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via Supply Chain Management by Chandradeep Bandyopadhyay on 4/26/10
In my earlier post, I mentioned I was speaking at Sterling Commerce Customer Connection 2010. Well, the session was well attended and I met quite a few other retailers who were at different stages of their multichannel journey. I heard lots of viewpoints on the future of order management in retail.
One such discussion was with a person I have known over the past few years and she owned business requirements definition for one of my previous engagements. The key points she raised were "Why is POS required? Why can't we store ALL orders in the same OMS that we store online orders?". What she was saying is that the register is old world. In this world of handhelds and iPads why do we drag the customer all the way to a register?
Sterling introduced a set of new iPhone apps at the event. One of these was for the store sales associate where they can check store inventory on their iPhone. They can check inventory for neighboring stores. Imagine the possibilities! I am based in Seattle, home to some specialty retailers like Nordstrom and REI. In these stores the salespersons often help the customer decide. In Nordstrom the salesperson advises on fit and fashion. In REI, the customer needs advice on the pros and cons of the gear. Imagine the immersive experience in such a store where the store associate does not need to leave the side of the customer they are assisting. They check their systems, check if they have it online, register the sale while walking around with the customer.I am sure we can think of a hundred reasons why the registers and a POS are required. But, what if registers never existed? What would we do then? Wouldn't having one OMS for all orders irrespective of channel be the next step?
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