Streamline purchase order creation with automation

What is a Unified Commerce platform?

A Unified Commerce platform brings together a number of different retail systems into one, comprehensive platform. eCommerce, EPoS, CRM and retail management all work from one centralised database so data is available to whoever needs it, whenever they need it.

Because of the way a Unified Commerce platform works without any integrations between core sales and marketing systems, stock and sales can be viewed in real-time. There’s no longer a need to wait for the end of the day reports to come through to make decisions. This means that purchase orders can be raised as and when needed and with some systems like OMNIS, automation can be used to raise and send orders straight to suppliers.

Streamline purchase order creation with Unified Commerce

One of the key features that we have included in OMNIS is the ability to automate the purchase order process. Not only does this save retailers time, but it also helps to improve accuracy and enables retailers to make decisions based on real-time sales data.

Traditionally you may need to go through days or even weeks worth of sales data to be able to make forecasts about the stock you will purchase for the coming weeks. For omnichannel retailers, this information is often be held in siloed systems for different channels like eCommerce, marketplaces and bricks and mortar stores making it an incredibly inefficient process.

Unified Commerce makes this information available in one single system which allows purchase orders to be created based on sales data from your whole estate. Instant access to reports and sales data supports agile decision making and better purchasing decisions.

This comprehensive data set combined with the powerful features we have included in OMNIS enables the purchase order process to be streamlined in 3 different ways depending on your requirements.

1. For smaller retailers, or retailers who want to maintain full control over their purchase order process you can set alerts in the OMNIS system when any products have hit a low stock threshold. You can then manually create purchase orders based on the alerts that have been triggered.

2. For those wanting some degree of automation, you can use the low stock threshold as a prompt for OMNIS to raise a purchase order automatically based on machine learning. The system will project stock requirements based on previous purchase history and seasonal demand. This saves retailers a lot of time, especially those with extensive product lines. Raising purchase orders using this method just requires the PO to be checked before it is sent off to the supplier.

3. The fully automated alternative is to create a PO when the low stock threshold has been reached and send it directly to the supplier without the need for human intervention. This fully automated option can be set up using a range of criteria including sales volumes over a period; absolute stock numbers; item or supplier types; department etc.

Because every PO is in OMNIS, not only do you have accurate stock levels, but the customer can see incoming stock too, allowing you to sell to any channel based on a back in stock date. 

Managing special orders and bespoke products

There are some retail settings where a standard purchase order process won’t work. One example is with bespoke products and made to order products. This is often seen in furniture retail where customers might choose a sofa style and customise with their choice of fabric, feet and cushions.

To help retailers with these specific requirements we enable them to place customer special orders directly with suppliers and link that order to the customer in the CRM; custom orders to the same supplier can even be grouped together into a single PO to hit minimum order levels, with each item still reserved to their respective sales orders. Because OMNIS is a Unified Commerce platform this is a quick and easy process that doesn’t require switching or linking two systems. Retailers who handle this type of order day in and day out find that their order management process is significantly improved. 

The benefit for the customer is that they are kept updated on their order thanks to the email marketing capability of OMNIS. Updates to orders and shipping information can be effortlessly communicated to the customer accurately because everything is being updated and logged in one system.