Order management systems (OMS) used to be the sort of thing you only heard about if you were deep in operations or IT.

But with growing customer expectations and inventory scattered across stores, warehouses, and other third-party suppliers, a strong OMS can make or break your ability to meet demand and grow revenue. 

Put simply, an OMS has become a core part of modern digital commerce architecture.

So let’s unpack what an OMS is, why retailers are using them, and look at five leading OMS solutions.

What is an OMS? 

At its core, an order management system is the behind-the-scenes tech that lets retailers manage and fulfill orders from multiple sources and locations; the central nervous system of your commerce operations.  

An OMS integrates your ecommerce platform, warehouses, store stock, POS, customer service, and third-party logistics providers. 

When a customer hits “buy”, the OMS works to get the product delivered in the fastest, most cost-efficient way possible – whether that’s from a warehouse in Sydney, a boutique in London, or via a click-and-collect pickup. 

An OMS orchestrates everything that happens after checkout: 

• Inventory visibility: It consolidates inventory across all channels and provides a real-time view. 

• Order routing: It decides where the order should be fulfilled from, based on criteria like proximity, stock availability, or margin optimization. 

• Fulfillment coordination: It triggers workflows for pick, pack, and ship, often integrating directly with warehouses systems and delivery platforms. 

• Returns management: It handles the entire returns process, such as initiating the request and processing refunds. 

• Customer communications: It updates customers on the order status, such as delays and delivery notifications.
   

How an OMS works in the real world 

For Australia’s iconic footwear brand R.M.Williams, a modern order management system was essential to delivering the kind of connected, omnichannel experience that its customers now expect. 

Here’s how its OMS, NewStore, plays out in practice. 

When a customer places an order (whether online, in store, or via store associate) NewStore kicks in. 

It provides a real-time view of inventory across all R.M.Williams locations, from warehouses to individual stores. That means shoppers as well as staff know what’s available and where, helping avoid those annoying “out of stock” moments. 

If an item isn’t in the customer’s local store, NewStore can locate it elsewhere and fulfill the order from the nearest location – this could be another store or a warehouse.  

This distributed approach allows R.M.Williams to turn its 70-store network into a fulfillment engine, not just a point of sale. 

NewStore provides store associates with inventory access, allowing them to place orders on behalf of customers, complete transactions, and even offer product advice – enabling R.M.Williams to bridge the gap between digital and physical retail, powering an omnichannel strategy, and ultimately ensuring that the customer is able to purchase. 

Comparing leading OMS platforms 

NewStore 

NewStore is carving out market share across ANZ and Europe, especially with premium lifestyle and fashion brands. 

As well as implementing the OMS for R.M.Williams, we’re currently rolling NewStore out for a luxury fashion retailer, where the vision is to unify the brand’s digital and in-store experience under a single system. 

What sets NewStore apart is its mobile-first approach. Store associates get native apps for clienteling, fulfillment, and POS, which all tightly integrate with order management.  

This makes it a natural fit for retailers looking to empower store staff and activate stores as mini distribution centers. 

Strengths: 

• Mobile-first architecture with strong clienteling features 

• Omnichannel orchestration (BOPIS, ship-from-store, endless aisle) 

• Cloud-native, modular, and scalable 

Best for fashion and specialty retailers wanting to treat stores as fulfillment hubs and empower associates with real-time tools. 

OneStock 

OneStock is a leading European order management system, trusted by omnichannel retailers looking to elevate customer experience and drive efficiency. 

We’ve seen this in action with Orlebar Brown and Dune London, where OneStock is helping unlock the next phases of growth for both these global brands. 

With tools purpose-built for omnichannel, it allows retailers to unify inventory and orchestrate orders across warehouses, stores, and suppliers, ensuring orders are fulfilled from the most efficient location. 

Strengths: 

• Retail-friendly interface 

• Strong orchestration engine with real-time inventory visibility 

Best for fashion and specialty retailers ready to activate store networks and improve the omnichannel experience. 

Fluent Commerce 

Fluent Commerce is a Leader in the Forrester Wave for order management systems. 

Built on a flexible, API-first architecture, it offers deep customization and can scale with complex rule sets across multiple fulfillment locations. It’s widely used in ANZ, counting Penfolds, Emma, and JD as clients. 

Fluent doesn’t do out-of-the-box POS or clienteling, but can integrate those systems. That’s by design, as it focuses solely on being a headless OMS that integrates with whatever frontend or backend systems you decide to use. 

Strengths: 

• Agile, rule-based order routing engine 

• Real-time inventory visibility across all stock locations 

• Composable architecture 

• Integrates well with Salesforce, Shopify Plus, and Adobe Commerce 

Best for enterprise retailers with complex fulfillment needs who already have a solid POS setup. 

Manhattan 

Part of the Manhattan Active Omni platform, Manhattan is another Leader in the Forrester Wave for order management systems.  

Able to integrate with your existing ERP system, Manhattan makes it easy to manage order entries, tracking, credit limit checks, and delivery updates. The OMS also facilitates omnichannel experiences by supporting buy online, pickup in-store as well as buy online, return in-store. 

Manhattan broader ecosystem provides easy integration with its other products, such as its warehouse management system and POS solution.  

Strengths: 

• Enterprise-grade scalability 

• Native WMS and supply chain tools 

• Deep integration with legacy systems 

• Real-time fulfillment decisioning 

Best for global enterprises that need deep connectivity within their supply chain.

Salesforce Order Management 

Salesforce’s native solution is a Strong Performer in the Forrester Wave for order management systems, built to work seamlessly with Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Service Cloud, making it a smart pick for brands already investing in that ecosystem.

It allows customers to place and track orders across any channel, while merchants can manage fulfillment, shipping, payments, and service through customizable workflows. 

Service agents benefit from a centralized view of the entire order lifecycle, allowing them to handle cancellations, returns, and exchanges. 

We’ve seen this at scale through a two-and-a-half-year transformation program for one of our clients, a large print organization, which recently went live. 

The goal was to transform its order management landscape for its US market before eventually expanding into other regions. The result was a global, unified OMS that reduces risk and cost, lowers carbon footprint, increases data quality and overall operational efficiency. 

It’s a major milestone for the brand and shows how Salesforce can scale with long-term, enterprise-wide transformation. 

Strengths: 

• Unified view across commerce, service, and marketing 

• Native to the Salesforce platform 

• Manage shipping schedules & complex orders 

Best for brands already within the Salesforce ecosystem, using its integrated clouds as part of their broader digital commerce architecture. 

Shopify’s built-in OMS 

One order management system that is commonly used by businesses on Shopify is its build-in Shopify Order Management. Its native OMS covers the basics: manage inventory, fulfil orders, and process returns. 

Shopify Order Management is a great option for small businesses and lean D2C operations with relatively simple fulfilment needs. 

But as order complexity grows — think split shipments, store fulfilment, or multi-node inventory — Shopify’s OMS can start to fall short. 

That’s why many Shopify brands eventually turn to third-party solutions like Fluent Commerce, NewStore, or OneStock to scale effectively and unlock more advanced fulfilment capabilities. 

Which OMS is right for your business? 

There are plenty of competitive OMS platforms out there; there’s no one-size-fits-all. 

Your ideal solution depends on your business model, fulfillment complexity, existing tech stack, and growth trajectory.

A brand that’s scaling internationally and activating stores as fulfillment hubs will need something very different from a pureplay D2C brand managing one warehouse. 

We help retailers around the world to assess, select, and implement the right OMS for their goals. If you’re rethinking your order management strategy, we’d love to chat. 

Get in touch.