As we step into 2025, the omnichannel trend continues to dominate the retail landscape, reshaping how businesses approach fulfillment operations. For retailers to stay competitive in this evolving environment, implementing effective fulfillment strategies is essential. 

This blog will explore key fulfillment strategies for omnichannel success and demonstrate how they can benefit both retailers and customers.

What Are Fulfillment Strategies?

Fulfillment strategies are the methods and processes a business uses to ensure that customer orders are completed efficiently and accurately, from the moment an order is placed to the final delivery. 

These strategies include managing inventory, order processing, packaging, shipping, and handling returns. The ultimate goal is to optimize the entire fulfillment cycle to ensure customer satisfaction while minimizing costs and inefficiencies.

However, as omnichannel becomes a must, these strategies become more complex.

The Importance of Omnichannel in Retail

According to Forbes Advisor, ecommerce sales are expected to grow 50% in only 5 years (from 2022 to 2027). This is not big, it’s massive. This behavior shown in the past years, with its biggest peak in 2020, has blurred the lines between online and offline shopping. And not only that, modern consumers expect a seamless, integrated shopping experience, whether browsing on a mobile app, making a purchase online, or picking up an order in-store. 

This has made omnichannel retailing — where multiple sales channels are synchronized to provide a cohesive customer experience — a must-have strategy for retailers.

Retailers need to align their inventory, operations, and fulfillment across all channels. This is where omnichannel fulfillment comes in.

What Is Omnichannel Fulfillment?

Omnichannel fulfillment refers to the process of fulfilling customer orders from multiple channels, such as websites, mobile apps, physical stores, and third-party platforms while ensuring that every step — from picking and packing to shipping and returns — is coordinated seamlessly. 

This approach enables retailers to provide flexible shopping and delivery options that align with customer preferences.

By implementing omnichannel fulfillment strategies, businesses can:

• Improve Inventory Accuracy: Real-time tracking and retail inventory optimization ensure that stock levels are accurate and available across all channels.
• Enhance Customer Satisfaction: Flexible fulfillment options, such as Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, provide convenience and speed, enhancing customer loyalty.
• Boost Sales and Revenue: Offering multiple fulfillment channels increases accessibility to products, expanding the market and driving higher revenue.
• Optimize Warehouse Productivity: Streamlined fulfillment processes powered by technology improve efficiency, reducing the time it takes to process and deliver orders.

In short, omnichannel order fulfillment allows retailers to meet the demands of today’s customers while staying agile. 

But how do we build and properly manage all these processes error-free?

Leverage an Order Management System (OMS) For Fulfillment

To build complex systems, you need the right technology. An Order Management System (OMS) is the backbone of a successful omnichannel fulfillment strategy. It ensures efficiently fulfilled orders, accurate inventory tracking, while prioritizing customer satisfaction. How? Let’s go granular.

1. Centralized Order Coordination

An OMS provides a centralized platform to manage orders from multiple sales channels (e.g., website, mobile app, in-store, marketplace) in one system. This central hub ensures that orders from all channels are handled cohesively, preventing errors that arise when channels are siloed.

• How It Works: The OMS collects orders from various platforms and ensures they are processed and routed correctly, whether for delivery, pickup, or shipment from a store. This streamlined coordination allows retailers to manage orders at scale without losing accuracy or speed.

2. Real-Time Inventory Tracking

One of the key challenges in omnichannel retail is keeping track of inventory levels across all locations—whether online warehouses, physical stores, or distribution centers. An OMS enables real-time inventory tracking, giving retailers complete visibility into available stock across the entire network.

• Benefits: This reduces the likelihood of stockouts, overstocking, and inaccurate product availability. Real-time data allows you to offer more reliable product information to customers and avoid disappointing experiences where items are listed as available but are out of stock.

3. Optimized Order Routing

With an OMS, you can optimize the routing of orders to the most efficient fulfillment locations, whether that’s a warehouse, store, or fulfillment center. The system evaluates factors like inventory levels, geographic proximity to the customer, and available delivery options to determine the best fulfillment path.

• For Example: If a customer orders a product online and it’s available at a nearby store, the OMS may route the order to ship-from-store or offer  in-store pickup. This helps minimize shipping expenses, cut down delivery times, and prevent logistical bottlenecks.

4. Delivery Optimization

In the age of Amazon, consumers expect fast shipping options such as same-day or next-day delivery. An OMS can optimize logistics by integrating with the fastest and most cost-effective delivery partners.

• How It Helps: Retailers can integrate the OMS with third-party logistics providers and delivery services to offer additional shipping options. This allows businesses to offer greater variety in delivery, including expedited services, without sacrificing efficiency or increasing operational costs.

5. Efficient Returns Management

Returns are a critical part of the omnichannel experience, and a well-integrated OMS simplifies reverse logistics. It enables flexible return options (e.g., returning in-store, shipping back, or drop-off locations) and tracks return statuses in real time.

• Streamlining Returns: The OMS ensures that returned items are processed quickly, re-entered into inventory, and made available for resale. This minimizes the operational burden on staff, reduces errors, and improves customer satisfaction by handling returns swiftly and accurately.

6. Comprehensive Data and Reporting

An OMS provides a wealth of data on order processing times, inventory levels, sales trends, and customer behaviors across channels. This data is crucial for optimizing your fulfillment strategy and making informed decisions.

• Real-Time Insights: By analyzing this data, retailers can identify bottlenecks, optimize inventory distribution, and adjust strategies to meet demand more effectively. For instance, if certain stores consistently fulfill more online orders, you can better allocate stock to those locations.

7. Improved Customer Experience

Ultimately, the goal of omnichannel fulfillment is to deliver a seamless and satisfying customer experience. An OMS helps achieve this by ensuring orders are fulfilled accurately and on time. 

• Key Features: Customers can track their orders in real time, choose flexible delivery options, and access hassle-free returns, all of which enhance their shopping experience and build brand loyalty. Did you know providing accurate estimated ship-from-store delivery dates positively influences 75% of shoppers to make a purchase? This is made possible by an OMS.

Offer Flexible Fulfillment Options with an OMS

To thrive in today’s retail landscape, flexibility is key. Customers expect the freedom to choose how and when they receive their orders, and the more options you offer, the better chance you have of meeting their needs. While customer behavior can be unpredictable, offering a wide range of ecommerce fulfillment solutions minimizes friction and maximizes satisfaction.

Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)

BOPIS is a popular choice, allowing customers to shop online and pick up their items from a local store—often on the same day. With an Order Management System (OMS), inventory is checked in real time to ensure product availability at the nearest location. Once a purchase is made, the OMS reserves the item and notifies store staff to prepare the order for pickup. This not only reduces shipping costs and customer wait times but also encourages additional in-store purchases during collection.

Ship-From-Store

Turning your retail locations into mini fulfillment centers is another powerful strategy. An OMS evaluates inventory across all locations and selects a store to fulfill the online order based on predetermined rules. This reduces delivery times, minimizes shipping costs, and helps manage stock by distributing excess inventory from physical stores, maximizing efficiency and product turnover.

Same-Day Delivery

For time-sensitive orders, an OMS can help determine the fastest fulfillment route, whether from a central warehouse or a nearby store. By integrating with logistics providers, it enables real-time delivery options that align with customer urgency. Same-day delivery not only satisfies the growing demand for fast service but also provides a competitive edge by catering to last-minute shoppers.

Curbside Pickup

As an extension of BOPIS, curbside pickup offers a contactless, hassle-free option. The OMS coordinates the order preparation and facilitates customer communications, notifying them when their items are ready for collection outside the store. This convenience appeals to customers who value speed and safety, especially in today’s health-conscious environment.

Reserve Online, Pick Up In-Store (ROPIS)

ROPIS allows customers to reserve items online without committing to a purchase until they’ve had a chance to inspect or try the product in person. The OMS reserves the item at the selected store until the customer finalizes the purchase. This method blends the ease of online shopping with the reassurance of in-store product validation, increasing conversion rates and boosting buyer confidence.

Flexible Return Options

Offering easy returns is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. An OMS simplifies the process by allowing customers to return online purchases through multiple channels, whether in-store, shipped, or dropped off at a local return point. This flexibility removes barriers and reduces the friction often accompanying returns, enhancing the overall customer experience.

By leveraging the capabilities of an OMS, retailers can provide the variety and convenience that today’s customers demand. Implementing fulfillment strategies through an OMS drives satisfaction, repeat business and long-term loyalty.

How Deck Commerce Can Support Your Omnichannel Strategy

Achieving omnichannel success requires the right technology and seamless integration. Deck Commerce offers a powerful Order Management System (OMS) designed to streamline and automate order processing across all channels. With real-time visibility into inventory levels, our system helps you avoid costly issues like overstocking and stockouts, improving customer satisfaction while driving sales.

Our OMS integrates effortlessly with your existing systems—such as ERP, CRM, POS, and WMS—creating a cohesive retail ecosystem that supports smooth operations and personalized customer experiences at scale.

Deck Commerce also enables flexible fulfillment options, including Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS), ship-from-store, and same-day delivery, giving customers the convenience they expect. Plus, our platform’s advanced analytics provide actionable insights into sales, inventory, and customer behaviors, empowering your business with data-driven decision-making.

With scalability and adaptability built in, Deck Commerce ensures that your business stays competitive in an ever-evolving retail landscape. Ready to elevate your omnichannel strategy and drive growth?

Contact Deck Commerce today to discover how we can transform your business and support your success.