valantic puts TOPSERV's e-business on a future-proof footing

The e-commerce platform Shopware was ultimately chosen for two reasons: firstly, Shopware offers an excellent price-performance ratio; and secondly, the standard version of the product already mapped many of TOPSERV’s needs. The costs and time required for customizing, implementing and rolling out the solution were therefore lower than for other store platforms.

Key Characteristics of Shopware V6:

• Outstanding flexibility and scalability
• Excellent price-performance ratio
• Standard version delivered with a wide range of features
• Supports extensive customization options
• Numerous plug-ins available
• Uncomplicated connectivity to peripheral systems such as PIM, CRM and ERP through API First approach
  

Goals and Results:

• Intuitive, user-friendly ordering process
• Enhanced acquisition of new customers
• Increased share of digital orders in relation to total revenue
• More objects ordered and more branch orders from digitally connected customers
• Lower error rates for digital orders

To let them systematically exploit synergy effects and e.g. leverage their combined purchasing power, the Toussaint Group of Companies, Durner and the Wencke Management GmbH and Julius Brune joined forces to form the cleaning, care, and hygiene specialist TOPSERV. The TOPSERV network supplies customers nationwide, offering them everything from gloves and protective clothing to special hygiene products and cleaning robots, all from a single source.

TOPSERV’s challenge was to consolidate the formerly separate stores into a single, common e-commerce solution to give all of its customers an optimal shopping experience with intuitive, user-friendly ordering processes free of technical obstacles.

The standard version of the Shopware e-commerce platform already maps many of TOPSERV’s requirements, thus reducing project time and costs. Also, Shopware systematically follows an API First approach, allowing peripheral systems such as PIM, CRM, and ERP to be connected relatively easily and without problems. TOPSERV and valantic’s consultants jointly took the platform live in August 2022.

From day one, TOPSERV was less concerned with the KPIs of classic B2C business. Rather, their main focus was on a stable ordering platform with optimized processes that offers customers, large and small, intuitive, user-friendly ordering processes without convoluted navigation and technical hurdles.

Also, the API First approach that is systematically implemented in Shopware ensures that shops can be ported easily from one platform to another – an important criterion for software developers and architects.

With Shopware 6, TOPSERV has introduced a highly scalable and efficient e-commerce system that meets many of the specialized trade group’s specific requirements right out of the box. Numerous plugins and customizable functions are included in the standard, which limited the overall project timeline to a few months and saved additional costs.

The API-first architecture creates ideal conditions for the smooth connection of required third-party systems: PIM, CRM, and ERP platforms could be integrated into the e-commerce landscape with minimal development effort. The Shopware technology enabled a standardization of interfaces and associated processes, ensuring simple “system-to-system” handling.

The intuitively operable ordering platform has quickly helped to increase the share of digital orders in total sales and minimize the error rate in online orders.

The specialist trade group TOPSERV emerged from the merger of four medium-sized family businesses Durner, Toussaint, Wencke Management GmbH, and Julius Brune. Within this association, the group advises and supplies nationwide commercial and institutional large and small customers with products for cleaning, care, and hygiene needs. With more than 100,000 products and services, TOPSERV has developed into a valued solution provider and strategic partner for healthcare, industry, and municipal facilities.

A stable, intuitively operable ordering platform that optimizes processes and allows easy “system-to-system” handling: This briefly summarizes the demand for TOPSERV’s new e-commerce solution.

The specialist trade group faced the challenge of merging different ordering systems across the group. To offer all services from a single source and enable orders without technical barriers, the formerly separate shops of the four companies had to be consolidated on a common e-commerce platform.

A powerful shop solution was needed that could depict the different business structures of small and large customers and agree on individual prices for each customer. Particularly for the acquisition and retention of B2B major customers, streamlined, efficient, and reliable ordering processes needed to be enabled.

After initial consulting by the implementation partner valantic, several reasons led to the choice of Shopware 6: With numerous plugins, the API-first approach, and innovative functions, the technology meets many of the specialist trade group’s requirements from the outset. This reduced development work and favored lower costs and time required for customizing, implementing, and introducing compared to similarly comprehensive solutions.

The criterion of enabling developers to easily handle the systems is met by Shopware especially through its API-first approach: Third-party systems and plugins can be seamlessly integrated via interfaces into the architecture, offering maximum flexibility and adaptability. Also, the integration of new sales channels such as social media and marketplaces is easily possible.

The new system creates the ideal basis to gradually establish a uniform industry standard for order management. Among other things, for this purpose, the Shopware B2B Suite was integrated: This is essential for mapping the processes of the various trading partners and the complexity of their company structures – including permissions, delivery objects, and different addresses. The function allows the automation of many business processes and offers tailored functions for B2B trade that make the handling of orders and individual price and delivery management more efficient.

Through targeted process optimizations, the share of digital orders in total sales could be increased, and the error rate in order processes minimized in a short time.

In addition to the B2B Suite, other customizable Shopware functions contribute to optimized ordering and purchasing processes: The Shopping Experiences allow for the easy creation of custom content and its integration into the shopping environment. This tool makes it possible to apply layouts across multiple pages, which simplifies the design of a unified brand presence and brings positive SEO effects. Additionally, with Custom Products, tailored products can be offered and the selection process simplified. The tool allows the selection interface to be precisely defined according to the product and its features.

Seit dem Go-live Mitte 2023 wurden Schritt für Schritt neue Handelspartner und Kunden in das System übernommen und der gruppenweite Order-Solution-Standard weiterentwickelt. In der nächsten Ausbaustufe sollen neue Vertriebskanäle für weitere Zielmärkte entwickelt und angebunden werden. Geplant ist unter anderem der Rollout auf dem französischen Markt.