We surveyed mid-market B2B professionals to learn more about their priorities when selecting an order management system (OMS). The study results shed light on where decision makers focus when approving potential investments, as well as revealed misconceptions about the key drivers of costs related to order management platform selection.

TCO Tops the List

The study found that total cost of ownership (TCO) is the top consideration for mid-market firms evaluating order management platforms, outranking customer service and store fulfillment capabilities. Surprisingly, extensibility and turnkey integrations ranked lowest despite being major drivers of TCO through customizations and implementation costs.

Inventory Visibility is Critical 

When it comes to inventory availability, a whopping 87% rated it as important or very important relative to other priorities. But the motivations go beyond just reducing stock outs and cancelled orders.

Follow the Money 

Minimizing holding costs and improving cash flow management emerged as the paramount benefits according to the C-suite respondents.

As one survey participant put it: “The person at the table ultimately approving inventory projects is the finance team, and you need to make a clear cash flow management and inventory turn business case in addition to the improved sales story.”

Focus on Financially-Driven Justifications

The findings reinforce that mid-market B2B leaders take a financially-driven approach when evaluating order management investments. Building a successful business case means highlighting the potential working capital optimization and hard dollar savings over just customer experience factors.

 

Do your order management platform selection priorities align with these results? View the full research report to benchmark your approach and uncover where to focus your efforts to gain executive support and select the right system for your needs.

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