PLUS
How PLUS moved from Custom to Standard
Task
Access to a larger toolbox
PLUS A/S came to us with a request to expand their e-commerce solution by adding a checkout flow, enabling them to sell products directly from their webshop. In their old solution, online sales worked by adding items to a shopping list, which was later transferred to the shopping cart of a retailer.
Their e-commerce solution was custom-developed and built on an older DynamicWeb platform. Upgrading the existing solution would be a larger and more time-consuming project, so we recommended that they create a new e-commerce solution based on a standard DynamicWeb platform with a Swift template.
By transitioning from a custom solution to a web platform with standard functionality, PLUS now has a webshop that is easier to maintain and expand when new needs arise. At the same time, they also gain access to a larger toolbox with more up-to-date, common functionality that DynamicWeb has developed based on best-practice principles.
Additionally, we have developed a number of customizations specifically for PLUS.
Challenge
Focus on opportunities rather than limitations
Transitioning from a custom-developed solution to a standardized solution also means that there will be features that one needs to compromise on.
In collaboration with PLUS, we have removed unnecessary custom functionality, focused on the opportunities offered by the new functionality that the DynamicWeb platform provides, and selected the customizations that are a must-have for their new solution.
About
A recognized brand
PLUS A/S is a Danish company that designs and develops products for garden furniture and outdoor environments. Their history dates back to World War I and the establishment of Sorø Stakitfabrik. They found their niche by, among other things, manufacturing snow fences made of wood, a natural material that was easily accessible from the Danish forests.
Since 1940, the company has been based in Vejen – close to the large forests and plantations of Jutland.
PLUS is known for high quality, responsible production, and top-class Danish design. The development of their products is based on an in-depth understanding of the Danish weather’s impact on durability and functionality.
Their products are sold in hardware stores, interior shops, and webshops across Scandinavia and Northern Europe – and now also to private customers through their own webshop.
Solution
A modern e-commerce solution
In just 4 months, we have upgraded PLUS’s e-commerce solution from a custom-developed system to a new solution built on a standard DynamicWeb platform with a Swift template.
The new web platform serves both B2C and B2B:
- Private consumers can now shop directly at PLUS or have their order forwarded to a retailer.
- Retailers have access to download product data such as prices, stock levels, PDFs, images, etc.
Integration with the financial system
The solution includes integration with PLUS’s ERP system, NAV. This integration retrieves master data and features a live integration that fetches prices and stock levels in real-time based on customer numbers and item numbers in the ERP system.
The live integration is also used when placing an order on the webshop, so the ERP system can return an order number.
Product Information Management
As with the old solution, product data is gathered in DynamicWeb PIM.
In PIM, PLUS can manage, enrich, and validate product data, as well as distribute data to the retailers.
For example, an inventory status update is distributed via a feed to the retailer's sales platform/webshop.
Multiple languages
PLUS also sells to customers outside of Denmark, and through a country selector, users can switch between different country versions.
The solution is set up with 5 language layers, which are managed in PIM, along with a few country landing pages, which are handled in CMS.
Customizations
We have made a series of customizations—partly to maintain some of the features that PLUS wanted to keep from the old solution, and partly to meet a range of new requirements that are not standard functionality in DynamicWeb.
Examples of customizations:
- Display of categories
- Menu
- Add to card-popup
- Display of product
- Suggestions for other related product
- Shipping and Delivery
- Lowest delivery price displayed by default
- Delivery to islands (selected postal codes)
- Send shopping cart to retailer
- PLUSdesigner
- Integration with PLUSdesigner
- The user assembles the fence in PLUSdesigner and can add the items to the webshop’s cart.
- Customization of design elements
- Video in product/category slider
Automatically send the cart to the retailer
The retailer network is an important part of the business for PLUS. Therefore, we focused heavily on maintaining and optimizing the functionality to "send" a cart directly to a retailer.
When a customer adds products to their cart on plus.dk, they can later choose to complete the purchase on one of the retailer’s webshops. The items in the cart are then sent directly to the retailer’s system, which creates a cart with the selected items.
Easy and convenient
From PLUS Designer to the cart
PLUS has developed an application where customers can design and customize their own fence. But it becomes really smart when the customer can take the new design and transfer it directly to a cart on the webshop.
From there, the customer can choose to purchase it on plus.dk or send the cart to one of the many retailers.
Intuitive and user-friendly
In addition to developing the solution itself, we also spent time training on new functionality, providing advice, and collaborating with the client so that PLUS could manage the setup of pages and content themselves.
The solution for PLUS – in short:
- New e-commerce solution
- Based on a standard platform from DynamicWeb
- Customized elements
- The client has access to set up pages and content, etc.
- Multiple language layers
- Strong integration with the ERP system
- Product data is gathered in PIM
See the solution here: plus.dk
Would you like to know more?
Thomas Dzougov
Sales Manager
+45 21 43 90 84
td@consit.dk
