Klick is a home electronics and digital goods retail chain operating in Estonia since 1996. With its 22 stores spread across the entire country, Klick is one of the largest sellers of laptops, smartphones, and accessories for individual customers in Estonia.
Klick is a Lumav client since 2021, using the Vue Storefront-based e-commerce solution for individual customers. In 2022, Klick acquired Ordi, a well-known computer sales company targeting business clients, and began expanding its operations in the B2B segment.
Business opportunity in B2B sector
Klick’s management recognized that nowadays, B2B sales cannot be successful without an e-ordering center, as customers expect the convenience of placing orders 24/7, similar to doing so in a physical store or when dealing with a sales representative.
Klick’s goal was to provide the best customer experience to the new B2B segment by adopting an omnichannel approach and offering customers a comprehensive online platform to access all relevant information. They aimed to expand their product range to cater to a wider audience, requiring the acceleration and automation of the product enrichment process.
The chosen technical solution needed to be robust and flexible, allowing for future expansion. Therefore, a long-term development plan was devised from the outset. Before making a decision, various best practices were analyzed: input was gathered from both customer service representatives and customers, competitor solutions were reviewed, and Lumav’s extensive experience in creating renowned B2B e-ordering centers was taken into account.
Adobe Commerce B2B
The platform selection was crucial before commencing technical analysis. The options on the table were custom solutions, Magento Open Source (the open-source version), and licensed Adobe Commerce (a product based on Magento with a license).
The decision was swayed towards choosing a flexible, ready-to-use solution that incorporates best practices and has a proven international track record. According to Forrester’s data, Adobe Commerce holds the largest market share among e-commerce ordering platforms and is one of the few available in Estonia. This meant that the development did not start from scratch, nor was there a need to combine different manufacturers’ solutions or reinvent the wheel. Lumav’s successful experience with implementing Adobe Commerce solutions and its long-standing partnership with Adobe (formerly Magento) also supported Klick’s management decision.
Opting for an established B2B software base helped save development hours and allowed for a quicker launch of the online store. Being an Adobe customer also meant having an experienced account manager who could maximize the benefits of the software through regular meetings.
Solution
After gathering the client’s business requirements, Lumav team organized several extensive workshops with Klick to analyze which technical solutions could be readily implemented. Many ideas were earmarked for subsequent phases, but the base solution addressed the main issues and incorporated the following key functionalities:
- Extensive product selection for business clients: The existing information exchange module was further developed to facilitate data flow between ERP (Business Central), PIM (product information enrichment channel), external suppliers, existing individual customer stores, and the newly created B2B store. A well thought out and fully automated process allowed Klick to rapidly expand its product range and ensure real-time information synchronization.
- High-quality product data and new product launches: Akeneo PIM is integrated as a tool for product enrichment. It provides an overview of the various product enrichment levels, ensuring user-friendly product information input.
- Customer-specific prices and product selection: Using Adobe Commerce Shared Catalogue functionality, an automatic margin-dependent pricing solution was developed and is easily configurable based on the customer.
- Automated and convenient customer registration process: A connection with the Business Register was created to simplify business customer registration, enabling both data entry and automatic checks for board members. Additionally, a custom solution was devised to allow one person to create multiple accounts for different companies and choose one of them when logging in using their ID card, Mobile ID, or Smart ID.
- Role management for Order Requester, Approver and Reviewer in large enterprises: Utilizing Adobe Commerce Company Accounts, users could create an organizational structure with roles based on personal identification numbers for different users. The Purchase Order functionality enabled the main user to initiate the order approval process.
- Automatic application of credit limits: A development was made on top of the Adobe Commerce Company Credit base solution, providing business clients with the ability to monitor their credit in real-time and allocate it to subordinate users. The client manager could set payment terms, and in case of exceeding the credit limit, payment could be made through bank link, credit card, or advance invoice.
- Comprehensive logged-in customer view: After logging in, Klick’s business clients had a clear overview of physical stores and online purchases. Confirmed orders, credit limits, and the possibility to apply for credit increase, company structure and permissions, sub-user rights, company details, and more were easily accessible 24/7 without the need to contact a customer manager.
- A well thought-out backlog for further development: A comprehensive list of identified tasks during the analysis phase was quite long, and Klick’s business clients would be able to enjoy them in more detail after some time 🙂
Summary
Klick’s ambitious project was completed in just 6 months. The success of the project was ensured through close communication between the development team and the client. As it involved practically creating a new business, the initial phase focused on a slightly reduced level of functionality. However, the use of Commerce’s ready-made and thoroughly tested base functionality allowed the solution to reach a high level from the start.
Lumav thanks Klick for the excellent collaboration and a fun picnic for the development team before starting the project! It’s a pleasure to be a partner to one of Estonia’s leading digital product providers, and we are also Klick’s customers, both as a company and as individuals.
“We were considering a partner for a long time and entrusted Lumav to create our B2B solution. The solution has been well received by our first customers and we continue to build a new business together.”
Kaire Koik, Klick Eesti AS member of the board
