By digitizing 300,000 products in its new e-commerce platform, Swecon has created a seamless customer experience and increased sales. Sandra Henkel, Product Owner Digital Solutions at Swecon Group, shares the success factors of the project.
Competitive customer experiences and the implementation of omnichannel strategies have become increasingly important for B2B companies. Expectations for creating unified customer experiences are significantly higher today compared to just a few years ago. Additionally, competition has intensified with increased globalization. Swecon Group is no exception. Swecon is a leading supplier of construction machinery and spare parts in Europe. The company is authorized for Volvo products and offers expertise, advice, and service. Swecon has 34 facilities in Northern Europe, 650 employees, and a turnover of 5 billion SEK.
In collaboration with Columbus, Swecon has implemented a new e-commerce solution, creating a unified customer experience where the customer portal, CMS, and e-commerce work seamlessly. Swecon's goal for the project was to create a consolidated, easily accessible, and user-friendly platform with the customer in focus. Sandra Henkel, Product Owner Digital Solutions at Swecon Group, has led the project, which resulted in the digitization of spare parts sales in Sweden in December 2023. In this case study, she elaborates on the path to success.
Previously, Swecon utilized Volvo's e-commerce platform with its digital environment and brand. Customers were uncertain whether they were shopping from Volvo or Swecon, and the platforms lacked integration. Therefore, separate logins were needed. The company's customer portal, mySwecon, operated independently, making it difficult to find products in the overflow of information. Additionally, the design was outdated and inconsistent across different platforms. The demands for a seamless customer experience grew, and it was time to make a change.
Photo: In Swecon's new e-commerce platform, you can navigate among 300,000 products.
Improved customer experience and increased sales with new e-commerce
For Swecon, it was essential to meet the growing expectations for customer experience and help their customers navigate all available options. Inspiring customers to shop and manage their information within a unified customer portal with a single login was crucial. Furthermore, ensuring a seamless integration between digital and physical experiences was important for both customers and employees.
With the new e-commerce platform, Swecon has achieved several improvements in a short time that have made a significant difference to the business.
- We have a large range of products. Therefore, we use filters to facilitate search functionality. We have, among other things, created a standard view with the 3,500 most common products, making these especially easy to find. Thanks to our new e-commerce platform, we have optimized the UI design, improved the customer experience, and driven increased sales, both in terms of the number of orders and total sales, says Sandra Henkel.
Additionally, the customer portal, mySwecon, simplifies searchability. Swecon has integrated its e-commerce with mySwecon, allowing users in the portal to see an exploded view of their machine or the model in need of spare parts. They can see where the part is located, making it easier to buy the right products and saving valuable time.
- The project has truly made a big difference for us. With our new e-commerce platform, the customer journey becomes significantly more intuitive than before. We want our customers to be able to visit Swecon and shop with confidence with an integrated and user-friendly platform where both the customer portal and the e-commerce work seamlessly. We are constantly working to make our e-commerce easy to navigate, continues Sandra.
The project was carried out together with a dedicated team at Columbus, which has worked with Swecon for a long time. Sandra Henkel is very pleased with what the company has achieved.
- We have a strong and smooth collaboration. An important success factor is that we have worked with the same people at Columbus since the start in 2022. We bring in extra developers when needed, but the core team is more or less the same. We know each other well and don't lose time and knowledge by changing the setup. The stability creates security for us, explains Sandra.
Stability is crucial, just like knowledge and innovation. Columbus' experience in e-commerce was a decisive factor in choosing a partner, while their ability to inspire and challenge played an important role.
- They are experts, so I really value their opinions. I want my colleagues not only to follow my directives but also to share their ideas. The team at Columbus is good at that. They inspire and suggest new ways of working together. This is incredibly important to me, says Sandra.
Photo: Swecon has significantly increased their sales with its new e-commerce solution.
Swecon looks ahead with new markets in sight
Swecon will continue to develop its e-commerce solution continuously and ensure that employees are on board.
- To optimize our e-commerce further, we continuously collect data on how customers use the web, and we have an ongoing dialogue with them to meet their needs, regardless of how they prefer to shop. We are proud and happy about the positive feedback we have received from our customers and employees, says Sandra.
After the successful e-commerce launch in Sweden, Columbus and Swecon are working on implementing the unified solution in Germany.
- Primarily, we needed a flexible solution that allowed us to grow our business further. Our possibilities go far beyond selling spare parts. We can do anything, for example, rentals, accessories, and profile products. Now, we have a solid foundation, and we are ready to expand the e-commerce platform to more markets, concludes Sandra.
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