EIS

Customer Challenge

EIS, a large electrical industrial supply distributor, already had an established ecommerce operation, but they knew they’d need innovative solutions to keep up with customer expectations.

Complex ecommerce environment: In order to succeed, they would need an ecommerce website solution that could integrate multiple ERPs and storefronts while also offering new functionality.

“We were working with an in-house digital team managed by our parent company and had restricted visibility into the development cycle and processes that interacted with our business systems,” said Bonnie Bergkessel, Senior Director of Marketing & Ecommerce at EIS. “We wanted to break down this barrier to better understand and control development initiatives while ensuring that digital operations matched the previous site’s functionality.”

They enlisted the help of the B2B ecommerce experts at Xngage to develop a strategy for ecommerce success now and in the future. Xngage has helped more than 60 B2B manufacturers and distributors accelerate their ecommerce operations, so our team had the expertise and experience that EIS needed.

The Xngage Solution

Xngage Team Lead Aaron Burke said EIS’s ecommerce environment is nuanced, complex, and customized, so it takes a talented team of ecommerce experts to manage it and craft innovative solutions that can streamline business processes.

Ecommerce Strategy: Digital mapping of their ecosystem was core to an effective solution. With multiple ERP platforms and multiple storefronts, EIS needed a custom solution allowing multiple cloud instances. Xngage developed a strategy for leveraging the flexibility of the Optimizely Configured Commerce platform in order to connect multiple data sets in the cloud.

“EIS has many business nuances and large-scale projects where Xngage has partnered to create solutions for our business,” said Bergkessel. “Their developers have spent months gathering a complex understanding of our ERP and business ecosystem and partner with our teams to solution business needs in an extremely efficient manner.”

Ecommerce Implementation: The Optimizely Configured Commerce platform offered a powerful foundation for the EIS ecommerce operation. The Xngage team was able to implement a variety of customized and innovative solutions including a barcode scanner for EIS' on-site search, fraud detection, processing of multiple currencies for international customers, a complex checkout including grouping items by inventory or warehouse availability, and more. These solutions help EIS better serve their customers while also streamlining their internal processes.

Custom Software Development: Xngage developed custom software to allow EIS to better manage the back end of their website, including better inventory management flow and a more integrated customer care program that enhanced customer experiences.

“We've overhauled our order status messaging to paint a much more accurate picture of exactly where customer's order resides in the fulfillment process and provide detailed information down to split shipment line-item levels,” said Bergkessel. “The Xngage team was crucial in helping us break down ERP data and translating that layered information into something a customer could understand and then communicating it in an effective way on the front end.”

User Experience Design: One of the latest projects with EIS was updates to the product-listing pages, product-detail pages, cart, and checkout process. Like many distributors, EIS offers products that come in a number of iterations – like a variety of sizes, for example – so their customers would need to scroll quite a bit to find the version that fit their needs. Now, they can view all iterations of the product in one chart, including different spec information and availability. The latest update also makes product documents and marketing materials easily accessible for customers to download.

Digital Growth Services: With a better overall ecommerce system, EIS was able to better leverage marketing tools to increase awareness and convert their buyers faster, resulting in a better return on investment. Xngage also implemented advanced analytics to better track metrics of their website and their marketing mix.

On-Site Search: Recently, Xngage implemented Coveo’s on-site search solution. This AI-powered search solution helps deliver more accurate results when EIS customers are searching for products on their site.

At Xngage, we strive for strong relationships with our customers because getting to know the ins and outs of their company helps us provide better solutions. Burke says EIS and Xngage are very much on the same team and work together well.

“We are an extension of EIS – they are not simply a client,” he said. “When things go south after hours, or things need to be done over the weekends, they know we are in the trenches with them.”

And the EIS team agrees.

“Their project estimates are always on point, considering both consumption of hours and the overall scope for project timelines,” said Bergkessel. “And on top of it all, they are just SUPER nice people! The EIS team enjoys our weekly status update calls with the Xngage team. We work through many frustrating and tiring projects, but we always come out happy with the solutions provided because of the dedication and positive attitude that Xngage brings to the table.”

Results

After the implementation of the Xngage-led solutions, EIS saw impressive ecommerce growth, seeing a 148% increase in ecommerce transactions and a 145% increase in ecommerce revenue. Both external and internal EIS customers responded favorably to the new website, improving overall customer satisfaction.

“The Xngage team was crucial in helping us break down ERP data and translating that layered information into something a customer could understand, and then communicating it in an effective way on the front end,” said Bergkessel.

Despite the complexity, EIS and Xngage have worked together to enhance the customer experience and streamline internal processes.

“It’s a big, customized behemoth,” says Burke. “We’ve done really well in all aspects and continue to provide a great team of developers, and the site to get noticeably better each release.”

But ecommerce success requires constant innovation. So, what’s next for EIS and its ecommerce operation?

The Xngage team is implementing Google Merchant Center to help EIS add its products on Google’s shopping feature, allowing prospective customers to discover its products during their search process. They also have plans for updating EIS’s product listing pages, product details pages, and checkout.