merce.com

Please describe your company and your position there.

Darco is a family-run business that employs more than 350 people, with its own modern machine park, a developed sales network on the Polish market, and expanding brand awareness internationally. We export more than 40% of the manufactured goods. At Darco I am an Ecommerce specialist

For what projects/services did your company hire merce.com, and what were your goals?

Product, service and support. We were seeking a developer that would transform our sales. Before beginning our cooperation with merce we had a straightforward and limited B2B platform based on archaic mechanisms. Some internet browsers had problems with supporting what we had. Usability was very limited, customers didn't want and didn't know how to use it, and the sales representatives did not even bother explaining it to customers. We wanted a clean, easy-to-use system, which was fast and allowed for creating complex orders with access to the essential sales data.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We made our choice based on the market analysis, budgeting and previously conducted the business analysis.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our project is a wholesome e-commerce system. We knew that the system should be fast and should allow for creating complex orders with access to the entirety of the product data. It would be our digital salesperson. We rejected the option to build it on the existing ERP solution that we had. We wanted a good UX design. All of that came to life - we know it thanks to the customer feedback, which glorifies the new simplicity of the ordering. Currently, the platform is a vital sales channel for our wholesale partners - the sales department promotes it and the board of Darco as well.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The project was very large, a working group with a supervisor consisting of ~ 20-30 people was assigned, including various types of specialists. Currently, I am not able to name all of them ...

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Sales in B2B channel have grown by 300% after switching to merce. Sales increase in the year following the change has reached additional 25%.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The deployment and development happened with Agile methods, with a dedicated panel for task tracking.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The platform is intuitive enough to be self-explanatory. There is no need for additional customer training. Just after receiving access, the customer can place the order by her/himself. We have already received feedback that the solution is the best in class, clean, and easy to use. For us it's a sign that we are heading in a good direction.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

With a retrospective view, we would, of course, do some things a little bit differently. It was our first major IT project in years. The deployment was a much more significant challenge than expected. It's essential that the platform is now stable and satisfying. We are pleased about it.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Higma Service is present on the Polish market since 1998. We employ several dozens of employees, and we also run our own logistics and warehousing.

Higma Service controls substantial share of the hygiene and cleaning supplies market in Poland, being a leading distributor of brans such as TORK, Diversey, Taski, 3M and Vermop Our customers are public institutions, machining industry, HoReCa and other private businesses. My job position in Higma Service is CMO

For what projects/services did your company hire merce.com, and what were your goals?

Product, service and support. Constant expansion and development has enforced us to change the B2B operations concept. We identified a need to develop a new platform, expanded and tailored to match our customer’s needs.

The key challenges were the full integration of B2B platform, with our existing ERP; refinement of warehousing procedures; offline access to a full and up-to-date product list; sales process automation; reporting and live sales plans status verification; reducing compatibility errors, appearing due to ever growing product list.

How did you select merce.com and what were the deciding factors?

We had a open, opt-in offer collection process

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our project is an e-commerce system, focused on B2B sales. Things such as modeling of locations, employees, manufacturers, cooperators and all products including replacements, were very important for us.

A custom CRM software was developed, allowing for easy privilege management, divided into modules that are individually responsible for price lists, contracts, currencies, promos, orders and customers.

At the sametime, alongside the CRM, a new ERP system was developed and deployed, which is integrated on both ends in regards to product information reference, price synchronisation, warehouse levels, customer data, and payments. It also allows easy sending of documents and payment summaries.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Team was composed with a project manager and a context team of developers, that had been chosen basing on the business analysis of our requirements. The team was scalable and adapted to the increasing requirements of our project.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

After deploying the system, a variety of the processes became automatic - beginning with offer creation, order management, and document generation. Introduction of a innovative solution allows us to change the way we work.

We reduced amount of mistakes and improved service quality. We estimate that the worktime needed to service all orders, was reduced by half.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The project was managed using agile methods, with communication inside a dedicated panel

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Merce.com team has devoted themselves to the project since the early development stages, which fulfilled our requirements, and matched our market specifics.

Thanks to fruitful cooperation, Higma Service now has access to an unique tool. This makes everyday work easier and optimizes business processes that take place between our partners and customers.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Basing on our outstanding cooperation, and the effects that we have reached, we can easily recommend merce.com to be a great and valuable software partner, that not only delivers what was declared, but also rationalizes spending and reduces costs in the enterprise like ours

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our brand’s history began in 1840, which makes it the oldest jewelry brand in Poland. W.KRUK sells the products in more than 140 brick and mortar stores, located all across the country. Our brand offers golden and silver jewelry of the highest quality as well as diamonds, luxury watches and other gems. In W.KRUK I’am an E-commerce Director.

For what projects/services did your company hire merce.com, and what were your goals?

Product, service & support To adapt our sales process to the shifting requirements of customers, we decided to deploy a dedicated e-commerce system that would create a synergy between the brick and mortar stores and online channel. Our key focus was to create a solution connecting the online sales with the warehouse economy and click & collect service.

How did you select merce.com and what were the deciding factors?

W.KRUK development strategy includes a synergy of online channels with the local, physical stores. That's why we wanted the new e-commerce system to automatically sync the product data and warehouse stock. Thanks to the connection, all the data is unified and synchronized in real-time, which allows the click and collect service to be implemented.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

During our cooperation, we had clear priorities. One of those was to create a unified loyalty program, that would be identical for multiple sales channels. It was a part of an adopted omnichannel strategy, which includes the new e-commerce system.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have worked with team of 7-8 people:

• business analyst
• project managers
• implementation managers
• front end developers
• administrators
• the CTO

This project required couple of deep changes in 'merce engine to be done.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

During the creation of the new e-commerce system, a solution that would let us create and manage multiple different promotions in the online store was imperative. Our e-commerce system includes dozens of different promotion scenarios.

The management module that is included in the e-commerce system, allows for smart administration of all the discounts that we offer. This functionality ensures that no discounts block each other.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Before deployment, the business analysis team of merce.com, created a detailed report that made the selection of the key processes easy. It included order management, brick & mortar stores list management, and loyalty program registration.

All the processes were split into 3 fields - frontend, backend, and integrations. The entirety of 26 different items was described according to the SIPOC diagram. This allowed a simple description of their functionality. The analysis showed the key requirements of the company - that in the end, led to the creation of a complete e-commerce platform.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The support we have received in designing the order management. This dedicated solution lets us create status levels, which reflect the order fulfillment status. Information regarding if the product is ready to ship, or additional info, such as a necessity to add a bonus to the package is an internal status. That is very helpful from a logistical standpoint.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The project was delivered on time and more than what we expected was given. Nothing to correct.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have been in cooperation with merce.com since 2011. Our enterprise offers the best gastronomy and confectionery machinery and accessories to both B2C and B2B segments.

The product offer is aimed for restaurants, cafes, pubs and hotels - it covers the whole spectrum of the HoReCa segment. We are not limited to B2B, as the end customers are also able to buy items through the online channel - our offer covers the cutlery, dishes and cooking accessories for home use.

To increase sales and reach new customers, we decided to deploy a convenient, dedicated e-commerce system that is based on the merce.com software.

For what projects/services did your company hire merce.com, and what were your goals?

Product, service and support. We cooperate with multiple HoReCa product manufacturers. They are located in different EU regions and countries. When deploying an e-commerce system, we faced a significant challenge that called for a solution able to efficiently manage different suppliers price lists, currencies and VAT levels. It also had to properly manage and automate the discount policies. Those were our key priorities.

How did you select merce.com and what were the deciding factors?

We analysed the suppliers of e-commerce systems that had the biggest experience when servicing companies that conduct business operations on multinational markets. After consideration we choose merce.com

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our online store has around 55.000 different products on offer. A price list of this size required an unique approach to the main menu. Vast category tree had to be designed in an intuitive way that would maximize clarity and ease of navigation, also on mobile devices.

The e-commerce that we have deployed enables us to create up to 5 levels of navigation, while at the same time, it remains comfortable to use on desktop, tablet and smartphone.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

First online store that we developed with merce.com was gastromania.cz - aimed for the Czech market. As the demand of the online customers grew, we had to implement new solutions that helped them to have an even more efficient and comfortable buying process on mobile.

In the following years we led an effort to streamline the ordering process, without wasting the previous customised solutions. Next, stores gastromania.sk and chefstore.pl were developed - servicing Slovakian and Polish markets respectively.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Development and management of sales through 3 online stores, all operating on different markets is covered from a single location, through a “multistore”. We needed a solution that will help us easily manage different price lists, with varied currencies and VAT levels.

We also had to cover different discount policies for particular countries. The e-commerce system that merce.com developed allows defining of different price strategies for selected customer groups, or domains.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We worked in agile methodology.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We have created a multistore with merce.com that has a high SEO score and a lot of unique functionalities, that let us automate many operations. It also presents a broad product list in a clean and orderly fashion. All that gives our company real, valuable benefits.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Dalia Lingerie is a well-known on Polish and European market, hosiery and lingerie manufacturer. We specialize in exclusive women nightwear and underclothing. We use only the best quality resources for our products. The embroidery is imported from Italy, Switzerland, Austria, or France. On the Polish market, the brand is well recognized for more than 20 years, and since the beginning of its existence is perceived as a synonym of beauty, elegance, and comfort. Dalia also maintains a network of brick&mortar stores. Some of them are brand owned, while the rest operate in the franchise model. Dalia’s products can be bought in more than 80 partner locations in Poland. In the company, I hold the title of Vice-President.

For what projects/services did your company hire merce.com, and what were your goals?

Product, service and support. The primary objectives were to create a modern, RWD layout, integration with the stock management and accountancy software - Hermes SQL, maintaining double-layered security of the data (copied from the ERP system, and kept on the server), making it easy fo the customers to locate the brick&mortar stores, and finally - launching a unified platform, letting customers purchase goods in both B2B and B2C segments.

How did you select merce.com and what were the deciding factors?

The experience that they gained when deploying similar projects, a team of competent developers, a broad selection of solutions and modules to use, knowledge about integrating with ERP Hermes SQL, visually stunning design of other stores that they've made - all that contributed to our choice of merce.com e-commerce platform.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The project included the creation of a broad e-commerce system, connecting B2B and B2C sales in one place.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A dedicated project manager war our main point of contact throughout the process. He was responsible for the contact with the merce team.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Rapid order processing in the e-store is one of the key factors that influence the customer’s satisfaction level. During the cooperation, we have integrated the platform with our warehouse-accounting software - Hermes SQL. Access to data and its automatic processing made the order processing much faster than before. Data security was also taken care of, as now those are recorded twice, in the ERP system, and on the cloud architecture. We have eliminated mistakes in deliveries. The current database is maintained by an “integrator” that's triggered automatically or on-demand, so we always have full access to the current data.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Our whole cooperation was managed with a custom system, which allowed us to communicate about the issues in the project, daily. After deployment, it keeps serving its purpose, as a place for requests and service issues.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

With full responsibility, we recommend merce.com as a modern, functional, responsive, and elastic e-commerce platform that uses best-in-class solutions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It takes long time to implement changes to project, because you have to wait for your turn with others.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Hard Beans Coffee Roasters. We’re a coffee roastery, and we do many things related to coffee.

What challenge were you trying to address with merce.com?

The biggest challenge was getting better contact with clients and offering better offers to them.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was run by a different part of my company, so I don’t know too many details about it. merce.com developed a website for us, along with a program for working with clients. They helped us from A to Z, with all kinds of solutions for our website, e-commerce shop, and programs that allowed our employees to work better with our clients. They also helped us with design.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three people from their team.

How did you come to work with merce.com?

We heard good reviews from other companies in the Polish market. We started our company more than three years ago, and we were looking for someone that could help with the e-commerce part.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost depends on the project we’re working on. We’ve paid them around $30,000 so far.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with merce.com right from the start of our company, in January 2018. We’ve had multiple projects with them since then, for web design, developing our online shop, and other things. The collaboration is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The work with merce.com has been very good, and they’ve solved a lot of problems for us. We’ve had some challenges, but we worked together and solved the problem. Not everything went perfectly, but merce.com always found time to help us.

How did merce.com perform from a project management standpoint?

They have contacts assigned to us, and we’ve always had good communication with merce.com. If we have a problem or need something, we can call them or send an email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have professional service and great communication. They’re not that cheap, but we know that we’re in good hands.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any particular advice. We just like the way they work and the communication we have with them. merce.com solved all the problems we had around e-commerce, so I can only say good things about them. They’re full professionals in what they do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Horex.pl. We offer 60,000 beauty and health products in 580 categories in one online place. We use dropshipping and connect with two warehouses to do so.

What challenge were you trying to address with merce.com?

We needed help with building our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

merce.com developed a platform with a dedicated API that can connect to every warehouse in the world. Now, we don't need to have any warehouses, employees, or logistics; we have access to those through our platform.

What is the team composition?

Their team is made up of a project manager, three PHP developers, two frontend developers, and a webmaster.

How did you come to work with merce.com?

We tried three companies to build this platform, but we weren’t getting the results we wanted. I continued to look at case studies through Google. merce.com had a solution for e-commerce stores without warehouses. I contacted them and they demoed their solution.

How much have you invested with them?

They had good pricing for the Polish market, and we worked on a time and materials basis.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in February 2017 with the business analysis phase. We started development in May and finished in October of the same year.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve processed 100,000 orders through the platform, and our whole company has only one person in the customer office. The technology they’ve developed allowed our company to grow 300% year on year.

merce.com is very flexible. We could talk to their managers and find solutions to develop the project further. They were able to deliver what was impossible for other companies.

How did merce.com perform from a project management standpoint?

We used a dedicated platform for communication, which showed us which members were working on which tasks, along with time and costs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I could communicate with their CEO, CFO, and CTO, which was very helpful. There were issues where the project manager couldn’t help me, but I could go to one of their principals, and they’d figure out what was best for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything. They were a really good company for us, and we’re not considering starting an IT team in our company.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s important to have an honest conversation with merce.com and determine how to develop the project. The client must know what’s important for them and have the best communication to describe what they want. merce.com is the tool to make it happen.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Head of e-commerce for Fashion House Group, a development and management company for brick-and-mortar shopping centers, which we build, develop, and manage. I am responsible for implementing an e-commerce solution for the company. We have one that is fully integrated with our physical stores. This is a first-of-its-kind e-commerce tool for shopping centers in Central Eastern Europe.

What challenge were you trying to address with i-systems?

As an outlet center, we wanted the e-commerce to match our specific model. We wanted a flexible system that we could adjust to our needs. We have a flash sale model similar to Groupon or Vente-privee—small collections bound over short periods of time, rather than a classical online shop with hundreds or thousands of items available for purchase. We needed to be able to manage each collection separately, upload upcoming collections that were not yet available, and let customers know what’s coming up.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I-systems built on top of their own engine, providing a custom solution. The site displays a bunch of available collections, like brand driven collections, or category-driven, for example: tops, flip-flops, and other groups of products categorized by brand, price point, type, or time of year. We try to mix it up, so flexibility is important. This gives us a creativity curve, and as a result, our customers are entertained in a way—they won’t get bored with our newsletters or offers.

Clicking on a collection brings the user to something more similar to a normal shop. There are filters on the left and clickable products in the main tile view. There are three to four photos for each product, descriptions, etc. I-systems helped with all of this.

We were working in the Russian market, which has its own specifics. For example, Google is not the market leader there, but the Russian equivalent, Yandex. We do use Google AdWords, but it’s a 50/50 split with Yandex.Direct. Courier companies are a little bit different as well. Some of the integration had to be done differently than what we would do in Poland or other European countries.

What is the team dynamic?

We have five people working on the project, but their hourly engagement has varied. I usually have one point of contact as the account manager, and there are also developers on the team. I was not involved in assigning time for our project. Our rep decides whether he needs more time with a frontend or backend developer.

I-systems has a large team, more than 100 people. I’ve been to their office a few times, and they have whole building of two floors all to themselves.

How did you come to work with i-systems?

I led the research process. We tried a few approaches, looking for companies in Russia and Poland, since we also had outlet centers there.

I believed i-systems was our best option, compared to all the other companies we analyzed. We narrowed it down to five options and took a few angled approaches. Price was important, but all of the finalists met our requirements. In the end, it came down to responsiveness and portfolio of customers. I-systems was definitely the best, and we enjoyed working with our account representatives. Our contact with the company has always been great.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with i-systems in October or November 2015. We launched in April 2016, after a six-month process. The service agreement is still ongoing. I-systems continues to fix bugs and make minor adjustments or major redevelopments.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve gotten great feedback, not only from customers, but also from our brand partners, which was very important. All of the tenants who lease spaces from us in Moscow have loved the platform, its dynamics, and our different approach to online business. This confirms that we made good choices in our strategy and developer.

How did i-systems perform from a project management standpoint?

They have their own ticket customer relationship management system similar to Zendesk, which I use to communicate with my account representative. We set up tickets for any kind of issue we have or any new development. Tickets are answered quickly, and I can track their history. It’s very convenient. Most of the communication is done through that platform, but we also have quarterly meetings in the office, as well as phone conference calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even though i-systems has acquired huge clients in Poland, they remain responsive to us. In terms of e-commerce, I’m sure we’re not their biggest customer. We launched as a startup in April, whereas they’ve been working with e-commerce businesses that have been around for years and have much more volume.

Other companies can provide programmers, but good customer care sets i-systems apart.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. They developed everything quickly; it took us six months to develop it, while other companies told us they had a six-month delay.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We maintain 3 online shops, namely Pitbull.pl, Pitbullcity.pl and Pitbulloutlet.com, through which we sell clothes and shoes. We have 2 physical shops, one in Warsaw and one in Gdynia. We are opening a second one in Warsaw, in a couple of months. I am the e-commerce specialist. 

What challenge were you trying to address with i-systems?

We were looking for the best developer in Poland, and had heard that i-systems was very good. They could help us with our project, so we chose them.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They made an e-commerce system implementation for us, including the integration of several warehouses and new graphic designs, and integrating of the site with the Subiekt GT ERP solution. i-systems did everything from scratch, including graphic design and product logos. We needed a whole new customer experience, and didn’t know anything about this area. They taught us how to work with these systems and how to improve our sales.

They have created multiple solutions to improve customer loyalty and allow international sales.

After opening our second shop in Warsaw, i-systems will probably help us with several integrations, for taking products from one warehouse to another.

I don’t know how many people worked on our project, but we’re currently using around 2 people, who are working closely with us.

How did you come to work with i-systems?

i-systems was referred to us by a friend.

How much have you invested with i-systems?

The cost of their work has been around $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with i-systems in January 2016, but the first meetings were only with my Boss. Setting up the new online shops took about 6 months, ending in September.  

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

In 2017, we have sold 2 times more items than in the previous year. We have many more new clients, likely because they’ve liked our website and graphic design. There are many new Pitbull online shops, but we are the best, probably because of i-systems.

How did i-systems perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t always have enough time to understand what i-systems was asking for, but we were able to finish in 6 months solely because of their hard work. They provided their own panel for client and team communication, which worked great.

Are there any areas i-systems could improve?

There could be some examples, but the collaboration was fine for me.