Best Online Order Management Systems for Your Business

An efficient online order management system (OMS) is crucial for any business looking to thrive. We at ProCoders had the opportunity to work closely with various businesses, helping them navigate the complexities of digital transformation. Through this experience, we’ve gained deep insights into the critical role that an OMS plays in streamlining operations, enhancing customer satisfaction, and driving sales.

In this article, we will explore the key criteria to evaluate OMS and review some of the best online order management system options available in the market.

Criteria for Selecting the Best Order Management Systems

When choosing a simple work order system for your business, it’s crucial to consider a set of factors that ensure it meets your current needs and is capable of growing with your business. 

Based on our experience in technology solutions, here are key factors to consider:

• Scalability: The OMS should be able to handle an increase in buyers as your business grows. It should support the addition of new products, services, and integration with new sales channels without significant disruptions.
• Reporting Capabilities: Effective decision-making is data-driven. An OMS with comprehensive reporting and analytics features can provide insights into sales trends, inventory levels, and customer preferences, aiding in strategic planning.
• Integration Options: The system should seamlessly integrate with other tools and platforms used by your business, such as CRM software, accounting systems, and e-commerce platforms, to ensure smooth operations across all departments.

“For one of our partners, we had to create 6 applications to complete an intricate order management and delivery system, adding integration capabilities to most of them. It’s crucial that each platform within this network connects to the others to achieve a perfect customer experience.”
Kostiantyn Vengerov, ProCoders

• User Interface and Usability: An intuitive and easy-to-use interface can significantly reduce the learning curve for your team, enhancing productivity and reducing errors.
• Customization and Flexibility: Every business has unique needs. An OMS that allows for customization can adapt to your specific workflow rather than forcing you to change your processes to accommodate the software.
• Customer Support: Reliable customer support is essential, especially during the initial setup phase and for troubleshooting any issues that may arise.

The ProCoders Choice: TOP Order Management Systems

ClickUp

ClickUp is not traditionally known as an order management system, but its versatility allows it to be adapted for this purpose, especially for businesses looking to integrate management within a broader project and customer relationship management framework. ClickUp’s strengths lie in its customizable workflows, which can be tailored to track orders from placement to delivery. Its ability to integrate with a wide range of tools, including CRM and e-commerce platforms, makes it a unique option for businesses that prioritize project management alongside order management.

Features such as task assignments, status updates, and automated notifications keep everyone in the loop from sales to fulfillment. Moreover, ClickUp’s reporting tools provide valuable insights into order volume, processing times, and team efficiency, helping businesses optimize their operations.

Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory is a dedicated inventory and order management system designed to cater to the needs of small to medium-sized businesses. It offers a comprehensive set of features that streamline purchase processing, inventory tracking, and multichannel selling. Zoho Inventory’s user-friendly interface ensures that businesses can manage their orders with ease, facilitating real-time tracking of inventory levels across various sales channels to prevent stockouts and overstocking.

One of Zoho Inventory’s standout features is its robust integration capabilities, allowing it to connect seamlessly with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Amazon, and eBay, as well as Zoho’s own suite of business applications. This integration facilitates a unified approach to managing sales, customer relationships, and financial reporting. Additionally, Zoho Inventory supports automated workflows, such as confirmation and shipping notifications, enhancing the customer experience and reducing manual workloads.

In selecting an OMS, businesses must weigh these considerations carefully. Both ClickUp and Zoho Inventory offer unique advantages, and the choice between them—or any other system—should be guided by your business’s specific requirements, the scale of operations, and the future growth trajectory.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online, predominantly recognized for its accounting capabilities, also offers robust order management tools that are particularly beneficial for small to medium-sized businesses focusing on service delivery or product sales. Its invoicing and payment processing features are streamlined to facilitate smooth transactions, from creating customized, professional invoices to accepting payments directly through the platform. This integration simplifies financial workflows, ensuring that sales data directly feeds into the accounting system, eliminating manual data entry and reducing errors.

Financial reporting functions in QuickBooks Online are comprehensive, providing businesses with critical insights into their sales performance, expenses, and overall financial health. These features allow businesses to track their cash flow in real time, monitor outstanding invoices, and understand their profitability, which is crucial for making informed business decisions.

Jotform

Jotform stands out as a versatile tool that, while not exclusively an order management system, offers significant capabilities through its customizable forms. Businesses can design forms that match their branding and specific needs, including product selection, pricing options, and payment integration. The ease of sharing these forms with customers—via direct links, email, or embedding them on websites—makes Jotform a practical solution for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking for a straightforward way to manage orders.

The platform’s ability to integrate with payment processors like PayPal, Stripe, and Square enhances its utility by enabling businesses to collect payments upon order submission. Additionally, Jotform’s analytics and reporting features provide insights into order patterns and customer preferences, aiding in the optimization of sales strategies.

Linnworks

Linnworks is a comprehensive order management system designed to cater to businesses operating across multiple sales channels. Its strength lies in centralizing management, inventory management, and shipping processes, making it easier for businesses to maintain consistency and efficiency regardless of where the sale takes place. Linnworks’ ability to integrate with major e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and shipping carriers ensures that inventory levels are automatically updated in real time, reducing the risk of overselling and stockouts.

The platform also supports automated routing and batch order processing, which significantly speeds up the fulfillment process. This capability, combined with detailed reporting and analytics, allows businesses to gain a holistic view of their operations, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions to enhance performance.

Brightpearl

Brightpearl is designed for retail and wholesale businesses, offering an array of features that automate and streamline management, inventory tracking, and real-time reporting. Its automation options are particularly noteworthy, enabling businesses to define workflows that automatically process orders based on predefined criteria, such as stock availability or customer location, thereby reducing manual intervention and accelerating order fulfillment.

Real-time inventory tracking across multiple warehouses and sales channels ensures that businesses can maintain optimal stock levels, while Brightpearl’s analytics and reporting tools deliver insights into sales trends, inventory performance, and customer behavior. This comprehensive understanding of business operations allows for strategic planning and improved resource allocation. Brightpearl’s seamless integration with e-commerce platforms, accounting software, and shipping services further enhances its appeal to businesses looking for a robust, all-in-one order management solution.

NetSuite

NetSuite offers a robust suite of management functionalities designed to streamline and automate the entire order-to-cash process for businesses of all sizes. Its order processing system seamlessly handles orders from multiple channels, ensuring accurate and efficient order fulfillment. NetSuite’s platform excels in integrating sales, finance, and fulfillment operations, reducing manual entry and errors while providing a 360-degree view of the customer.

Fulfillment capabilities in NetSuite are highly advanced, supporting multiple shipping partners and methods, backorder management, and real-time inventory updates across all sales channels. This ensures that businesses can deliver on customer expectations consistently. Additionally, NetSuite’s customer service tools are integrated directly into the order management system, enabling service representatives to access complete order histories and customer information, facilitating superior service and support.

Extensiv Order Manager

Extensiv Order Manager, formerly known as 3PL Central, is tailored for the complexities of modern e-commerce and 3PL operations. It specializes in optimizing order processing, tracking, and fulfillment workflows, particularly for businesses that require scalability to handle peak volumes and detailed reporting to drive operational decisions.

The platform offers seamless integration with major e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, ensuring that orders are automatically imported and processed efficiently. Extensiv Order Manager’s real-time tracking capabilities provide visibility into the order fulfillment process, enhancing transparency for both businesses and their customers. Additionally, its comprehensive reporting tools offer insights into fulfillment accuracy, inventory levels, and shipping performance, empowering businesses to continuously improve their operations.

Google Forms

Google Forms provides a straightforward and free solution for small businesses seeking an online form builder to manage orders. Its simplicity lies in the intuitive interface and easy form-building process, which allows businesses to quickly create custom order forms without any technical expertise. The ease of sharing these forms with customers—through links, email, or embedding them on websites—makes Google Forms an accessible tool for businesses looking to streamline their order intake process. While it lacks the advanced features of dedicated management systems, Google Forms can be an excellent starting point for small operations with basic order management needs.

Odoo

Odoo’s order management system is part of its larger suite of open-source business applications, designed to offer a comprehensive solution for managing different facets of business operations. Odoo excels in automating and streamlining processing, inventory management, and customer relationship management within a unified platform.

Its order processing features support seamless entry, dynamic pricing, and automatic stock adjustments, ensuring efficient operation. The inventory management capabilities provide real-time insights into stock levels, facilitating just-in-time inventory practices. Additionally, Odoo’s CRM integration helps businesses maintain detailed customer profiles, enhancing customer service and enabling personalized marketing efforts. Odoo’s modularity and customizability make it an attractive option for businesses looking for an all-encompassing solution to manage their operations.

ProCoders Experience

ProCoders partnered with a retail business (the name is under an NDA) venturing into digitalizing its services to reach a broader audience. This collaboration resulted in the creation of a comprehensive order management and delivery system, encapsulating six applications tailored for various stakeholders within the business ecosystem, including a back-end web app for the business owner, responsive web and mobile apps for customers, and dedicated Android apps for warehouse and delivery operations. 

Opting for a tech stack of Angular, Ionic, and Node.js, ProCoders delivered a scalable retail solution featuring secure payment options, live monitoring, and more within a remarkably short timeframe. 

The first solution was rolled out in just 4 months, strengthening our ability to quickly adapt and implement extensive features such as live map tracking, phone number confirmation, and an AI-powered search engine, enhancing the user experience without the need for MVPs. This endeavor not only streamlined the partner’s operations but also set a new standard in logistics and retail delivery, cementing ProCoders’ role as a key player in transforming business ideas into successful digital realities.

Conclusion

We’ve explored a diverse range of online order management systems, each offering unique capabilities to enhance business operations, from ClickUp’s project management-oriented approach to Odoo’s comprehensive business suite. Other notable systems include QuickBooks Online for financial integrations, Zoho Inventory for inventory-centric businesses, and innovative platforms like Extensiv Order Manager for scalability and detailed reporting.

As you consider the future of your business operations, we encourage you to explore these options closely. Assess how each system aligns with your specific business needs and goals. The best online order management system can significantly streamline your processes, improve customer satisfaction, and position your business for growth. Remember, the best choice is one that not only meets your current needs but also supports your business as it evolves.