What is a multichannel order management system (and do you need one)?

It starts with a familiar sense of pride. You launched on Shopify, then expanded to Amazon and eBay. Sales are climbing.

But behind the scenes, your operations are a frantic juggling act powered by a complex web of spreadsheets. You update inventory on one sheet after a sale, only to find another team member sold the same last item on a different marketplace moments before.

This is the breaking point for many growing e-commerce brands. What once worked for a handful of orders a day quickly descends into total chaos.

And the consequences are costly and damaging:

• Overselling: Selling out-of-stock items leads to canceled orders, angry customers, and potential penalties from marketplaces like Amazon.
• Inaccurate inventory: Not knowing what you have or where it is means missed sales opportunities and bloated carrying costs.
• Shipping delays: Manually processing orders, printing labels, and updating tracking information is slow and prone to human error, resulting in late deliveries.
• Poor customer experiences: When orders are wrong, late, or unexpectedly canceled, customer trust evaporates, leading to bad reviews and lost repeat business.

These operational blunders are your biggest barriers to growth. To scale effectively across multiple channels, you need to move beyond manual processes.

A multichannel order management system (OMS) is how successful retailers manage this complexity and build a foundation for sustainable success.

What is a multichannel order management system?

A multichannel order management system is a centralized software platform that unifies order, inventory, and customer data from your multiple channels.

Whether you sell on an online store like Shopify, on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, or even in a physical store, an OMS brings every transaction into a single, cohesive dashboard.

Think of it as the central nervous system for your post-purchase operations. From the moment a customer clicks “buy” to the second the package arrives at their door, the OMS coordinates every step.

It creates a single source of truth, ensuring that your inventory levels, order status, and customer information are consistent and accurate across different channels, all the time.

5 core benefits of a multichannel order management system

Adopting an OMS directly solves the pain points caused by manual processes and empowers your brand to scale.

• Eliminate overselling with real-time inventory syncing. The most immediate benefit of an OMS is gaining control over your stock. When an item sells on any channel, the system provides real time updates to the inventory count across all other marketplaces and your e-commerce store. This real-time synchronization makes overselling a thing of the past, protecting your seller ratings and ensuring you never have to disappoint a customer again.
• Boost efficiency with workflow automation. Imagine your order process on autopilot. An OMS automates the repetitive, time-consuming tasks in your order fulfillment process that bog down your team. You can set up rules to automatically route orders to the correct warehouse, generate purchase orders when stock is low, assign the cheapest shipping carrier, and print picking lists and packing slips. This frees up your team to focus on high-value activities like marketing, customer service, and product development.
• Make smarter decisions with centralized reporting. Which channels are most profitable? Which products have the highest return rate? How are your fulfillment costs trending over time? With spreadsheets, these questions are nearly impossible to answer accurately. An OMS consolidates data from every corner of your business into clear, accessible reports. This unified view gives you the insights needed to make strategic decisions about inventory purchasing, marketing spend, and channel expansion.
• Enhance customer satisfaction. In modern e-commerce, a fast and accurate delivery experience is an expectation. By automating order fulfillment workflows, an OMS helps you get the right products to the right customers, faster. This reliability ensures timely delivery, which translates directly into higher customer satisfaction, better reviews, more repeat business, and a stronger, more trustworthy brand.
• Unlock scalable growth. An OMS provides the operational backbone needed for true scalability. It allows you to add new sales channels, expand into new markets, or open additional warehouses without your operations collapsing across multiple channels. By centralizing control and automating key processes, the system ensures you can handle a massive influx of order volume efficiently, turning growth from a challenge into an opportunity.

7 essential features to look for in a multichannel order management software

Not all OMS tools are created equal. When evaluating your options, look for a solution with a robust set of features designed to handle the complexities of modern commerce.

Centralized order management

This is the core of any OMS that manages multiple channels. You need a single dashboard where you can view, search, edit, and process orders from every sales channel. This unified view simplifies order processing by providing all necessary details at a glance, including customer information, products ordered, and channel source, eliminating the need to log in and out of multiple platforms.

Multi-location inventory management

For brands with stock in more than one place—multiple warehouses, 3PL partners, Amazon FBA centers, or retail stores—effective multi channel inventory management is non-negotiable. A powerful OMS can track inventory levels at each location, optimize order fulfillment by routing orders to the most efficient node, and provide a complete picture of your stock, no matter where it’s stored. 

Intelligent workflow automation

Look beyond basic automation. A top-tier OMS should offer a customizable rules engine that puts you in control. For example, our friends at JAF Comics, a leading retailer of action figures and memorabilia, switched from a manual, spreadsheet-based process to an automated multichannel order management system and managed to 10x their business growth. This is the level of impact that intelligent automation can have, separating a good OMS from a great one.

Integrated shipping management

An effective OMS should have deep, native integrations with major shipping carriers. This allows you to print shipping labels directly from the platform, automatically compare rates to find the most cost-effective service for every order, and send tracking information back to the sales channel and the customer without manual data entry.

Integrated POS functionality

If you operate physical stores or pop-up shops alongside your online channels, integrated Point of Sale (POS) functionality is crucial. When a sale is made in-store, the OMS should instantly deduct the item from your global inventory count. This real-time sync between offline and online sales is the only way to maintain perfect inventory accuracy and prevent overselling.

Robust reporting and analytics

The best decisions are data-driven. Your OMS should provide easy access to dashboards and reports that cover every aspect of your operations. This includes sales trends by channel, best-selling products, fulfillment costs and times, and team member productivity. These analytics are vital for optimizing your business for profitability.

Extensive channel and system integrations

Your OMS must be able to connect seamlessly with all the other tools in your tech stack. Prioritize platforms that offer a wide range of pre-built, native integrations with the major e-commerce platforms (Shopify, BigCommerce), marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Walmart), shipping carriers, and accounting software you already use. A lack of proper integration can create data silos and manual work, defeating the purpose of the system.

How to choose the right OMS for your business

Selecting the right OMS is a critical decision. To find the best fit, start by evaluating your own operational needs. Use this checklist to clarify your requirements, especially if you’re selling across multiple sales channels:

• How many sales channels are you on? List every marketplace, e-commerce platform, and retail location where you sell products.
• What is your average daily/monthly order volume? Be honest about your current volume and projected growth over the next 1-2 years.
• Do you manage inventory in multiple locations? Account for all warehouses, 3PLs, retail stores, and FBA centers.
• What does your order fulfillment process look like? Do you ship in-house, use a 3PL, rely on dropshipping, or use a hybrid model?
• What other software do you need to integrate with? Consider your accounting software (like QuickBooks or Xero), CRM, and any other essential business tools.

It’s also important to understand the difference between an OMS and a full Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. While ERPs can manage orders, they are massive, complex systems that also handle functions like HR, manufacturing, and corporate finance. For most e-commerce brands, an OMS is the more practical, focused, and cost-effective choice for mastering multichannel commerce.

4 steps to a smooth OMS implementation

Transitioning to a new system can feel daunting, but a structured approach can ensure a smooth and successful implementation.

1. Clean and standardize your data: An OMS runs on data. Before you begin, take the time to clean up your product information (SKUs, titles, attributes) to ensure it’s consistent across all channels. Remember the “garbage in, garbage out” principle; clean data is the foundation of effective automation.
2. Run in parallel: Don’t turn off your old system on day one. For a short period, run your new OMS alongside your existing processes. This allows you to test the new workflows with live orders and confirm everything is working correctly before making the final switch.
3. Create training resources: Empower your team for success. Develop simple guides, checklists, or short video tutorials for common tasks within the new system. A well-trained team will adapt faster and unlock the full potential of the software much sooner.
4. Integrate and automate: Once the system is live, connect all your channels and software. Work with your implementation team to identify the most impactful processes to automate from day one, such as order routing and shipping label generation, to see an immediate return on your investment. 

Take control of your growth with Linnworks

Adopting a multichannel order management system is a pivotal step for any brand that is serious about growth. It transforms your operations from a chaotic, reactive process into a streamlined, automated engine for efficiency and customer satisfaction.

With over 100 native integrations and a focus on powerful, flexible automation, Linnworks is built to handle the complexities of modern commerce and help you take complete control of your business. It provides the single source of truth you need to scale confidently, without limits.

Ready to see how Linnworks can transform your operations? Request a demo today.