Fluent Order Managements drives real-time business and customer benefits
Jamie Cairns , Chief Strategy Officer at Fluent Commerce , on how its order management platform enhances operational efficiency and customer experience .
Fluent Commerce is a global software company focused on distributed order management . Its cloud-native platform , Fluent Order Management , provides accurate and near real-time inventory data visibility , order orchestration , fulfilment optimisation , instore pick and pack , customer service , and reporting to transform fulfilment into a competitive advantage .
As Jamie Cairns , Chief Strategy Officer at Fluent Commerce explains , the process of managing orders begins with inventory data . “ Being able to unify a view of inventory and then syndicating that inventory data out across a range of different channels lets you improve the customer experience ,” Cairns comments .
That , in turn , has a range of different operational efficiency benefits , reducing costs by reducing split shipments , cancelled orders , and customer service calls .
As Cairns describes , order management represents an opportunity for retailers and B2B organisations to harness inventory data to provide real-world benefits . One of their recent innovations , Fluent Big Inventory , is about unifying in near real-time those inventory sources , enabling all systems to become inventory aware .
“ It is not just about enhancing the order fulfilment process , which is typically what has been the domain of an order management system ,” Cairns explains . “ It ’ s about making inventory data available to other systems , like search , as well and ultimately being able to personalise search results based on inventory .” With changing customer preferences in recent years , brands have had to adapt quickly . As Cairns explains , Fluent Order Management not only provides a robust software-as-a-service platform , but at a lower total cost so businesses can move quickly and meet customer expectations efficiently .
During the COVID-19 pandemic when stores were closed , Fluent Order Management enabled businesses to adapt quickly . “ Stores still had inventory and there were huge spikes in online demand ,” Cairns explains . “ Our customers were able to adapt in a matter of a day to completely change their fulfilment workflows .
“ Digital agility is essential ,” he concludes . “ We are not trying to predict what the future is , but to provide a toolset that allows you to adapt as the future evolves .”