HELIT B2B e-commerce platform renewed in the development of LogiNet

HELIT Kft., operating in the wholesale FMCG sector (food, drugstore and household products), aimed to increase online sales, for which it saw the need to incorporate new functions and create a new design. The existing e-commerce wbsite was replaced by the LogiNet Logishop Pro webshop, which allows access to features such as time window delivery, customized pricing for B2B partners, and pre-ordering. The e-commerce site went live in September 2022.

History

HELIT Kereskedelmi Kft, a member of the Mirbest Group, has been a stable supplier to restaurants, hotels, buffets, and adult and children's catering kitchens in Budapest since 1991. Their range is very wide, with around 15,000 products on sale. They are aiming to increase their online presence. As their previous webshop did not provide the right platform for expansion, new features and branding, they decided to replace it.

When choosing a developer, they were looking for a quick implementation, references and the possibility of custom development in the B2B field. Considering these aspects, they decided to go with LogiNet Logishop Pro's webshop.

Characteristics of B2B e-commerce

The speciality of B2B webshops is that, unlike B2C webshops, they offer features that make shopping easier, such as individual pricing tailored to the partner, multiple price band management, functional product list display for reordering, or the possibility to search for products by item number.

The benefits of a B2B webshop include a fast ordering process, transparency, transparency - including up-to-date pricing, stock tracking, product information, order history, and one-stop information (e.g. product catalogue, substitute products, reports, purchase history, invoices, self-service support).

Objectives and challenges

During the pre-scoping phase, which consisted of several discussions before the project was launched, the scope was outlined. HELIT refined its ideas for the new webshop with advice from LogiNet and finalised the design ideas with the UX team at LogiNet, the experts at 22.design.

Key challenges

• HELIT was using a legacy IT system. It was necessary to find a solution to the technological differences with Logishop Webshop to integrate the systems smoothly.
• Linking HELIT's SAP system with the webshop was a multi-step process due to the existence of an intermediate database, which was solved through proper planning and development.
• The sector specificities had to be addressed for the orders: the placing of orders starts with a time window booking. HELIT partners can place their daily orders through multiple channels (online, and offline).
• The post-synchronisation of orders also needed to be improved: not only web orders are displayed in the webshop, but also additional orders from different channels.
• The pricing function used by HELIT had to be integrated into Logishop: the company offers its partners individual prices, which are calculated using a pricing function. In practice, this means that when the partner enters the webshop, he sees his prices, which are the most recent. 
• Integrating the pricing function was both a technical and business challenge for LogiNet. Logishop provided the possibility to create B2B specific pricing, and pricing levels, but in the case of HELIT this had to be complemented with a specific solution that included continuously changing prices, partner-specific pricing levels, and specific discounts. To integrate the pricing function developed by HELIT, Loginet developed specific processes.
• A specific requirement was the newsletter subscription, which was to be implemented with Hubspot, and the embedding of catalogues with Publitas embeddable code.

Solution

The development of the HELIT webshop was launched in early 2022 and took nearly 8 months, including the pre-specification phase. LogiNet was up and running in parallel with the previous webshop, and finally, the temporary domain was moved to the permanent site. The new webshop has also replaced the previous website, with all the content, blogs and banners being moved to the new site.

Important specific features have been added to the Logishop Pro webshop, some of which are related to the specificities of the sector (FMCG).

Pricing tailored to the B2B partner: prices change with the delivery date

The logged-in user is required to select a delivery date after loading the main page. The webshop will offer you dates closer to the delivery date, but you can also request a delivery date for later dates. The delivery date will not only affect prices but also promotions and pre-order availability.

A deadline counter helps the customer to place the order

In the customer interface on the main site, the order deadline for a user belonging to a specific partner is determined according to the postcode. On the main site's customer interface and checkout page, the user is informed of the remaining order deadline for that day.

This means that customers in the countryside and those in Budapest will see different order deadlines.

For the selected delivery date, if the user has less than 1 hour to place an order, the system will display a countdown timer to indicate the remaining time.

The time slot delivery notification makes customer shopping more convenient

If the user wishes to place the order at a time that is outside the time slot delivery limits, the user will be notified (e.g. "We cannot provide next-day time slot delivery for orders placed after 8 pm"). 
The time slot delivery notification does not exclude the possibility to place an order. The user may place an order outside the order deadline
 

Transparent debt management for B2B partners: customers with payment arrears will be warned by the webshop on the login

This feature has become necessary for non-paying customers to prevent them from placing further orders. The webshop sends a message to the user who attempts to log in, informing them of the inactive status of the partner. 

More precise logistics capacity planning: order weight can be calculated in advance

In the customer interface on the product listing page and on the product end page, the user is informed of the planned order quantity weight for the products. Different units of measure are indicated for each product (e.g. litres, pcs, kg), and the weight calculator shows the weight of the planned order quantity in kilograms, regardless of the product's base unit of measure.

Store financial documents related to the client in one place, transparently

HELIT's partners needed to display several types of documents in the webshop interface, such as return documentation, delivery notes, and order confirmations. The vouchers page allows the customer to keep track of his pending and closed vouchers.

The webshop also displays different types of invoices.

The possibility to pre-order makes the purchase more predictable for the customer

In the product list, the pre-order option for each product informs the user whether the product can be pre-ordered. The system calculates the pre-order date based on the data from the intermediate database.

For products with a fast delivery date, the customer must know exactly when the product will be available and can choose in advance the delivery date for which he wishes to order. The design of the logic required custom development. 

Custom UX Design aligned with the brand identity guide

The renewed design of the webshop was developed with Logishop elements, adapted to the HELIT brand needs.

A separate custom design was created for the deadline counter and time slot delivery.

A scrollable online catalogue to help you find information faster

To display the catalogues in HELIT's webshop, a plug-in module, Publitas was used to display the content in a user-friendly way: the visitor can scroll through the catalogue.

Development methodology and technology

The project was implemented by LogiNet using a waterfall methodology. Before development, a specification was prepared detailing the scope of the project to be implemented.

Technology stack

• Webshop service package: Logishop PRO
• Back-end technologies: PHP8.1, Symfony5 framework, Doctrine ORM, Twig templating; - MariaDB relational database; Redis cache, Elastic search engine, S3 based storage (MinIO)
• Frontend technologies: Javascript, css, html5, ajax, promise.
• Public interface: Vue.js, Nuxt.js, ES6, Axios, Vuex; SCSS, Vue module CSS.
• Admin interface: jQuery, ES6, Twig; BEM, SCSS

Results

The renewed HELIT webshop has been well received by users, and the new look of the old one has not caused any disruption in the ordering process. Customers positively appreciated the display of the favourites list, the quick search function, the detailed delivery information (deadline counter) and the clear display of the minimum order quantity. In addition, it was important for them to have an overview of the entire product portfolio in the webshop, with detailed information and quality photos.

One-third of the nearly 2000 current active users already place their orders in the webshop. Experience so far has shown that a higher proportion of customers who previously ordered by phone have switched to the online platform.

Future plans

The HELIT webshop will continue to be developed in the future.