Press Release
Markgröningen/Jena – norelem, the manufacturer and direct marketer of standard parts and components, optimised its e-commerce platform with dotSource's assistance – with a focus on enhancing the performance and usability. With the multi-client platform, the company behind THE BIG GREEN BOOK, which is well established in the machine and plant construction sector, created a strong basis for its international e-business strategy.
For more than 60 years, norelem Normelemente GmbH & Co. KG has been supplying its B2B customers from the machine and plant construction sector with standard parts and components. norelem's comprehensive catalogue, THE BIG GREEN BOOK, which contains more than 70,000 products, has long been an indispensable reference guide for design engineers and technical buyers. Nowadays, this renowned print catalogue must also be made available online with adequate usability and enhanced with cutting-edge commerce elements.
Through its online shop, norelem has been ensuring customer satisfaction on a national and international level for several years. However, it needed to be thoroughly modernised and optimised to continue to meet the rising requirements in B2B e-commerce. It is particularly noteworthy that this collaboration with the digital agency dotSource was initially an audit of norelem's ongoing e-commerce project: The implementation of the SAP Commerce shop, which had already been in progress, was to be examined by an experienced external party. norelem was pleased with the ideas and recommendations presented as part of this review and entrusted the digital agency with the further implementation as well.
Powerful B2B Online Shop Based on SAP Commerce in Five Months
At the time of project takeover by dotSource in the fourth quarter of 2021, the SAP-Commerce-based online shops for Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom were already live. Next on the agenda was Germany, which is a crucial market for norelem, but the rollouts in other countries had not yet been able to meet the desired requirements. By the time the new website www.norelem.de went live at the end of February 2022, the dotSource developers had rebuilt the back end of the existing SAP Commerce platform, significantly improving its technical performance, particularly in terms of load times.
Moreover, dotSource optimised the user experience of norelem's SAP-Commerce-based online shop to incorporate extensive modern B2B e-commerce features: The online shop design was harmonised with that of the popular print catalogue. Customer-specific prices can now be displayed live in the online shop and, thanks to the integration with the existing enterprise resource planning tool from SAP, changes to the product range can be implemented more flexibly via automated product imports.
Measurable Success with B2B Customers and Further Progress in the Online Segment
With the optimised SAP Commerce shop, norelem is now in an excellent position for successfully continuing its e-business strategy: »The support from dotSource brought a much-needed breath of fresh air to our online shop project. The technical basis that has now been established enables us to further scale up our online business,« Marcus Schneck, CEO of norelem Normelemente GmbH & Co. KG, comments on the collaboration. Overwhelming positive customer feedback confirms that the path taken was the right one. The higher customer satisfaction with norelem's new online shop is also reflected in a significant increase in shopping cart value.
Based on the success attained, subsequent rollouts of norelem's online shop in different countries will follow. Moreover, the company aims to expand its e-commerce activities even further and, with dotSource as its trusted partner, plans to migrate to SAP Commerce Cloud as well as to implement a CRM system and a marketing automation solution.
About norelem
With its headquarters in Markgröningen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, norelem Normelemente GmbH & Co. KG has been offering a wide range of standard parts and components for machine and plant construction around the globe for more than 60 years. In addition, the company provides its customers with a comprehensive CAD database to support their design projects and promotes young talent through training courses and workshops. For several years, norelem has also been selling its more than 70,000 products via an international online shop.