Case Study - The Best Sneakers

The Best Sneakers is a store that sales original shoes, both in terms of pattern and colours. The very name of the store – "sneakers" – refers to a special kind of shoes that are popular among the youth. The target group are the people aged 15-30. This information was of particular importance for the strategy of creating a store and communication with potential customers.

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The key challenges of eCommerce

• Preparation of an advanced eCommerce system which is adapted to international sales, with particular attention to the German market,
• Integration with the accounting and warehouse management programme Comarch Optima,
• Integration with the Polish and European payment systems,
• Adaptation of the store to mobile users, according to the highest standards of the responsive web design.

Transborder sales

Since the very beginning the works on creating a new eCommerce system were focused on international sales, with particular attention to the German and European market. The Polish version of the store enables logging out and re-logging to the German (www.thebestsneakers.de) and the European (www.thebestsneakers.eu) versions. Each version of the store is adapted to the needs of the local market, in terms of contact data, payment system or store regulations. Additionally, the owner provide a free-of-charge shipment on the territory of Poland and Germany, within 48 hours.

Integration with Amazon

Out of consideration for international sales, it was natural to integrate with the most important auction platforms in the world – Amazon and eBay.

Integration of i-systems with Amazon relates to:

• Putting new products or the products that already exists on Amazon, depending on whether a product with a given EAN exists.
• Viewing information on the errors that can possibly occur while putting the product on auction. The text is viewed in English, directly from the auction platform.
• Establishing a particular price and colour of the product. When we put the product on auction we can preview which shoes with a given EAN have already been added to Amazon. Thanks to that we can make adjustments in regards of parameters.
• The setting of a language that the products will be using while being put on auction. The language is set according to the seller's account – e.g. The Best Sneakers sells on .de and .eu domain so the German and English languages are set as default.
• The possibility to remove the product from Amazon.
• Synchronisation of stock level. If this level changes in a store, the updated information is being sent to Amazon.
• Importing orders from Amazon. The orders are imported periodically, using the CRON task.
• Processing of the orders to create store orders out of them – also by using the CRON task.
• The possibility to edit the customer's data imported from Amazon. In case of problems with order processing:
  • - the possibility of marking the order for second processing in case of an error,
  • - information on why it was impossible to create an order,
  • - detailed information on each order imported from Amazon, available for technical users.

Advanced integration with Allegro

The Best Sneakers offers a wide range of assortment. In order to enable efficient order processing, managing account settings on Allegro and putting products on auctions, a dedicated panel was developed especially for these purposes.

When the store administrator puts a product on Allegro, he/she has the opportunity to use a ready-to-use template of offers, designed basing on the standard template of the store. By creating an auction he/she uses descriptions, photos, product profiles and a title from the store description or, when necessary, creates one's own descriptions and titles for each of the product that is being put on auction.

Integration with ERP Optima

The store has been integrated with an accounting and warehouse management programme Comarch Optima. The basic scope of the integration is to create the documents in ERP system and send the stock level to the store. The integration took place with the use of an integrator whose task it to collect and share selected information automatically to the sales system and ERP programme. The scope of the integration includes, among other things: data synchronisation, systematic update of the prices and stock level as well as managing documents. The goods are created in ERP based on the their availability in a Polish warehouse. Currently the works are being carried out with a view to developing this integration in such a way to enable issuing documents in different currencies.

Payment system and shipment manager

The new eCommerce system offers the most popular payment methods, among other things, by using a credit card, fast transfers (PayPal, Przelewy 24), a traditional transfer or with cash on delivery.

Out of consideration for international sales, a payment called SOFORT Banking was also introduced; it is particularly popular in Germany. SOFORT Banking is one of the methods of direct transfers via Internet and operates basing on the online banking system that has already been tested. The system does not require registration or a virtual account, that is the so-called digital wallet. When doing shopping in The Best Sneakers you can select SOFORT Banking as a payment method. Then the customer is automatically redirected to an enciphered payment form and the order details are handed over automatically. In the end one should accept the transfer by entering a one-time verification code. When these actions are carried out, the seller receives a confirmation of transfer order and may immediately start implementing the order, which significantly saves time.

When it comes to the shipment, the store offers free-of-charge delivery on the territory of Poland and Germany and a paid one to other European countries. The Best Sneakers uses a shipment manager that allows, among other things, automatic creation of parcel lists to be sent to a given forwarder, communication with forwarder's API, downloading labels for parcels, weighing the parcels, automatic change of order status after handing over for shipment.

Mobile eCommerce

The main target group is the youth for whose doing shopping via mobile devices is a natural thing. With the youth and the global trends in eCommerce in mind, the store is completely responsive, that is it enables correct display of the site, regardless of the device type. Responsive web design not only makes it possible to reach a bigger number of potential customers but also reduces the expense related to web site maintenance.

The results of implementation

“With i-systems we have created a store with sale integrations that we have been dreaming of and that were of particular importance for us since the beginning of our activity. Thanks to a professional attitude towards this subject, we can pride ourselves on a great store that satisfies us and our customers. Thanks to the integration with auction portals and ERP programme, The Best Sneakers is a modern store that fully responds to the needs of our young customers.”

— Łukasz Majgier, the owner of The Best Sneakers

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