Fluent Commerce: What is it and how does it work?
Fluent Commerce is an OMS (Order Management System), in Spanish a platform for managing orders, that helps you improve inventory accuracy, reduce delivery costs, and manage customer orders.
Before the advent of management software, companies largely relied on manual processes, which were naturally slow and prone to errors. This included the need to fill out paper forms, obtain signatures to approve orders, and coordinate activities through constant communication between different departments.
For example, removing products from inventory required formal authorizations that involved collecting signatures on physical documents. This process could be delayed if a signature was missing or if there were errors in the paperwork.
Before the widespread adoption of real-time tracking technologies, such as online package tracking, sellers had to contact courier companies directly to get information about the status of deliveries. This was also a manual process that took time and depended on the availability of accurate and updated information.
To reduce costs and time in order management, as well as improve the customer experience, companies saw the need to adopt solutions that automated these tasks. This is where order management systems like Fluent Commerce began to develop.
This platform offers inventory availability and distributed order management and is designed to meet the business needs of the future.
What is Fluent Commerce?
Fluent Commerce is an order management platform that allows companies to efficiently manage inventory, orders, and product distribution across multiple channels.
Fluent Commerce is used by large retailers and global brands to improve operational efficiency and provide a better customer experience. It is based on a modular and flexible architecture that leverages advanced technologies to offer a robust platform for distributed inventory and order management. Its clients include brands such as PRADA Group, L'Oréal, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, Kingfisher, and JD Sports.
It is capable of handling the complexities of global and multichannel commerce, giving companies the agility and efficiency needed to thrive in a competitive environment.
Fluent Commerce Features
Fluent Commerce offers a platform with various features designed to optimize order management, inventory, and customer experience in multichannel environments. Here are some of the main features:
Real-time inventory management: It allows companies to have an accurate and up-to-date view of their inventory, regardless of the channel or location.
Order orchestration It optimizes order allocation and fulfillment, ensuring that products reach customers in the most efficient way possible.
Click and Collect (buy online and pick up in store): It integrates the online experience with the physical store, allowing customers to buy online and pick up their products at a nearby store.
Ship from store: It allows physical stores to act as distribution centers, reducing delivery times and optimizing inventory use.
Returns management: It facilitates the product return process for both the customer and the company.
These features make Fluent Commerce a powerful option for companies seeking to improve operational efficiency and provide superior customer experiences in a multichannel sales environment.
Advantages of Fluent Commerce
Fluent Commerce offers several significant advantages for companies looking to optimize their order management and customer experience. Here are some of the main advantages:
Inventory optimization: It improves the accuracy of inventory data, ensuring you always have a clear and up-to-date view of available products.
Cost reduction: It minimizes delivery expenses by optimizing shipping routes and methods, resulting in significant savings for your business.
Sales increase: It enhances sales opportunities by improving order management and product availability, leading to greater customer satisfaction.
Flexible integration: It easily adapts to your existing systems, facilitating integration and avoiding interruptions in your operations. It integrates with: Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Magento, BigCommerce, SAP Commerce Cloud, WooCommerce, VTEX, and Shopware.
Cloud architecture: It provides scalability and flexibility, allowing you to adapt the platform according to the changing needs of your business.
Improves customer experience: It facilitates efficient order management, ensuring that your customers receive their products quickly and reliably.
These advantages make Fluent Commerce a valuable solution for companies looking to increase operational efficiency, optimize inventory management, and offer the best customer experience.
How does Fluent Commerce work?
Fluent Commerce functions as a comprehensive platform for order management and fulfillment, designed to improve operational efficiency and offer a superior customer experience. Here's how it works:
1. Data collection and unification
Multichannel integration: Fluent Commerce integrates with different sales systems and channels, such as eCommerce platforms, inventory management systems, and point-of-sale (POS) systems. This consolidates order, inventory, and customer data into one platform.
Real-time synchronization: Inventory and order data are updated in real time, providing a unified and accurate view of stock availability and order status.
2. Inventory management
Omnichannel visibility: The platform offers a centralized view of inventory across all channels and locations, including warehouses, physical stores, and distribution centers.
Inventory optimization: It uses real-time data to optimize inventory allocation and ensure that products are available where they are most needed.
3. Order orchestration
Intelligent allocation: Fluent Commerce applies business rules to assign orders to the most efficient location, considering factors such as customer proximity, inventory availability, and shipping costs.
Flexible fulfillment: It allows orders to be fulfilled from multiple locations, including physical stores, reducing delivery times and improving operational efficiency.
4. Fulfillment and shipping
Click and collect and ship from store: It facilitates options such as buy online and pick up in store (click and collect) and shipping from physical stores. This provides flexibility and options for customers, while optimizing logistics.
Order tracking: Customers can track the status of their orders in real time, enhancing transparency and customer satisfaction.
5. Returns management
Simplified processes: The platform offers tools to efficiently manage returns, allowing customers to return products easily and companies to process returns quickly.
Inventory reintegration: Returned products are quickly reintegrated into available inventory, helping maintain data accuracy and stock availability.
6. Analytics and reporting
Real-time reports: Fluent Commerce provides analytics and reporting tools that allow companies to monitor order management, fulfillment performance, and other key business aspects.
KPIs and metrics: It offers visibility into key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling companies to make informed decisions and adjust their operational strategies.
7. Flexibility and customization
API-based platform: Fluent Commerce's API-based architecture allows for easy integration with other systems and customization tailored to each company's specific needs.
Configurable rules: Companies can define and adjust order fulfillment rules, inventory priorities, and other settings based on their operational and strategic needs.
Fluent Commerce centralizes and optimizes order and inventory management through a flexible and scalable platform, improving operational efficiency and customer experience in multichannel environments.
Use Cases of Fluent Commerce
Fluent Commerce adapts to a variety of use cases across different industries and types of companies, especially those operating in multichannel environments. These are the best use cases:
Multichannel Retail: Facilitates the integration between the online channel and physical stores, efficiently managing inventory and fulfillment. Physical stores can act as distribution centers, shipping products directly to customers.
eCommerce: Helps manage order allocation and fulfillment from multiple locations, ensuring that products reach customers quickly and efficiently.
International Retail: Supports managing operations across multiple countries, including handling inventory and orders in different currencies and languages. This is useful for large retailers operating internationally.
Omnichannel in Large Supply Chains: Enables inventory and order management across various locations, optimizing fulfillment and reducing operational complexity. It also maintains consistency of inventory and order data across multiple channels, helping improve accuracy and efficiency in the supply chain.
Subscription-Based Business Models: Facilitates the planning and management of inventory for products that are shipped regularly, preventing stock issues and improving the customer experience.
Wholesale Businesses: Allows for efficient inventory management intended for wholesale customers, ensuring that orders are fulfilled effectively and on time.
Retail with Flexible Return Needs: Eases the management of returns and product reintegration into inventory, which is essential for retailers offering flexible return policies.
These use cases demonstrate the versatility of Fluent Commerce in order management and optimizing the customer experience, adapting to the needs of various types of businesses and business models.
Brands That Use Fluent Commerce
Fluent Commerce is used by a variety of global brands and companies from different sectors to optimize their order management and improve the customer experience. Here are some of the notable brands that use Fluent Commerce:
ASOS (Fashion and eCommerce) to manage its large volume of orders and provide a seamless omnichannel shopping experience, including options like Click and Collect and shipping from stores.
L'Oréal (Cosmetics and Personal Care) to integrate its sales channels and manage order fulfillment in multiple markets, improving fulfillment efficiency and customer experience.
Coty (Cosmetics and Personal Care) to improve inventory visibility and order management, optimizing logistics and fulfillment for its global brands.
Gucci and Saint Laurent (Luxury and Fashion) to manage their inventory and orders across multiple channels, ensuring a consistent and efficient shopping experience.
Lululemon (Athletic Apparel) to enhance inventory management and order fulfillment in both physical stores and online, facilitating options like Click and Collect and shipping from stores.
Woolworths (Retail and Supermarket) to optimize inventory management and order fulfillment, improving operational efficiency and the customer experience.
The Entertainer (Toys and Entertainment) to manage its inventory and orders across multiple channels, offering flexible fulfillment options and enhancing the shopping experience for its customers.
Nespresso (Coffee and Beverages) to manage order fulfillment and inventory in both physical stores and online channels, ensuring an efficient and satisfying shopping experience for customers.
These brands stand out for using Fluent Commerce to improve operational efficiency, provide an omnichannel service, and offer an optimized customer experience through flexible and effective order management and fulfillment.
Why Choose Fluent Commerce?
Choosing Fluent Commerce can provide companies with a comprehensive and flexible solution for order management and fulfillment, helping to improve operational efficiency, optimize the customer experience, and adapt to the changing needs of the market.
The future of Fluent Commerce, and order management and fulfillment platforms in general, is influenced by several trends and technological advancements that are transforming commerce and logistics.
These trends and technological advancements are shaping the future of order management platforms like Fluent Commerce, driving innovation and improving operational efficiency, customer experience, and sustainability in commerce and logistics.
