Global food retailer: +9.5% online grocery sales thanks to smart omnichannel approach

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Global food retailer: +9.5% online grocery sales thanks to smart omnichannel approach

Location:

Europe

Employees:

400,000+

Industry:

E-commerce

Customers:

60M every week

The Challenge

As consumers increasingly move online, our Client recognized the importance of a strong omnichannel strategy. They aimed to broaden payment choices, improve customer experience, and make loyalty programs more attractive to customers.

The Solution

SENLA developed a shared back-end system for the Client's SAP Commerce platform. This system was used for online stores in five countries. We integrated various payment methods, managed loyalty programs, and enhanced customer service, offering a consistent omnichannel experience.

The Value

In just 10 months, SENLA's contributions led to a notable increase in our Client's online sales. Online grocery sales grew by 9.5% in the first quarter of 2023 alone. Overall, the total value of goods sold online rose by 10.5%.

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Meet our Client

Our Client is a multinational food retail company with supermarkets and local stores in Europe and the United States. Every week, they attract millions of shoppers.

Besides their stores, our Client’s brands also include top online retailers.

Step into the omnichannel era…

In recent years, our Client has prioritized e-commerce as a growth driver. They are sure that as customers get more tech-savvy, only the food businesses with an omnichannel approach will stand out.

Omnichannel means providing a seamless shopping experience across in-store, mobile, and online platforms, integrating them all under a unified brand umbrella. This drives higher revenue and keeps customers coming back by offering tailored solutions that save them time.

Despite challenges like COVID-19, this strategy has yielded impressive results. Our Client’s digitally engaged customers increased by 56% over just two years.

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…with a rock-solid tech partner

In 2022 our Client launched an initiative to speed up its operational efficiency. That program was designed to simplify processes, streamline IT systems, free up resources, and invest more in projects with better returns.

With that in mind, they turned to SENLA when seeking to outsource their SAP Commerce platform development.

Why us? Our Client ensured we handled every stage of the software development life cycle. They also acknowledged our extensive e-commerce expertise and valued our commitment to the highest quality, all while keeping development costs effectively managed.

Additionally, the fact that we could provide a team of top-tier SAP Commerce experts within just 10 days proved to be a decisive factor for our Client.

How we tackled the tech

SENLA's e-commerce specialists joined the development of a shared back-end system used by food supermarket platforms in five countries of Europe. All these platforms' websites and mobile apps were managed using SAP Commerce.

The development followed the Agile methodology, broken down into 2-week sprints. New features would be planned ahead each quarter depending on their business priority and the team's capacity.

Let's delve into the specific tasks we tackled:

  • Process payments and integrate with payment gateways.
  • Manage loyalty programs.
  • Service and support customers.
  • Set up integration with third-party services.
  • Continuously update and maintain the platform.

Payments

Our main priority on this project was the payments domain. We developed payment processing solutions, added several providers, and updated API versions for their integration.

“Payments are the critical core of an e-commerce platform, and the most important functional domain, taking into account all the security and data accuracy aspects. We’re excited to be responsible for this on our Client’s project and our expertise fully equips us for a task like this.”

Aliaksei Bekish, Senior SAP Commerce Developer

Another major improvement we made was adding Bancontact, the most popular payment method in Belgium. With Bancontact Mobile, shoppers are either redirected to the app on their mobile devices or can scan a QR code on their desktop to access the app.

This task included the whole cycle of analysis, development, and testing from scratch. We implemented prioritization of processing Visa, Maestro, or Mastercard co-branded cards through Bancontact. The aim here was to reduce transaction costs by re-directing the customers' payment journey.

Customer support

To improve the buyer's experience, we added a live chat feature on the website so customers could easily reach technical support with their questions. This chatbot also would collect user data to improve both online and in-store experiences.

Third-party services

To create an integrated omnichannel experience, an e-commerce platform must connect with a variety of services. These can include payment providers, messaging platforms, shipping services, rating tools, and more. We facilitated all these connections using REST API and other ways of communication.

For instance, by integrating with Google Maps, we ensured accurate address entries, which made order processing faster and avoided incorrect deliveries.

Our experts also established an event-driven architecture for our Client's platform, using Confluent Kafka and Azure Event Hubs to facilitate system interactions.

One example of this is the integration with SalesForce Marketing Cloud for real-time data transmission between the two systems. For instance, when a new user registered on a supermarket's website, SalesForce was immediately notified and sent a welcome email to the new user.

Loyalty programs

As per Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer report, brands with loyalty programs attract 56% more buyers.

Another area we worked on was loyalty programs. We had several tasks targeted at enhancing customer experience and boosting revenue through loyalty tools.

We streamlined the bonus and order systems to enable smooth discount redemption in the basket. Additionally, we expanded offline-only bonus programs to online customers. These steps were meant to increase yearly sales by getting in-store shoppers to also buy online.

Within another task, we added instant coupons for delivery plans at the checkout to encourage customers to sign up for them. This initiative made the plans more appealing and boosted the Client’s annual revenue.

The value: +9.5% online grocery sales in one quarter

"We know that customers value our omnichannel ecosystems, which offer them the flexibility and convenience of shopping whenever and wherever they want.”

Client's Representative

Within 10 months of SENLA working on this project, our Client already reports a steady and impressive growth in online sales and e-commerce profitability:

  • Online sales increased in Q1 and in Q2 of 2023, with online grocery sales rising by 9.5% in Q1 alone.
  • The total value of goods sold through the Client’s online platforms grew by 10.5% compared to the prior year.
  • The number of premium users and loyalty program members grew significantly.

Powered by strong technology innovations, our Client successfully tackled the challenges of increasing inflation and is positive about what lies ahead. And we're proud to continue supporting them as their tech partner.

Don’t miss your opportunity to grow today, let’s get in touch.

Why Senla?

Transparent billing

We transparently discuss and agree on financial matters with our Clients. This approach benefits Clients in budget planning and boosts our trustworthiness in the outsourced software development community.

Long-term focus

We strive to be your reliable business partner, offering top-notch tech expertise. We approach partnerships genuinely, not just seeking profit or making false claims about our resources.

Extensive expertise

We have been on the market for more than a decade which allowed us to try and test various outsourcing approaches, strategies and tools, and cherry-pick the most efficient ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we start cooperation?

First is an introductory call with our BD team to clarify the project needs. Upon your request, we sign an NDA. After the evaluation, we offer a preliminary solution (CVs, timelines, etc.). If everything is OK, our staff can get to work in as little as 7-10 business days, depending on the engagement model that you choose.

How can we estimate the cost of outsourcing software development?

Simply put, to estimate software development outsourcing costs, start by defining the project scope. This determines development time and team composition. Multiply estimated hours by the team's hourly rates for a rough cost. For a deeper understanding, we have detailed articles on development time and development costs. Explore them for more insights.

How can I be sure that you will understand and cater to my business's unique needs?

We focus on understanding your business goals and challenges. By beginning with a thorough discovery phase, we align our strategies with your objectives. Our broad experience lets us customize solutions for your unique needs.

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