Global WMS Systems Market

2023

Global Warehouse Management Systems Market Volume Up 23% Year-on-Year to Reach $3.2 Billion

At the end of 2023, the costs in the global warehouse management systems market (Warehouse Management Systems, WMS) reached $3.2 billion. For comparison, a year earlier, expenses in this area were estimated at $2.6 billion. Thus, growth was recorded at 23%. Such data are given in the Market Research Future study, the results of which were published in early November 2024.

Demand for WMS platforms is increasing primarily due to the rapid development of the e-commerce sector, which has changed the traditional ways of managing warehouses: great attention is paid to the speed and accuracy of order processing. Because of this, there is a growing need for effective means of automating and optimizing warehouse operations - and here WMS solutions come to the rescue. Such systems help companies improve inventory management and reduce processing time for a huge number of orders that can arrive around the clock from all over the world.

E-commerce has also made it necessary for businesses to manage extensive warehouse networks that can be spread across different geographic regions. In this case, WMS can provide real-time visibility of stocks through all channels: this helps companies ensure that the required amount of certain goods is available at a specific place at a specific time.

It is noted that the stimulating factor for the industry under consideration was the pandemic: in COVID-19 conditions of self-isolation, people around the world actively purchased products on the Internet, which led to a sharp increase in the load on online trading platforms, and therefore on warehouse facilities. The supply chains need to manage new ones has increased demand for WMS platforms. By implementing such systems, businesses can improve inventory accuracy and minimize delivery errors, which ultimately leads to increased customer satisfaction and increased profitability.

The WMS industry is segmented into services and. In software 2023, the first of these areas provided the lion's share of revenue - 75.7%: this sector includes consulting, system integration, operation and maintenance. Cloud and local models are distinguished by the type of deployment. At the same time, cloud solutions are more popular because they provide savings in initial costs and significantly increase performance. Moreover, cloud platforms have the same level of security as local systems. North America contributes the most to the total WMS market size, which is due to the presence of many major players and the rapid development of online commerce. At the same time, the Asia-Pacific region is showing the highest growth rates, which is associated with rapid development and. Industry 4.0 Internet of Things European markets with the most dynamic performance include,,, and. Germany Britain France Italy

The list of leading companies in the industry includes:

• Alten Calsoft Labs;
• VMWare;
• Ericsson;
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (НРЕ);
• Telco Systems;
• NEC;
• IBM;
• Juniper Networks;
• Versa Networks;
• Cisco Systems;
• Ecom Express;
• Qualcomm;
• ArcBest;
• SecureCapital.

Market Research Future analysts believe that in the future, the CAGR in the market under consideration will be 17.7%. Thus, by 2030, the cost of warehouse management systems on a global scale, according to the estimates presented, could reach $9.9 billion.^[1]

Key vendors of WMS systems - Gartner

According to Gartner forecasts, the total volume of the global warehouse management systems market (Warehouse Management Systems) WMS by 2027 will exceed $3.35 billion with an average annual growth of 9.9%.

As of 2023, according to analysts, the market leaders are companies, Manhattan Associates Blue Yonder, Körber,, and Oracle. SAP Infor

2022: Key WMS Vendors - Gartner

As defined by Gartner, a warehouse management system (WMS) is a software application that helps you manage and intelligently perform warehouse or distribution center operations.

Gartner analysts include the companies Blue Manhattan Associates Yonder, Körber,, and among the leaders in the global WMS market Oracle. SAP Infor

2021: Global WMS Systems Market Size $2.7 Billion - VMR Data

According to a study by Verified Market Research (VMR), the global market for WMS systems in 2021 amounted to $2.7 billion. It is expected to increase to $9.5 billion by 2030. The average annual growth will be 14.6%.

Analysts note that when implementing WMS, suppliers of such systems strive to improve performance and efficiency. This strengthens the supplier-customer relationship and is a notable driver for the WMS market.

The growing growth in the e-commerce industry due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is The key growth factor for the warehouse management systems market is the development of the e-commerce industry, which has noticeably intensified with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The warehouse management system is an extremely important factor in e-commerce management, analysts say. It is used for inventory tracking and accounting, order monitoring, picking, return accounting, etc.

Market growth is being held back mainly due to privacy and security concerns related to the warehouse management system. WMS cybersecurity is one of the potential risks in modern supply chain management, and ongoing efforts are being made to reduce them when new systems are implemented. In addition, the high cost of on-premieses WMS is a deterrent. However, the increasing demand for cloud WMS systems and the growing investments of multinational companies in emerging economies as a whole can create good opportunities for the growth of the WMS market.

2010

The global warehouse management systems market in 2010 was only "on its feet" after a protracted recession in 2008-2009. Large suppliers managed to stay afloat, but what this market will be like in the coming years, analysts find it difficult to say. Most likely, the WMS market is waiting for the redistribution of spheres of influence and slow stable growth.

Largest WMS Solution Providers

In 2009, leading WMS vendors continued to expand and deepen the functionality of their WMS and logistics solutions, adapting to the flexible enterprise architecture. According to Gartner, the market was again led by Manhattan Associates with Warehouse Management for Open Systems (WMOS) and RedPrairie with WM/D. These systems offer the most complete functionality, are present in a number of the most complex projects, and, in addition, vendors have extensive experience in supply chain management and have the most convincing development strategy for the next five years, Gartner analysts say.

Gartner Magic Square for the WMS Market in 2010

According to the Gartner Magic Square in 2010, SAP and Oracle are among the visionaries in this market, since they are actively developing the capabilities of their WMS systems, but are not the leaders in the market. HighJump Software has unique developments in terms of simplifying the use of WMS for end users. For the first time in 2010, Softeon and Accellos were included in the category of visionaries. Although the former is pleased with the small, it provides a very powerful SOA-based platform, which is currently a challenge to traditional vendors. Accellos has gained a significant foothold in the medium and small business segment, offering TCO-optimal solutions.

A number of vendors in 2009 included Gartner in the category of niche players and challengers (contenders for success in the future). Although their solutions are potentially suitable for a number of buyers, they lack one or more of the following characteristics: - the absence of comparable in latitude and depth WMS solutions with offers from visionaries and leaders - focus on industry solutions or local geographic markets (Europe) - solutions only work on one proprietary hardware platform, such as, for example, IBM iSeries

At the same time, niche solutions are often functionally adequate to the needs of some users. However, such offers do not provide sufficiently wide functionality, and, in addition, their suppliers do not have a developed Road Map for the coming years. They are also often characterized by a lack of proper experience and a small number of customers. This does not mean that such companies are not viable. For example, solutions from European-oriented vendors Aldata, Consafe Logistics and Generix Group (Generix Group) are in some cases preferable to megavendor offers.

Market consolidation

Throughout the decade, the WMS systems market has been enlarging, and the shares of the main vendors are growing. The largest suppliers in this market include companies Manhattan Associates RedPrairie,,,. In the SAP Oracle end, the market is approaching the point where any major supplier will have to take it from another similar supplier to increase market share. This means that at least a dozen companies will soon leave the WMS business.

At the moment, there are about 200 players on the global WMS market. Analysts believe that in the near future there may be a shake-up in the market that will change its landscape. One recent major takeover in this market has been RedPrairie's purchase of SmartTurn, a fairly serious niche player. Other earlier purchases by this vendor included Vigna (WMS HWY905 system), Four Soft (4S eLog WMS), 7Hills Business Solutions (eBizNet WMS) and Synergy Logistics (Snapfulfil WMS).

Historically, WMS systems were sold according to the traditional scheme: customers purchased licenses and installed software on their servers, but the dominance of the web architecture began to affect here too. The costs along with the installation and support were quite significant, so often only very large players could afford WMS systems.

A new trend for the WMS market was the growth of SaaS offers. This direction is steadily showing double-digit growth, although it is relatively young, due to its obvious advantages for companies with a more modest IT budget. In 2009, Gartner valued this segment at 5-6% of the global WMS market. So far, such solutions cannot seriously compete with traditional license packages.

A number of experts believe that two streams of offers are being formed in the WMS market: more complex, functional and, accordingly, expensive premium systems for companies with large needs, as well as inexpensive simple solutions that allow medium and small businesses to manage the warehouse complex.

2008

According to the ARC Advisory Group, the global WMS market shrank by 1% in 2008 due to the global economic crisis. The recovery of the market began only in early 2010, so that due to two unsuccessful years, ARC predicts a CAGR for the global WMS market of 2.2% up to 2013. In 2008, its volume amounted to $1247 million and, according to ARC forecasts, will reach $1388 million in 2013.

ARC believes that due to the crisis, the global WMS market lost five years of growth in 2005, it felt better than in 2009. The fall of the global WMS market in 2008-2009 was not surprising. For analysts, the greater surprise is how the five largest WMS vendors have held onto this market in recent years, the business of each of these companies has grown. As of 2009, four of the five megavendors of WMS systems showed double-digit profit growth in annual terms.

According to Gartner, many companies became more optimistic in the second half of 2009 and decided that it was finally time to invest in their continued growth, including through warehouse management upgrades. At the same time, WMS buyers continued to pay increased attention to the viability of the product and its cost of ownership (TCO). This laid the groundwork for the start of the market recovery in 2010.

However, customers more closely studied business cases and quite aggressively negotiated with suppliers of WMS solutions. As a result, TCO turned out to be more profitable for them than in previous years, and often to the detriment of suppliers' profits. Therefore, the market volume has not changed significantly.

Notes