Our Tuesday Talks Series features Melissa Gonzalez and Dave Bruno, Director of Marketing at Aptos on Order Management Systems.

A Few Show Highlights:

This week’s Tuesday Talks features David Bruno, Marketing Director at Aptos and our CEO Melissa Gonzalez. In a world where ecommerce and brick and mortar are becoming one integrated operation, order management is key to success. David guides us through order management systems for retail and pop-ups from beginning thoughts, to execution, to how it has helped customers and retailers alike.

To begin, we ask David how will an order management system (OM) help retailers in a pop-up setting? The OM system helps retailers better understand their in-store inventory, making sure that it is constantly updating, thus giving an accurate account of what is in store at all times. Systems often mistakenly think that inventory is available when in fact it is not. For example, if a customer is carrying a particular item throughout the pop-up with them, or it is being tried on in a fitting room, this item is not available to other consumers even though it is still in your store inventory. The Aptos solution to this problem? Having “safety stock”. Safety stock is used to maintain risk of stockouts caused by the daily uncertainties in a retail store.

When a company believes they are ready to integrate an order management system into their stores, we ask David, what are the major considerations? He says a company must embrace the idea of in store payroll increasing.  The initial start-up will take a couple weeks to understand how the order management and existing store systems will mesh together seamlessly to best fit the company’s needs. Once the program is implemented, staff training will take place across stores to become accustomed to the ins and outs of a new system. Once staff is trained the systems can be implemented into stores and seamless production can begin.

In our conversation with David he informs us that order management systems are not only used to help retailers maintain store order, but also to enhance customer experience. One way this is done is to make sure retailers are able to keep their promises to consumers. When consumers are shopping in a retail setting they are looking for instant gratification. A consumer is more likely to purchase an item if it is available for them when they walk into a store and are able to touch, feel, see and try on items, instead of ordering them online. This also creates less chance of consumers returning items, as they already know they have found what they are looking for and it is exactly what they expect. The order management system gives the consumer the freedom they need to not feel limited in their store setting, having each piece they are looking for in stock and in their specific size at the time they need it.

In conclusion, int his episode we learn able to learn the ins and outs of setting up and implementing an order management system. Along with this, we learn how the system itself can seamlessly be integrated into almost any store setting to enhance the customer shopping experience, both online and in store. To end our conversation, David leaves us with what he believes is the most important question to ask yourself after implementing and OM system: “are my customers coming back to the brand?” Being able to answer this question with a confident “Yes!” shows success for the integrated system and brand itself.

We thank David for taking the time out of his day to speak with us on this week’s Tuesday Talk. Join the next Tuesday Talks Series on Instagram Live @lionesquegroup to stay informed on the newest and most talked-about topics in the retail world!