IBM and Manhattan Associates lead the pack in the inaugural Omnichannel Order Management Forrester Wave™. Following as Strong Performers are eBay Enterprise, Micros, and hybris — each offering a rapidly maturing solution.

“Like the awkward kid at school, omnichannel OMS systems have blossomed and turned into the must-have technology for almost every eBusiness leader,” writes Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Peter Sheldon in a new blog post detailing the Forrester Wave findings. “Quickly fulfilling orders to meet rising customer expectations is a now a strategic competitive advantage in the world of omnichannel retail. Retailers must compete with Amazon Prime’s two-day fulfillment promise and consumers increasingly want to order online and pick up in-store or buy from the endless aisle when in a store. Trying to execute a transformative omnichannel strategy without an OMS is like going into battle with a wooden stick.”

The Forrester Wave evaluated vendors that are able to package and sell an OMS as a standalone capability, rather than offering an OMS as an add-on to an existing eCommerce, point-of-sale, or enterprise resource planning platform. Evaluated across 77 criteria, Forrester Wave contenders also included NetSuite, OrderDynamics, Shopatron, and Jagged Peak.

To learn more about this new research, visit the eBusiness & Channel Strategy blog.