Industrial E-Commerce Site for a New Business Unit
client
A new entity with a new contract to supply janitorial and sanitation supplies to one of the largest charter school systems in the U.S.
initial situation
T
he client required a new dedicated website for members of his 60 + member team to order supplies for each school location. Ideally, the checkout can provide Net 30-day terms for select buyers eliminating the need for a credit card at checkout. Required two price levels, one for public view and the other for his team. The site will be linked to a 3PL supplier for drop shipping orders from Office Depot and others on behalf of the client. It will initially sell Jan-San products during year one, then expand into MRO and school furnishings. All accounting transactions will integrate with Quickbooks with reporting designed to separate manager orders by each school. After a full rollout, the client intends to grow the business with traditional e-commerce sales using SEO strategies and additional 3PL warehouse links.
challenge
The development of the website had to take into account a solution to three critical issues:
- Automated Net 30 and CC customer terms
- Automated multiple drop ship vendors
- Account reporting by 60 + managers and multiple school purchases
task
- Research and recommend a scalable e-commerce platform: Magento, Big Commerce, Shopify
- Review, recommend and launch a storefront that accommodates Jan-San, MRO, and furniture
- A website site checkout that allows selective Net 30-day or longer terms
- Create terms for online ordering procedures
- API links to Office Depot and others for drop shipping
- Synchronize and develop unique reporting between Shopify and Quickbooks
solution / approach
- Create a user-friendly desktop and mobile Shopify store that provided scalability
- Collaborate with 3PL partner warehouse to create links to automated fulfillment and returns process
- Create processes within apps to accommodate reporting that synchronized with QuickBooks
- Produce a training video to teach pre-selected/approved terms accounts how to order without a credit card
- Consult and recommend best practices based on the client’s current fulfillment methods and market conditions
- Because clients will re-order the same items monthly, create a favorites button for faster checkout
key results
- An automated website for orders, terms (CC or Net 30)
- Drop shipping from fourth-party vendors requires customer service interaction
- Customers can opt. in to receive text or email updates for their orders
- Semi-automated reporting for Net 30-day terms parent and child accounts. Quickbooks has limitations due to single managers shipping to multiple schools. B90 created a process to quickly reconcile weekly within Quickbooks.
- Site is live with Jan-San products and ready to scale with additional categories
- Sold over $150,000 during the first three months of go-live