Three System Shootout: The Order Management Systems of Netsuite, Kibo, and Lightning

February 12, 2020

There are some questions that have a single, simple answer, like “What is the capital of China?”, while others evoke passionate differences, like “Just what color is that dress!?” (Do you remember that?) Within the world of ecommerce, there is one question that is more similar to the latter than the former: Which order management system is best integrated with Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

Speaking to a number of stakeholders and experts with a keen interest, three systems emerge as the top contenders: Netsuite, Kibo, and Lightning. Let’s take a look at each of them.

Netsuite

The Netsuite Order Management system is software that offers a comprehensive online service of all core business processes from managing inventory to customer relationship management (CRM). The multichannel order management tool is used by a variety of businesses from big to small to manage the whole lifecycle of orders.

Netsuite Order Management attempts to eliminate errors and automate tasks related to transferring orders from the web to the inventory, through to shipping and accounting. And it allows businesses to provide options for an “anywhere” experience — buy, pick up, and exchange in whatever location of choice.

Netsuite is particularly ideal for high-volume order processing, along with real time inventory visibility, and automated refund management.

Despite the host of features that Netsuite Order Management offers, one of its weaknesses is that, as a business, the OMS doesn’t allow you to offer money-back guarantees to your customers. Another weakness is price. Because it has to be integrated with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, it comes at a cost for the customization, data migration, training, etc.

Kibo

The Kibo Order Management System tracks your inventory across the whole lifecycle, and automates order routing to optimize customer service. You’re able to streamline your operations via easy-to-use tools that can be handled by all team members from the store associates to the customer service department.

All of these features translate into an easier process from order to delivery. For your in-store team to fulfil orders, for customers to select order options, and for the company to react in real time to changing conditions. This OMS also comes with an exhaustive API library.

Kibo provides options for in-store pickups, and shipping from different locations, ensuring comprehensive scale. Engage with live data across stores, vendors, warehouses, and distribution centers for comprehensive viewing. It is also personalized with AI power so that your in-store team and call center staff are equipped with product recommendations to increase conversions and decrease abandonment rates.

Regarding the downsides to the Kibo Order Management System, the reporting capabilities are very manual, and can consume a lot of your time trying to navigate the report dashboard and pull together your own stats. And a smaller but constant annoyance that has often been reported is the time it takes to keep refreshing the page.

Salesforce’s own

Lightning Order Management is Salesforce Commerce Cloud’s own answer to streamline and quicken the OMS process. Designed for a customer-first approach — which falls in line with the general trajectory of Salesforce Commerce Cloud — this is an out-of-the-box feature that enables your company to personalize data and give greater control to the customer.

Its features can be divided into three key elements. Firstly, the OMS gives brands the ability to manage the entire order lifecycle from the cart to delivery. It eases the order process based on specific needs like product type and the location. Secondly, Lightning Order Management connects both the commerce and service experience, which provides the full scope of every customer. Consumers are given the options to check their order status, cancel an order, or return a product — all within a few clicks. This is particularly useful as the automated system speeds up the problem resolution time. And finally, its drag-and-drop workflows for shipping and customer service give powerful use to your company, an excellent alternative to code — and all the future bugs that may come with it.

Lightning Order Management has been in pilot but is bursting onto the general scene this month. So it’s too soon to detect any potential weaknesses. But we’ll be sure to keep an eye on it and follow up on this in the next few months.

The cold reality of the heated debate — much like many disputes — is that there isn’t that much that separates them. For those of us here at UV who work with order management systems, there doesn’t seem to be that much of a difference to choose a clear winner. But let the battle continue.