make a success story together?
make a success story together?
Velder is a wholesale cheese distributor and international supplier to numerous specialty stores and large supermarket chains such as Jumbo, Albert Heijn, and Picnic. Since its founding, the company has been known as an innovator in the cheese market and is now owned by Royal FrieslandCampina. This makes Velder an essential part of the most renowned dairy company. However, due to all the digital and sustainable challenges and innovations, it faces ongoing challenges. Customers now expect purchases and services to be conducted digitally and want real-time insight into logistics, inventory, and prices.
So, it was time for Velder to show why they are the leader. Time for renewal! Thus began the search for a digital/e-commerce partner to guide this process. After a search in which several parties were reviewed, Made by Us emerged as the most suitable partner. Together, we navigate through the digital transformation to a fully smart platform that aligns with the (renewed) processes and customer needs. The goal is a continuously developing platform with sales and service channels that support both the customer and the organization.
At the start of our collaboration, we conducted a technical and UX/UI audit. We did not only look for bugs or errors in the code but also at user experience and the usability of the platform. From the audit, a list of recommendations emerged, and a briefing was prepared for the redesign. During the collaboration, we worked in multiple sprints to refine the design as needed. Various elements and, in some cases, entire pages have been redesigned continuously. Some examples include the homepage, the product page, and the multiple wishlist where customers can keep track of their order lists. All adjustments and changes were made to improve usability, performance, and user experience (UX).
Based on the technical audit, we found a lot of custom work embedded in the installation that no longer aligned with the standard operation of Magento. To make the installation resilient to future changes, it was decided to phase out the old custom work and rebuild it according to Magento standards. We also looked for opportunities to improve the existing custom work where needed and evaluated its necessity. This way, the installation was not only converted to Magento standards but also cleaned up and improved.
Velder’s ambitions are high and extend beyond national borders. Velder aims to distinguish itself with its assortment and passion for cheese, not only within the Benelux but across Europe and even beyond. The need for an export store, to be available in multiple countries and multiple languages, was very important. Technically facilitating this was not possible in the past. Therefore, a stable foundation was crucial. Multiple languages and custom functions were built specifically for the export store.
The platform is provided with data from the ERP and PIM system. Consequently, multiple different integrations are running to process data to and from the platform. These integrations have never worked well together in the past. As a result, the integrations were not always fast or smooth, and it took more time to collaborate effectively. We have therefore implemented Alumio’s iPaaS. Alumio is a platform focused on integrating multiple connections. By implementing Alumio correctly, you have all the integrations clearly at hand and can set up integrations quickly. Additionally, it enhances performance and speed of operation. A future-proof solution for internal use!
Previously, an order list was predefined for the customer, containing all relevant articles. This standard list still exists but also caused a lack of flexibility in orders. Therefore, in addition to the standard order list, customers can now create multiple lists. For example, they can create lists per branch, shelf, or display. For the UX of both the customers and Zijerveld, this is a very important development to simplify and accelerate the ordering process. The perfect example of the digital innovation we are working on as partners!