eStar and Viare chief growth officer Alison Crosbie (pictured) shares how retailers can deliver better omnichannel experiences by breaking down the silos.
Retailers are under constant pressure to meet rising customer expectations across online and offline channels. Yet behind the scenes, many retailers still operate in silos where departments such as I.T., retail operations, eCommerce and digital and customer service pursue isolated goals. These disconnected approaches can be a major barrier to delivering seamless omnichannel experiences, particularly when implementing systems like Enterprise Order Management Systems (OMS), which rely on cross-functional input to succeed.
Why Silos Undermine Omnichannel Goals?
Silos create misalignment. Each department often works toward its KPIs without visibility or consideration for how those goals intersect with others. I.T. may focus on the technical rollout of a new platform, customer service looks to fix customer queries quickly, retail operations seek process efficiency, and the C-Suite want R.O.I. Revenue growth and transformation, with costs being kept under tight control. On paper, each department is doing its job. But in reality, this fragmentation can create delays, disjointed experiences for customers, a failed technology project and often high-performing team members’ leave. Silos tend to become more noticeable as businesses expand. They usually develop gradually and do not generally emerge suddenly.
The challenging process of dismantling silos and aligning goals, known as "e2e excellence," represents a transformative mindset. Addressing the most complex retail operations issues with a comprehensive “whole of business approach” necessitates breaking down persistent operational silos, both “functional and metaphorical”. This endeavour is described as "a herculean task" in an article published by McKinsey in August 2024.
Nowhere is this more visible than in an Enterprise OMS implementation project. An OMS needs to unify data and processes across the whole business, such as all customer orders, accurate inventory, delivery options, reining in returns, and customer communications. Without collaboration, gaps can appear and fail to capture key customer pain points, unclear R.O.I. and metrics, or fulfilment processes that aren’t operationally viable or deliver the best customer experience.
Key Roles That Matter for a Successful Enterprise OMS Project
Successfully delivering a seamless OMS project requires input from across whole-of-business.
For eCommerce and omni-channel teams, an OMS roadmap is just as important as integrations between on and offline channels and alignment with customer experience, loyalty and customer support goals.
For IT, they lead the architecture of their technology stack and integration strategy with platforms like POS, ERP, eCommerce, and many more. Their role is critical in ensuring real-time inventory updates flow to the relevant systems driving efficient order routing logic and improving customer confidence in stock availability. The downstream impacts to customers, especially customer experience, is often not front of mind for IT but their role is in empowering platforms and internal teams is pivotal.
Customer Service deals with the most frequent question of "Where's my order?" They understand these pain points better than other teams. Therefore, they need to understand how the system handles delivery delays, missing items, refunds, and a unified view of customer orders. Their feedback is vital in shaping how an OMS communicates order updates, handles or manages returns and supports Use Cases that affect customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Retail Operations including store and warehouse operations teams are responsible for executing fulfillment strategies. They need clear processes for pick, pack, ship, and return and especially when an OMS introduces changes like ship-from-store or click-and-collect. They must have input to assess what’s actually feasible in-store (team training and current barriers in existing systems e.g. ERP) and ensure the OMS design supports speed, accuracy and flexibility without overloading store teams at critical selling times such as Peak Periods.
The C-Suite plays a key role in any whole-of-business transformation approach, often as the project sponsor. This is not just about assessing the ROI, and aggressive revenue upside, but the leadership required for successful change management. They are essential in prioritising investment, setting the parameters for project scope, what’s a “must have” vs what’s a nice to have” and monitoring post-implementation deliverables. Without C-Suite buy-in, projects will stall or fail to demonstrate whole-of-business success.
When these functions and roles collaborate from the outset, retailers gain a complete picture of what the OMS needs to be. This means technically, operationally, and commercially. This results in faster implementation, fewer surprises, and a better experience for customers.
Retailers who breakdown silos and establish “e2e excellence” as part of a comprehensive business strategy are better positioned to genuinely improve the customer experience, create value, develop a competitive edge, and attract and retain top talent.