The potential of all channels for retail is huge at present. Instead of switching between Offline and online the modern consumer wants to enjoy a seamless experience using both retail channels.

Here is some statistics on consumers from a “Future of Retail” report to support this assertion:

1. 54% of people believe that in the coming year, they’ll be researching products on the internet and then purchasing the items in person.
2.  55% of people plan to search for items online and check for availability in local shops.
3. 47% of shoppers want the possibility of purchasing online and returning the item in-store.
4. 58% of customers want flexible and flexible blended shipping options, like BOPIS.

These are only some of the expectations retailers need to meet in the present. As time passes, customer expectations will continue to increase as will the complexity of meeting their demands.

Let’s look at some of the most common Omnichannel Challenges And Solutions that are encountered in the world of omnichannel retail.

1. Common issues faced by retailers who operate omnichannel

It’s difficult to keep up with the day-to-day demands of business and fast-paced shifts in retail, using the existing resources. This is the current situation in the retail sector as the demand for omnichannel solutions grows.

If you don’t have the right tools to manage between offline and online retail it is possible to experience the high cost, frustration, and a few of the following issues:

a. Poorly connected order and fulfillment platforms that are not properly synced

Although it’s difficult to manage offline and online channels in isolation, the problem is increased when you combine the two.

For instance, if you purchase online and then pick up offline (BOPIS) Try offline purchases online and curbside picks up etc.

In all of these scenarios, the order must be delivered to the storage facility or store closest to the client.

Then, the order is to be processed and packed promptly for pickup in the event that the buyer is expecting to receive it within a couple of hours.

Utilizing a traditional system or manual method for transferring orders from omnichannel channels to the stores that are relevant can lead to catastrophe.

Since they require manual intervention the older systems can be slow to process orders. Additionally, the details could be lost or not communicated in any way.

This not only delays the completion of the sale but produces a less-than-satisfactory experience for your customers.

It’s even worse than the research indicates that just 1/10 of consumers believe that businesses can provide an unmatched omnichannel experience.

Poorly synced delivery and order channels can contribute to this in significant ways.

b. Inventory that is decentralized

When online orders arrive and the closest Fulfillment center for the buyer is not in stock, it is necessary to connect with another fulfillment center in order to process the order.

Also, finding the closest center to fill the orders may take a while.

Additionally, a system that is older might not provide real-time information on stockouts, dips in Inventory, or other issues.

Even if your inventory is exhausted, you can accept orders even if you don’t have another option for fulfillment. Any new orders must wait until the replenishment of stock is completed.

These scenarios can occur in the case of online orders however, they can also occur with BOPIS orders or offline orders that are online.

If you aren’t sure of the availability of inventory in your stores, warehouses, or fulfillment centers, there’s a chance that you’ll experience delays in delivery and delayed delivery, missed SLAs as well as customer dissatisfaction.

Additionally having multiple retailers and fulfillment centers via manual or outdated systems could result in inventory allocation issues and misuse of funds.

C. Prices vary and product information

Pricing disparity and product description can be a major deterrent when looking both online as well as offline. Today’s shopper’s shop across channels which is also referred to as webrooming and showrooming.

It involves looking over products in brick-and-mortar shops or looking up the products in online stores prior to purchasing them on the alternative channel.

For instance, a buyer might consider examining laptops offline to experience the dimensions, functions, and features of the item before purchasing it online to make it easy to ship.

Or, the buyer may decide to investigate the same item online before purchasing the item offline in order to get it as soon as possible.

According to a survey, 51% of all global consumers use click and deliver which is to buy using their mobile phones when they are in an online store or on a similar retailer’s website.

The study also shows that 6 out of 10 consumers purchase items using their mobile phones within the store of a retailer, however, the purchase is completed on an alternative retailer’s website.

It is crucial to keep track of these figures since if the prices and the information on products you’ve posted on your listings online differ customers may be disappointed.

They might believe you’re offering the same product as a knock-off, cheating customers on pricing, or aren’t professional.

With an outdated system or manual management, or a system not built to meet the needs of omnichannel it is difficult to control the same prices and information for products on both offline and online platforms.

This is a major issue for the retail omnichannel.

D. The absence of real-time visibility

Selling on different platforms both online and offline means it is difficult to keep track of your sales, customer preferences, and the level of inventory.

Without the capability to collect information quickly and produce speedy reports, you don’t have an immediate overview of your business’s performance, assets, and the needs of your customers.

Insufficient visibility can make it difficult to evaluate the performance of employees, ensure that they achieve SLAs deliver personalized experiences, predict inventory requirements and the ability to make quick decisions, and more.

Lack of promotional data hinders the ability to assess the impact of your sales and determine if they are worth the cost.

This can limit your choices in the season or when you are dealing with an excess inventory or need the introduction of a novel product into your market.

In addition, the visibility issue hinders you from managing your orders across different outlets to speed up delivery and prevent stock shortages.

You also lose the information about which brick-and-mortar stores and fulfillment centers be taking responsibility for delivery, which makes it hard to maximize last-mile delivery.

2. Omnichannel retailers with the best solutions can be sure

With greater clarity about the issues of omnichannel retailing, it’s easy to comprehend the requirements of your business to ease the burden.

To meet these demands you’ll require a structure to manage and connect your retail networks.

To bridge the gaps in the current omnichannel retail environment and to centralize your operations, you require the latest technology, specifically cloud-based SaaS technology.

In the absence of SaaS systems to handle all of your online and offline operations, symbioses between warehousing, sales, and fulfillment remain.

Then, here are a few of the things you’ll need to look for in the technologies you are considering:

a. Centralized selling across channels of sales

If you are involved in omnichannel retail, where you have offline and online retail outlets, it is essential to be able to control your sales and ensure your inventory is accessible and easily accessible across all your sales channels, whether it’s for replenishment or fulfillment.

It is possible to handle this by combining two systems: an Order Management System (OMS) and Warehouse Management System (WMS).

An OMS centralizes the orders for all of your sales channels on the internet which allows you to track sales and make sure that pending orders are handled promptly.

The system also monitors offline sales with POS integrations to notify you of offline sales that have been completed.

It’s ideal for those who use 3PLs for managing inventory and fulfillment and wish to connect the 3PLs to sales channels for speedier order processing.

A WMS is an excellent solution for managing your warehouses. It helps you consolidate inventory so that you have more control over it.

It can automate the important process of fulfillment and connect inventory management to order processing. The WMS can also assist in completing online order fulfillment in a hurry and replenishing stock at your warehouses quickly and efficiently.

WMS as well as OMS cloud-based SaaS systems also permit the separation of online-only as well as offline-only inventory.

For instance, if would like to boost sales in those offline shops, you might prefer to sell specific (high-demand) products using them.

The WMS records the inventory of your brick-and-mortar shops and makes sure they’re delivered to the outlets without any confusion.

B. Fulfillment and order synchronization channels

In addition to the basic multichannel approach of having offline and online retail channels, You can also combine their capabilities to provide customized and convenient services, such as BOPIS Try offline purchases online, online purchase return offline, etc.

The combination of these can enhance customer experience dramatically when it is managed effectively, and an effective OMS is able to achieve this.

With its sophisticated capabilities, An OMS can notify the specific location or fulfillment center that must meet the requirements of online-to-offline fulfillment or offline-to-online fulfillment.

For instance, if someone places an online order for a pair of shoes and the OMS will notify the nearest offline store to the location of the customer and will offer the item for pick-up immediately.

C. Centralized inventory across offline and warehouses

A cloud-based WMS could help consolidate stock in your individual warehouses or stores so that it is accessible on the same platform.

With this feature, you will be able to keep tabs on the inventory levels at your warehouses, stores as well as fulfillment centers.

After an item has been removed from your store shelves and then processed (or scanned) then your inventory will be recalculated accordingly.

Each when you receive new stock every item is scanned and the inventory levels are up to date. This is also true for products returned after they’ve passed quality checks.

A WMS will also keep track of the number of damaged stock, freebies, reserved stock, and much more.

With full transparency of the products at your fulfillment centers and retail places, you are able to easily organize online delivery and pick-ups.

If you are a retailer that is experiencing high demand and shrinking stock, you are able to transfer their orders to the nearest store.

You could also offer them the choice to purchase their items online now and receive the purchase in the future.

With full control of your inventory, you are able to manage it in totality and this means quicker completion, SLA completion, fewer delays and mistakes, and more satisfied customers.

D. Management of information about products

In order to ensure identical pricing and product information across all of your retail outlets, you have a centralized database of information on the products. This way, all the products that you sell are regularly updated.

By using a Product Information Management system, you can keep all price and product information offline as well as online.

They can automate updates and provide access to only authorized users. Furthermore, updates can be released immediately across multiple channels with one move.

By offering uniformity to the customers, they will feel more confident when shopping with you offline and online. They will also be enticed to make use of your unique Omnichannel features, such as BOPIS.

In addition, a PIM provides you with the possibility to create and manage custom and intricate promotions including discounts, offers, and pre-booking alternatives, or even multichannel flash sales to your various product ranges.

The technology of competitor insights such as the Digital Shelf can serve as an important benefit in updating prices and product information.

This is an e-commerce SaaS technology that gives insight into competitors such as product information, reviews, and pricing data to make comparisons. It also lets you track the performance of your online store.

E. Integrations that provide real-time visibility

Selecting an intelligent OMS and WMS will give you the benefit to connect with various selling platforms. In particular, you can connect these systems with different online stores, marketplaces, and brick-and-mortar stores.

This combines real-time data from various channels and connected ecosystems to provide full visibility of sales and inventory along with operational efficiency.

OMS or WMS systems also work with various carriers and fulfillment partners to efficiently inform them of delivery needs. Integrations with these systems can monitor the carriers during the delivery process and anticipate delays that can be communicated to the customer or your staff at the time of delivery.

With the transparency and control that are provided through Order Management and Warehouse Management systems, you’ll find it simpler to assess your sales performance, inventory levels, and SLA enhancements.

Additionally, you’ll have the ability to develop reports that predict inventory and sales requirements as well as extract customer data to create custom experiences, update sales strategies, and make important decisions.

A further benefit of the strong API integration technology in today’s OMS as well as WMS technology is the capability of synchronizing with other technology that your company relies on.

For instance, Quickbooks, POS systems, as well as ERPs can be connected to cloud-based SaaS technology. This way you don’t need to sacrifice your favorite systems that you work with.

3. Examples of retailers that use omnichannel technology using OMS or WMS technology

The combination of OMS and WMS together can be a boon for multichannel retail business because these systems monitor the inventory and orders of your customers and transmit accurate information to your networks.

These systems are able to communicate with each other as well as the team members that operate them, you won’t need to put in additional resources or spend time.

Most of your processes will be automated, and large orders and complex requests will be dealt with easily. To experience these systems in action here are some examples of professional applications of OMS or WMS technology:

A. Poney Group

Poney Group is the leading brand of children’s clothing on the Malaysian market, with more than 40 retail outlets in the country and a presence in nine countries.

The brand also has an online presence, international business unions, as well as off-line retail shops. With the magnitude of the company’s activities, Poney Group has a large market, however, it was unable to fulfill orders effectively.

When it was searching for a solution for managing large volumes of orders, Poney Group came across Brisk Logic.

The SaaS technology offered by Brisk Logic required only a little commitment and was compatible with the company’s mission. Brisk Logic’s technology offered integrations with numerous carriers, marketplaces, and software vendors which aid Poney Group:

1. Manage inventory
2. Control sales channels
3. Significantly lower error
4. Get the flexibility to meet the needs of customers
5. Present your products to various markets

Prior to Brisk Logic, there were many orders that were incorrect, and picking mistakes added to the cost. Finding the exact product ordered at 1000 locations was a major task every day and resulted in delays, cancellations, and return costs.

b. Luxasia

Luxasia is an all-channel cosmetics store in the APAC region that has more than 2000 retail stores in 11 countries. It houses the most renowned beauty brands from around the world, including specialty as well as high-end categories.

The brands that are on their shelves are Guerlain, Hermes, Loewe, Paco Rabanne, and Calvin Klein.

Being a symbol of brands that are associated with status and luxury, Luxasia bears a heavy obligation to maintain.

However, given the fact that their omnichannel network is in 11 countries and is able to meet both offline and online needs, Luxasia began to experience the following issues:

1. Control of performance is limited and there is no access to operations
2. The retailers’ sales channels were not properly aligned
3. Growth is restricted due to the lack of experience with eCommerce ecosystems
4. Inability to replace current systems

After having learned the basics of Brisk Logic Order Management – a top multichannel eCommerce management application, Luxasia achieved 7X growth and achieved its goal of having seamless operations in one year. Luxasia was also successful in:

1. Expand into eCommerce marketplaces
2. Transform using existing assets
3. Monitoring and Control across all regions
4. Achieve error-free eCommerce management

c. Valiram

Valiram is a premium goods and retail retailer offering omnichannel services. The retailer boasts a huge collection of over 200 brands from around the world.

They selected Brisk the Logic’s OMS and WMS technologies to support their logical eCommerce strategy and vision. expand their sales across nations and across categories, and add new brands, while maintaining the same high-quality assurance and values.

Their aim was to develop robust backend operations that could scale.

As such, they needed a partner in technology to standardize and consolidate their digital processes, while working for international brands like Michael Kors, Tumi, Tory Burch, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Giuseppe Zanotti.

By utilizing Brisk the Logic’s SaaS software, they are planning to make significant improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations as well as expand their customer base across multiple channels.

Their aim was to develop robust backend operations that could scale.

As such, they required a technology partner to standardize and consolidate their digital processes, while working for international brands like Michael Kors, Tumi, Tory Burch, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Giuseppe Zanotti.

Through Brisk Logic SaaS software, they are planning to see a dramatic increase in efficiency and efficiency of their operations, while also expanding their customer base across multiple channels.