Fulfillment Productivity Gains

Evidence and data. Interviewees said their organizations achieved notable improvements in fulfillment productivity after transitioning to KIBO’s OMS, including reducing in time-to-ship and streamlining order processing which allowed teams to fulfill thousands of orders more efficiently. The interviewees reported lower labor costs and reduced headcount in fulfillment operations, not as a cost-cutting measure but because of increased efficiency. The centralized platform enabled faster access to order data, simplified customer service workflows, and improved inventory visibility across regions. Interviewees also noted that the automation of order routing and fulfillment logic helped eliminate manual processes and enhanced responsiveness to customer needs. These gains supported expansion into new fulfillment models, such as ship-from-store and international shipping, while maintaining system reliability and scalability.

• The director of enterprise systems and PMO at an apparel retailer described how KIBO Order Management streamlined their operations: “Just making it easier to maintain orders is one of the biggest pieces so far. There’s one interface, just one place to look. My customer care team doesn’t need to think about which website the order came from.”

• The director of omnichannel marketing at a home improvement and hardware retailer noted similar productivity gains: “It streamlined things. It made it easier. The fulfillment interface was much easier for dealers.”

• For the chief information officer at a luxury goods retailer, increased efficiency was a critical factor that KIBO delivered on: “These last four years were the best four years in all the time that this company has been around. ... To be able to fulfill orders at the rate that the digital store is sending them through, that’s where if you don’t have an efficient OMS, it becomes the clog, doesn’t it? Our mean time to ship is 0.18 day. We’re talking within an hour of getting an order, it’s gone. We’ve processed 188,000 orders. They’re not sitting around here anymore.”
  This interviewee also stressed: “Our head count is not a leading indicator of value in our investment in KIBO. It’s the number of orders we’re pushing through that have been completed. It is the number of orders that were flagged as fraudulent that might have gone through. It is the access to information that then turns into tactical and strategic marketing initiatives. It is the ability to reduce the time it takes to connect a new line of business like international, and to do that in 30 days. Those were the criteria, and we’ve hit the mark.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization operates 500 stores with 10,000 employees and has 250 total employees at five distribution centers.

• The composite organization retires the legacy platform halfway through Year 1. In Years 2 and 3, 100% of orders are processed through the KIBO OMS.

• After deploying KIBO OMS, the efficiencies increased by 5% driven by streamlined and automated order management processes and optimized shipping between stores and distribution centers. Twenty percent of this improvement is attributed to KIBO.

• Of the time saved, 50% is recaptured for additional task work.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for both store associates and distribution center workers is $55,000.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. Organizational differences that may impact fulfillment productivity gains include:

• The compensation of store associates and distribution center workers and their prior state of efficiency.

• The organization’s ability to optimize its workflows to take advantage of KIBO OMS features and functionality to the greatest effect.

• Other investments made outside the KIBO platform to improve order fulfillment workflows.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $4.1 million.

Incremental Profit From KIBO OMS

Evidence and data. Interviewees said their organizations unlocked several new revenue streams and growth opportunities after implementing KIBO OMS. The platform enabled rapid expansion into international markets for the interviewees’ organizations. It also supported the launch of new omnichannel fulfillment models like ship-from-store and BOPIS, which helped increase average order value and customer retention for these organizations. The system’s flexibility allowed the interviewees’ businesses to introduce dynamic bundling of products and services, creating upselling opportunities. Additionally, improved inventory visibility and unified data across channels empowered some interviewees’ organizations to identify underserved markets and optimize real estate strategies, further driving incremental revenue.

• The chief information officer at a luxury goods retailer explained: “[KIBO Order Management] has set us up to go into lines of business that we hadn’t thought of before because we’re interfacing with an architecture that invites creativity. We went from not shipping internationally, not allowing you to shop internationally, fulfilling internationally to doing all of that in 35 days. We’ve gone from taking zero international orders to several hundred. We have easily tripled our customer base on our dot-com, which has a direct link into that OMS because that’s the channel that’s constantly depending on it.”
  This interviewee also described how analytics from KIBO helped drive their geographic expansion: “For years, we only sold in the South/Mid-Atlantic/SE region, but our dot-com was shipping all over the country. Now that we have all that data together, we were able to see clusters of sales in Southern California and in Washington state, and we realized we need to be more creative with our real estate strategy. I can’t quantify [how KIBO affected] that outcome but qualitatively, it has put us in a position to compete, to redefine the geographies in which we compete.”

• The chief digital officer at a retail cooperative also used analytics from KIBO and other sources to measure the total omnichannel effect: “We measure what’s coming through the app, through the cloud. Because of the nature of our business, with so many stores close to people’s homes, we measure activity to determine the offline effect, e-commerce plus in-store sales, where we know the consumer visited the website and later came to the store to make the purchase. We match their records up through their loyalty number to see that they looked at a particular product online and days later we saw them in a store, and they bought the product.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Before investing in KIBO, the composite organization has an annual order volume of 5 million records with an average order value of $200. The organization’s net profit margin is 5%.

• After deploying KIBO OMS, average order value increases by 2% and order volume increases by 5%, driven by the launch of new fulfillment models, dynamic bundling of products and services, and improved inventory visibility across channels.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. Organizational differences that may impact incremental profit from omnichannel fulfillment include:

• The organization’s order volume, average order value, and operating margin.

• The organization’s ability to implement and refine new omnichannel fulfillment options and features such as dynamic bundling and pricing to improve shoppers’ experiences to the greatest effect.

• Other pricing, inventory mix, and marketing investments made outside the KIBO platform to optimize revenues across all sales channels.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $6.5 million.

Cost Savings From Retiring Legacy Solution

Evidence and data. Some interviewees reported notable cost savings by retiring their legacy platforms. These savings stemmed from eliminating high licensing fees and infrastructure costs; for instance, one interviewee said their organization reduced annual costs by switching from enterprise-grade solutions to KIBO and its integration partner. According to interviewees, maintenance costs also dropped markedly as KIBO’s interface allowed internal teams to manage configurations and workflows without relying on expensive, specialized staff. Additionally, the unified platform reduced the interviewees’ organizations’ need for multiple systems and integrations, streamlining operations and lowering total cost of ownership. These efficiencies enabled these organizations to reallocate resources, reduce technical debt, and scale more affordably.

• The director of enterprise systems and PMO at an apparel retailer said: “The renewal for [our legacy OMS and integration system] was probably around $2 million a year. For KIBO and [our current integration system] it was [less].”

• The interviewee added that their organization also saved on system maintenance and upkeep: “I can go into KIBO routing right now and very easily make changes and I understand them. For [our legacy platform], it took a bit longer and we had to have folks on staff to support it who had been working on it for a long time and knew how to work it.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The legacy OMS platform costs the composite organization $350,000 annually, including third-party and homegrown add-ons.

• Six IT staff members are required to manage and maintain the legacy ecosystem.

• The composite organization moves off the legacy platform halfway through Year 1. In Years 2 and 3, 100% of orders are processed through the KIBO OMS.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for IT staff members is $155,000.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. Organizational differences that may impact cost savings from retiring legacy solutions include:

• The cost of the prior OMS platform, including third-party and homegrown add-ons.

• The skills and amount of upkeep required to maintain the legacy platform and prevailing local compensation rates for the team responsible for maintenance.

• The amount of time taken to sunset the legacy solution.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.2 million.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• A unified platform. The interviewees appreciated having a single, intuitive interface that consolidated order management, inventory visibility, and fulfillment logic, which improved operational efficiency and customer service. They noted that KIBO’s foundation on a single data model for all order, inventory, and customer data further streamlined operations and ensured data consistency across the platform. The director of enterprise systems and PMO at an apparel retailer said: “Just making it easier to maintain orders is one of the biggest pieces so far. There’s one interface, just one place to look. My customer care team doesn’t need to think about which website the order came from. They can just go into KIBO, search for it, and the order comes up in their system, and they can maintain things within that tool. ... That, to me, is one of the biggest gains from using KIBO’s order management system.”

• Improved UX. Interviewees said their users appreciated KIBO’s clean, intuitive, and easy-to-navigate interface. They highlighted how the platform simplified complex tasks, such as order fulfillment and administrative updates, by consolidating everything into a single, user-friendly system. Store associates and customer service teams found it easier to manage orders, pricing, and inventory without needing to switch between multiple systems. They also found that administrative tools allowed for quick modifications across promotions, products, and store settings, while the platform’s flexibility supported test-and-learn strategies and rapid iteration. According to the manager of e-commerce operations at a retail cooperative: “It’s pretty straightforward. The administrative tools allow you to modify most things that you see on the site. It’s great to have a tool that breaks everything out. It could be promotion related, product related, store related, pricing related. Anything that you need to do there, you can tweak from that administrative site.”
  The director of enterprise systems and PMO at an apparel retailer similarly remarked: “KIBO had a fresher look. Along with being able to see all of the opportunities we could have within the toolset, KIBO was more intuitive to maintain and manage. A lot of the configurations in the toolset we can easily enable.”

• Reliability. The interviewees noted that the KIBO platform was stable, rarely experienced outages, and performed consistently even during high-traffic events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They appreciated that KIBO’s frequent feature releases do not disrupt existing functionality, which is not always the case with other vendors. This reliability gave teams peace of mind, allowing them to focus on growth and innovation rather than troubleshooting. According to the director of IT for e-commerce at a home improvement and hardware retailer: “They’re reliable. That’s the biggest thing. I never worry about the KIBO platform out of the entire e-commerce suite. I don’t worry. ... The biggest value for me is the reliability and stability of the platform.”

• Ease of integration and extensibility. The KIBO platform’s API-first architecture enabled seamless integration with other systems at the interviewees’ organizations and allowed for rapid customization and enhancements, even in highly complex business models with thousands of independently priced stores. The manager of e-commerce operations at a retail cooperative told Forrester: “We use their APIs in everything that we do. Our system communicates with their system, and we get the most up-to-date information that we need there. We’ve integrated a lot of different pieces for a very complex business. I’ve worked in retail for 15 or more years and this is by far the most complex business model that I’ve ever worked with. ... KIBO can manage all that and do it in an easy way.”
  The chief information officer at a luxury goods retailer explained how KIBO’s API-first framework allowed them to easily integrate with international shipping solutions: “This is all because of the API-first framework at its core. It is relatively seamless for us to follow this approach of having all of the best-in-class players connecting in because we’re handshaking through all of these open exposed APIs that are on the KIBO platform.”

• Ease of making customizations. Interviewees appreciated how easy it was to make customizations to the KIBO platform, citing its intuitive interface, API-first architecture, and microservice framework as key enablers. These features allowed teams at the interviewees’ organizations to quickly implement changes, build custom user interfaces, and integrate new capabilities without heavy reliance on technical staff or long development cycles. Interviewees noted that the flexibility to plug in best-in-class solutions and the ability to iterate quickly — especially after peak periods — empowered their retailers to continuously improve their operations. The director of IT for e-commerce at a home improvement and hardware retailer told Forrester: “We used the KIBO microservice framework to build purpose-built UIs where stores can manage their own services and manage their hours, so productivity has gotten better at the stores. The stores definitely enjoy using the site. It makes their lives easier.”

• Improved insights. Interviewees said their organizations valued the improved business insights gained through KIBO Order Management — particularly its ability to centralize and simplify access to data across channels. With KIBO, their retailers could easily track customer behavior, order flows, and inventory availability in real time, enabling more informed decision-making and strategic planning. Interviewees explained that the platform’s unified data structure allowed their businesses to analyze customer journeys, such as tracking purchases across online and in-store channels, and identify emerging market opportunities, such as geographic clusters of demand.
  The chief information officer at a luxury goods retailer told Forrester that easy access to data was one of the most important benefits of the KIBO platform: “Easy access to data, data in a platform that is easily accessed ... I can’t tell you how important that is. We analyze everything. By having this rich amalgamation of data from all the channels in this one place, it becomes easy for us to pull and look at our business and do things like develop customer journey habits to understand a particular customer [behavior]. We couldn’t easily do that before. Now it’s a whole lot easier and we have become a very data-driven company. It’s huge and very important.”

• Improved KPIs. Interviewees reported improvements in KPIs after adopting KIBO Order Management, including faster order fulfillment, higher AOV — in some cases doubling from previous benchmarks — and improved fraud detection through real-time alerts and work queues. The platform enabled better inventory accuracy and reduced post-checkout cancellations, contributing to enhanced customer satisfaction with the interviewees’ organizations. The chief information officer at a luxury goods retailer said: “We’ve seen an increase in our AOV. Our AOV would have gone from an average of, just in gross terms, maybe $400 or $500 to easily $800 when you roll in the increase in the business from [specific brands] that we’re seeing.”

• KIBO relationship. The interviewees valued their relationships with the KIBO team for being collaborative, responsive, and deeply engaged. Many described KIBO not just as a vendor but as a true partner, highlighting regular touchpoints such as weekly operational check-ins, quarterly business reviews, and roadmap discussions. This close engagement fostered trust and allowed their organizations to influence product development and receive tailored support. KIBO’s willingness to listen, adapt, and quickly resolve issues — often involving senior leadership — was seen as a major differentiator and KIBO’s proactive approach and commitment to customer success made them feel prioritized, especially compared to larger, less personal vendors. The director of IT for e-commerce at a home improvement and hardware retailer said: “They maintain a really close relationship with us. They meet with our operations manager every week to go through open tickets, go through site health, then we have quarterly QBRs with them and they take us through the road map. They ask us about how we’re doing, so it’s a very good relationship.”

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement KIBO Order Management and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Transforming workflows. Several interviewees noted that KIBO was a catalyst for broader digital transformation of their organizations’ operations. The platform enabled the automation of formerly internal processes and workflows and supported dynamic fulfillment strategies that the interviewees’ organizations weren’t able to achieve previously. The chief information officer at a luxury goods retailer explained: “One of the main value propositions of going to an OMS of this sort is the ability to automate workflows. It exposed several internal workflows that are now going to become redundant and unnecessary. It also opened our eyes to the need for additional workflows that we hadn’t thought of before. You take some away and bring in new ones to drive efficiencies.”

• Expanding use of KIBO functionality. The interviewees’ organizations were in different stages of leveraging KIBO’s features and functionality, with many planning to unlock more value from the platform over time. Some had just completed a basic migration, replicating existing workflows with minimal enhancements, while others were actively expanding into advanced capabilities like drop-shipping, ship-from-store, and B2B portals. A few were exploring headless commerce and deeper API integrations to support customer interfaces and dynamic fulfillment logic.
  The director of enterprise systems and PMO at an apparel retailer told Forrester: “Users definitely want to add things to the platform. Now that we’re past a holiday period, we can think about doing more with the platform and developing a deeper understanding of it. One initiative is enabling new third-party logistics functions to KIBO. We’re a small team supporting websites, warehouses, and stores. We can only concentrate on one thing that’s going to be our biggest project of the year but if it’s already in the platform, we can enable it very quickly.”
  The director of IT for e-commerce at a home improvement and hardware retailer noted: “We’ve only scratched the surface of some of the KIBO’s OMS features like ship from store. Some of our stores have said they want to be able to ship from their location, so adding packing stations and the ability to print labels to do that. A lot of our stores have their own vehicles to be able to deliver from their store. There’s definitely a lot of store-related features being asked for that we’re going to do in KIBO as well.”

• Tapping other KIBO solutions. One interviewee shared that their organization had recently implemented other KIBO services beyond their OMS and e-commerce capabilities. The manager of e-commerce operations at a retail co-operative noted: “There’s a lot of functionality that they’ve implemented that we use. For instance, we recently rolled out subscriptions. KIBO offers a subscriptions option so customers can go on our website and sign up for a subscription, which isn’t something that we had in the past.”

• Moving to modular OMS. Interviewees indicated that their organizations were exploring headless commerce by leveraging KIBO’s API-first architecture to decouple their front-end and back-end systems. This approach allowed them to build custom user interfaces, integrate best-in-class tools, and tailor digital experiences without being constrained by a monolithic platform. The manager of e-commerce operations at a retail co-operative told Forrester: “There’s a lot of flexibility. KIBO is working on a more headless platform, allowing us to use APIs for plug-ins instead of having to create everything. Making it flexible like that is going in the right direction.”

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach).