Client
Macromex is a 100% Romanian company, the leader of the refrigerated and frozen food segment for over 28 years. The company has had a constant and sustained evolution thanks to the quality of the products, the professionalism of the team and the speed of reaction to the opportunities and changes in the market. Their mission is to offer the consumer an extraordinary experience offering superior quality, outstanding services and innovative products.
With over 1,000 products in its portfolio, 13,000 delivery points and 450 employees, Macromex has worked hard to develop successful brands in both the local and international markets. Among the successful examples are Edenia – leader in the premium segment of frozen products, Corso – brand no. 1 ice cream in Romania and La Strada – the first pret-a-porter ice cream, an innovation in this industry.
The history of Macromex begins in 1993, with the establishment of the company in Bucharest in the segment of temperature controlled products. In 2006 Macromex opened the first distribution center in Romania that used pick by voice technology, a premiere for the Romanian market. Having over time become distributors for prestigious brands such as Philadelphia, Dr. Oetker, Mars, Alpro, Häagen-Dazs, and launched its own brands (Edenia, Azuris, Casa Gruia, La Strada, Corso), in 2014 Macromex opened the Edenia Distribution Center logistics complex in Campia Turzii, which also contains the highest High-Bay of frozen products in Europe (42 m).
Context
There are several reasons why maintaining relationships in the B2B environment is essential:
- business relationships are long-term, which leads to a solid growth of the company and business partners;
- the average value of B2B orders is higher than in the B2C segment, having at the same time a better conversion rate;
- a satisfied customer can make a recommendation to another potential customer.
According to research conducted by Statista for 2021, the Romanian retail sector had the most valuable brands, amounting to over 1.6 billion euros. An analysis of the NielsenIQ Retail Audit department states that Romania recorded retail sales growing above the European average. The European average increased by 3.3%, and Romania by 7.5%.
Challenge
The B2B field in which Macromex operates has evolved a lot recently, and the portrait of the modern B2B buyer has changed. Currently, B2B customers want a shopping experience similar to B2C, and they want to be as independent as possible in the buying process. Although traditionally the relationship between customers and the sales agent was closer due to the particularities of the buying process (customized offers depending on the quantity purchased, negotiations), now more and more customers wish to have the same benefits through an e-commerce platform. Macromex has proactively approached this trend, in the premise of collaborating with CustomSoft.
CustomSoft’s experience in the B2B field has had its say. Given that e-commerce is growing, and many customers are attracted to the idea of shopping comfortably at home due to the obvious benefits, CustomSoft aims to support retailers. An e-commerce platform is a way to significantly improve sales and expand your audience.
Although the competitiveness of the B2B sector is quite high, the opportunity exists through the small number of companies that have developed a complex and efficient e-commerce platform. Knowing the innovative profile of Macromex, CustomSoft proposed a solution that will not only improve and simplify their relationships with current customers, but will also help them better manage their internal activity.
Solution
CustomSoft covers every requirement and guides the activities throughout the project, from the first concept to the final result.
The proposal for Macromex needs was the VTEX platform, an e-commerce platform with SaaS architecture, based on APIs and microservices. It scales with the business, without the need for updates. This is significant for a company when choosing a platform, as any update involves numerous costs, resources, and downtime. Also, the VTEX solution has a short time to go-live (an average rate of 109 days), and companies that choose this e-commerce platform enjoy a small time-to-market. The platform works according to the headless principle, which means that the front end is disconnected from the back end, offering the flexibility to connect several channels to the same system.
In addition to the aspects listed above, the VTEX solution meets many other advantageous aspects for the B2B eCommerce sector:
- multi-catalogs (customized catalogs for clients);
- multi-storefront (several online stores can be managed from the same place);
- multi-payments (payment can be made in several ways);
- multi-pricing (the same product may have different prices depending on the negotiations with customers);
- multi-warehouses (warehouse management in the same system);
- customizable purchase flow;
- intelligent search (an algorithm based on artificial intelligence provides suggestions, synonyms, corrects words, all while the customer interacts with the search bar);
- the possibility to place high-volume orders;
- setting a minimum order threshold
Implementation
The implementation process went according to plan, the collaboration between the teams was excellent, they kept a high standard of quality in everything they worked on. The VTEX platform has numerous integrations, which facilitates the connection of systems already in use.
The final project is addressed to B2B customers and has two storefronts: Bocado.ro, dedicated to customers in the HoReCa area and Mercadi.ro, dedicated to resellers – food store owners.
The integration with the ERP used by Macromex was developed to take over customers (companies) and personalized information for them: delivery addresses, invoices, products, prices. Each customer benefits from personalized information immediately after registration on the platform.
Also, a custom registration mode has been implemented on the site, so that customers who do not yet have a contract with Macromex can place orders immediately after creating the account on the platform. In addition to all these aspects, the way the prices are displayed is personalized: users who are not logged in to the customer account cannot place orders, logged in customers see both the price per piece and per kg and can send orders. Only exact quantities of product can be added to the cart, depending on the ERP settings.
Benefits
Some benefits Macromex now enjoys:
- product catalogs with updated information and prices;
- non-stop availability to place orders and find out the necessary information;
- quick access to detailed product information (availability, minimum order quantity and other logistical information);
- history of invoices, payments and deliveries;
- organizing team activities on a single dashboard;
- reduction of human errors;
- reduction of operational costs;
- differentiation from competitors.
Press
Macromex announced in the press the investment in the e-commerce platform and the business objectives for the next period:
- Forbes;
- Ziarul Financiar;
- Revista Biz;
- Retail FMCG;
- Business review;
- Industriacarnii.ro;
- Money Buzz;
- Retail.ro.
Implement an eCommerce solution for B2B with us! CustomSoft focuses everything it creates around quality because our goal is to offer unique and meaningful experiences. In addition, we work with a wide variety of technologies that make it possible to meet business needs and make a quick profit. CustomSoft develops perfectly your digital projects and encourages your business to succeed.
CustomSoft has built an ecosystem of partners, services and products that allows customers to get the most value out of their business in the most efficient way. CustomSoft delivers projects on time, maintaining the highest standards during development. The team also consists of specialists who help companies meet challenges.