Rhino Distribution B2B eCommerce Website – Case Study
Within a few years, Plus Promotions and Rhino Distribution have managed to create a strong business relationship with each other.
Rhino is a household name in Ireland when it comes to the distribution of hand tools, electrical accessories, and other associated products. The range of products available at their online store is quite extensive. In recent years, the company has started to offer products manufactured by some of the leading brands in the industry.
Founded around 30 years ago, the company started its distribution business in Dublin with the motto of providing first-class service and top-quality products. With time, they have developed a product portfolio to meet customer needs and offer innovation. So, the company can ensure that they always have something new and exciting to offer.
Within a few years, Plus Promotions and Rhino Distribution have managed to create a strong business relationship with each other. They have managed to overcome various challenges while working together. But the development team faced the most difficulty while working on challenges like B2B eCommerce functionality, price and stock management, product migration, and digital marketing. This case study showcases all the major challenges Plus Promotions faced while working with Rhino Distribution.
400+
Man-Hours
Hours Invested
8-10
Resources
Team Size
B2B eCommerce Functionality
One of the significant challenges our development team faced was incorporating B2B eCommerce functionality. In terms of expectations, a modern B2B buyer is quite versatile and demanding.
Moreover, if a company has only created a B2C eCommerce store, it might face a substantial amount of difficulty creating B2B functionality.
So, when Rhino Distribution decided to incorporate B2B eCommerce functionality into their website, our development team ran into the following challenges:
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Manage multiple sellers on the eCommerce platform.
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Duplicate content all across the website.
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Manage large-scale bulk shipments.
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Handle the long and complex B2B buying process.
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Maintain good relationships with customers.
Product Migration
Product migration is a part of the process of creating and deploying a responsive environment for a variety of customers. The development team had to encounter the following challenges when the client decided to go for product migration:
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Business objects fail to determine a clear strategy.
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Failing to understand the full scope of cloud environments ultimately causes cloud sprawl.
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Exceeding the actual budget for executing the process
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Failure of critical services and security weak points
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Lack of skills and human resources to successfully operate new infrastructure
Developing the Customer and Wholesaler Functionality
Implementing customer and wholesaler functionality certainly ranks high when it comes to demanding challenges. There were numerous hurdles and roadblocks our team came across while working on it.
For instance, the mismatch between customer and supplier demand was one of the significant issues we faced. Even though the supply chain process looked easy, it had a lot of complexities.
Profit margins and cash flow were other issues that we faced during this challenge. The types of problems were inventory storage costs, bidding or pricing wars for new orders, late payments, and various expenses regarding forex transactions.
Price and Stock Management
The development team faced various hurdles while implementing price and stock management. The primary roadblock we encountered during the execution process was the chance of an inventory shortage or overstocking.
Our experts believe inventory is one of the most integral parts of a successful eCommerce website.For example, a good eCommerce company will know its demand and stock up its inventory accordingly.
Another challenge we came across during the integration of customer and wholesaler functionality was poor visibility into product profitability. Numerous factors contribute to this point. So we had to do our research in order to find a solution.
Digital Marketing
These days, just like any business, B2B companies face their fair share of competition.
One of the most common challenges that every B2B business owner faces is the issue of setting themselves apart from the crowd.
Earlier, companies with the biggest budget attracted the most traffic with their digital marketing. But now, things have changed. There is equality in the digital world.
Another notable challenge we faced while setting up marketing campaigns to generate online sales for B2B customers was integrating new technology.
B2B eCommerce Functionality
Our development team found a perfect solution to all issues related to B2B eCommerce functionality by incorporating certain changes, like:
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Sellers need to submit verified documents and certificates of authorization to manage multiple sellers on the platform. It will also reduce the chances of customer fraud.
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Develop certain rules regarding image upload to prevent duplication of content. These rules include logo-free images, a white background, no contact details, and high quality.
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Outsourcing a logistics company solved the issue of high bulk shipments.
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Integration of CRM software helps manage relationships with customers.
Product Migration
Our team at Plus Promotions had to face some substantial roadblocks when it came to successfully incorporating product migration. However, developers had the required skills, knowledge, and experience to solve this issue. So, the team developed the following strategies for successful product migrations:
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The team created an effective product migration strategy to ensure easy navigation and avoid any roadblocks in the later stages.
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The team decided to handle each stage of product migration by themselves to monitor progress and maintain a clear view of each phase.
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The developers decided to assign costs to specific departments to avoid exceeding the actual budget.
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For security measures, the team will automate the security procedures, set up security configuration procedures, and create advanced monitoring systems.
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Finally, employees will receive adequate training to operate the new infrastructure.
Developing the Customer and Wholesaler Functionality
To solve the issue of mismatch between customer and supplier demands, we decided to implement certain changes in the system, like:
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Immediately backorder
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Tracking the future of inventory, which includes both in and out
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Ranking the supplier based on quality, cost, and lead time
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Listing out the favourite vendors of the company
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And for profit margins and cash flow, we decided to incorporate the following changes:
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Usage of volume-based pricing and maintaining a price list
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Exploring the drop-ship options
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Making it easy to get paid with online payment options
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Reducing inventory costs
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Controlling forex profit or loss and transaction fees
Price and Stock Management
To overcome the challenge of overstocking or inventory shortage, our team incorporated certain functionalities, like tracking the inventory turnover ratio and identifying slow, fast, and obsolete products. They also found the perfect way to optimize the picking, packing, and shipment processes. It has helped the company know and specify their reorder levels and minimum order quantities.
Due to poor visibility into product profitability, we had to incorporate a separate tracking process to identify the cost of products sold. This tracking process will calculate the profit margin based on the product categories and brands. It will also track hidden inventory costs to increase visibility into profit margins.
Digital Marketing
One of the main methods we use to overcome the challenge of generating sales is to treat businesses as humans. Businesses often forget the fact that they are selling products to a business made up of humans.
So, our team has focused on understanding their requirements and vision to generate an impactful marketing campaign.
Perhaps, the best way to win this race of digital marketing is to create thoughtful and engaging content. Our team of marketing experts knows this precisely. The campaigns we created solely focused on building trust and credibility among the target audience. In simple words, our solution is to create a personalized connection with the customers.
The above challenges may have presented numerous obstacles and roadblocks along the way. But any team with the right attitude and enthusiasm will take all these challenges as an opportunity to learn. Our team has certainly done that.
There were frustrating and difficult moments, but we used our knowledge, experience, and problem-solving skills to overcome all of them. Finally, the development team was able to implement all of the functionalities without losing any audience.
Testimonials
Great company to deal with, both friendly and professional at all times.
Richard Trunk
Technology Stack
Why Choose
Plus Promotions can be a valuable partner to your business. From digital marketing to mobile application development to graphic designing, we can help your business grow and thrive. We strive to generate a productive online presence for you. As an all-encompassing website design and digital marketing agency, we have a range of services to offer. Some of our high-quality services include SEO, SMO, web design, web development, mobile app development, third-party integrations, and eCommerce platform services.
We can create bespoke solutions that give your business an edge over your competitors. Our skilled team of experts can build you the website you want. We set realistic expectations – for our clients and ourselves – and leave no stone unturned to stick to them. Our team constantly gives you updates as we progress and ensure to deliver the project on time. We take immense pride in our customer support capabilities. Whether it’s something persistent or urgent, we provide round-the-clock assistance.
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