Order processing

Sara Heegaard March 3, 20222 minute read

Sara is a copywriter focused on lifting up Recharge's merchants, partners, and their customers. Before Recharge, her past lives included writing and editing at four different subscription... Full bio

What is order processing?

Order processing is a key element of order fulfillment that occurs on the business end after a customer places an order. It begins when a business receives an order, and ends when the order is shipped. Several aspects of inventory management, including batch picking, as well as shipping, packaging, and sorting inventory, fall under the order fulfillment process. Depending on the size and nature of the business, order processing can be conducted by a single individual, or it can occur in order processing operations like distribution centers or warehouses. By handling order processing efficiently and accurately, businesses can decrease the amount of time it takes to fulfill customer orders.

What is order processing software?

An order processing system, which captures all necessary information related to a customer and their order, can be either manual or technology-based. Once businesses reach a certain size, their order fulfillment operations may gain complexity. In these situations, it may be valuable to invest in order processing software, such as an order management system (OMS). This software can help automate certain manual processing operations, helping minimize human error and ultimately increasing sales. These order processing systems can store order data, check inventory availability, and track deliveries—actions that can increase customer satisfaction and increase sales by improving order accuracy and reliability.