The 5 Mistakes That Sabotage Your Omnichannel Strategy (and How OMS Can Change Everything)

How Does an OMS Support an Omnichannel Strategy?

Retail is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. As WISHIBAM’s director, I witness retailers daily struggling to balance physical and digital channels, often with tools ill-suited for this new reality. The question is no longer whether to adopt an omnichannel strategy, but how to orchestrate it effectively. This is where the Order Management System (OMS) comes into play.

Imagine: your customer spots a product online, checks its in-store availability, reserves it, then changes their mind and prefers delivery. Without an OMS, this journey becomes a logistical nightmare. With an OMS, it’s a perfectly orchestrated symphony.

In this article, I’ll reveal why OMS has become the invisible yet essential backbone of any successful omnichannel strategy, the major risks you take by operating without one, and how our WISHIBAM solution transforms this complexity into a competitive advantage. Ready to discover how an OMS can revolutionize your retail approach?

OMS: The Invisible Conductor of the Omnichannel Customer Experience

Why OMS Has Become Essential for Ambitious Retailers in 2025

Last year, I met with a fashion brand director who confided: “We thought we’d succeeded in our digital transformation with a high-performing e-commerce site, but our customers still criticize the disconnect between our channels.” This anecdote perfectly illustrates the current challenge.

A recent Salesforce study reveals that 72% of consumers now expect a seamless experience between online and offline. They simply don’t understand why a product available on your website can’t be picked up immediately in-store, or why an item seen in-store is untraceable on your app.

This shift in expectations creates a growing gap between retailers equipped with an OMS and those still operating with siloed systems. The former offer a coherent experience; the latter multiply friction points. And in a market where customer loyalty is eroding, each friction point is an invitation to look elsewhere.

What an OMS Really Does (and Why You Can No Longer Do Without It)

Let’s move beyond buzzwords and talk specifics. An OMS isn’t just another piece of software in your technology stack—it’s the brain that connects all your systems to create a unified view of your business.

• Centralizes real-time information about your inventory—whether in warehouses, transit, or stores. This global visibility prevents the classic situation where your website displays “available” when the product is actually sold out.
• According to an IBM study, this synchronization improves stock accuracy by 85% on average.
• Orchestrates the entire order lifecycle—capturing, payment, preparation, and delivery—while choosing the optimal shipping point (geography, stock, team load, etc.).

Take an example: a customer orders three items. With an OMS, the system can decide to ship two items from your Lyon store (where they’re available) and the third from your central warehouse, while coordinating delivery to arrive as a single package. Without an OMS? You either refuse the order or create a manual logistical nightmare.

Without OMS, No Sovereign Omnichannel: The Risks You Take

Stock Shortages, Broken Promises: When Lack of OMS Damages Your Image

I recently worked with a retailer who thought they had mastered omnichannel. Their diagnosis was simple: “Our stocks update every night; that’s sufficient.” The result? One in five customers received a cancellation email the day after ordering. Each cancellation was a disappointment, each disappointment a lost customer.

McKinsey (2024): Without real-time stock synchronization, 1 in 4 orders fails or experiences significant delay.

• Every broken promise erodes your trust capital, especially as Amazon has normalized rapid, reliable delivery.
• Oracle: 40% of customers increase attrition after a poor delivery experience; 89% share their negative story online.
• Hidden costs: customer service, compensatory discounts, logistical returns, and team stress.
• Absurd situations: item unavailable online but present in store; reserved item sold before pickup.

Dependence on E-commerce Giants: A Model at Breaking Point

Facing these challenges, many retailers have chosen the easy solution: delegating their omnichannel to e-commerce giants. A strategy I call “omnichannel by proxy”—which proves to be a formidable trap.

• Loss of margin: marketplace commissions up to 20%.
• Loss of data: your sales fuel their algorithms, not yours.
• Loss of brand: diluted presence among thousands of offers.

A digital director of a major French retailer recently confided: “We generate 30% of our online revenue via marketplaces, but these sales cost us 45% of our digital marketing expenses.” It’s a vicious cycle that increases dependence rather than sovereignty.

How Wishibam Powers Your Omnichannel Strategy with a Sovereign OMS

A Solution Designed for Retailers, Not Platforms

When we designed Wishibam’s OMS, we started from a simple observation: European retailers have fundamentally different needs than American or Chinese e-commerce giants. They operate in more fragmented ecosystems, with specific regulatory constraints and distinct customer expectations.

• Developed in France, locally hosted, fully GDPR-compliant—total data sovereignty.
• Integration flexibility: Adapts to your existing systems (ERP, POS, WMS, e-commerce), limiting operational disruption and reducing deployment to typically less than 12 weeks.
• Field-centric design: In-store interface is mobile, intuitive, requiring only a few hours of training.

A solution, however sophisticated, only brings value if it’s effectively adopted by those who use it daily. We designed ours with the people in the field in mind.

Concrete Results: More Sales, Less Friction

• +28% average increase in online conversion rate—thanks to reliable stock info and delivery options.
• “Available” finally means “available” for customers.

Client testimonial (Home décor chain):
“With Wishibam, we’ve regained control over our customer journey. Before, we were constrained by technical limitations. Now, we can finally implement our strategic vision.”

The customer experience is transformed. For example, a sports store client implemented a “click & try” service (reserve several sizes to try in-store), which reduced their online return rate by 22%.

Wishibam’s OMS also unlocks extra profitability by turning each store into a mini logistics hub. Dormant stock becomes sellable online. One of our clients reduced their stock by 18% while increasing sales by 23%.

OMS: The Keystone of Your Omnichannel Success

OMS is no longer a luxury or just another technological option. It has become the fundamental foundation upon which any effective omnichannel strategy rests. In a world where boundaries between physical and digital are blurring, only retailers capable of harmoniously orchestrating all their channels will survive.

With Wishibam, you don’t just follow the trend—you create your own model of omnichannel excellence. Our sovereign OMS allows you to regain control of your digital destiny, fully leverage the strength of your physical network, and offer your customers the seamless experience they expect.

Tomorrow’s retail will belong to those who transform omnichannel complexity into competitive advantage. And this transformation begins with an OMS capable of connecting all your systems, all your channels, all your touchpoints.

So, are you ready to orchestrate your omnichannel revolution?

FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About OMS in an Omnichannel Strategy

Charlotte Journo-Baur, Founder of WISHIBAM
Recognized among the top 0.1% most influential retail experts in Europe