When order management in a Google Spreadsheet becomes problematic, most small business owners usually do the same thing: type “10 best OMS” in Google search, open up several tabs, and try to choose the winner by the number of stars on review pages.
These rating tables, however, rarely take into consideration your particular characteristics, such as the number of warehouses you might have, whether you are a wholesaler or retailer, or even if you already have a CRM that must be synced with the OMS. They are still helpful, but don’t bring in the clarity one hopes to get.
Before you start looking at specific brands, it’s better to understand what’s generally the market standard, what is essential, and at what point an off-the-shelf solution is not enough.
Why “which OMS to choose?” is the wrong first question
Choosing the name of the vendor as a first step is like choosing shoes based on reviews instead of your actual shoe size. This approach turns the process into shopping by review scores instead of evaluating requirements. First, define your requirements—order volume, number of sales channels, and whether wholesale functionality is needed. The choice of a specific tool becomes a consequence rather than a starting point.
What every OMS should do by default
Any order management software for small businesses should cover a specific set of baseline features, delivering the value you’re actually seeking and that Google Sheets doesn’t provide. A good OMS does the following:
- Keeps stock counts accurate everywhere you sell: updates automatically across your website, marketplaces, and in-person sales, no manual adjusting.
- Pulls every order into one place: no separate logins per sales channel, no toggling between tabs.
- Prints shipping labels and picks a carrier: connects to UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc., without re-entering the order details.
- Lets customers see where their order is: automatic tracking updates, no “where’s my package” emails to answer.
- Handles the basic return: logs it, restocks it, refunds it, without a spreadsheet.
- Gives you a simple sales report: what sold, how much, from where.
A gap in at least one of these points means that this part of the work will still have to be done manually. This is why it’s worth checking before you pay for a subscription. Finding out what’s missing after signing up costs a lot more.
OMS features that can wait for later
No matter what you’re discussing, there are always nice-to-haves. That applies to an OMS as well: there are things that look really attractive in the vendor’s advertising information, but are rarely used by businesses that are only starting to move away from manual tracking. To name a few:
- Demand forecasting: useful once there’s enough order history to make predictions meaningful; early on, you already know your best sellers.
- Multi-warehouse logic: unnecessary if you have one warehouse; paying for the complexity now just adds friction.
- Deep analytics dashboards: nice to have, doesn’t change a decision you’re making this month.
- Elaborate automation rules: routing by many conditions, custom approval chains, and similar logic is worth paying for once order volume and team size justify the setup time.
- Heavy customization or a custom build: wait until you know exactly which one or two things off-the-shelf software can’t do, then revisit it.
These features aren’t useless, but they aren’t things of primary importance. All the nice-to-haves can wait and shouldn’t drive your decision when the main goal is to stop counting inventory manually.
Matching requirements to what an OMS can (and can’t) do
| What you need | Why it matters | Does off-the-shelf software cover it? | What to do if it doesn’t |
| Stock counts stay accurate across every channel you sell on | Prevents selling something you don’t actually have | Yes, in almost every tool | — |
| All your orders land in one dashboard | Saves time, stops orders from getting missed | Yes, for popular channels (Shopify, Amazon, eBay) | If you sell somewhere less common, confirm that channel is actually supported before buying |
| Shipping labels and carrier rates in one place | Speeds up fulfillment, avoids manual data entry | Yes | — |
| Returns update stock and trigger a refund automatically | Saves manual tracking, avoids errors | Mostly yes, for simple returns | For complex return rules (partial refunds, restocking fees, exchanges), you may need custom rules or manual handling |
| Different prices for different customers (wholesale, bulk, contract pricing) | Standard for B2B selling, not retail | Rarely handled well out of the box | Usually needs custom pricing logic or a plug-in built for it |
| Splitting inventory across multiple warehouses correctly | Matters once you have more than one location | Only in more advanced (pricier) tools | If your rules are unusual (e.g., “ship from whichever warehouse is closest to the customer”), that logic often needs custom work |
| Connecting to an older system you already use (a homegrown tool, an old ERP) | Avoids re-entering data by hand | Almost never built in | Needs a custom integration—this is where “buy” turns into “buy and build a bridge” |
| Custom approval steps before an order ships (e.g., manager sign-off on large orders) | Some businesses need this for control or compliance | No standard tool does this well | Usually requires custom development |
Five order management tools worth considering
Good commercial solutions for small businesses really do exist. The only question is which one fits your exact needs. This isn’t a ranked “best-of” list, but a curated list across different categories. Some are built for affordability, others for simplicity, and some specifically for shipping.
- Zoho Inventory. The least expensive entry point with a free tier and pricing that scales as you grow. A good choice if you already use Zoho Books or another Zoho product, since it syncs right out of the box.
- inFlow Inventory. The easiest to learn thanks in part to its built-in barcode scanning. A good option for a small team that is starting to move away from spreadsheets.
- Ordoro. Built around shipping and multi-channel order processing. The best choice if your pain point is printing labels and comparing carrier rates, especially on Shopify and WooCommerce.
- Veeqo. Owned by Amazon and available for free. It focuses on shipping and delivery, and that keeps startup costs low. Two things to keep in mind: paid plans are already on the way, and its deep ties to Amazon’s ecosystem can make the experience less smooth for sellers outside of it.
- Sellbrite. Owned by GoDaddy. Built for a tiny team or even a solopreneur. A free plan covers a small monthly order volume, and setup requires no technical background—you can get it running in an afternoon.
None of these options is a universal solution. They all cover a specific niche better than others, so your choice depends on which requirement is your biggest pain point.
Conclusion
Most businesses buy an off-the-shelf solution and configure it to their needs. Customizing one or two details for a specific requirement is completely normal and doesn’t mean your selection process was a failure. Meanwhile, it’s worth thinking about growth from the start: what order volume a plan can support, how the pricing model is structured, and how much room there is to grow within the same vendor’s ecosystem.
Building a system from scratch is rarely the optimal solution, but you also shouldn’t settle for something that doesn’t fit your business. In this case, the team risks struggling to adopt a tool that’s a poor fit, and the investment goes to waste. This applies to retail order management software just as much as to purely e-commerce solutions—the “requirements first, vendor second” rule works every time.
Whether you need customization or building from scratch, Vilmate can help with that task. Reach out to discuss it in more detail whenever you’re ready.