Vendor releases distributed selling for multichannel order capture and optimisation

Vendor releases distributed selling for multichannel order capture and optimisation

Manhattan Associates has released Distributed Selling, a cross-channel call centre and in-store order entry application built within its Distributed Order Management (DOM) solution.

Distributed Selling enables a retailer to provide the same level of service and purchase power to customers via external applications – mobile device, point of sale system, or any other application capable of making web service calls – as it can within a call centre or store location, according to the vendor. Additionally, Distributed Selling is designed to provide retailers with payment processing and financial settlement support for all orders, regardless of where they originated.

Dynamic cross-channel capabilities

To support call centre and in-store order capture capabilities, Manhattan constructed Distributed Selling Services, which can be accessed via DOM’s Order Lifecycle Modeller, an Eclipse-based workflow modelling tool. The browser-based application includes services for pricing, promotions management, tax calculation, payment processing (including authorisation, reauthorisation, fraud detection, and settlement) and invoicing/sales posting, and is ideal for usage in both store locations and a call centre, where responsiveness is critical.

“Distributed Selling furthers Manhattan’s ability to provide ‘Zero Disappointment Retail’ solutions to customers, reinforcing the view that a cross-channel enabled platform of applications best positions retailers to present a unified brand front for a consistent customer experience,” said Terrie O’Hanlon, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Manhattan Associates.

Platform partner integration

In addition to the debut of Distributed Selling, the 2010 version of DOM – a solution within the Order Lifecycle Management platform of the Manhattan SCOPE platform – also reaffirmed DOM’s integration with IBM WebSphere Commerce, added Manhattan, which provides retailers with a complete stack of cross-channel solutions. DOM 2010 ships with a certified integration adapter to WebSphere Commerce V7, covering a number of complex cross-channel scenarios.

Beyond the integration with WebSphere Commerce and payment procession/tax integration with Manhattan partners CyberSource and Vertex, DOM continues to support integration with Manhattan’s own Supplier Enablement, Store Gateway and Warehouse Management applications. Such integration enables the Manhattan SCOPE cross-channel suite of applications to provide support for order capture through order fulfilment, including orchestrating and executing fulfilment from both traditional (DC) and non-traditional locations, such as drop ship vendors and stores.

DOM 2010 also contains an algorithm for sourcing orders from stores for shipment to customers or for transfer between locations. It said this formula factors in a store’s inventory level relative to its model stock quantity, the store’s currently available labour pool, geographic proximity to the order’s destination, as well as any current exceptions occurring within the network.