Development of B2B webshop service and returns processes
Development of B2B webshop service and returns processes for a regional trading company
Industry: Trade in steel, light and non-ferrous metals and plastics
Objectives, executive summary
The aim of the project was to develop a complete operational process of a newly launched B2B webshop (business-to-business webshop platform) for a Hungarian trading company. The project was completed within two months, involving several stakeholders, and included the complete design and implementation of the processes for service, picking, picking, packing and returns, the integration of the processes with the existing ERP system, and the development of the existing support and tracking processes. The webshop now serves around 4,000 partners, from small to large orders.
Client background and environment
The client is a regionally significant steel, light and non-ferrous metal and plastics trading company in Hungary, with German ownership. The parent company had previously introduced a B2B webshop as a pilot project of its digitalisation strategy, which significantly accelerated service processes and provided an outstanding customer experience. After seeing the successful project results, the central decision was made to implement the webshop system and interface for the subsidiaries in the Central and Eastern European region. Although the system and the technical environment to support the webshop were in place, regional differences in consumer habits, trends and the legal environment made it necessary to customise it, so centrally standardised operational processes could not be developed for subsidiaries - each subsidiary started to develop its own processes.
Objectives, tasks
The assignment was to plan and design the entire service process, with particular emphasis on:
- Identifying and updating electronic master data relevant to processes by introducing new processes.
- Our task was to plan and design the entire service process, in particular the complete end-to-end design and detailed regulation of the order entry, handling and information processes, the picking, picking and packing processes, as well as the delivery and returns handling processes.
- For the established processes, prepare flowcharts, clear task and responsibility delimitations, broken down step by step.
- Development and regulation of processes and case tracking system to support orders.
Challenges, difficulties
- The customer did not have digital ordering and service channels before, so digitalisation was a new and unknown area for the Customer. Consequently, there was a lot of uncertainty and cautiousness in the attitude of the stakeholders.
- It was not clear what order volumes the new channel would have to handle, which led to uncertainty about the adequacy of current capacity from stakeholders. From the German parent company's side, there was a clear expectation that the Client would not only "shift" part of the existing customer base to the new webshop, but also be able to serve new customers if possible.
- Many of the stakeholders were resistant to change, as they did not feel that digitalised ordering and service processes would meet current industry standards.
- The integration of the webshop and the ERP system (SAP) raised a number of technical and data management challenges, which also caused modelling and regulatory challenges at the logical process level.
- Optimizing the management of returns required particular attention, as the existing returns process was manual and fragmented.
Implementation of the task
The project followed an iterative approach, with workshops and interviews to produce results in several iterations. Processes were designed with the involvement of experts in the fields concerned, based on detailed needs and requirements, and then continuously refined based on feedback. During the regulatory phase following the design phase, we refined responsibilities and the way the processes were implemented.
The first phase involved an assessment of e-commerce needs and the operating environment. This included identifying the needs of the parent company, local experts and technical staff, examining the technical conditions and laying the foundations for a process documentation system.
The second phase involved process design and modelling, which involved detailed design of the service and returns processes. In this phase, particular attention was paid to the translation and integration of electronic data management and ERP system requirements into the process logic, to ensure a continuous and unhindered flow of data during implementation.
In the third phase, detailed regulatory documents were drawn up, formalising the operational processes established. In addition to the definition of responsibilities, the regulation also covered the technical details of each process step, in particular data management and the management of the back-end processes.
Results
With the introduction of the new B2B webshop, the company's digitalised service processes have been significantly accelerated. The new system has been seamlessly integrated with the ERP system, allowing real-time tracking of orders, stocks and returns.
The service processes of the webshop needed some fine-tuning in the first 1-2 months after launch, but after that, stable, transparent, predictable and fast operational processes were established, which allowed for the subsequent development and measurement of process metrics. Customer satisfaction questionnaire responses show a measurable improvement in customer experience, thanks to the quick and easy ordering process provided by the webshop. In the 4 years since the launch of the webshop platform, 60-70% of orders have already been processed.
Designabc