For an Order Management System, It’s Not About Omnichannel. It’s About Your Channels

“Omnichannel” sounds great in a sales pitch. The idea that one order management system (OMS) can expertly handle every channel — from print to CTV to retail media to out-of-home — is appealing. Who wouldn’t want their OMS to be a jack of all trades? 

But in reality, an omnichannel OMS risks being a master of none.

Every OMS has strengths and weaknesses. The key is to focus on the channels that matter most to your business. If you’re a digital-first publisher, an OMS’s deep experience in linear TV won’t help you. If your growth bets are in CTV and OOH, an OMS built for print and retail won’t give you the capabilities you need.

The problem with “omnichannel”

When a vendor claims to be omnichannel, push them to define what that means.

True omnichannel coverage would require going deep into every channel, building the integrations, targeting logic, and planning tools to handle each channel’s specific realities.

That’s a tall order. In practice, going “wide” across many channels usually means sacrificing depth in some or all of them. Publishers need to be clear on where those sacrifices are being made.

What it means to go deep in a channel

Depth means going beyond basic compatibility. It's about the OMS handling the messy realities of that channel better than anyone else.

DOOH
In digital out-of-home, you aren’t selling “products” the way you do in display or CTV. You’re selling specific screens and locations, often packaged in bespoke ways for every advertiser. 

GSTV, for example, has hundreds of gas stations in a single designated marketing area (DMA), each with between 8 and 20 screens. National campaigns require combining that granular screen-level data with geo-targeting rules like “stores within X miles of Y city.” Inventory can change constantly. 

Going deep here means an OMS that can instantly forecast availability at that level of detail, combine locations in a way that hits the advertiser’s target without overselling a DMA, and push it all through to execution without endless manual spreadsheets.

CTV/Digital video

CTV planning and trafficking have different approval flows, targeting parameters, and creative requirements than display. A shallow implementation might be “CTV-capable” in name, but still require you to manage half the workflow outside the OMS. 

Going deep means your OMS integrates with the right ad servers, supports the specific buying paths buyers expect, and eliminates manual work in setting up campaigns. 

Linear TV

On the flip side, most OMS platforms that excel in CTV and OOH struggle to go deep in linear. Without a direct integration into the traffic system that controls ad breaks, booking linear inventory is slow and manual. That’s what “going shallow” looks like in practice — it’s technically possible, but it’s inefficient and error-prone.

Workflow flexibility

Even within “digital,” channels like CTV and DOOH often live on different teams, with different approval chains and execution timelines. Deep coverage means the OMS supports these different workflows natively, rather than forcing one-size-fits-all processes that frustrate both teams.

Focus on your channels

For some publishers — like a telecom media owner with strong CTV, OOH, and digital businesses — there will be a short list of OMS solutions that can deliver deep coverage across all their major revenue channels. It’s not a matter of finding the OMS that is compatible with all channels, but the ones that matter for your business. 

Before you buy into an omnichannel pitch, make sure the system goes deep where it counts for you. Ask:

• Does it integrate with the trafficking and targeting systems for my key channels?

• Can it handle the unique planning, approval, and execution requirements of those channels?

• Will it make buying in those channels as seamless as the platforms my buyers already use?

The “master of all trades” OMS rarely exists. The right OMS is the one that’s the undisputed master of your trades.

If you want to explore how FatTail OMS, Adbook, can help you focus on the right channels, reach out to us at info@fattail.com, or book a demo.