Creating a user friendly platform
The VELUX Group sells windows and curtains for DYI centres and curtain stores worldwide who resell the products to craftsmen, entrepreneurs and end consumer. Thus, an effective and user-friendly B2B e-commerce platform is a business critical sales channel for The VELUX Group. In 2015, the company chose to launch a new international B2B solution with a focus on performance and user-friendliness.
One of the essential competitive parameters for The VELUX Group is a B2B e-commerce platform that is popular with the customers. The company’s previous B2B e-commerce solution could not offer the speed and the features, which the customers of today expect. In order to gain a stronger position in a competitive international market, The VELUX Group wished to launch a brand new platform that took its point of departure in the actual needs of the customers.
The customers' needs in focus
The VELUX Group has a new B2B e-commerce solution that is both user-friendly and intuitive. The customers’ primary desires are performance and overview. Thus, the platform has lightning quick search and offers the customers an overview over submitted orders, delivery status and order history.
It can be expensive if the customers search in vain for products. On the new site, it is easy for the customers to find the correct products. Through a configurator, the customer can type in information about a specific window and get suggestions for curtains that match that particular window.
The development of the new platform has taken place in close collaboration with the sales divisions at The VELUX Group around the world. This was done to ensure that the platform matches the actual needs of each specific market. For the same reason, the platform is developed with a flexibility, which allows the Head of Sales in each country to adjust the solution, themselves, with the information and features that are most relevant in their specific market. Thus, they can put emphasis on anything from marketing to product information or dashboard functionalities depending on what the customers in the particular market request.
Furthermore, the new e-commerce solution has a specially developed tool that enables the DYI centres and curtain stores to draw up and send out offers to a specific craftsman or private customer. This way, the submission of tenders is digitalised and made more efficient, and the end customers can more easily submit their order and go through with a purchase, as they simply need to accept the given tender on the website.
Kim Bernbom
E-business Project Manager at VELUX
Launched in 2015
The VELUX Group introduced their new B2B e-commerce solution in five selected countries in 2015, and the rest of the remaining 15 markets soon followed.
