Sterling Order Management

IBM Sterling Order Management is a long established enterprise order management family, and IBM currently leads with Sterling Intelligent Promising, which improves profitability through contextual, transparent and accurate delivery estimates.

Its distinctive emphasis is where the promise appears. Precise promise dates are presented on the product listing page and the product detail page as well as during checkout, rather than only after the order is placed. That difference is commercially decisive, because a shopper deciding between two retailers is comparing delivery dates before adding to basket, and a retailer who cannot show one at that moment has already lost the comparison.

IBM frames the benefit as preserving brand trust by providing greater certainty, choice and transparency across the buying journey. Trust is the right word, since an over-optimistic promise wins one order and costs the relationship.

The stated outcomes are improved digital conversions, real time global inventory visibility, higher in-store sales and increased omnichannel profitability. Real time global inventory visibility is the foundation everything else rests on, because a promise is only as accurate as the stock position behind it. A free 30 day trial is offered, which is unusual for enterprise order management and lets a retailer test promise accuracy against their own data before committing. Pricing is not published.