Convenient options: Same-day pickup, curbside collection, or in-store returns make shopping flexible and easy.
• Consistent communication: Branded tracking, proactive notifications, and transparent updates keep your customers informed.
• Fewer errors and delays: An AI-driven OMS ensures fewer missed deliveries and a smoother overall experience by reducing split shipments and automating fulfillment logic.

Customers don’t see your channels; they only see your brand. Whether they’re buying on a website, through Instagram, or in a physical store, they expect a consistent and unified experience, which is only possible through an AI-powered centralized OMS, like fabric.

How it helps operations scale efficiently

When you’re managing a retail business or retail operational teams, scaling isn’t just about growth; it’s about growing efficiently. An omnichannel OMS brings structure, automation, and intelligence to back-office operations so your business and brand can scale without adding unnecessary complexity. 

Here’s how it supports efficiency at scale:

• Reduces manual effort: Automation eliminates repetitive tasks like rekeying orders or reconciling stock, freeing your teams to focus on higher-value and complex work.
• Improves fulfillment efficiency and lowers shipping costs: Smart order routing ensures each order ships from the most cost-effective location, reducing expenses and transit times.
• Enables rapid market expansion: Whether entering a new sales channel or geography, an OMS integrates quickly with existing systems, making growth less disruptive. 
• Makes inventory more agile: Real-time synchronization means stock can be flexed across all your warehouses, stores, and marketplaces, improving sell-through and reducing excess.
• Enhances performance tracking: Robust analytics and dashboards give you visibility into order flow, fulfillment speed, and margin performance—critical for continuous improvement.

A strong, composable system like fabric’s AI-powered OMS doesn’t just solve today’s challenges; it creates a scalable platform for future growth.

Future-proofing retail with unified order management

Seamless retail is possible only with seamless systems. As customer expectations for speed, flexibility, and visibility rise, you can no longer afford to work with siloed operations or disconnected inventory.

An omnichannel order management system is the backbone that enables you to meet these demands. It reduces fulfillment friction, keeps inventory accurate across every channel, and creates the flexible foundation you need to scale confidently into new markets and technologies.

Ready to build a strong retail foundation? Contact us to learn how our OMS supports omnichannel retail at scale and how to future-proof your operations for the long term.

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